The Puranas give a different account, describing the last Nanda emperor as one of eight sons of the dynasty's founder, whom they call Mahapadma.

The Greco-Roman accounts name Alexander's contemporary ruler in India as Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians identify as the last Nanda emperor.

The Buddhist text Mahāvaṃsa names 9 Nanda kings, who were all brothers, and ruled in succession for a total of 22 years.

[3] Chanakya narrowed down two candidates to replace Dhana Nanda: Pabbata, and Chandragupta, who belonged to a former royal family.

[13] The Greek accounts name Alexander's contemporary ruler in India as Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians identify as the last Nanda king.

[16] According to the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, his army had as 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 four-horsed chariots and 3,000 elephants.

[17] The Greek accounts describe Agrammes as the ruler of the Gangaridai (the Ganges valley) and the Prasii (probably a transcription of the Sanskrit word prachyas, literally "easterners").

According to Diodorus, Porus told Alexander that the contemporary Nanda king was a man of "worthless character", and was not respected by his subjects as he was thought to be of low origin.

The Puranas of India label the Nandas as adharmika, indicating that they did not follow the norms of dharma or righteous conduct.

[citation needed] Dhana Nanda appears as the primary antagonist in almost every series on Indian television portraying the life of Chanakya or Chandragupta Maurya.