Post-Mauryan Period

It is not one neat dynasty but three overlapping strands:
• Native successors (Sungas, Kanvas)
• Foreign invaders in the north-west (Greeks, Sakas, Parthians, Kushanas)
• Deccan power (Satavahanas)
Trade — both maritime and overland — flourished throughout.

A Brahmin commander who assassinated the last Maurya, Brihadratha, in 185 BC.
His rise is treated as a Brahmanical revival; the Sungas ruled 185–73 BC.

He performed 2 Ashvamedhas.
His priest was Patanjali, author of the Mahabhashya.

• Agnimitra — the hero of Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra
• Bhagabhadra — received the Greek ambassador Heliodorus

• Bharhut Stupa built during the Sunga period
• Sanchi gateways (toranas) are Sunga-era
• Vihara, Chaitya and Stupa of Bhaja (Pune)
Notably, Buddhist art flourished despite the Brahmanical revival — no evidence of persecution.

The Indo-Greek king Antialkidas sent Heliodorus to the Sunga court of Bhagabhadra.
It is a Garuda pillar at Vidisha / Besanagar, dedicated to Vasudeva (Krishna) — the earliest evidence of Bhagavata / Vaishnavism.

The last Sunga, Devabhuti, was killed by his minister Vasudeva Kanva (73 BC).
The last Kanva was deposed by the Andhras (Satavahanas) under Simuka in 28 BC — a short reign overall.

Maurya → Sunga → Kanva → Satavahana — each dynasty ended by an insider killing the last ruler.
💡 'Ma-Su-Ka se Satya bola karo'

• Simuka — founder (60–37 BC); deposed the last Kanva
• Hala — the 17th ruler; wrote the Gathasaptasati / Sattasai (700 erotic poems in Prakrit). His contemporary Gunadhya wrote the Vrihat Katha

106–130 AD; the greatest Satavahana ruler, also called Vindhya Adhipati.
Defeated the Saka Nahapana.
The Nasik inscription (issued by his mother Gautami) calls him the protector of the varna system.

• Vashishthiputra Sri Satakarni — married the daughter of the Saka Rudradaman
• Yajna Sri Satakarni — the last great ruler; succeeded by the Ikshvakus

Capital: Pratishthana / Paithan (Maharashtra).
They are the Andhras of the Puranas. They ruled roughly 60 BC – 225 CE.

Coins mainly in lead (also copper, bronze, potin).
Metronymics: rulers were named after their mother, not father — e.g. Gautami-putra = 'son of Gautami'.

The earliest land grants in India with fiscal immunities — made to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.
Administrative units: Ahara (district), Janapada (larger territory), Grama (village).

A gendered split: royal women patronised Buddhist sites, while royal men patronised Brahmanical temples.

A royal portrait gallery, including Naganika and Satakarni.
It also records feudal titles: maharathi and mahabhoja.

• Rock-cut chaityas and viharas: Nasik, Kanheri, Karle
• Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda stupas
• Dhanyakataka (near Amaravati) — a Buddhist centre under the Mahasanghikas (UPSC 2023)

Of the Chedi / Cheti dynasty of Kalinga (Odisha), 1st cen. BC.
A Jain follower who built the Udayagiri caves for monks.

The Hathigumpha inscription near Bhubaneswar — the single source for his reign.
It describes him as a protector of the varna system.

Greeks → Sakas → Parthians → Kushanas
💡 'Great Scholars Practice Knowledge'

The Indo-Greeks (Yavanas) — the first foreign rulers of north-west India.
Demetrius was the first to invade. The Indo-Bactrians were the first to invade India, and the first to introduce military governorship.

165–145 BC; converted by the monk Nagasena — ⚠️ NOT Nagarjuna.
The Milinda Panha (a Pali text) records their dialogues.

No — he lived about 400 years later (2nd cen. BC).
The Bajaur casket inscription records Menander enshrining the Buddha's relics in a stupa.

• First coins bearing king's names + portraits
• First to issue gold coins in India
• Introduced Hellenistic art → the Gandhara school
They also introduced the Yavanika (curtain) for theatre.

Maues (Moga), ruling from Taxila. The Shakas (Scythians) arrive from the 1st cen. BC.
Their governors were called Kshatrapas.

130–150 AD; the greatest Shaka ruler.
• Repaired Sudarshana Lake
• His Junagadh / Girnar inscription is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit
• Defeated the Satavahanas twice

From Iran; controlled a smaller area than the Shakas.

The most famous Parthian ruler.
St. Thomas came to India during his reign.
He is identified with Guduvhara of the Takht-i-Bahi inscription.

From the 5 Yueh-chi clans of Central Asia.
Founder: Kujula Kadphises, who issued copper coins. The empire ran from the 1st to 3rd cen. CE.

Also called Kadphises II; a devotee of Shiva.
He issued gold coins in large numbers.
💡 1st gold coin — Indo-Greek | Gold in large quantity — Vima Kadphises | Lead coins — Satavahanas

78–101 AD; called the 'Second Ashoka' for his patronage of Buddhism.
Started the Saka Era (78 AD).
Capitals: Purushapura (Peshawar) and Mathura.
He was defeated by the Chinese general Ban Chao / Pen Chao.

Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Vasumitra, Charaka and Parshva.

• Huvishka — successor of Kanishka
• Vasudeva I — the last great ruler; a Shaivite

At Kundalavana, Kashmir, under Kanishka.
Presided over by Vasumitra, with Ashvaghosha as deputy.
Parshva was the leading monk who helped convene it.
Result: the formal Mahayana–Hinayana split.

No — he visited India 300+ years later (399–414 AD).

• Ashvaghosha — wrote the Buddhacharita
• Nagarjuna — Madhyamika / Shunyavada
• Charaka — the Charaka Samhita (Ayurveda) (UPSC 1993)

Bhaskaracharya = mathematician, ⚠️ NOT medicine.
Medicine: Dhanvantari, Charaka and Sushruta.

The Silk Route: China → Central Asia → Iran → Rome — the source of their wealth.

They show religious eclecticism — Zoroastrian, Greek and Indian deities all appear.
The Rabatak inscription claims kingship was obtained through the goddess Nana (Zoroastrian).

Art — they patronised the Gandhara school and built the stupa at Purushapura.
They were the first to have portraits of themselves made in their shrines.
They also issued the first wide-scale gold coins in India.

Hippalus, in 46–47 AD — enabling direct sailing across the Arabian Sea instead of coastal hugging.

He complained of 'bullion flowing to India' — describing Rome's trade deficit with India.

The Huna invasions ended the Roman Empire; Indian trade then shifted to South-East Asia.

• Barbaricum — at the Indus mouth
• Barygaza / Bharuch — Gujarat
• Muziris / Cranganore — Kerala; the Romans set up 2 regiments and a temple of Augustus there

• Korkai — Pandya port, famous for pearls (UPSC 2023)
• Puhar / Kaveripattinam — Chola capital and port (UPSC 2023)
• Arikamedu — near Pondicherry; an Indo-Roman trading station
• Tamralipti — Bengal, the eastern port

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Strabo's Geographica, Ptolemy's Geography, and Pliny's Natural History.

No — guilds were NOT under state control; the king was not the chief administrative authority over them.
They were organisations of craftsmen and merchants.

• Fixed their own wages, rules, standards and prices
• Had judicial powers over their own members; kings respected guild rules
• Acted as bankers — people invested money with guilds as pious endowments

Peshawar region (NW India / Pakistan), 50 BC – 5th cen. CE.
Material: grey / blue-grey schist (green schist).
Patronised by the Shaka-Kushanas; especially associated with Kanishka.

Graeco-Roman influence — the 'Graeco-Buddhist' style.
The Buddha is modelled on the Greek Apollo: wavy hair, toga drapery, muscular body, halo.
Themes are Indian, treated in Graeco-Roman style.

Mathura (UP), 150–300 CE.
Material: spotted red sandstone.
Patronised by the Kushanas.
Style: purely indigenous Indian; makes Hindu, Jain AND Buddhist images; thin drapery; Buddha shown in padmasana.

Amaravati (Andhra), on the Krishna river — ⚠️ NOT the Godavari. 150 BC – 400 CE.
Material: white marble / limestone.
Patronised by the Satavahanas.

Slender, graceful figures with dynamic narrative panels — essentially storytelling in stone.
Themes: Jataka scenes; purely Buddhist. Dhanyakataka was the Mahasanghika centre.

In early art (Bharhut, Sanchi) the Buddha appears through symbols only — the tree, wheel, stupa, lotus and horse.

Simultaneously in Gandhara and Mathura — the two schools developed anthropomorphic Buddha images independently.

Capital: Vanji (also given as Karuvur/Karur); region: Kerala.
Famous ruler: Senguttuvan, who founded the Pattini cult (worship of the goddess Kannagi).

Capitals: Uraiyur and Puhar (Kaveripatnam); the region is Cholamandalam.
Karikala founded Puhar and built an embankment on the Kaveri. At the Battle of Venni he defeated the Pandyas and Cheras.
Uraiyur was a major cotton trade centre on the Kaveri in Tiruchirappalli.

Capitals: Madurai and Korkai; famous for pearls.
• Nendujeliyan — of the Kovalan–Kannagi story; died of remorse
• Elara — conquered Sri Lanka

An assembly of poets, held under the Pandya kings at Madurai.

• 1st Sangam — at Ten-Madurai (South Madurai); nothing survives
• 2nd Sangam — at Kapatapuram; only Tolkappiyam survives (earliest Tamil grammar)
• 3rd Sangam — at North Madurai; chairman Nakkirar

• Melakanakku = Ettutogai + Pattupattu — the 18 major, narrative works
• Kilakanakku = the 18 minor, didactic works
Poem types: akam (love poems) and puram (heroic poems).

• Tolkappiyam — the earliest Tamil grammar; the only surviving work of the 2nd Sangam
• Kural / Muppal — by Tiruvalluvar; the 'Bible of the Tamil Land' (polity, ethics)

By Ilango Adigal (a Jain); called the 'Iliad of Tamil poetry'.
It mentions temples of Krishna and Baladeva at Madurai.

• Manimekalai — by Sittalai Sattanar, a Buddhist work; a sequel to Silappadikaram
• Sivaga Sindamani — by Tiruttakkadevar; Jain in tinge

Titles: Ko, Mannan, Vendan, Iraivan.
His court was the Avai.

• Amaichchar — ministers
• Purohitar — priests
• Dutar — envoys
• Senapatiyar — generals
• Orar — spies

• Karai — land tax
• Irai — tribute
• Ulgu — customs
• Iravu — forced gift

Yes — varna was known to Sangam poets.
Sangam social classes: Arashar, Vaishiyar, Velalar, Brahmanas.

• Kurinji → hilly region; hunting
• Palai → arid region; robbery
• Mullai → pastoral region
• Marutam → wetland; plough agriculture
• Neital → coastal region; fishing

Jainism, Vaishnavism and Buddhism coexisted.
Murugan was the chief deity of the Kurinji (hill) region.

Women participated in literary composition and in warrior culture.
The woman poet Kakkaipatiniyar composed poems glorifying heroic death.

A Tamil ritual of fasting till death facing North after defeat in battle — the honourable end for a defeated king.
⚠️ It has nothing to do with women bodyguards, religious discussions or guarding fields.