DOCSLIB.ORG

Post Mauryan Period in India Study Materials

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Post Mauryan Period in India Study Materials Post Mauryan period In India Study Materials POST-MAURYAN PERIOD Following the downfall of the Mauryan Empire The Kushana Kingdom controlled parts in the Second Century BC, the region of south of Afghanistan and Iran, and in India its realm Asia became a collage of regional powers India's stretched from Purushapura (modem Peshawar. north-western border again was left unguarded, Pakistan) in the north-west, to Varanasi (Uttar attracting a series of invaders between 200 BC Pradesh) in the cast, and to Sanchi (Madhya and 300 AD. The absence of any strong Pradesh) in the south. For a short period, the resistance paved the way for various foreigners kingdom reached still farther east to Pataliputra. to come to India one after the other. They were The Kushana Kingdom was the crucible of trade the (i) Indo-Greeks (Bactrians); (ii) Indo- among the Indian, Persian, Chinese and Roman Parthians (Pahlavas); (iii) Indo- Scythians Empires, and controlled a critical part of the (Sakas) and (iv) Kushans (Yu-chi tribe). As the legendary Silk Road. Aryan had done, the invaders became The Kushans belonged to the Yu-chi ‘Indianised’ in the process of their conquest and tribe in central Asia, which later spread into the settlement. Also, this period witnessed Kansu Province of Turkey. They were in remarkable intellectual and artistic achievement constant fight with the Saka tribe in Tibet, on the inspired by cultural diffusion and syncretism. Jaxartan River bank. The Sakas kept evading the The Indo-Greeks, or the Bactrians, of the north- Yu-chi rulers till they passed the northern passes west contributed to the development of and entered India. numismatics; they were followed by another The Yu-chi tribe consisted of five main group from the steppes of central Asia, the sub-tribes with Ki-shung as the chief among Shakas (or Scythians), who settled in western them. The Ki-shung tribesmen later prospered India. Yet another nomadic tribe, the Yuezhi, and came to be called as Kushans. who were forced out of the Inner Asian steppes of Mongolia, drove the Shakas out of north- Kushana Rulers western India and established the Kushana KADAPHISES I (TILL AD 68) Kingdom (first century BC to third century AD). The first ruler of the Kushans had great THE KUSHANS victories over the Greeks, Sakas and Parthinns The Kushans ruled in two dynasties— on the borders of India and captured the Kadaphises and Kanishkas, Kadaphises ruled important region of Hindukush Mountains. He is from AD 50 to 78 and Kanishka’s rule started known to have fought a decisive battle with from AD 78 onwards. The Kushanas were Parthians in ad 48 at Gandhara and established patrons of Gandharan art—a synthesis of Greek the Kushan Empire in that region. During his literature.The instand Indian style and Sanskrit a rule, Kushans used the Kharosti script and new and era called Shaka in AD 78, and their Buddhism was their main religion. calendar, which was formally recognised by India for civil purposes, starting on 22 March Other Notable Events in the 1957, is still in use. Purushapura was their first Post-Mauryan Era capital and Mathura was their second capital. St Thomas visited India to propagate examsdaily.in Page 1 Post Mauryan period In India Study Materials Christianity during the rule of KADAPHISESII (VIMA Gondophernes of the Parthian Dynasty. KADAPHISES) (AD 65-75) The Indo-Bactrian or Indo Greek series of wars was fought during 200 BC, He succeeded his father and went on to capture which established two Greek dynasties Punjab, the Ganges plains and the Banaras at north-western India. regions. Unlike his father he was a worshipper King Menander (or Milinda) is the of Lord Shiva. Coins of his era describe him as most famous among the Bactrian Maheshwara or Emperor of the entire world. rulers, as we find respectful mention of The abundance of gold and silver coins denotes him by Kshemendra (eleventh century the prosperity during his rule. Indians started to AD) in his Avadanakal-palata. trade heavily with the Chinese. Greeks and Milinda’s dialogue between the king of Persians in silk, spices, gems and many other Saka la (Sialkat) and Nagasena (also items. known as Nagarjuna) is recorded in the Pali work Milinda Panho (Questions of Milinda). Eventually, Milinda was KANISHKA (AD 78-120) converted to Buddhism by Nagasena. The Indo-Greeks were the first rulers After the Kadaphises came Kanishka. to issue gold coins in India and Kanishka was their main ruler and well known introduced features of Hellenistic art in for starting the Shaka £ra, which starts from ad the north-west frontier of India, which 78. Inscriptions referring to him or to the Shaka developed info the famous Gandhara (the era in which he supposedly began his reign art. in ad 78) are found over a vast area extending The two schools of art that flourished from the Oxus frontier of Afghanistan to during the Post-Mauryan era are—the Varanasi and Sanchi. He further captured Gandhara School (also known as the Maghada and spread his empire in and beyond Greco-Buddhist School) and the the western Himalayas, including Kashmir and Amravati school. The Gandhara School Khotan in Sinkiang. Buddhist sources, to which owed its origin to the Indo-Greek we are indebted for much of this information, rulers and had patrons in the Sakas and hail him as another Menander or Ashoka; he the Kushanas (especially Kanishka) showered the sangha (the monastic community) between the first and fifth century in with patronage, presided over the Fourth the Gandhara region. The Amravati Buddhist Council and encouraged a new wave of school was established in the lower missionary activity. He popularised Buddhism in valley of Krishna and Godavari during China, Tibet, central Asia and other pans ofthe the second century BC, in the later world. However, his coins had inscriptions of Satavaham period is main centres were Greek, Persian and Hindu gods also, which Amravati, Nagarjunakonda and showed that he respected other religions too. Jaggayyapeta. It became an important Purushapura (or Peshawar), his capital, still Buddhist centre and the artists here boasts the foundations of a truly colossal stupa. mainly used white marble. With a diameter of nearly 100 m and a reported height of 200 m, it must have been ranked as one examsdaily.in Page 2 Post Mauryan period In India Study Materials of the wonders of the world at that time, could spread from the north to the south.. Mathura by the Jamuna served as his subsidiary Farther south, the three ancient Tamil capital as massive statues of Kadaphises and kingdoms— Chera (in the west), Chola (in the Kaniska were found in this region. He died east), and Pandya (in the south)—frequently while campaigning in Sinkiang, Kanishka’s involved in internecine warfare to gain regional successors, many with names also ending in supremacy. They are mentioned in Greek and ‘ishka’ continued the Kushana rule for another Ashokan sources as lying at the fringes of the century or more which later shrunk to become Mauryan Empire. A corpus of ancient Tamil one of the many petty kingdoms in the north- literature, known as Sangam (academy) works— west. including Tolkappilyam, a manual of Tamil grammar by Tolkappiyar—provides much useful The Stupa at Sanchi information about their social life, Tamil is the oldest among the spoken and literary languages To honour Buddha, Ashoka had stupas (large of South India and the earliest literature of this hemispherical domes) built in Sanchi which is language is known as the Sangam literature. a village 46 km from Bhopal in Madhya Tamil tradition tells us about three literary Pradesh. Stupas are Buddhist religious assemblies (Sangam) which met at Madurai monuments believed to shelter the relics of under the Pandyan kings. The Sangam literature Buddha. The gateways or forans, to these preserves folk memory about the society and life stupas contain highly decprated scenes from in South India between the third century bc and the life of Buddha. In the second century BC, third century AD. the Great Stupa was vandalised, possibly by Dravidian social order was based on Pushyamitra Sunga. But it has continuously different ecological regions rather than on the been rebuilt and decorated since, then. Sir John Aryan Varna paradigm, though the Brahmins Marshal letd the the restoration of the stupa had a high status at a very early stage. Segments architecture from 1912 to 1919 of society were characterised by matriarchy and matrilineal succession-which survived well into THE DECCAN AND THE SOUTH the nineteenth century--cross-cousin marriage During the Kushan Dynasty, an and strong regional identity. Tribal chieftains indigenous power, the Satavahana Kingdom emerged as kings as people moved from (first century BC to third century ad), rose in the pastoralism towards agriculture. Agriculture was Deccan in southern India. The Satavahana, or sustained by irrigation from rivers, small-scale Andhra Kingdom was considerably influenced tanks (as man-made ponds are called in India) by the Mauryan political model, though the and wells. There is also evidence of brisk power was decentralised in the hands of the maritime trade with Rome and south-east Asia. local chieftains who used symbols of Vedic religion and upheld the varnashra-madharma. Sangam literature The rulers, however, were eclectic and patronised Buddhist monuments, such as those Sangam Literature is a primary source which is in Ellora (Maharashtra) and Amaravati (Andhra used to gain knowledge about the early history Pradesh). Thus, the Deccan served as a bridge of the ancient Tamil region. Many ancient through which politics, trade and religious ideas kings: and princes have a mention in ancient examsdaily.in Page 3 Post Mauryan period In India Study Materials Sangam poems and their existence have also has two systems of dating, one the familiar been proved through archaeological evidences.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Shunga Dynasty
    UPSC Civil Services Examination UPSC Notes [GS-I] Topic: Era of the Kanva Dynasty - NCERT Notes (Ancient Indian History for UPSC) Kanva dynasty had a Brahmanic origin. The dynasty was named after the gotra of the ruler Kanva. The Kanva dynasty was founded by Vasudeva Kanva. It is believed that Vasudeva Kanva killed the Shunga ruler Devabhuti and established his own empire in 72 BCE. Kanva dynasty had a ruling phase from 72 BCE to 28 BCE. The chronology of Shunga, Kanva dynasty and Satvahana dynasty is given below: Shunga dynasty Kanva dynasty Satvahana dynasty This article throws light on the emergence of Kanva dynasty from the Shunga dynasty and other important aspects of the events that took place during the rule of the Kanva dynasty. This is an important topic for UPSC 2020 exam and other government exams. Shunga dynasty The Shunga dynasty formed a large part of Magadha and was founded by Pushyamitra Shunga after the fall of the Mauryan Empire. There were 10 rulers who ruled India during the ancient period. Major cultural reforms took place during the reign which is evident from the coins and inscriptions retrieved by archaeologists. An interesting thing to note about the Sunga dynasty was the emergence of various mixed castes and the integration of foreigners into Indian society. The language of Sanskrit gained more prominence during the rule of the Shunga kings. Even some Buddhist works of this time were composed in Sanskrit. The major rulers of the Shunga dynasty were – Pushyamitra Sunga, Agnimitra, Bhagabhadra, Devabhuti, etc. To know more about the Shunga dynasty, check the linked article.
    [Show full text]
  • UNIT 22 DISINTEGRATION of the EMPIRE Structure
    UNIT 22 DISINTEGRATION OF THE EMPIRE Structure 22.0 Objectives " , 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Successors of Asoka 22.3 Other Political Factors for Disintegration 22.4 Asoka and His Problems 22.5 Economic Problems 22.6 Growth of Local Polities 22.6.1 Major Kingdoms 22.6.2 Local Kingdoms 22.7 Let Us Sum Up 22.8 Key Words 22.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises 22.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this Unit you should be able to explain: 8 to what extent Asoka's successors are held responsible for the disintegration of the empire, 8 how various other political factors are viewed as contributing to the weakening of the empire, 8 how Asoka's policies in general are considered responsible for the decline of the empire, 8 the economic problems that the Mauryan empire believed to have faced, and 8 the emergence of local polities in both north and south India following the decline of the Mauryan rule. 22.1 INTRODUCTION -2 Mauryan rule was the first experiment in imperial government in India. Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Asoka were successful in establishing the imperial authority of the Mauryas over a large number of Janpadas or Kingdoms, and they yere able to introduce a new concept in the governance of a large territory. However, the imperial authority of the Mauryas began to weaken with aedeath of Asoka (232 B.C.) and finally collapsed in 180 B.C. What brought the disintegration of the Mauryan empire is a very complicated question and it cannot be explained by any single factor.
    [Show full text]
  • Pre-Proto-Iranians of Afghanistan As Initiators of Sakta Tantrism: on the Scythian/Saka Affiliation of the Dasas, Nuristanis and Magadhans
    Iranica Antiqua, vol. XXXVII, 2002 PRE-PROTO-IRANIANS OF AFGHANISTAN AS INITIATORS OF SAKTA TANTRISM: ON THE SCYTHIAN/SAKA AFFILIATION OF THE DASAS, NURISTANIS AND MAGADHANS BY Asko PARPOLA (Helsinki) 1. Introduction 1.1 Preliminary notice Professor C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky is a scholar striving at integrated understanding of wide-ranging historical processes, extending from Mesopotamia and Elam to Central Asia and the Indus Valley (cf. Lamberg- Karlovsky 1985; 1996) and even further, to the Altai. The present study has similar ambitions and deals with much the same area, although the approach is from the opposite direction, north to south. I am grateful to Dan Potts for the opportunity to present the paper in Karl's Festschrift. It extends and complements another recent essay of mine, ‘From the dialects of Old Indo-Aryan to Proto-Indo-Aryan and Proto-Iranian', to appear in a volume in the memory of Sir Harold Bailey (Parpola in press a). To com- pensate for that wider framework which otherwise would be missing here, the main conclusions are summarized (with some further elaboration) below in section 1.2. Some fundamental ideas elaborated here were presented for the first time in 1988 in a paper entitled ‘The coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the cultural and ethnic identity of the Dasas’ (Parpola 1988). Briefly stated, I suggested that the fortresses of the inimical Dasas raided by ¤gvedic Aryans in the Indo-Iranian borderlands have an archaeological counterpart in the Bronze Age ‘temple-fort’ of Dashly-3 in northern Afghanistan, and that those fortresses were the venue of the autumnal festival of the protoform of Durga, the feline-escorted Hindu goddess of war and victory, who appears to be of ancient Near Eastern origin.
    [Show full text]
  • Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature
    YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE KLAUS KARTTUNEN Studia Orientalia 116 YONAS AND YAVANAS IN INDIAN LITERATURE KLAUS KARTTUNEN Helsinki 2015 Yonas and Yavanas in Indian Literature Klaus Karttunen Studia Orientalia, vol. 116 Copyright © 2015 by the Finnish Oriental Society Editor Lotta Aunio Co-Editor Sari Nieminen Advisory Editorial Board Axel Fleisch (African Studies) Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (Arabic and Islamic Studies) Tapani Harviainen (Semitic Studies) Arvi Hurskainen (African Studies) Juha Janhunen (Altaic and East Asian Studies) Hannu Juusola (Middle Eastern and Semitic Studies) Klaus Karttunen (South Asian Studies) Kaj Öhrnberg (Arabic and Islamic Studies) Heikki Palva (Arabic Linguistics) Asko Parpola (South Asian Studies) Simo Parpola (Assyriology) Rein Raud (Japanese Studies) Saana Svärd (Assyriology) Jaana Toivari-Viitala (Egyptology) Typesetting Lotta Aunio ISSN 0039-3282 ISBN 978-951-9380-88-9 Juvenes Print – Suomen Yliopistopaino Oy Tampere 2015 CONTENTS PREFACE .......................................................................................................... XV PART I: REFERENCES IN TEXTS A. EPIC AND CLASSICAL SANSKRIT ..................................................................... 3 1. Epics ....................................................................................................................3 Mahābhārata .........................................................................................................3 Rāmāyaṇa ............................................................................................................25
    [Show full text]
  • Kanvas (73 BC – 28 BC) Cheti Dynasty (Kalinga) Satavahanas
    Kanvas (73 BC – 28 BC) As per the puranas, there were four kings of the Kanva dynasty namely, Vasudeva, Bhumimitra, Narayana and Susarman. The Kanvas were Brahmins. The Magadha Empire had diminished by this time considerably. Northwest region was under the Greeks and parts of the Gangetic plains were under different rulers. The last Kanva king Susarman was killed by the Satavahana (Andhra) king. Cheti Dynasty (Kalinga) The Cheti or Chedi dynasty emerged in Kalinga in the 1st century BC. The Hathigumpha inscription situated near Bhubaneswar gives information about it. This inscription was engraved by king Kharavela who was the third Cheti king. Kharavela was a follower of Jainism. Other names of this dynasty are Cheta or Chetavamsa, and Mahameghavahana. Satavahanas The Satavahana rule is believed to have started around the third century BC, in 235 BC and lasted until the second century AD. Some experts believe their rule started in the first century BC only. They are referred to as Andhras in the Puranas. The Satavahana kingdom chiefly comprised of modern-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. At times, their rule also included parts of Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Their capital cities varied at different times. Pratishthana (Paithan) and Amaravati were its capitals. Simuka founded the dynasty. They were the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with the portraits of the rulers. This practice was started by Gautamiputra Satakarni who derived the practice from the Western Satraps after defeating them. The coin legends were in Prakrit language. Some reverse coin legends are in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.
    [Show full text]
  • SUNGA and KANVA DYNASTY Sunga Empire (187 to 78 BCE)
    SUNGA AND KANVA DYNASTY Sunga Empire (187 to 78 BCE) Pushyamitra Sunga (187–151 BCE): The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Sunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire (when the emperor Brihadratha, the last of the Mauryan rulers, was assassinated by the then Senapati of the Mauryan armed forces, Pushyamitra Sunga). Its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar, modern Vidisha in Eastern Malwa. The empire of Pushyamitra was extended up to Narmada in the south, and controlled Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab in the north-western regions, and the city of Ujjain in central India. The Kabul Valley and much of the Punjab passed into the hands of the Indo-Greeks and the Deccan to the Satavahanas. Origin Patanjali in his Mahabhashya and Panini in his Ashtadhyayi clearly states Pushyamitra Sunga was a Brahmin from Bhardwaj Gotra. The meaning of “Sunga” is the fig tree in Sanskrit. So Sungas took their dynastic name from the fig tree. (Other example of Indian dynasties like Kadamba (a tree name) of Banavasi, Pallava(Sanskrit word for “branch and twig”) of Kanchi who took their dynastic name from tree.) Prosecution of Buddhists? It believed by some historians to have persecuted Buddhists and contributed to a resurgence of Brahmanism that forced Buddhism outwards to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria. The earliest reference to persecution of Buddhists by Pushyamitra Sunga is from the Sarvastivadin Buddhist text of 2nd Century CE, Divyavadana and its constituent part, the Ashokavadana.Tibetan Buddhist Historian Taranatha also mentions proscution. Pushyamitra Sunga might have withdrawn royal patronage of Buddhist institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • History of India
    HISTORY OF INDIA VOLUME - 2 History of India Edited by A. V. Williams Jackson, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University Volume 2 – From the Sixth Century B.C. to the Mohammedan Conquest, Including the Invasion of Alexander the Great By: Vincent A. Smith, M.A., M.R.A.S., F.R.N.S. Late of the Indian Civil Service, Author of “Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India” 1906 Reproduced by Sani H. Panhwar (2018) Preface by the Editor This volume covers the interesting period from the century in which Buddha appeared down to the first centuries after the Mohammedans entered India, or, roughly speaking, from 600 B.C. to 1200 A.D. During this long era India, now Aryanized, was brought into closer contact with the outer world. The invasion of Alexander the Great gave her at least a touch of the West; the spread of Buddhism and the growth of trade created new relations with China and Central Asia; and, toward the close of the period, the great movements which had their origin in Arabia brought her under the influences which affected the East historically after the rise of Islam. In no previous work will the reader find so thorough and so comprehensive a description as Mr. Vincent Smith has given of Alexander’s inroad into India and of his exploits which stirred, even if they did not deeply move, the soul of India; nor has there existed hitherto so full an account of the great rulers, Chandragupta, Asoka, and Harsha, each of whom made famous the age in which he lived.
    [Show full text]
  • POST MAURYAN EMPIRE Introduction
    Chapter 7: POST MAURYAN EMPIRE Introduction After the death of Ashoka, his successors were not able to keep the vast Mauryan Empire intact. The provinces started declaring their independence. The northwest India slipped out of the control of the Mauryas and a series of foreign invasions affected this region. Kalinga declared its independence and in the further south the Satavahanas established their independent rule. As a result, the Mauryan rule was confined to the Gangetic valley and it was soon replaced by the Sunga dynasty. Chapter 7: POST MAURYAN EMPIRE Shunga Dynasty Chapter 7: POST MAURYAN EMPIRE Shunga Dynasty The founder of the Shunga dynasty was Pushyamitra Shunga, who was the commander- in-chief under the Mauryas. He assassinated the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha and usurped the throne. The most important challenge to the Shunga rule was to protect North India against the invasions of the Bactrian Greeks from the northwest. The Greeks advanced up to Pataliputra and occupied it for sometime. However, Pushyamitra succeeded in regaining the lost territory. He also fought a campaign against Kharavela of Kalinga who invaded north India. Chapter 7: POST MAURYAN EMPIRE Shunga Dynasty The founder of the Shunga dynasty was Pushyamitra Shunga, who was the commander- in-chief under the Mauryas. He assassinated the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha and usurped the throne. The most important challenge to the Shunga rule was to protect North India against the invasions of the Bactrian Greeks from the northwest. The Greeks advanced up to Pataliputra and occupied it for sometime. However, Pushyamitra succeeded in regaining the lost territory.
    [Show full text]
  • Copper Parchment & Stone
    COPPER PARCHMENT & STONE Edited by John Reuben Davies & Swapna Bhattacharya Copper, Parchment, and Stone Studies in the sources for landholding and lordship in early medieval Bengal and medieval Scotland edited by John Reuben Davies and Swapna Bhattacharya University of Glasgow Ionad Eòlas na h-Alba is na Ceiltis| Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies GLASGOW 2019 © The Contributors 2019 All rights reserved The moral rights of the authors have been asserted ISBN-10: 085261957X ISBN-13: 9780852619575 Published by Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, University of Glasgow, 1 University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ Contibutors Swapna Bhattacharya Professor, Department of South and South East Asian History, University of Calcutta (retired 2017) Dauvit Broun Professor of Scottish History, School of Humanities, University of Glasgow John Reuben Davies Research Fellow in Scottish History, School of Humanities, University of Glasgow Suchandra Ghosh Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta Sayantani Pal Associate Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta Rajat Sanyal Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Calcutta Joanna Tucker Arts and Humanities Innovation Researcher (History), School of Humanities, University of Glasgow Contents Foreword 1 I Comparative diplomatic in the Latin West and early medieval Bengal: a brief overview Swapna Bhattacharya 15 II The forms and format of the copper-plate inscriptions of early Bengal Sayantani Pal 53 III The development of the charter in Scotland John Reuben Davies 69 IV Boundary clauses in Bengal inscriptions: revisiting sources Rajat Sanyal & Suchandra Ghosh 99 V Recording boundaries in Scottish charters in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Joanna Tucker 151 VI Praśastis or panegyrics in early India: case studies from Bengal Suchandra Ghosh & Sayantani Pal 193 VII The genealogy of the king of Scots as charter and panegyric Dauvit Broun 209 Foreword When I was at sea last August, on my voyage to this country ..
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural History of Indian Subcontinent; with Special Reference to Arts and Music
    1 Cultural History of Indian subcontinent; with special reference to Arts and Music Author Raazia Hassan Naqvi Lecturer Department of Social Work (DSW) University of the Punjab, www.pu.edu.pk Lahore, Pakistan. Co-Author Muhammad Ibrar Mohmand Lecturer Department of Social Work (DSW) Institute of Social Work, Sociology and Gender Studies (ISSG) University of Peshawar, www.upesh.edu.pk Peshawar, Pakistan. 2 Introduction Before partition in 1947, the Indian subcontinent includes Pakistan, India and Bangladesh; today, the three independent countries and nations. This Indian Subcontinent has a history of some five millennium years and was spread over the area of one and a half millions of square miles (Swarup, 1968). The region is rich in natural as well as physical beauty. It has mountains, plains, forests, deserts, lakes, hills, and rivers with different climate and seasons throughout the year. This natural beauty has deep influence on the culture and life style of the people of the region. This land has been an object of invasion either from the route of mountains or the sea, bringing with it the new masses and ideas and assimilating and changing the culture of the people. The invaders were the Aryans, the Dravidians, the Parthians, the Greeks, the Sakas, the Kushans, the Huns, the Turks, the Afghans, and the Mongols (Singh, 2008) who all brought their unique cultures with them and the amalgamation gave rise to a new Indian Cilvilization. Indus Valley Civilization or Pre-Vedic Period The history of Indian subcontinent starts with the Indus Valley Civilization and the coming of Aryans both are known as Pre-Vedic and Vedic periods.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient History of Bihar
    Ancient History of Bihar By- BPSC Notes http://bpscnotes.com The word ‘Bihar’ has originated from the ‘Viharas’ which means resting house of Buddhist monk but it was the Muslim rulers of 12th Century who started calling the state as ‘Bihar’. Advent of Aryans in Bihar 1. Aryans started moving towards Eastern India in the later Vedic period (1000-600 BC). 2. Satapatha Brahmana mentioned the arrival and spread of Aryans. 3. Varah Puran mentions that Kikat as inauspicious place and Gaya, Punpun and Rajgir as auspicious place. The Mahajanpada The Buddhist and Jaina literature mentioned that 6th century India was ruled by a number of small kingdoms or city states dominated by Magadha. By 500 BC witnesses the emergence of sixteen Monarchies and Republics known as the Mahajanapada. 1. Anga: Modern divisions of Bhagalpur and Munger in Bihar and also some parts of Sahibgunj and Godda districts of Jharkhand. 2. Magadha: Covering the divisions of Patna and Gaya with its earlier capital at Rajgriha or Girivraj. 3. Vajji: a confederacy of eight republican clans, situated to the north of river Ganges in Bihar, with its capital at Vaishali. 4. Malla : also a republican confederacy covering the modern districts of Deoria, Basti, Gorakhpur and Siddharth nagar in Eastern U.P. with two capitals at Kusinara and Pawa. 5. Kashi: covering the present area of Banaras with its capital at Varanasi. 6. Kosala: covering the present districts of Faizabad, Gonda, Bahraich etc. with its capital at Shravasti. 7. Vatsa: covering the modern districts of Allahabad and Mirzapur etc. with its capital at Kaushambi.
    [Show full text]
  • Satavahana - Post Mauryan Period [Ancient Indian History Notes for UPSC]
    UPSC Civil Services Examination UPSC Notes [GS-I] Topic: Satavahana - Post Mauryan Period [Ancient Indian History Notes for UPSC] The Sunga dynasty came to an end in around 73 BC when their ruler Devabhuti was killed by Vasudeva Kanva. The Kanva dynasty then ruled over Magadha for about 45 years. Around this time, another powerful dynasty, the Satavahanas came to power in the Deccan area. The term “Satvahana” originated from the Prakrit which means ” driven by seven” which is an implication of the Sun God’s chariot that is driven by seven horses as per the Hindu mythology. Origin & Development of Satvahana dynasty The first king of the Satvahana dynasty was Simuka. Before the emergence of the Satvahana dynasty, a brief history of the other dynasties are mentioned below: Kanvas (73 BC – 28 BC) As per the Puranas, there were four kings of the Kanva dynasty namely, Vasudeva, Bhumimitra, Narayana and Susarman. The Kanvas were Brahmins. The Magadha Empire had diminished by this time considerably. Northwest region was under the Greeks and parts of the Gangetic plains were under different rulers. The last Kanva king Susarman was killed by the Satavahana (Andhra) king. Cheti Dynasty The Cheti or Chedi dynasty emerged in Kalinga in the 1st century BC. The Hathigumpha inscription situated near Bhubaneswar gives information about it. This inscription was engraved by king Kharavela who was the third Cheti king. Kharavela was a follower of Jainism. Other names of this dynasty are Cheta or Chetavamsa, and Mahameghavahana.[/su_box] Satavahanas The Satavahana rule is believed to have started around the third century BC, in 235 BC and lasted until the second century AD.
    [Show full text]