After Ashoka's death the Mauryan Empire got divided into north and south. The South collapsed when different clans like Kalinga & Satvahana Dynasty declared independence while in North the Bactrian invasions instigated the Mauryan collapse.
Post Mauryan Empire saw a great development of Indian culture though for political solidarity it was not a very remarkable time. In this period we saw a lot of foreign invaders tried to capitalize on the fall of Maurya Empire but the Indian Culture and Society showed a great strength to withstand those invasions.
List of Dynasties
Post Mauryan Empire:
Sunga Dynasty:
Pushpamitra Sunga ended the Mauryan Empire by assassinating
Brihadratha, the last ruler of Maurya Empire; and founded Sunga Dynasty which
went on to become the successor of Maurya Empire.
Mainly the Sunga Dynasts were Brahmins but they also idolized the Buddhist art
& crafts. Sunga Dynasty was only able to control a part of erstwhile Maurya
Empire though they lost Patliputra to Bactrian and Greek invaders for some
time.
They also promoted Brahminism in different ways like Vedic and Sacrifices even
they did persecution of Buddhists. A short reign of Kanya Dynasty was followed
by the Sunga Dynasty.
Kanva Dynasty:
Vasudeva Kanva founded the Kanva Dynasty. Kanva Dynasts were believed to be descendents of Rishi Kanva that's why the dynasty was mainly Brahmin in caste. The kingdom at the time of Vasudeva Kanva had a monarchical government policy. The capital of this dynasty was Patliputra and Vidisha. Susarman was the last King of Kanva Dynasty.
The Satvahana Dynasty:
The Satavahanas became politically prominent in the middle
of the 1st century BC, after the decline of Mauryan Empire in Deccan. They were
considered to succeed Maurya's in the best possible way.
The greatest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni (1st
century A.D.). He defeated Nahapana the ruler of Shaka and extended the
Satavahana in Western India.
From river Krishna in south to the river Godavari in north
it was the extension of the kingdom of Gautamiputra Satkarni. Pratishthana
which is present day Aurangabad in Maharashtra was the capital of Satavahana
Dynasty.
The Chedis/Chetas of Kalinga:
After the decline of Mauryan Empire king Kharavela again made Kalinga free and powerful in the middle of 1st century B.C. Being a Jain he made various conquests which are recorded as his achievements on an inscription. Located in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar, Orissa it was named the Hathigumpha inscription.
This inscription got such meme because it consists with an
image of an elephant which is carved out of stone next to the boulder carrying
the inscription. Hathigumpha inscription was the only significant.
The Bactrian Indo-Greeks:
Various Greeks settled on the north-western boarder of India in the present day north of Afghanistan after death of Alexander in 323 BC. Bactria rulers are called the Bactrian-Greeks because of their Hellenistic (Greek) ancestry.
The invaders were ruled by Demetrius during the time of Pushyamitra Sunga. King Menander was the most important Indo-Greek ruler. The southern Afghanisthan and Gandhara region (to the west of Indus) both were under his rule. The famous Buddhist text referred him as king Milinda who finds mention in ‘Milindapanho.'
Sakala (Sialcot) was the capital of his kingdom. Later he
embraced Buddhism. Heliodorus who was a Greek ambassador also adopted
Vaishnavite religion and erected the Garuda Pillar at Besnagar. Even after the
death of King Menander the Greek influence in India then lasted for more than a
century.
The Sakas Dynasty:
The Scythians who captured Bactria from the Greek rulers and followed the footsteps of the Greeks to extend their rule over the northwestern parts of India were known as the Sakas. Northern Satraps and the Western Satraps these were the two distict groups of Sakas. Taxila was ruled by Northern Satraps and Western Satraps ruled over Maharashtra.
Maues was the founder the Saka rule in India in the 1st century B.C. Azes-I who was the successor of Maues, is considered to be the founder of the ‘Vikrama era’. Rudradaman-I was the most famous Shaka ruler who ruled in the middle of 2nd century AD.
He repaired Sudarshana Lake which was originally built
during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. He engraved all his works in an
inscription at Girnar/Junagarh. This inscription is the first royal inscription
of India which is composed in chaste Sanskrit. Saka rulers of Taxila were
overthrown by the Parthians.
The Parthians:
Iranians in origin the Parthians had strong cultural connection with the Shakas, making them referred to as ‘Shaka-Pahlava’. ‘Takht-i-Bahi’ was the name of inscription which is situated in the northwestern area of Pakistan at Mardan near Peshawar indicates the Parthian rule.
Gondophernes /Gondophares was referred to as a Parthian
ruler, it was dated in 45 A D.. He is believed to have taken up Christianity
later in his life.
The Kushanas:
The Kushanas also known as Yuehis or Tocharians followed the Parthians. The Yuechi tribe consisted of five clans and the Kushanas were one of them.
Out of the two successive dynasties in the Kushanas, Kadphises founded he first dynasty, who ruled for 28 years from A.D. 50. Kadphises I and II or Vima Kadphises were the two kings of this dynasty.
The greatest Kushana King was Kanishka who spread his kingdom beyond the western Himalayas. He also played a big role in popularized Buddhism in Tibet, China, and Central Asia.
The post Mauryan period was a dangerous time for Indian History as the feud between the local powers made gaps for invaders and helped them to capture the Indian territory easily.
Written by: Gourav Chowdhury
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