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Post Mauryan Period – 185 BC – 319 AD (Vidisha, M.P)
Mauryans were succeeded by many ruling dynasties from Central Asia in North-West India and by native rulers
- Sunga’s
- Kanvas
- Satvahanas in the eastern central and Deccan region of India
Sunga Dynasty – 185 BC – 73 BC
- Sunga Dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Sunga a Brahmin Commander in Chief of last Mauryan ruler named Brihadratha in 185 BC
- Pushyamitra was a staunch adherent of orthodox Hinduism. The great Buddhist stupa at Bharhut was built during the reign of Sungas.
- Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Agnimitra the hero of Kalidasa’s drama ‘Malvikagnimitra’
- After Agnimitra a series of weak rulers such as Vasumitra, Vajramitra, Bhagabhadra, Devabhuti followed leading to the decline of the dynasty
- Patanjali author of the ‘Mahabhasya’ was born at Gonarda in central India. Patanjali was the priest of 2 Asvamedha Yajnas performed by Pushymitra Sunga
- The Bharhut Stupa is the most famous monument of the Sunga Period
- The fine gateway railing which surrounds the Sanchi stupa built by Ashoka constructed during the Sunga period
Kanvas Dynasty – 73 BC – 28 BC (Pataliputra)
Devabhuti the last ruler of the Sunga dynasty was murdered by his minister Vasudeva who usurped the throne and founded the Kanva dynasty
The period of Kanva rule came to end in 28 BC
Satvahanas Dynasty – 60 BC – 225 AD (Pratishtana/Paithan - Maharashtra)
- The most important of the native successors of the Mauryas in the Deccan and Central India were the Satvahanas
- The Satvahanas are considered to identical with the Andhra’s who were mentioned in the Puranas
- Simuka (60BC-37BC) was the founder of the Satvahanas dynasty
- Satakarni I its 3rd ruler raised its power and prestige dynasty
- Hala its 17th ruler was the author of ‘Gathasaptasati’ or ‘Sattasai’ in Prakrit. Gunadhya the author of ‘vrihat katha’ was the contemporary of Hala
- Vasishthiputra Sri Satakarni its 24th ruler was married to the daughter of Saka Kstrapa Rudradaman by defeated by him twice.
- Yajna Sri Satakarni its 27th ruler was the dynasty last great ruler
- Pulamavi III its 30th ruler was the last Satvahanas ruler
- Satvahanas were finally succeeded by the Ikshvakus in 3rd century AD
- Satavahanas started the practice of donating land with fiscal and administrative immunities to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks which eventually weakened their authority. The earliest inscriptional evidence of land grant in India belongs to 1st century BC
- The official language of the Satavahanas was Prakrit
- The Satavahanas issued their coins in lead, copper, bronze and potin
Chedi Dynasty of Kalinga
The history of Kalinga after the death of Ashoka is shrouded in obscurity. A new dynasty known as the Cheti or Chedi dynasty rosse in the region probably the 1st century BC
A follower of Jainism, Kharvela was liberal patronof Jain monks for whose residence he constructed caves on the Udayagiri hill near Bhubaneshwar in Orissa
Foreign States
The Indo-GreeksA series of invasion began in about 200 BC. The weak Mauryan king failed to restrict them. The first to invade India were the indo Greeks who ruled Bactria lying South of the Oxus river in the area covered by North Afghanistan. They occupied a large portion of North Western India and moved up to Ayodhya and Pataliputra
The most famous Indo Greek ruler was Menander – 165 -145 BC or Milinda. He had his capital at Sakala. He invaded the Ganga Yamuna doab. He was converted to Buddhism by Nagasena. Menander and Nagasen’s converstion were recorded in the book Milindapanho or ‘the questions of Milinda’
They were the first rulers in India to issue coins. The Greek rule introduced features of Hellinistic art in the North West frontier of India.
- The Sanskrit term for astrology Horshastra is derived from the Greek term horoscope
- They were the first to issue gold coins
- The Indo Greek rule is important in the history of India because of the large number of coins which they issue.
The Sakas – 1st to 4th Century AD
The Sakas also known as Scythians replaced the Indo Greeks in India
The Greeks were followed by the Shaka
There were five branches of Shakas ruling from
- Afghanistan
- Punjab
- Mathura
- Western India
- Deccan
A king of Ujjain who called himself Vikramaditya defeated Shakas. An era called the Vikram Samvat is recorded from the event of his victory over the Shakas – 57 BC
The most famous Shaka ruler in India was Rudradaman – 130-150 AD
He repaired the Sudarshan Lake in the semi-arid zone of Kathiawar and issued the first ever longest inscription in Chaste Sanskrit at Junagarh
Other important Saka ruler in India were
- Nahapana
- Ushavadeva
- Chastana
- Ghamatika
The Parthians – 1st century AD – 3rd century AD
Originally the Parthians lived in Iran thy replaced the Sakas in North Western India but controlled an are much smaller than the Sakas and Greeks
The most famous Parthian king was Gondaphernes in whose reign St. Thomas is said to have come to India for the propagation of Christianity
The Kushanas 1st -3rd century AD
The Kushanas were one of the five Yeuchi clans of Central Asia
They replaced the Parthians in North Western India and then expanded to the lower Indus basin and the upper and middle Gangetic basin
The first Kushanas dynasty was founded by Kadphises I/ Kujul Kadphises. The second king was Kadphises II/ Vema Kadphises who issued gold coins
Kanishka founded the 2nd Kushanas dynasty. His capitals were at Peshawar and Mathura
Kanishka – 78-101 AD
He was also known as Second Ashoka and was the most famous Kushanas ruler. He had two capitals were at Peshawar and Mathura
Kanishka started an era in AD 78 which is now known as Saka era and is used by Government of India
He patronized the fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir where the doctrine of Mahayana form of the Buddhism was finalized
Kanishka patronized the following persons
- Ashwaghosha Buddhacharita
- Nagarjuna Madhyamik
- Vasumitra chairman of the fourth Buddhist council
- Charaka Charakasamhita
The last Kushana ruler was Vasudeva I.
Gandhara School of art
- It exhibits the influence of Greek and Roman art: patronized by Shakas and Kushanas
- The school specialized in Buddha and Bodhi sattva images, stupas and monasteries.
- They used blue schist stone
- Buddha’s of this school of art are gentle, graceful and compassionate
Mathura school of Art
- The Buddha of the Gandhara School of Art were copied here but in a refined way
- The majority of creations consisted of nude, seminude figures of female, Yakshinis or Apsara in an erotic pose
- The image exhibited not only masculinity and energetic body but also grace and religious feeling
Amaravati School of Art
Lord Buddha depicted in the form of a Swastika mark. Also depicted Buddha in the human form for the first time
The ornate bull or ‘Nandiswara’ situated in the Amareswara temple is also an Amaravati piece of art
The Sangam Period 1st -3rd Century AD
- The Cheras
- The Chera country occupied the portion of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu
- The capital of Chera was Vanjji
- Its main ports were Muzris and Tondi
- The Romans set up two regiment at Muzris in Chera country
- They also built a temple of Augustus at Muzris
- One of the earliest and better known among Chera rulers was Udiyangeral. It is said that he fed both the armies of Kurukshetra war and so earned the title Udiyangeral
- The greatest of Chera king however was Senguttuvan or Red Chera. It is said that he invaded the north and even crossed the Ganges
- He was also the founder of the famous Pattini cult related to worship of goddess of chastity – kannagi
The Cholas
- The chola kingdom called as Cholamandalam was situated to the north east of Pandya kingdom between Pennar and Vellar rivers
- The Chola kingdom corresponded to the modern Tanjore and Tiruchchirap palli districts
- Its inland capital was Uraiyaur a place famous for cotton trade.
- Puhar identical with Kaveripattanam was the main port of Cholas and served as alternative capital of Cholas
- The earliest known Chola king was Elara who conquered Sri Lanka and ruled over it for nearly 50 years
- Their greater king was Karikala who founded Puhar and constructed 160 km of embankment along the Kaveri River with the help of 12000 Sri Lankan slaves
- They maintained an efficient navy
- The Cholas were wiped out in the attack of Pallavas from the North
The Pandyas
- The Pandyas were first mentioned by Megasthanese who said their kingdom was famous for pearls
- The Pandya territory included modern districts of Tirunelvelli, Ramand and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. It had its capital at Madurai situated on the banks of Vaigai River
- The Pandya king profited from trade with Roman Empire and sent emissaries to Roman emperor Augustus and Trojan
- The Pandyas find mention in the Ramayana and Mahabharata
- The earliest known Pandyan ruler was Mudukudumi
- The greatest Pandya king Nendujelian accused Kovalan of theft. As a result the city of Madurai was laid under a curse by Kannagi ( Kovalan’s wife)
