POST MAURYAN PERIOD-INDIGENOUS RULING

Post Mauryan period

The era of indigenous ruling dynasties

(200BC-300AD)

Archaeological sources

1. The coins were associated with the kings and indo-greeks were the first Indian kings who issued the first Indian gold coins
2. Some inscription evidence
3. Junagarh inscription of rudradaman
4. Hathigumpha inscription of kharavela
5. Ajodhya inscription of Dhana deva
6. Nasik inscription of gautami balashri
7. Kanheri inscription of vaishataputra

The indigenous dynasties

SUNGAS

• They had their capital at pataliputra and Vidisha
• Information about the Sunga dynasty is found in garga, Samhita, the nahabhasaya of Patanjali, divyavadana, malavikagnimotram of Kalidasa, and the harschacharita of bana

PUSHYAMITRA SAGA:

• He was the founder of the suga dynasty who assassinated the last Mauryan king brihadaratha in 184 BC
• Pushyamitra also faced an invasion of kharavela, the king of Kalinga
• The Buddhist inscriptions depict Pushyamitra as the destroyer of Buddhist monasteries ad places of worship
• Sanchi stupa was repaired and Bhurat stupa was constructed fully in the time of the sungas
• Bhadbhadra was another important king of the dynasty
• Sungas came to be confined to the Magadha and central Indian territories only
• Devabhuti was the last sunga king, who according to Bana Bhatta was murdered by his bragamana minister Vasudeva (75 BC)
• Heliodrous was the ambassador of the Greek king antialias and stayed in the court f bhagbhadra
• Heliodrous constructed a pillar for lord Vasudeva AKA Vishnu known as the garudaadhwaja

KANVAS (75-30BC)

1. Vasudeva was the founder of the dynasty known as the kanvas or kanvayana in Magadha
2.  Bhumimitra succeeded by his son Narayana who was succeed by his son susharman
3. According to Puranas, the andhrabhriyas overthrew this dynasty

CHEDIS

1. Chedis capital was kalingangara
2. The greatest and the most powerful king of this dynasty was kharavela, with his capital at kalinganagara
3. The only source of information was about the king kharavela in the Hathigumpha inscription written in Prakriti language and Brahmi script

SATAVAHANAS (230BC-220AD)

• The satavahanas appeared as the successors of the Mauryan in the Deccan
• The satavahanas were known as andhras, andhrajataiyah, and andhrabhrtiyas in the puranic list
• The aitareya Brahama refers to the andhras as the degenerated sons of vishvamitra
• A recent excavation in Telangana resulted in the discovery of a large number of satavahanas coins and seals
• These discoveries testify that Telangana was the nucleus of the satavahanas empire
• The description of satakrnai-I as dakshinapatha pati in the nanghat inscription proves that the satavanahana dominion included other areas of the Deccan and beyond
• Simuka was the founder of the satavahana dynasty
• Their kingdom extended up to nasil in the west
• Kanha was succeeded by simuka’s son Sri satakarni I
• The 6th king was satakami-II who ruled for 56 yrs. and who wrested eastern malwa from the sungas, satakrani-II had to face the invasion of kharavela
• He was succeeded by his son lambodra who was followed by his son apika
• Hala’s region of 5yrs was a period of great prosperity, he composed gatha saptasati an anthology of 700 erotic verses in Maharashtra or paischi Prakriti
• During this time the satavahanas suffered setbacks when Osaka’s invaded the empire from all directions
• The satavahana power was revived by gautamiputra satakrnai in AD 80-104 who was also called as ekambaramana-who was regarded as the greatest king of the satavahana dynasty
• His achievements were recorded as the glowing terms by his mother gautami balashri
• The last great king was yajna sri satakrnai
• Yajna issued Ujjain coins bearing fish and boat sigils
• After his rule, the satavahana started to disintegrate
• The position of women improved in the society inter-caste marriages and marriage with foreigners were permitted, growth of art-Amaravati, nagaeajunakonda, Nasik, Karle flourished during the satavahana period

THE FOREIGN RULING DYNATIES

INDO-GREEKS

• Greek expansion in India was the work of Demetrius-I, he was perhaps the first foreign king after alexander who carried Greek arms into the interior parts of India
• He made Sakala his capital, he took back Gandhara and Taxila, making Taxila an advanced base
• Demetrius-II was put in charge of the territories between Hindukush and the Indus
• Demetrius-I sent two sections of his armies for further conquest to pataliputra and Indus respectively

MENANDER (165-145BC)

• He was the most famous indo Greek king
• He had his capital at Sakala and extended his power from swat valley to Punjab as the Ravi river

SCYTHIANS:

• The satrapal form of government received a fresh impetus during the Scythian rule in India, the chief feature of which was the system of joint rule of a mahasatrapa and satrap
• The title satrap means it was the Achaemenid the conquerors of the northern and western India

THE KSHAHARATA FAMILY

• Bhumaka was the first satrap of the kshaharata family
• Nahapana succeeded Bhumaka
• The kshahsharata were succeeded by the Saka family of the kardamakas with its capital at Ujjain

THE KARDAMAKA FAMILY

• Chastana was the first ruler of the kardamaka family

THE SHAKAS (90BC-100AD)

• The Greeks were followed by the shalas who controlled the greater part of India than the Greeks
• The five seats of power were
• Afghanistan
• Punjab
• Mathura
• Western India
• Upper decan

RUDRADAMAN-I

• He was the most famous ruler of the shaka rulers
• the Junagarh inscription testifies rudraman twice defeated by the lake of Saurashtra by rudradaman governor in Saurashtra sutivashakh, the expense was bored completely by the exchequer

PARTHIANS (247BC-224AD)

• the rule of the saka and the Parthians were simultaneous in the northwestern and north India
• The Parthians originated in Iran
• Gondopherenes was however the greatest Indo Parthian monarch

KUSHANAS

• At the beginning of the 1st century BC, the yuehchis have their nomadic habits and divided themselves into 5grown principalities
• Kujula kadphaises-I organized the other 4 groups under his leadership, he used copper coins which showed the roman influence
• Wima kadpahises also known was yen Kao chan, succeded his father

KANISHKA

• Kanishka is usually regarded as the successor of Vima kadphises
• He was regarded as the greatest king of his dynasty, creating the Saka era
• His Sarnath inscriptions suggest that his rule was based on the satrapa system
• His capital was purushapura or Peshawar. this had been testified by hieun Tsang
• he established many cities in Kashmir
• He conveyed the fourth Buddhist council at kundalvan in Kashmir
• He was a great patron of letters and arts Gandhara art flourished during his reign