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Chanakya lived during the period 350-275 BC. Details of his birth and life are hazy, and we have to rely on tradition. His works have been faithfully preserved through word of mouth for well over two thousand years. His place of birth has to be ascertained from other sources, namely the Buddhist and Jain scriptures. The mahavamsa tika (buddhist) mentions his birth place as taxila, while jain scriptures like adbidhana chintamani mention his birth place as South India, around present day kerala. Probably the latter is appropriate when we consider the frequent mention of the tuft of hair, which is a mark of present day nambudhiri. However, Chanakya's birth place will continue to remain a controversy.
Let us not forget that the major puranas, including the bhagavata purana, vayu, matsya, brahmanda and bhavishya purana all mention chanakya along with chandragupta maurya. Probably the short and wonderful play mudra rakshasha written by visakhadatta is the most famous on chanakya, though this covers only the portion of his life after the downfall of nandas and the establishment of Chandragupta. Naturally, the life of these two people (Chanakya and Chandragupta) has been closely intervined. However, in my personal opinion, I would say that Chandragupta's fame and intelligence was in major portion due to Chanakya (this is not to put down chandragupta in any way).
भागहरु क्रमस
