Post-Mauryan Dynasties — Shungas, Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Kushans & Satavahanas

Why This Chapter Matters

Once the Mauryan empire broke up after Ashoka's death, no single power controlled the subcontinent for nearly five centuries. This gap is exactly where SSC and RRB love to plant questions, because it mixes several small dynasties, each with two or three memorable facts: Pushyamitra Shunga's Ashvamedha, Menander's conversation with a Buddhist monk, Rudradaman's Sanskrit inscription, Kanishka's era and council, and Gautamiputra Satakarni's title as destroyer of the Shakas. Expect 1 to 3 questions from this chapter in a typical SSC CGL/CHSL or RRB NTPC General Awareness paper, usually testing a founder-dynasty match or a single standout fact about a ruler.

The sub-topics that repeat most are the Kushan era (78 CE, Saka Samvat), Kanishka's fourth Buddhist council at Kundalvan in Kashmir, the Menander-Nagasena dialogue recorded in the Milinda Panha, Rudradaman's Junagadh rock inscription (the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit), and the Gandhara and Mathura schools of art that flowered under Kushan patronage. Satavahana trade with Rome and their matrilineal royal naming style (using the mother's name, like Gautamiputra) is another favourite. Keep the sequence of dynasties straight: Shunga and Kanva ruled in the Ganga plains right after the Mauryas, while Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Kushans entered from the north-west, and the Satavahanas built a separate power base in the Deccan around the same time.

1. The Shunga Dynasty (185–73 BCE)

The last Mauryan king, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his own commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Shunga, in 185 BCE. This murder, described in Buddhist and Puranic sources, ended the Mauryan line and started the Shunga dynasty with its capital at Pataliputra, later shifting attention to Vidisha in central India as well.

Pushyamitra Shunga performed two Ashvamedha (horse) sacrifices to declare his independent sovereignty, a detail recorded in the Ayodhya (Dhanadeva-Ayodhya) inscription of a later Shunga-era ruler, Dhanadeva. He fought off a Greek (Indo-Greek) invasion that reached as far as Pataliputra; the Sanskrit play Malavikagnimitram by Kalidasa, written centuries later, refers to Pushyamitra's son Agnimitra, then viceroy at Vidisha.

Buddhist tradition, particularly the text Divyavadana, accuses Pushyamitra Shunga of persecuting Buddhists and destroying stupas, though most historians today treat this as exaggerated sectarian polemic rather than settled fact. What is not disputed is that Shunga rule patronised Brahmanical revival: Sanskrit gained ground again after the Mauryan preference for Prakrit, and Manusmriti is believed by many historians to have been compiled or redacted around this period.

Shunga-era art shows continuity, not collapse. The railings and toranas (gateways) of the Bharhut stupa (Madhya Pradesh) belong to this period, carved with Jataka stories and early relief work. Some early additions to the Sanchi Stupa railing are also dated to Shunga times, although the famous carved gateways of Sanchi came later, under the Satavahanas.

The dynasty had ten kings over about 112 years by traditional reckoning; the last, Devabhuti, was killed by his own minister Vasudeva, who founded the next dynasty.

1.1 The Kanva Dynasty (73–28 BCE)

Vasudeva Kanva overthrew the last Shunga king around 73 BCE and started the short-lived Kanva dynasty, again ruling from Magadha. Four Kanva rulers are named in the Puranas: Vasudeva, Bhumimitra, Narayana and Susharman. The dynasty lasted only about 45 years before the Satavahanas of the Deccan are said to have overthrown the last Kanva king, though evidence for this is thin. After the Kanvas, Magadha's political importance faded for a while as power shifted to regional kingdoms.

2. The Indo-Greeks (Yavanas)

While the Shungas and Kanvas held the Ganga plains, the north-west saw a wave of foreign rule beginning with the Indo-Greeks, also called Yavanas in Indian sources (from "Ionian").

After Alexander's invasion (326 BCE), Greek governors held on to Bactria (northern Afghanistan) for generations. Around 180 BCE, the Bactrian Greek king Demetrius I crossed the Hindu Kush and invaded north-western India, founding what historians call the Indo-Greek kingdom. Later this splintered into several competing Indo-Greek principalities across the Punjab and Afghanistan.

The most important Indo-Greek ruler for exam purposes is Menander I (Milinda), who reigned around 165–130 BCE with his capital at Sagala (modern Sialkot). Menander converted to Buddhism, and his philosophical conversation with the Buddhist monk Nagasena is recorded in the Pali text Milinda Panha ("Questions of Milinda"). This is one of the most frequently tested facts of this chapter: Menander is the Indo-Greek king linked with the Milinda Panha and Nagasena.

Indo-Greek rule is remembered mainly for its coinage: they issued the first Indian coins carrying portraits of rulers along with bilingual legends (Greek on one side, Kharosthi/Prakrit on the other), a practice that influenced all later dynasties in the north-west. Indo-Greek rule ended gradually as Shaka (Scythian) groups pushed into the region from Central Asia through the 1st century BCE.

3. The Shakas (Scythians) and the Western Kshatrapas

The Shakas, called Scythians in Greek and Central Asian sources, entered India in several waves from around the 2nd century BCE, driven south by pressure from nomadic tribes in Central Asia. They set up multiple branches: in the Indus region, in Mathura, and most durably as the Western Kshatrapas (Satraps) in Gujarat, Malwa and Kathiawar.

Indian tradition credits a Shaka king, Vikramaditya (not to be confused with the later Gupta title), with starting the Vikram Samvat era in 58 BCE, though this attribution is disputed among historians. The Shakas of the western region later reckoned time using the Shaka Samvat, starting 78 CE, which India's government adopted as the Indian national calendar era in 1957.

The single most exam-worthy Shaka ruler is Rudradaman I (mid-2nd century CE), the greatest of the Western Kshatraps, who ruled from Ujjain. His Junagadh rock inscription (Gujarat), dated around 150 CE, is the earliest known long inscription written in chaste, polished Sanskrit (earlier major inscriptions, like Ashoka's, were in Prakrit). The inscription records that Rudradaman repaired the Sudarshana lake, originally built under Chandragupta Maurya's governor Pushyagupta and improved under Ashoka's governor Tushaspa, showing an unbroken administrative memory stretching back to Mauryan times. SSC has tested this "who repaired the Sudarshana lake" angle before, so remember the three names together: Pushyagupta (built), Tushaspa (improved under Ashoka), Rudradaman (repaired).

4. The Kushans

The Kushans were a branch of the Yuezhi, a Central Asian nomadic confederation. One Yuezhi clan, the Kushans, unified the others under their chief Kujula Kadphises in the 1st century CE, who is regarded as the founder of Kushan power in India, expanding from Bactria into the north-west.

His successor Vima Kadphises expanded Kushan territory further into India and issued a large number of gold coins, showing the dynasty's control of trade wealth along the Silk Route.

4.1 Kanishka: the Greatest Kushan Ruler

Kanishka, who came to the throne roughly around 78 CE (many historians link this date to the start of the Shaka Samvat era, though this identification is debated), is the most important Kushan ruler by far. His empire stretched from Central Asia (Bactria) through Afghanistan and the Indus region into the Gangetic plains, with two capitals: Purushapura (modern Peshawar) and Mathura.

Kanishka is remembered for three things that exams test again and again:

1. He convened the Fourth Buddhist Council at Kundalvan in Kashmir, presided over by Vasumitra with Ashvaghosha as vice-president. This council is associated with the compilation of Mahayana Buddhist doctrine and the writing of commentaries in Sanskrit rather than Pali.
2. He was a great patron of Mahayana Buddhism, though he personally also showed interest in other faiths, as seen from the mixed religious imagery (Greek, Zoroastrian, Hindu and Buddhist deities) on his coins.
3. His court patronised Sanskrit literary and scientific figures including the poet-playwright Ashvaghosha (author of the Buddhacharita, a biography of the Buddha) and the physician Charaka, traditionally linked to Kanishka's court, though this link is not fully certain in modern scholarship.

Kanishka's empire connected India to the great Silk Route trade, bringing prosperity that shows up in the sheer quantity and variety of Kushan-era coinage found across the north-west and Central Asia.

4.2 Kushan Art: Gandhara and Mathura Schools

Kushan patronage produced two distinct schools of art, a favourite exam comparison.

Feature	Gandhara School	Mathura School
Region	North-west (Peshawar-Taxila belt, present Pakistan/Afghanistan)	Mathura (Uttar Pradesh)
Material	Grey/blue schist and stone	Spotted red sandstone
Style influence	Greco-Roman (foreign influence, realistic drapery, wavy hair)	Indigenous Indian tradition
Subject	Mainly Buddha images, Bodhisattvas	Buddha, Jain Tirthankaras, Brahmanical deities, and portrait statues (e.g. Kanishka's headless statue)
Popular name	"Greco-Buddhist art"	Native/indigenous school

Both schools are credited with producing some of the earliest anthropomorphic (human-form) images of the Buddha, replacing the older aniconic symbols (footprint, empty throne, wheel, stupa) used in early Buddhist art.

Kushan rule in India weakened by the mid-3rd century CE under pressure from the rising Sasanian Empire of Persia, though Kushan successor states lingered in parts of the north-west for longer.

5. The Satavahanas of the Deccan

While the north dealt with Shunga, Kanva, Indo-Greek, Shaka and Kushan rule, the Deccan plateau produced its own major power: the Satavahanas, also called the Andhras in Puranic lists. They are generally dated from around the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE, with their power base in present-day Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Their early capital was Pratishthana (modern Paithan) on the Godavari river; Amaravati later grew as an important centre too.

The founder is usually named as Simuka in Puranic tradition. The dynasty's greatest ruler was Gautamiputra Satakarni (early 2nd century CE), praised in his mother Gautami Balashri's Nashik inscription as the destroyer of the Shakas, Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parthians), and as a restorer of Brahmanical social order after prolonged foreign rule. His son Vashishthiputra Pulumavi succeeded him, and Satavahana power gradually declined against renewed Shaka (Western Kshatrapa) pressure, notably from Rudradaman I, before the dynasty eventually broke apart into smaller successor states in the 3rd century CE.

A distinctive Satavahana practice, useful for exams, is the use of metronymics: kings were named after their mothers (Gautami-putra means "son of Gautami"), suggesting an unusually prominent place for royal women, or at least their lineage, in official identity.

The Satavahanas controlled and profited from the Deccan's inland and maritime trade routes, linking the western coast ports to Roman trade and the eastern coast to South-East Asian trade. Roman gold coins, found in hoards across the Deccan, along with references in Roman sources (such as the anonymous Greek text known as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea), confirm this trade link. They also patronised Buddhism: work on the great gateways (toranas) of the Sanchi Stupa is generally attributed to Satavahana-period patronage, and cave excavations continued at sites such as Karla and Nasik in this period. Some Satavahana kings performed Vedic sacrifices too, showing a mixed religious patronage typical of the age.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Pushyamitra Shunga killed the last Mauryan king Brihadratha in 185 BCE and founded the Shunga dynasty.
• Pushyamitra performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices; recorded in the Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva.
• Malavikagnimitram by Kalidasa mentions Pushyamitra's son Agnimitra.
• Buddhist text Divyavadana accuses Pushyamitra of anti-Buddhist persecution.
• Bharhut Stupa railings and gateways belong to the Shunga period.
• Vasudeva Kanva overthrew the last Shunga king, Devabhuti, around 73 BCE.
• The Kanva dynasty had four kings and lasted about 45 years.
• Demetrius I led the first major Bactrian Greek (Indo-Greek) invasion of India around 180 BCE.
• Menander I (Milinda), ruling from Sagala, is linked to the Milinda Panha, his dialogue with monk Nagasena.
• Indo-Greeks introduced coins with royal portraits and bilingual (Greek-Prakrit) legends.
• The Shakas (Scythians) entered India from Central Asia from around the 2nd century BCE.
• Rudradaman I, greatest Western Kshatrapa ruler, ruled from Ujjain.
• Junagadh rock inscription (c. 150 CE) of Rudradaman is the earliest long inscription in pure/chaste Sanskrit.
• Sudarshana lake: built by Pushyagupta (Chandragupta Maurya's governor), improved by Tushaspa (Ashoka's governor), repaired by Rudradaman.
• Shaka Samvat era began 78 CE; adopted as India's national calendar in 1957.
• Kujula Kadphises founded Kushan power in India; Vima Kadphises issued extensive gold coinage.
• Kanishka (c. 78 CE) is the greatest Kushan ruler, with capitals at Purushapura (Peshawar) and Mathura.
• Kanishka convened the Fourth Buddhist Council at Kundalvan, Kashmir, chaired by Vasumitra with Ashvaghosha as deputy.
• Ashvaghosha, Kanishka's court poet, wrote the Buddhacharita.
• Gandhara art used Greco-Roman style on grey stone; Mathura art used indigenous style on red sandstone.
• Both Gandhara and Mathura schools produced some of the earliest human-form images of the Buddha.
• Kushan power declined by the mid-3rd century CE under pressure from the Sasanian Empire.
• Simuka is traditionally named as the founder of the Satavahana dynasty.
• Satavahana capital: Pratishthana (Paithan) on the Godavari; also associated with Amaravati.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni is called destroyer of Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas in the Nashik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri.
• Satavahana kings used metronymics (named after their mothers), e.g. Gautamiputra, Vashishthiputra.
• Satavahanas profited from Deccan trade with Rome, confirmed by Roman coin hoards and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
• Satavahana patronage contributed to the carved gateways (toranas) of Sanchi Stupa.

Memory Tables

Table 1: Dynasty at a Glance

Dynasty	Approx. period	Region/Capital	Founder	Most-tested ruler	Key fact
Shunga	185–73 BCE	Pataliputra (also Vidisha)	Pushyamitra Shunga	Pushyamitra	Killed Brihadratha; 2 Ashvamedhas
Kanva	73–28 BCE	Magadha	Vasudeva Kanva	Vasudeva	Only 4 kings, ~45 years
Indo-Greek	c. 180 BCE onward	Punjab/Afghanistan; Sagala	Demetrius I	Menander I	Milinda Panha, dialogue with Nagasena
Shakas/Western Kshatrapas	2nd c. BCE–4th c. CE	Ujjain, Gujarat, Malwa	(various satraps)	Rudradaman I	Junagadh inscription, chaste Sanskrit
Kushans	1st c.–3rd c. CE	Purushapura, Mathura	Kujula Kadphises	Kanishka	Fourth Buddhist Council, Shaka Samvat 78 CE
Satavahanas	1st c. BCE–3rd c. CE	Pratishthana (Paithan)	Simuka	Gautamiputra Satakarni	Destroyed Shakas/Yavanas/Pahlavas; Roman trade

Table 2: Key Inscriptions and Texts of the Period

Source	Type	Associated ruler/person	Significance
Ayodhya inscription	Stone inscription	Dhanadeva (Shunga era)	Records Pushyamitra's Ashvamedhas
Malavikagnimitram	Sanskrit play (Kalidasa)	Agnimitra (Shunga)	Literary reference to Shunga royal family
Divyavadana	Buddhist text	Pushyamitra Shunga	Alleges persecution of Buddhists
Milinda Panha	Pali Buddhist text	Menander I and Nagasena	Philosophical dialogue on Buddhism
Junagadh rock inscription	Stone inscription	Rudradaman I	Earliest long Sanskrit inscription; Sudarshana lake repair
Nashik cave inscription	Cave inscription	Gautami Balashri (on Gautamiputra Satakarni)	Praises victories over Shakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas
Buddhacharita	Sanskrit epic poem	Ashvaghosha (Kanishka's court)	Biography of the Buddha
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea	Greek geographical/trade account	Anonymous Greek/Roman author	Records Indo-Roman maritime trade

Practice MCQs

Q1. Who assassinated the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha to found the Shunga dynasty? (a) Vasudeva Kanva (b) Pushyamitra Shunga (c) Agnimitra (d) Devabhuti

Q2. Pushyamitra Shunga performed which Vedic sacrifice to assert his sovereignty? (a) Rajasuya (b) Vajapeya (c) Ashvamedha (d) Agnihotra

Q3. Which Sanskrit play by Kalidasa refers to Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Shunga? (a) Abhijnanashakuntalam (b) Malavikagnimitram (c) Meghaduta (d) Raghuvamsha

Q4. The Kanva dynasty overthrew which ruling house to gain control of Magadha? (a) Nanda (b) Maurya (c) Shunga (d) Gupta

Q5. Which Indo-Greek king is associated with the Buddhist text Milinda Panha? (a) Demetrius I (b) Menander I (c) Antialcidas (d) Eucratides

Q6. In the Milinda Panha, the Indo-Greek king holds a philosophical dialogue with which Buddhist monk? (a) Vasumitra (b) Ashvaghosha (c) Nagasena (d) Nagarjuna

Q7. The Junagadh rock inscription, the earliest long inscription in chaste Sanskrit, belongs to which ruler? (a) Kanishka (b) Rudradaman I (c) Gautamiputra Satakarni (d) Vima Kadphises

Q8. The Sudarshana lake, mentioned in the Junagadh inscription, was originally built under whose governorship? (a) Tushaspa (b) Pushyagupta (c) Rudradaman (d) Vasumitra

Q9. The Shaka Samvat era, adopted as India's national calendar in 1957, began in which year? (a) 58 BCE (b) 320 CE (c) 78 CE (d) 185 BCE

Q10. Kanishka convened the Fourth Buddhist Council at which location? (a) Rajgir (b) Vaishali (c) Kundalvan, Kashmir (d) Pataliputra

Q11. Which court poet of Kanishka authored the Buddhacharita, a biography of the Buddha? (a) Nagarjuna (b) Vasumitra (c) Ashvaghosha (d) Charaka

Q12. Which of the following pairs of art schools under the Kushans is correctly matched with its material? (a) Gandhara – red sandstone (b) Mathura – grey schist stone (c) Gandhara – grey/blue schist stone (d) Mathura – marble

Q13. Gautamiputra Satakarni, praised in the Nashik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri, belonged to which dynasty? (a) Kushan (b) Satavahana (c) Shunga (d) Western Kshatrapa

Q14. Arrange the following in chronological order of their rise to power: 1. Kushans 2. Shunga dynasty 3. Indo-Greeks 4. Kanva dynasty (a) 2-4-3-1 (b) 3-2-4-1 (c) 2-3-4-1 (d) 4-2-3-1

Q15. Which of the following statements about the Satavahanas is correct? (a) They ruled mainly from Pataliputra and never engaged in maritime trade (b) They used metronymics such as "Gautamiputra" and profited from trade with Rome (c) They were a branch of the Yuezhi confederation from Central Asia (d) Their founder Simuka is credited with starting the Shaka Samvat era

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
1	(b)	Pushyamitra Shunga killed Brihadratha in 185 BCE.
2	(c)	He performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices to claim sovereignty.
3	(b)	Malavikagnimitram references Agnimitra, viceroy of Vidisha.
4	(c)	Vasudeva Kanva overthrew the last Shunga king, Devabhuti.
5	(b)	Menander I (Milinda) is the king in the Milinda Panha.
6	(c)	Nagasena is the monk who debates Menander in the text.
7	(b)	The Junagadh inscription (c. 150 CE) belongs to Rudradaman I.
8	(b)	Pushyagupta, Chandragupta Maurya's governor, built the lake.
9	(c)	The Shaka Samvat era began in 78 CE.
10	(c)	The Fourth Buddhist Council met at Kundalvan in Kashmir.
11	(c)	Ashvaghosha wrote the Buddhacharita at Kanishka's court.
12	(c)	Gandhara art used grey/blue schist; Mathura used red sandstone.
13	(b)	Gautamiputra Satakarni was the greatest Satavahana ruler.
14	(c)	Order: Shunga (185 BCE) - Indo-Greek rise (from c. 180 BCE) - Kanva (73 BCE) - Kushans (1st c. CE onward).
15	(b)	Satavahanas used metronymics and traded with Rome via Deccan ports.