148 PERIOD OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS. [CHAP.

Not long after this period, however, a revolution took place, in
which an adventurous native chieftain, called Chandragupta (in
Greek Sandrocottus), expelled the reigning dynasty, and obtained
possession of the throne ; and under his energetic rule the re-
sources of the kingdom were greatly increased, and its boundaries
extended towards the west. In this manner it came in contact
with the dominions of Seleucus Nicator, who after Alexander's
death, having fixed his capital at Babylon, maintained his rule
over the whole of the eastern provinces of the newly-formed
empire, including Bactria and India. It was inevitable that war
should break out between these rival powers, and the result was
that Seleucus found it expedient to cede to his opponent the
whole of the Indus valley, and the neighbouring territories as far
as the Paropamisus range, receiving in return a present of five
hundred elephants. A durable peace was thus concluded between
them, and in order to maintain the friendly relations which were
now set on foot, an ambassador was sent by

Envoy to J

Chandragupta Seleucus to reside at the court of Chandragupta,

atPataliputra.

Palibothra) on the Ganges. The agent who was selected for this
office was Megasthenes (circ. 290 B.C.), an intelligent Greek, who
made the best use of the facilities which his position furnished for
the study of the country and its inhabitants. So unique was the
HI w k opportunity, that the work which he wrote on the
subject became the chief, and in most respects the
sole, authority on India to the ancient world. Though his nar-
rative has now perished, the most valuable part of the material
contained in it has survived, being preserved in the second book
of Diodorus, the fifteenth book of Strabo, and the Indica of
Arrian. From these sources we learn what knowledge was in
circulation in antiquity, not only about the geography and climate
of India, but about the administration of the government, the
character and mode of life of the people, and the religious system
and its observances. The profound study of the ancient literature
of that country, which is one of the highest glories of the present
Verified century, has opened out to us a wide field of in-
.from Native formation on the same subject, derived from the
contemporary records of the Indians themselves.