The Post-Mauryan India

Unit 2

The Post-Mauryan India

Learning Objectives

• To acquire knowledge of the history of dynasties and kingdoms that emerged after the breakup of the Mauryan Empire

• To gain an understanding of the polity, society, economy, and culture of various kingdoms that were established in the south, north and north-west of India

• To become familiar with their contributions to early medieval India

Introduction

The break-up of Mauryan Empire resulted in the invasions of Sakas, Scythians, Parthians, Indo-Greeks or Bactrian Greeks and Kushanas from the north-west. In the south, Satavahanas became independent after Asoka’s death. There were Sungas and Kanvas in the north before the emergence of Gupta dynasty. Chedis (Kalinga) declared their independence.

It has to be noted here that, though Magadha ceased to be the premier state of India, it continued to be a great centre of Buddhist culture.

Sources

Archaeological Sources

Inscriptions

* Ayodhya Inscription of Dana Deva

* Persepolis, Nakshi Rustam  Inscriptions  

* Moga(Taxila copper plate)

* Junagadh/Girnar Inscription

 * Nasik Prasasti

* Inscription of Darius I

Coins

* Coins of Satavahanas

* Coins of Kadphises II

* Roman coins

Literary Sources

* Puranas

* Gargi Samhita

* Harshacharita of Banabhatta

* Mahabhasya of Patanjali

* Brihastkatha of Gunadhya

* Madhyamika Sutra of Nagarjuna

* Buddhacharita of Asvaghosha

* Malavikagnimitra of Kalidasa

Foreign Notice

* Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler

The Sungas and Kanvas in the North

The Sungas

The last Mauryan emperor, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his own general, Pushyamitra Sunga, who established his Sunga dynasty in Magadha. Pushyamitra made Pataliputra as his capital.

Pushyamitra’s kingdom extended westward to include Ujjain and Vidisha. He successfully repulsed the invasion of Bactria king, Menander. But Menander managed to keep Kabul and Sindh.

Pushyamitra thwarted an attack from the Kalinga king Kharavela. He also conquered Vidarba. He was a staunch follower of Vedic religion. He performed two Asvamedha yagnas (horse sacrifices) to assert his imperial authority.

During the Sunga period, stone was replaced by wood in the railings and the gateways of the Buddhist stupas as seen in Bharhut and Sanchi.

Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. This Agnimitra is said to be the hero of Kalidasa’s Malavikagnimitra. The drama also refers to the victory of Vasumitra, Agnimitra’s son, over the Greeks on the banks of the Sindhu river.

The weak successors of Sungas constantly faced threats from the Indo-Bactrians and Indo-Parthians. The Sunga dynasty lasted for about one hundred years. The last Sunga king was Devabhuti. He was killed by his own minister Vasudeva Kanva. Vasudeva established the rule of Kanva dynasty in Magadha.

Importance of the Sunga Period

The Sungas played an important role in defending the Gangetic Valley from the encroachments of the Bactrian Greeks. Pushyamitra, and then his successors, revived Vedic religious practices and promoted Vaishnavism. Sanskrit gradually gained ascendancy and became the court language.

Patanjali, the second grammarian in Sanskrit, was patronized by Pushyamitra.

Though Pushyamitra persecuted Buddhists, during his reign the Buddhist monuments at Bharhut and Sanchi were renovated and further improved. The Great Stupa of Sanchi and the railings, which enclose it, belong to the Sunga period.

King Kharavela of Kalinga was a contemporary of the Sungas. We get information about Kharavela from the Hathigumba Inscription.

The Kanvas

The Kanva dynasty produced four kings and their rule lasted only for 45 years.The history of Magadha after the fall of the Kanvas is devoid of any significance until the emergence of the Gupta dynasty.

The Kanva rulers were

* Vasudeva

* Bhumi Mitra

* Narayana

* Susarman

The last Kanva ruler Susarman was assassinated by his powerful feudatory chief of Andhra named Simuka, who laid the foundation of the Satavahana dynasty.

Satavahanas in the South

The Kushanas in the north and the Satavahanas (Andhras) in the south flourished for about 300 years and 450 years, respectively. Simuka, the founder of the Satavahana dynasty, is said to have ruled for twenty-three years. His successor was his brother Krishna. The latter and his nephew Satakarni ruled for ten years each, establishing an empire, holding control over a vast area stretching from Rajasthan in the northwest to Andhra in the southeast and from Gujarat in the west to Kalinga in the east. Satakarni is said to have performed two horse sacrifices (Asvamedha yagna) , indicative of his imperial position.

GautamiputraSatakarni was the greatest ruler of the family. In the Nasik prashasti, published by his mother GautamiBalasri, GautamiputraSatakarni is described as the destroyer of Sakas, Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parthians). The extent of the empire is also mentioned in the record. Their domain included Maharashtra, north Konkan, Berar, Gujarat, Kathiawar and Malwa. His ship coins are suggestive of Andhras’ skill in seafaring and their naval power. The Bogor inscriptions suggest that South India played an important role in the process of early state formation in Southeast Asia.

Contributions of Satavahanas

Literature

The Satavahana king Hala was himself a great scholar of Sanskrit. The Kantara school of Sanskrit flourished in the Deccan in second century B.C. Hala is famous as the author of Sattasai (Saptasati), 700 stanzas in Prakrit.

Art and Architecture

The Satavahana rulers were great builders. They began constructing Buddhist Stupas  in Amaravati.

The world-famous life-size statues of Buddha at Bamyan valley on the mountains of the erstwhile northwestern frontiers of ancient India (currently in central Afghanistan and recently destroyed by the Talibans), were carved out of the solid rocks by the dedicated artists of the Gandhara School of Art during the post-Mauryan period.

A bronze statue of the standing Buddha discovered in Oc-Eo (an archaeological site in Vietnam) resembles the Amaravati style. The later Satavahana kings issued lead or bronze coins depicting ships with two masts. A stone seal discovered in NakhonPathom in Thailand has the same design.

Gandhara, Madhura, Amaravati, Bodh Gaya, Sanchi and Bharhut were known for splendid monuments and art. The Mathura School of Sculpture produced images and life-size statues of the Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain deities.

Indo-Greeks, Indo-Parthians, Sakas and Kushanas

Indo-Greeks and Indo-Parthians

After the conquest of north-western India and the Punjab region, Alexander the Great left the conquered territories under provincial governors. Two of its eastern satrapies, Bactria and Parthia, revolted under their Greek Governors and declared their independence. The satrapy of Bactria became independent under the leadership of Diodotus I and Parthia under Arsaces.

After the decline of the Mauryan empire, the Greek rulers of Bactria and Parthia started encroaching into the northwestern border lands of India. The Bactrian and Parthian settlers gradually inter-married and inter-mixed with the indigenous population. This facilitated the establishment of Indo-Greek and Indo-Parthian colonies along the north-western part of India.

Rulers of Indo Greeks

Demetrius I – He was the son of Greco- Bactrian ruler Euthydemus.

He was king of Macedonia from 294 to288 BC (BCE). Numismatic evidence proves that Demetrius issued bi-lingual square coins with Greek on the obverse and Kharosthi on the reverse. Scholars are not able to decide which of the three,named Demetrius, was the initiator of theYavana era, commencing from second Demetrius Menander century BC (BCE) in India.

Menander– He was one of the best known Indo-Greek kings. He is said to have ruled a large kingdom in the north-west of the country. His coins were found over an extensive area ranging from Kabul valley and Indus river to western Uttar Pradesh. MilindaPanha, a Buddhist text, is a discourse between Bactrian king Milinda and the learned Buddhist scholar Nagasena. This Milinda is identified with Menander. Menander is believed to have become a Buddhist and promoted Buddhism.

Contributions of Indo-Greeks

Coinage: Indo-Greek rulers introduced a die system and produced properly shaped coins with inscription, symbols and engraved fi gures on them. Indians learnt this art from them.

Sculpture: The Gandhara School of Indian Art is heavily indebted to Greek infl uence. The Greeks were good cave builders. The Mahayana Buddhists learnt the art of carving out caves from them and became skilled in rock-cut archicture.

Sakas

The Indo-Greek rule in India was ended by the Sakas. Sakas as nomads came in huge number and spread all over northern and western India. The Sakas were against the tribe of Turki nomads. Sakas were Scythians, nomadic ancient Iranians, and known as Sakas in Sanskrit.

Saka rule was founded by Maos or Mogain in the Gandhara region and his capital was ‘Sirkap’. His name is mentioned in Mora inscription. His coins bear images of Buddha and Siva.

Rulers of Indo-Parthians (Pahlavas)

Indo-Parthians came after the Indo-Greeks and the Indo-Scythians who were, in turn, defeated by the Kushanas in the second half of the first century AD (CE). Indo-Parthian kingdom or Gondopharid dynasty was founded by Gondophernes. The domain of Indo-Parthians comprised Kabul and Gandhara. The name of Gondophernes is associated with the Christian apostle St.Thomas. According to Christian tradition, St.Thomas visited the court of Gondophernes and converted him to Christianity.  

St.Thomas

Rudradaman was the most important and famous king of Sakas. His Junagadh/Girnar inscription was the first inscription in chaste Sanskrit. In India, the Sakas were assimilated into Indian society. They began to adopt Indian names and practise Indian religious beliefs.

The Sakas appointed kshatrapas or satraps as provincial governors to administer their territories.

Kushanas

The Kushanas formed a section of the yueh-chi tribes, who inhabited north-western China in the remote past. In the first century BC(BCE), the yueh-chi tribes were composed of five major sections, of which the Kushanas attained political ascendancy over others.

By the beginning of Christian era, all the yueh-chi tribes had acknowledged the supremacy of the Kushanas; they had shed their nomadic habits and settled down in the Bactrian and Parthian lands, adjacent to the north-western border of India.

The Kushanas overran Bactria and Parthia and gradually established themselves in northern India. Their concentration was mostly in the Punjab, Rajaputana and Kathiawar. Kushana rulers were Buddhists. Takshashila and Mathura continued to be great centres of Buddhist learning, attracting students from China and western Asia.

The Kushana Kings

Kanishka

Kanishka was the greatest of all the Kushana emperors. He assumed the sovereignty in 78 AD and proclaimed his rule by the foundation of a new era, which later became Saka era.

The Kushana capital initially was Kabul. Later, it was shifted to Peshavar or Purushpura.

Kadphises I

He was the first famous military and political leader of the Kushanas. He overthrew the Indo-Greek and Indo-Parthian rulers and established himself as a sovereign ruler of Bactria. He extended his power in Kabul, Gandhara and upto the Indus.

Kadphises II

He maintained friendly relationship with the emperors of China and Rome and encouraged trade and commerce with the foreign countries. Some of his coins contained the inscribed figures of Lord Siva and his imperial titles were inscribed in the Kharosthi language.

Conquests

Kanishka conquered and annexed Kashmir. He waged a successful war against Magadha. He also waged a war against a ruler of Parthia to maintain safety and integrity in his vast empire on the western and south-western border. After the conquest of Kashmir and Gandhara, he turned his attention towards China. He defeated the Chinese general Pan-Chiang and safeguarded the northern borders of India from Chinese intrusion.

His empire extended from Kashmir down to Benaras, and the Vindhya mountain in the south. It included Kashgar, Yarkhand touching the borders of Persia and Parthia.

Religious Policy

Kanishka was an ardent Buddhist. Kanishka’s empire was a Buddhist empire. Kanishka adopted Buddhism under the influence of Asvaghosha, a celebrated monk from Pataliputra. Though a great warrior and an em pire-builder, Kanishka was as equal as the exponent and champion of Mahayanism.

Kanishka made Buddhism as the state religion and built many stupas and monasteries in Mathura, Taxila and many other parts of his kingdom. He sent Buddhist missionaries to Tibet, China and many countries of Central Asia for the propagation of Buddha’s gospel.

He organised the fourth Buddhist Council at Kundalavana near Srinagar to sort out the differences between the various schools of Buddhism. It was only in this council that Buddhism was split into Hinayanism and Mahayanism.

Art and Literature

Kanishka was a great patron of art and literature. His court was adorned with a number of Buddhist saints and scholars, like Asvaghosha, Vasumitra and Nagarjuna.

Asvaghosha was the celebrated author of the first Sanskrit play, Buddhacharita.

He founded the town of Kanishkapura in Kashmir and furnished the capital of Purushapura with magnificent public buildings.

The Gandhara School of Art flourished during his time. The most favourite subject of the Gandhara artists was the carving of sculptures of Buddha.

Buddhist learning and culture was taken to China and Mongolia from Takshashila. The great Asiatic culture mingled with Indian Buddhist culture during the Kushana’s time.

Kanishka’s successors were weak and incompetent. Kushana empire rapidly disintegrated into number of small principalities.

Elsewhere

Kushana Empire corresponded with the last days of the Roman Republic, when Julius Caesar was alive. It is said that Kushana Emperor sent a great embassy to Augustus Caesar.

Summary

* The break-up of Mauryan empire resulted in the invasions of Sakas, Scythians, Parthians, Indo-Greeks and Kushanas from the north-west.

* The last Mauryan emperor, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his own general, Pushyamitra Sunga, who established Sunga dynasty in Magadha.

* The history of Magadha after the fall of the Kanvas is devoid of any significance until the emergence of the Gupta dynasty.

* The Kushanas in the north and the Satavahanas (Andhras) in the south flourished for about 300 years and 450 years, respectively.

* Rudradaman was the most important and famous king of Sakas.

* The best known of the Kushanas was Kanishka who was an ardent follower of Mahayana form of Buddhism. Gandhara Art developed during this period.

GLOSSARY

1. repulsed driven back by force விரட்டியடிக்கப்பட்டது

2. thwarted prevent from accomplishing something முறியடிக்கப்பட்டது

3. encroachments intrusion oaperson’s territory, rights etc, ஆக்கிரமிப்புகள்

4. renovated Restored(somethingold,especiallya building) to a good state of repair

புதுப்பிக்கப்பட்டது

5. assimilate absorb (information, ideas or culture) fully ஒன்றிப்போதல்

6. ardent enthusiastic or passionate தீவிர

7. magnificent impressively beautiful அற்புதமான