Fall of the Achaemenid Empire (अजमीढ़ साम्राज्य का पतन)
According to Plutarch, Artaxerxes' successor Artaxerxes III (358 – 338 BC) came to the throne by bloody means, ensuring his place upon the throne by the assassination of eight of his half-brothers.He was unpopular ruler. In 343 BC Artaxerxes III defeated Nectanebo II, driving him from Egypt, and made Egypt once again a Persian satrapy. In 338 BC Artaxerxes III died under unclear circumstances (natural causes according to cuneiform sources but Diodorus, a Greek historian, reports that Artaxerxes was murdered by Bagoas, his minister), while Philip of Macedon united the Greek states by force and began to plan an invasion into the empire.
Artaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses, who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas.
Since Artaxerexes-III is referred to as Nindin or a Nanda in the Babylonian texts this immediately recalls the account in the Indian texts that Chanakya had decimated the Nanda line.
Bagoas is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III (336–330 BC), a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously Satrap of Armenia, personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison.
Bagoas The Elder Was Chanakya
Diodorus (A Greek Historian) also wrote that Bagoas attempted to poison Darius-III also but was instead forced to drink his own cup of poison. Even if one takes account on its face value there remains the possibility that he did not die even after drinking the poison that would have killed lesser mortals. Diodorus' report only shows that Bagoas went underground after the incident and the Greeks did not know that he was not dead. A fiendish man who had poisoned so many must have taken some precaution against the poison. One reads in the Indian texts that Chanakya made Chandragupta drink small doses of poison daily to gain immunity against the poison. Doubtlessly he himself could have taken the same protection. Only Lane Fox suspects Diodorus' account of the death of Bagoas the Elder. Tarn dismissed Aelian's report (Aelian V.H. III, 23) that Bagoas entertained Alexander at Babylon but this may be unjustified. Apart from the Mudrarakshasa many other Indian texts indicate that Chandragupta rose to the throne with the help of Chanakya or Bagoas. Bagoas was the poison-man par excellence and his meeting with Alexander a few days before his death clearly points to conspiracy.
Bessos Was Dhana Nanda Of The Indian Texts
In 334 BC, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor.
Darius III was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in the road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honorable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, in order to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in a "cruel and barbarous manner"
One key figure who remains unnoticed by Indian historians is Bessos, the 'Leader of the Indians' who fought against Alexander. In the famous battle at Gaugamela on the extreme left of the Persian contingent was the Bactrian cavalry under Bessos who led the Indians and the Sogdians. Bessos and his cavalry fought valiantly and remained virtually intact. Surprisingly, there is no mention of him in the Indian texts. On the other hand one prominent Nanda king, Dhana Nanda, who must have been a contemporary of Alexander, finds no mention in the Greek and Roman records. We have already referred to Lane Fox's remark that Dhana Nanda's kingdom could have been set against itself and Alexander might yet have walked among Palimbothra's peacocks. However, if one notes that Dhana in Sanskrit stands for wealth another word for which is Vasus, it appears likely that Bessos was none other than Dhana Nanda. That Bessos was the master of both Sasigupta and Oxyartes or Rakshasa is also clear. Classical writers reported that Sasigupta(Sasi means Chandra), together with Bagistanes deserted Bessos when Alexander was in pursuit of Darius (330 BC) and informed Alexander about Darius' plight. As the phonetic shift B-M is very common, this duo must have been Chandragupta and Megasthenes. Gullible historians like Thapar and Raychaudhuri failed to recall that this corresponds precisely to the reports that Chandragupta had met Alexander in 335 BC in Bactria and told him of the possibility of dethroning the Nanda king who was very unpopular.
Seleucus And Chandragupta
Even though the beacon of Hellenism was kept alight by the Seleucids after the death of Alexander, Seleucus himself may have directly connived with Sasigupta and Chanakya to poison Alexander and rise to the throne. In the first level of scrutiny he is suspect for his friendship with Chandragupta; not only that he did not fight with the latter and had given him 500 elephants instead, more importantly, his daughter became a member of the Mauryan family. This relationship has a much deeper background. Like most other important Greeks, Seleucus had also married an Iranian lady but whereas nearly all these marriages had broken up, Seleucus remained faithful to Apame till the end. One has to remember that Apame's father was the redoubtable Spitamenes, a fierce fighter and a sworn enemy of Alexander whose severed head was sent to him as a peace-offering by the Massagetae. Andragoras, Spitamenes and Oxyartes were the three most powerful leaders of Indo-Iranian resistance against the Greco-Macedonians and Seleucus' alliance with two of the triumvirate unmistakably points to his complicity. It is quite apparent that the sending of his daughter to the Mauryan household was dictated principally by Apame's family background. Hamilton strikes the right tone,
It is perhaps ironical that the Seleucids, who ruled the largest portion of Alexander's empire, should be descended from the Bactrian patriot.
Was Oxyartes a party to this conspiracy? This is highly improbable but cannot be ruled out. The Mudrarakshasa ends in an alliance between Chandragupta and Rakshasa i.e. between Andragoras and Oxyartes. There is a touching episode where Oxyartes laments that his actions have led to the fall of his master.
मीदि/मेड(Old Persian Mādan) आर्य थे। प्रसिद्ध इतिहासकार हेरोदोतुस ने उन्हें आर्यन कहा है और उनकी छै जातियों में से एक जाति ब्राहमणों की थी जिसे मग ब्राहमण या मागी भी कहा गया है,जो मारकड का अपभ्रंश है। मेड आर्य(वाघमोडे) अजमीढ़ साम्राज्य जिसे एक्मेनिद एम्पायर कहा जाता हैI मीदि आर्य धोती पहनते थे जबकि उन के सहयोगी पारसी मेड(वाघमोडे) आर्य कुर्ता पजामा पहनते थे।
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