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.