Post-Mauryan India: Shungas, Satavahanas, Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Kushanas

An age of many kingdoms (c. 200 BCE – 300 CE)

After the Mauryas, India had no single empire for about five centuries. It was once called a "dark age", but historians now see it as one of the most creative periods: trade with Rome and Central Asia boomed, new art schools emerged (Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravati), Mahayana Buddhism and Bhagavata religion grew, and Sanskrit literature and science flourished. Two broad groups of rulers existed: native dynasties (Shungas, Kanvas, Chedis, Satavahanas) and foreign dynasties from the north-west (Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians, Kushanas).

Native dynasties of the north and east

Shungas (c. 185–73 BCE).

• Founded by Pushyamitra Shunga, a brahmana commander. Capital: Pataliputra, with Vidisha as an important centre.
• He performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices, marking a revival of Vedic ritual. Buddhist texts accuse him of persecuting Buddhists, but the Shunga period saw major work at Bharhut and Sanchi stupas, so this claim is doubtful.
• He resisted Greek invasions; his grandson Vasumitra defeated the Greeks on the Sindhu.
• Agnimitra is the hero of Kalidasa's play Malavikagnimitram.
• Patanjali wrote the Mahabhashya (commentary on Panini's grammar) in this period.
• The Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar (Vidisha) was erected by Heliodorus, a Greek envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the Shunga court. It calls him a Bhagavata (devotee of Vasudeva), early evidence of a foreigner adopting an Indian faith.

Kanvas (c. 73–28 BCE). Founded by Vasudeva Kanva after killing the last Shunga king Devabhuti; overthrown by the Satavahanas.

Chedis of Kalinga. Kharavela (1st century BCE) of the Mahameghavahana dynasty is known from the Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri (Odisha). It records his year-by-year deeds: welfare works, a canal first dug by a Nanda king, wars against Magadha and the Satavahanas, and support for Jainism.

The Satavahanas of the Deccan (c. 1st century BCE – 3rd century CE)

The Satavahanas (called Andhras in the Puranas) were the first great Deccan power. Capitals: Pratishthana (Paithan) on the Godavari and later Amaravati/Dharanikota on the Krishna.

Key rulers:

• Simuka – founder.
• Satakarni I – performed Ashvamedha and Rajasuya; known from the Naneghat inscription of his queen Naganika.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni (c. 106–130 CE) – the greatest ruler. The Nashik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri calls him the destroyer of Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas and restorer of the Satavahana glory. He defeated the Shaka ruler Nahapana and restruck his coins. He called himself ekabrahmana (unique brahmana).
• Vashishthiputra Pulumayi – extended power to Andhra.
• Yajna Sri Satakarni – the last great king; coins with a ship symbol show sea trade.
• Hala – compiled the Prakrit poetry anthology Gathasaptashati.

Distinctive features:

• Matronymics: kings were named after their mothers (Gautamiputra, Vashishthiputra), yet the society was patriarchal and succession passed to sons.
• First rulers to make land grants to brahmanas and Buddhist monks with tax exemptions – the beginning of a trend that later shaped feudalism.
• Official language Prakrit in Brahmi script.
• Coins in lead, potin, copper; ports such as Sopara, Kalyan, Bharuch (Barygaza) and on the east coast.
• Buddhist architecture: Karle chaitya, Nashik caves, Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda stupas, Ajanta early caves (9 and 10).

Foreign dynasties in the north-west

Indo-Greeks (Bactrian Greeks).

• Demetrius invaded around 190 BCE.
• Menander (Milinda), c. 165–145 BCE, capital Sakala (Sialkot); converted to Buddhism after debating Nagasena (Milindapanho).
• Contributions: the first gold coins in India in some accounts and the first coins with portraits of kings and their names; introduced Hellenistic art, which led to Gandhara art; Greek words in astronomy (e.g. *horashastra*); curtain (yavanika) in theatre.

Shakas (Scythians).

• Five branches: Taxila, Mathura, Ujjain (Western Kshatrapas), Nashik and Kashmir/Afghanistan.
• Rudradaman I (c. 130–150 CE) of the Ujjain branch is the most famous: his Junagadh (Girnar) inscription (150 CE) is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit, and records the repair of the Sudarshana lake.
• The Vikrama Samvat era of 57 BCE is traditionally linked to a king of Ujjain who expelled the Shakas.

Parthians (Pahlavas). Gondophernes (1st century CE); the Christian tradition says St Thomas visited his court.

Kushanas (from the Yuezhi tribe of Central Asia).

• Kujula Kadphises founded the dynasty; Vima Kadphises issued large numbers of gold coins and favoured Shiva.
• Kanishka (accession c. 78 CE, when the Shaka Samvat era began – now India's national calendar). Capitals Purushapura (Peshawar) and Mathura. He patronised Mahayana Buddhism and convened the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. His court had Ashvaghosha (Buddhacharita), Nagarjuna, Vasumitra, the physician Charaka (Charaka Samhita) and the politician-philosopher Parshva.
• The Kushana empire spread from Central Asia to the Ganga, controlling the Silk Road, and took the title Devaputra ("son of god"), borrowed from Chinese imperial ideas.

Economy and culture of the period

• Trade with Rome peaked; Roman gold coins found at Arikamedu (Puducherry) and elsewhere. Pliny complained that India drained Rome of gold. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes Indian ports.
• Guilds became powerful, acted as banks and donated to Buddhist sites.
• Art: Gandhara (Greco-Roman style, grey schist, wavy hair, Buddha images), Mathura (indigenous, red sandstone, smiling Buddha, Jain and Hindu images), Amaravati (white marble, narrative reliefs).
• Literature and science: Manusmriti took its form; Charaka (medicine), Sushruta (surgery, in this broad period); Bharata's Natyashastra (date debated).

Mains practice question

Q. "The post-Mauryan period was an age of political fragmentation but cultural and economic flowering." Substantiate. (150 words)

Framework: politics divided among native and foreign dynasties; trade (Rome, Silk Road, ports), coinage (gold, portrait coins), guilds; art (Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravati); religion (Mahayana, Bhagavatism); literature and science; conclude that fragmentation encouraged exchange and synthesis.

Quick self-test

1. Who erected the Besnagar pillar? *(Heliodorus)*
2. Whose inscription is the first long one in Sanskrit? *(Rudradaman, Junagadh)*
3. Which era began in 78 CE? *(Shaka Samvat)*
4. Who compiled the Gathasaptashati? *(Hala)*
5. Which inscription mentions Gautamiputra Satakarni? *(Nashik, by Gautami Balashri)*

How foreigners became Indian

One of the most striking features of this age is assimilation. Foreign rulers did not remain outsiders:

• Religion: Menander turned to Buddhism, Heliodorus became a Vaishnava, Vima Kadphises called himself a devotee of Maheshvara (Shiva), and Kanishka patronised Buddhism while his coins show Greek, Iranian and Indian gods side by side.
• Language: Rudradaman chose Sanskrit for his inscription and boasted of his skill in grammar, music and logic.
• Society: the Manusmriti classed Shakas and Yavanas as kshatriyas who had lapsed from duty – a way of fitting them into the varna order.
• Names and marriages: Shaka rulers took Indian names and married into local families; Rudradaman's daughter married a Satavahana prince.

This process enriched Indian culture: trousers and long coats, the turban, cavalry tactics, the saddle, better coinage and new art styles entered India, while Indian religions and ideas travelled to Central Asia and China.

Science and learning

The period saw progress in many fields:

• Medicine: the Charaka Samhita on internal medicine and diagnosis; the Sushruta Samhita on surgery, including rhinoplasty and cataract operations.
• Astronomy: Greek influence shows in terms like *hora* and *kendra*, and in the zodiac.
• Grammar: Patanjali's Mahabhashya.
• Law: Manusmriti and Yajnavalkya Smriti began to codify social law.
• Drama: Ashvaghosha's Sanskrit plays, and Bhasa's plays (date debated).

Key terms glossary

• Kshatrapa / Mahakshatrapa: Shaka governors and great governors.
• Yavana: Greeks (later any westerner).
• Devaputra: "son of god", a Kushana title.
• Agrahara: tax-free land granted to brahmanas.