Place

Pataliputra

Magadha · Modern India

Capital of the Mauryan empire on the Ganges, the seat of power Chanakya helped Chandragupta build. The modern city of Patna stands on its ground.

Thinkers Connected to Pataliputra

c. 375 BCE – c. 283 BCE

Teacher, kingmaker, and author of the Arthashastra, the coldest clear-eyed manual of power before Machiavelli.

c. 80 CE – c. 150 CE

The first great Sanskrit poet, who told the Buddha's life as an epic and made philosophy sing.