<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power founded by Chandragupta Maurya which dominated ancient India between 322 BCE and 187 BCE . Extending into the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo - Gangetic Plain in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (modern Patna). The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) at its zenith under Ashoka . </P> <P> Chandragupta Maurya raised an army and with the assistance of Chanakya (also known as Kauṭilya), overthrew the Nanda Empire in c. 322 BCE and rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions caused by the withdrawal westward of Alexander the Great's armies . By 317 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander . Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army, gaining additional territory west of the Indus River . </P>

Who was the founder of the mauryan empire