Birth Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya, who became the second Maurya emperor after the death of Chandragupta. He had inherited a vast empire and expanded it southwards during his reign. He was born in 320 BC and ruled the country for 26 years from 298 BC to 272 BC. He was called Amitrochates or Allitrochades by the Greeks while in Sanskrit scripts his name has been mentioned as Amitraghata means the ‘slayer of enemies’. A very little is known about his life and the years of his rule. His contemporary Greek historian has written the Mithridates-III (Bindusara), son of Mithridates-II became the king of the state in 302 BC. He was also known as Mithradates. Kingdom Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya and a women named Durdhara. After the death of his father he became the king of a vast empire that included modern Afghanistan, Pakistan north and east India and also some southern parts of India. He expanded his kingdom towards southwards and included sixteen states into his Kingdom. With it almost all the Indian peninsula became the part of his vast empire. Life Very little has been written about Bindusara. It is said that philosopher Chanakaya was his prime minister. He has two sons named Sumana and Ashoka. Askoka became the king of the Maurya empire after his death who is popularity known as ‘Ashoka the Great’. According to some historical documents he had to face two revolts during his reign. Taxila citizens had revolted twice during his reign. First they had revolted because of maladministration by his elder son Suseema. And the reason of the second revolt is not known but it is said that Ashoka had suppressed it as Bindusara had died during the revolt. Relations Bindusara had not conquered some southern kingdoms of Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras kings because they had friendly relations with the Mauryas. Only people of Kalinga were against the Mauryas and they were defeated by the son of Bindusara. In Greeks history it has been mentioned that he had established and maintained good relations with far west rulers. He had good relations with Greeks, Syrians and regularly exchanged ambassadors and presents. Bindusara died in 272 BC but some historians argue that he had died in 268 BC.
Archive for October 15th, 2008
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Debutant Indian Novelist Wins Booker Prize
October 15th, 2008 
Aman Award Debutant Indian Novelist Aravinda Adiga won the prestigious 50,000 pounds ($87,000) Booker Prize for his novel ‘The White Tiger’. And with it he has become the fifth Indian who has won the prize. Earlier Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai and V S Naipaul had won the prestigious prize. He has become one of those three novelists who have won this award for their debutant novels. Earlier Arundhati Roy had won it in 1997 for her novel ‘The God Of Small Things’ and D B C Pierra in 2003 for his novel ‘Vernon God Little’. It was Adiga’s childhood dream to become a novelist. Career He was born in Chennai in October 1974 and is living presently in Mumbai. He spent some of his time in Australia. He had studied at Columbia and Oxford Universities and also have worked for Time magazine in India. He also have written articles that have appeared in ‘Financial Times’, ‘Independent’ and ‘Sunday Times’. His novel was published by Atlantic Books and was widely praised. He has dealt with prevailing social issues and global economic development. The novel tells the story of the son of a rickshaw puller who represents the “faceless” poor who have remained untouched and have not gained from the recent economic boom. Views Six novelists had been shortlisted for the prize. They were Amitav Ghosh, Steve Toltz, Linda Grant and Philip Hensher, Sebastian Barry and Aravinda Adiga. Sebastian Barry was the favorite to win the prize but in the end Adiga beat him. According to TOI Michael Portillo, Chair of the judges, said “The judges found the decision difficult because the shortlist contained such strong candidates. In the end, The White Tiger prevailed because the judges felt that it shocked and entertained in equal manner.” All the six shortlisted novelists are given 2500 pounds and a designer-bound edition of their book. Judging Panel former MP and Cabinet minister Michael Portillo, editor of Granta Alex Clark; novelists Louise Doughty, founder of Ottakar’s bookshops James Heneage and Hardeep Singh Kohli a TV and radio broadcaster were the members of the judging panel for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
