The year 305 BC saw Chandragupta back in the Northwest, where Seleucus I Nicator, the Macedonian satrap of Babylonia, was threatening fresh invasions. Chandragupta not only stopped his advance but pushed the frontier farther west into what is now Afghanistan. Along with the the astute advice of Chanakya, Chandragupta seized Punjab, Kabul, Khandahar, Gandhara and Persia from Seluces. Selucus had to conclude a treaty with Chandragupta by which he surrendered a large territory including, in the opinion of certain writers, the satrapies of Paropanisadai (Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Qanadahar) and Gedrosia (Baluchistan), in return for 500 elephants. The treaty was cemented by a marriage contract - Seluces' daughter was married to Chandragupta. Chandragupta's fame spread far and wide and his empire was recognised as a great power in the western countries. The kings of Egypt and Syria sent ambassadors to the Mauryan Court.
Maurya empire was the first really large and powerful centralised state in India. It was very well governed, with tempered autocracy at the top and democracy at the city and village levels. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at the court of Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, had expressed his admiration for the efficient administration of the empire. Megasthenes wrote about the prosperity of the Mauryan cities. He further reported that agriculture was healthy, water abundant and mineral wealth was in plenty. Speaking of the general prosperity, Megasthenes wrote, "the Indians, dressed in bright and rich colors, they liberally used ornaments and gems."
He also spoke of the division of society according to occupation and the large number of religious sects and foreigners in the empire. The people were divided into seven endogamous groups--"philosophers", peasants, herdsmen, traders, soldiers, government officials, and councilors. The army was composed of the four traditional Indian divisions: forces mounted on elephants, on chariots, cavalry, and infantry, and tended to be large - Chandragupta's forces numbered 600,000 men.
The religious life of the empire may perhaps best be characterized as pluralistic. Brahamanism, Buddhism, Jainism, the Ajivikas, and wandering mendicants of other types all seem to have coexisted side by side. The general religious policy of the Mauryas was to encourage tolerance.
Under Mauryas empire the Indian subcontinent saw, for the first time in history, a considerable degree of political unity. The empire was very strong and independent because it had some kind of political unity. In modern times the Maurya Empire is remembered as one of the golden ages of Indian history, a time when the country was united and independent.
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