Romila Thapar seems to view Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) as first Indian emperor but Wikipedia seems to differ

Thapar says in her Early India book, "In relation to the early past an empire is recognized as a more evolved and complex form of state .." and that empires involve a "differentiated economy" whereas kingdoms usually have a more uniform economy. Thapar does not refer to the Nanda kingdom that was captured by Chandragupta Maurya, as an empire. While I could not locate a sentence where Thapar specifically refers to Chandragupta Maurya as an emperor, the following sentences from her book imply it: "The empire was founded by Chadragupta Maurya, who succeeded to the Nanda throne in c. 321 BC." (After various expansions of the area under Chandragupta Maurya's rule around 303 BC) "The territorial foundation of the Mauryan empire had been laid, with Chandragupta controlling the Indus and Ganges plains and the borderlands - a formidable empire by any standards."

(Encyclopædia) Britannica also refers to him as emperor,  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chandragupta .

The wiki page on Chandragupta Maurya, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandragupta_Maurya , does not refer to him as an emperor. It says that he founded the Maurya dynasty and expanded the Magadha kingdom.

The wiki page has an interesting photo of a statue of the boy Chandragupta Maurya in Indian parliament with the text, "SHEPHERD BOY CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA DREAMING OF THE INDIA HE WAS TO CREATE", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Chandragupta_Maurya_at_Parliament_of_India.jpg . Very interesting!

https://www.mapsofindia.com/history/chandragupta-mauryan-empire-320-bce.html shows a map of the Mauryan kingdom/empire under Chandragupta Maurya in 320 BCE.

The Chandragupta Maurya wiki page says that under Asoka (Ashoka) the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, the Magadha kingdom expanded to an empire.

Ashoka the Great's wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka , also refers to him as an Indian emperor. This map in the wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maurya_Empire,_c.250_BCE_2.png , shows the massive extent of the Mauryan empire in 250 BCE (under Ashoka the Great). It covers almost the whole of Indian sub-continent with only some parts of South India excluded.

Note that Wikipedia does not say Ashoka is the first Indian emperor. Instead https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanda_Empire refers to Nanda Empire, which was succeeded by Chandragupta whom Wikipedia does not refer to as emperor! So there seems to be some confusion in these Wikipedia pages.

So who is the first Indian emperor, going by historical evidence? I think the picture is not clear. Chandragupta seems to be viewed as the first Indian emperor, based on historical evidence, by many but perhaps some view Ashoka as the first Indian emperor, based on historical evidence.

Fascinatingly Nalla Sopara near Mumbai is close to a famous ancient port town called Sopara that dates to Mauryan times! The above map shows Sopara on the Western coast of India and does not have any other nearby cities on the coast!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nala_Sopara#Sopara states that Sopara was an important port town from 3rd century BCE (Mauryan empire times) to 9th century CE, and that a stupa and rock edicts of Ashoka have been found there. Hmm. Nalla Sopara railway station name was familiar to me as a Western railway suburban station but I had no idea that it was close to a 3rd century BCE ancient town with relics from that period! If I had known it during my Mumbai days, I would surely have visited it.

सोपारा स्तूप की कहानी | A Tale of the Sopara Stupa (Hindi language video), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiGKmyd5CeQ , 12 min. 40 secs. has pics of some of these relics. I am happy that even if I could not see them in person, this youtube video shows me pics of it. Many thanks to "Live History India" for the video.