The Shisunaga dynast was
overthrown by Mahapadma who established a new line of king known as the Nandas.
Mahapadma is known as Sarvakshatrantak
i.e. Uprooter of all the Kshatriyas
)Puranas ) and Ugrasena i.e. Owner of huge army (palitexts).
The Puranas call Mahapadma Ekrat
i.e. the sole monarch. He seems to have overthrown all the dynasties which
ruled at the time of Shisungas. He is
often described as ‘the first empire
builder of Indian history.’
Mahapadma was succeeded by his
eight sons. Dhananada was the last one.
The last king Dhanananda is possibly identical with the
Agrammes or Xandrames of the Greek texts.
It was during the rule of
Dhanananda that the invasion of Agrammes or took place in north –west India in 326 BC.
According to Greek writer Curtius,
Dhananada commanded a huge. Army 20.000
cavalry, 200,000 chariots and 3,000 elephants . It was the might of Dhanananda
that terrorized Alexander and stopped his march to the Gangetic Valley.
The Nanda dynasty came to an end
about 322-21 BC and was supplanted by
another dynasty known as Mauryas, with Chandragupa Mautya as the founder.