Hi Mishti, I am Shailaja. I will try answering some points you have raised. Hope they satisfy you!
1. Is Nand evil or grey?
He is purely evil except for the fact that he is a good father to Nandini. He was a Naapit(barber) to begin with. He has an illegitimate liaison with his own queen, Rani Avantika, and fathers her nine sons while she is still the wife of the King of Magadh, Shishunaag.
He murders his own king, throws the blame for this on Suryagupt, who is Shishnaag's friend, Moora's husband, and Chandra's father. He beheads him too before a pregnant Moora and imprisons her. He marries Avantika, stages a military coup and captures power.
He silences those who oppose him either by murdering them or imprisoning them. He exhorbitantly taxes his citizens for very small things like his daughter's birthday when he asks his citizens to contribute their hard earned gold for her Tuladaan.
He rules on the basis of fear and cows down opposition against him. He leads a very dissolute life at the expense of his Praja. He does not respect the learned like Chanakya. He insults them. He is least bothered about his Praja or their safety and security concerns.
He will even sell his own motherland or country to the Greeks if that will benefit him. All he bothers about are money and power. He will use any means to secure them. He is like a leech or mosquito which will keep on sucking and getting fat from the sweat and blood of his own people. If all this is not evilness, I don't know what else is!
2. Why are the kings or others supporting Chanakya?
They have joined hands with each other to drive away foreign powers from Indian soil in the first place. So it is patriotism and love for the motherland which brings this diverse group together.
Nand was not very popular as a king. As a matter of fact, he was terribly unpopular and hated by his citizens. What kept him in power was the fear tactics he employed and his powerful military. The Nanda dynasty was reputed to be one of the foremost military powers of that age even according to history. So the kings who supported Nand were doing it because they feared him, or because they were equally bad and dissolute like Nand and were only bothered about power and not about their country or the welfare of their Praja.
But it also means there must have been several people, groups, and kings who must have hated Nand as well. One, even according to history several kings hated him for his humble origin as a Naapit(barber), his lack of patriotism, his fear tactics.
Two, there was mutiny brewing all over the country because of his dissolute rule. There was no law and order. The weak were exploited terribly by the powerful. Taxes were indiscriminately imposed. Praja welfare was thrown to the winds. Chanakya succeeded in amalgamating all these people under a single umbrella. This entire group was patriotic. They loved their motherland. They hated the Greeks whom they wanted to drive from Indian soil. Once that automatically happened, they wanted to get rid of the pests plaguing Indian society at that time, and the foremost on that hit list was Nand.
Edited by shailusri1983 - 7 years ago
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