Chanakya niti with the concept of Gautam Budhha

The legend of Chanakya and Chandragupta is detailed in the Pali-language Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka. It is not mentioned in Dipavamsa, the oldest of these chronicles.[10] The earliest Buddhist source to mention the legend is Mahavamsa, which is generally dated between 5th and 6th centuries. Vamsatthappakasini (also known as Mahvamsa Tika), a commentary on Mahavamsa provides some more details about the legend. Its author is unknown, and it is dated variously from 6th century CE to 13th century CE.[11] Some other texts provide additional details about the legend; for example, the Maha-Bodhi-Vamsa and the Atthakatha give names of the 9 Nanda kings who supposedly preceded Chandragupta.[10][12]
Jain version
The Chandragupta-Chanakya legend is mentioned in several commentaries of the Shvetambara canon. The most well-known version of the Jain legend is contained in the Sthaviravali-Charita or Parishishta-Parvan, written by the 12th century writer Hemachandra.[1] Hemachandra's account is based on the Prakrit kathanaka literature (legends and anecdotes) composed between the late 1st century CE and mid-8th century CE. These legends are contained in the commentaries (churnis and tikas) on canonical texts such as Uttaradhyayana and Avashyaka Niryukti.[13]
Thomas Trautmann believes that the Jain version is older and more consistent than the Buddhist version of the legend.[13]
Kashmiri version
Brihatkatha-Manjari by Kshemendra and Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva are two 11th century Kashmiri Sanskrit collections of legends. Both are based on a now-lost Prakrit-language Brihatkatha-Sarit-Sagara, which itself is based on the now-lost Paishachi language Brihatkatha by Gunadhya. The Chanakya-Chandragupta legend in these collections actually focuses on another character named Shakatala (IAST: Śakaṭāla).[14]
Mudrarakshasa version
Mudrarakshasa ("The signet ring of Rakshasa") is a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta. Its date is uncertain, but it anachronistically mentions the Hunas, who invaded northern India during the Gupta period. Therefore, it could not have been composed before the Gupta era.[15] It is dated variously from the late 4th century[16] to the 8th century.[17] The Mudrarakshasa legend contains narratives not found in other versions of the Chanakya-Chandragupta legend. Therefore, most of it appears to be pure fiction, without any historical basis.