The Puranas describe them as Shudras.
‘Mudrakshasa’ of Vishakhadatta uses the terms
Vrishal/Kulhina (of low clan).
The Classical writers, such as Justin, describe Chandragupta
only as a man of humble origin.
The Junagarh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman (150 AD) has
some indirect evidence, suggesting that the Mauryas might have been of Vaishya
origin.
The Buddhist work ,on the other hand, try to link the
Mauryan dynasty with the Sakya Kshatriya clan to which Buddha belonged.
According to them ,the region from which the Mauryascame was full of peacocks
(Mor) and hence they came to be known as ‘Moriyas ‘ . It is obvious from this
the Buddhists were trying to elevate the social position of Ashoka (their
patron ) and his predecessors.
In conclusion .we can say that the Mauryas belonged to the
Moriya tribe and were certainly of a low caste , though it is not clear as to
which low caste.