India before Alexander · A New Chronology

The chronology of Indian history rests on two sheet anchors. First sheet anchor is the identification of Sandrokottos of Greek accounts with Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Mauryan dynasty. Sandrokottos was the contemporary of Alexander the Great. Second sheet anchor is the identification of Devānāmpriya Priyadarśī of inscriptions with Aśoka Maurya, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. Devānāmpriya Priyadarśī mentions five Greek kings in his inscriptions, one of them being Antiyoka, who is currently identified with Antiochus II. Native historians claim that Sandrokottos should be identified with Chandragupta I of the Imperial Gupta dynasty. However, in the 180 years since the identification of Devānāmpriya Priyadarśī with Aśoka Maurya, a satisfactory alternative has not been found. In this pioneering book a new identification is proposed for Devānāmpriya Priyadarśī after presenting a comprehensive analysis of the source materials. This never before proposed identification of Devānāmpriya Priyadarśī opens the door for developing a new chronological framework for Indian history.