Chanakya- the author of Arthashasthra - arguably one of the smartest Indians ever - is a popular subject.
One popular thing seems to be various editions of 'Chanakya Neeti' or Chanakya's wisdom.
Another recent one that I came across is a lie about how Chanakya sent Alexander packing. It is a clever 'remix' of powerpoint, the 'Chanakya' television series by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, and Alexander's history from the history channel. The history channel excerpts lend authenticity to this otherwise bogus nonsense.
To the casual viewer, it would seem to be truthful -
- Chanakya lived around the same time as Alexander's invasion of India
- The television series seems to show him delivering powerful dialogues making him a leader of sorts Chandragupta Maurya did rule most of India
- He is one of the smartest Indians that lived
So, lets credit him for everything - including sliced bread! Right ? Wrong!!
There is little evidence that Chanakya had any role in stopping Alexander. He was a teacher at Takshashila- ruled by Ambhi of Gandhara.(Current Kandahar).
- He did try to get Nanda's support to defeat Alexander and unite the rest of India, but was rejected.
- Porus of Punjab put up such a strong fight with only an army of 20,000, that it shook up Alexander's army.
- When they reached the Ganga- which was the extent of the Nanda kingdom, the Greeks almost revolted against Alexander because they didn't WANT TO fight another Indian army which was 200,000 strong infantry alone - 10 times the size of Porus' army.
- Alexander went back without a battle there.
The reality was probably different - Porus was a gallant commander, and his troops were extremely loyal to him. Dhana Nanda didn't have such support. He also was derided as a 'Shudhra' (lower caste) king.
So, if anybody deserves credit for turning Alexander back, it would be Porus. He put the fear of Indian opposition into the Greek army.
Chanakya really came to power/influence after grooming Chandragupta to fight Dhana Nanda.
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