There are multiple causes for the decline of the Mauryan 1
empire such as weak successors, partition of empire and
administrative abuses after Ashoka's reign. After the death of Ashoka, his successors were not able to keep the vast Mauryan Empire intact.
Kalinga declared its independence and in the farther south,
the Satavahanas established their independent rule. The Mauryan rule was confined to the Gangetic valley and it was soon replaced by the Sunga dynasty
Sungas and Kanvas:
• The founder of the Sunga dynasty was Pushyamitra Sunga, who was the commander-in- chief under the Mauryas. He ascended the throne of Magadha in 185 B.C. Pushyamitra was a staunch follower of Brahmanism.
• He performed two asvamedha sacrifices. After the death of Pushyamitra, his son Agnimitra became the ruler. Agnimitra was a great conqueror.
• He was also the hero of the play Malavikagnimitram written by Kalidasa. During their rule there was a revival of Brahminical influence.
• The Bhagavata religion became important. Patanjali, author of the 'Mahabhasya', was born at Gonarda in Central India.
• Patanjali was the priest of 2 Asvamedha Yajnas, performed by Pushymitra. In arts, 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.
• The last Sunga ruler was Devabhuti, who was murdered by his minister Vasudeva Kanva, the founder of the Kanva dynasty. The Kanva dynasty ruled for 45 years.
• After the fall of the Kanvas, the history of Magadha was a blank until the establishment of Gupta dynasty
www.sairamsampatiraoeducation.com Satavahanas
• The most important of the native successors of the Mauryas in the Deccan and in central India were the Satavahanas.
• The Satavahanas are considered to be identical with the Andhras who are mentioned in the 2 Puranas.
• According to some Puranas altogether the Andhras ruled for 300 years and this period is assigned to the rule of the Satavahana dynasty.
• The earliest inscriptions of the Satavahanas belong to the first century B.C., when they defeated the Kanvas and established their power in parts of central India.
• The early Satavahana kings appeared not in Andhra, in the upper but in Maharashtra where most of their early inscriptions have been found.
• They set up their power Godavari valley, which at present produces rich and diverse crops in Maharashtra. The fortunes of the family were restored by Gautamiputra Satakarni (A.D. 106- 130).
• He called himself the only brahmana, defeated the Sakas and destroyed many kshatriya rulers. He claims to have destroyed the Kshaharata lineage to which his adversary Nahapana belonged.
• He also occupied Malwa and Kathiawar which lay under the control of the Sakas.
• The successors of Gautamiputra ruled till A.D 220. The coins and inscriptions of his immediate successor Vasisthiputra Pulumavi (A.D 130- 154) are found in Andhra, and show that by the middle of the second century this area had become a part of the Satavahana kingdom.
• He set up his capital at Paithan or Pratisthan on the Godavari in Aurangabad district.
Chedi:
• The information derived from Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela the greatest ruler of Kalinga of this dynasty. He constructed caves on the Udaygiri hill near Bhuvaneshwar.
• Around 1st century BC, Kingdom of Chedis or Chetis was founded in Kalinga.
• The politics of this period is known for the 3rd Chedi king of kalinga known as Kharvela.
• Hathgumpha inscription of Udaigiri hills of Orissa describe him as great conqueror who Magadh, Satvahanas and Pandyas of Madurai.
• Chedis are also referred to as Cheta or Chetavamsa, and Mahameghavahana
www.sairamsampatiraoeducation.com Central Asian Contacts and Their Results:
The Indo-Greeks:
• A series of invasions took place from about 200 B.C. The first to cross the Hindukush were the 3 Greeks, who ruled Bactria, lying south of the Oxus river in the area covered by north Afghanistan.
• Two Greek dynasties ruled north-western India on parallel lines at one and the same time.
• The most famous Indo-Greek ruler was Menander (165-145 B.C.). He is also known by the name Milinda.
• He had his capital at Sakala (modern Sialkot) in Punjab, and he invaded the Ganga-Yamuna doab. He was converted to Buddhism by Nagasena, who is also known as Nagarjuna.
• The Indo-Bactrian rule is important in the history of India because of the large number of coins which the Greeks issued.
• The Indo-Greeks were the first rulers in India to issue coins which can be definitely attributed to the kings.
• The Indo-Greeks were the first to issue gold coins in India, which increased in number under the Kushanas.
• The Greek rule is also memorable on account of the introduction of Hellonistic art features in the north-west frontier of India, giving rise to the Gandhara art.
The Sakas:
• The Greeks were followed by the Sakas, who controlled a much larger part of India than the Greeks did.
• There were five branches of the Sakas with their seats of power in different parts of India and Afghanistan. Although the Sakas established their rule in different parts of the country, only those who ruled in western India held power for any considerable length of time, for about four centuries or so.
• The most famous Saka ruler in India was Rudradaman- I (AD 130-150). He ruled not only over Sindh, Kutch and Gujarat, but had also recovered from the Satavahanas Konkan, the Narmada valley, Malwa and Kathiawar.
www.sairamsampatiraoeducation.com • He is famous in history because of the repairs he undertook to improve the Sudarsana lake in the semi-arid zone of Kathiawar.
• Rudradaman was a great lover of Sanskrit. Although a foreigner settled in India, he issued the first-ever long inscription in chaste Sanskrit. 4 The Parthians:
• The Saka domination in north-western India was followed by that of the Parthians, and in 'many ancient' Indian Sanskrit texts the two peoples are together mentioned as Saka- Pahlavas.
• In fact they ruled over this country on parallel lines for some time. Originally the Parthians lived in Iran, from where they moved to India.
• In comparison with the Greeks and the Sakas they occupied only a small portion of north- western India in the first century.
• The most famous Parthian king was Gondophernes, in whose reign St. Thomas is said to have come to India for the propagation of Christianity.
The Kushanas:
• The Parthians were followed by the Kushanas, who are also called Yuechis or Tocharians. The Kushanas were one of the five clans into which the Yuechi tribe was divided.
• A nomadic people from the steppes of north, Central Asia living in the neighbourhood of China, the Kushanas first occupied Bactria or north Afghanistan where they displaced the Sakas.
• Finally they set up their authority over the lower Indus basin and the greater part of the Gangetic basin.
• The first dynasty was founded by a house of chiefs who were called Kadphises and who ruled for 28 years from about A.D. 50. It had two kings.
• The first was Kadphises I. who issued coins south of the Hindukush. He minted coppers in imitation of Roman coins.
• The second king was Kadphises II, who issued a large number of gold money and spread his kingdom east of the Indus. The house of Kadphises was succeeded by that of Kanishka. Its kings extended the Kushana power over upper India and the lower Indus basin.
• The early Kushana kings issued numerous gold coins with higher gold content than is found in the Gupta coins. Although the gold coins of the Kushanas are found mainly west of the
www.sairamsampatiraoeducation.com Indus, their inscriptions are distributed not only in north-western India and Sindh but also in Mathura, Sravasti, Kausambi and Varanasi.
• Kushana coins, inscriptions, sculptures and structures found in Mathura show that it was their second capital in India, the first being Purushapura or Peshawar. The most famous Kushana 5 ruler was Kanishka.
• He started an era in AD 78, which is now known as the Saka era and is used by the Government of India.
• Kanishka extended his whole-hearted patronage to Buddhism. He held a Buddhist council in
Kashmir, where the doctrines of the Mahayana form of Buddhism were finalized.
• Kanishka was also a great patron of art and Sanskrit literature. The successors of Kanishka contimied to rule in north-western India till about A.D. 230, and some of them bore typical Indian names such as Vasudeva.
