Question

Chandragupta Maurya spent his last days at ______.
A) Ujjain
B) Nalanda
C) Shravanabelagola
D) Patna

Answer 1

Hint: Chandragupta Maurya was the Mauryan Empire's founder in ancient India, reigning from 321 to 297 BCE. The philosopher Chanakya had a significant influence on the development of his kingdom, taught and counselled him. Chandragupta and Chanakya collaborated to establish one of the most powerful empires on the Indian subcontinent.

Complete answer:
Chandragupta was born into a poor family after his father, the migrant Maurya chief, was killed in a border battle. His maternal uncles deserted him and entrusted him to a cowherd, who raised him as his own child. He was eventually sold to a cattle farmer.

Later, he was bought by Kautilya (also known as Chanakya), a Brahman politician, and taken to Taxila (now Pakistan), where he was trained in military strategy and the aesthetic arts.
Chandragupta was traditionally persuaded to embrace Jainism by the sage Bhadrabahu I, who foresaw a 12-year famine.

When the famine struck, Chandragupta attempted to solve the situation, but dejected by the disastrous circumstances, he left to serve Bhadrabahu at Shravanabelagola, a prominent religious site in southwestern India, where Chandragupta fasted to death.

Therefore, the correct answer is option (C) Shravanabelagola.

Note: Chandra Gupta I was the founder of the Gupta empire and king of India from 320 to 330 CE. Chandra Gupta I, whose early life is uncertain, rose from the ranks of the kingdom of Magadha to become a district chief (parts of modern Bihar state).