The Nanda dynasty ruled Magadha before Chandragupta Maurya overthrew it. The Nandas controlled Magadha from their power base at Pataliputra in the late fourth century BCE, immediately before the rise of the Mauryan Empire.
Chandragupta Maurya, assisted in tradition by the strategist Chanakya, defeated the last Nanda ruler, usually identified as Dhana Nanda, and seized Pataliputra. The transition is commonly dated to around 322–321 BCE, although ancient accounts disagree about the campaign’s exact course and the fate of the Nanda king.
The Nandas are often associated with a large, well-organized army and an expanding state in northern India. Their overthrow marked the foundation of the Maurya dynasty, which Chandragupta expanded into one of South Asia’s major empires. A common mix-up is confusing the Nandas with the Shungas: the Shungas came later, after the Mauryan period, while the Guptas ruled centuries afterward.