Course : B.A History Core Course Semester : B.A (2nd semester) Paper Code : CC203 Topic : Sunga Dynasty and Dynasty Prepared by : Pratibha Singh, Assistant Professor Department of History Women's College, Patna Email : [email protected] Content : 1) Sources of Sunga Dynasty 2) Origin of Sungas 3) Pushyamitra Sunga 4) Religious Policy 5) Pushyamitra's Successors 6) Kanva Dynasty

Sunga Dynasty (184 - 148 B.C)

Pushyamitra Sunga was the founder of the Sunga Dynasty. He was viceroy of the Mauryas at ujjain and he was not happy with his king Brihadratha, who failed in resisting the Yavanas and attacks from the western sides. Pushyamitra assassinated Brihadratha, at a military parade and assumed royal power in about 184 B.C.

Sources

There was no account left by Kautilya and Megasthenese about the later mauryas. Our knowledge about the later mauryas is based upon , Malavikagnimitra of Kalidasa, Harshacharita of Banabhatta, Mahabhasya of Patanjali, Divyavadana, Theravali of Merutung and some archaeological sources like Barhut inscription, Ayodhya inscription of Dhandei.

Origin of Sungas The origin of Sungas is a matter of debate. There are several views regarding their origin but most accepted and popular are as follows :- a) According to historian Harprasad Shastri, Sungas were Parsi but after some time he himself accepted that Sungas were . b) Some historians called Sungas, the ancestors of Mauryas on the basis of Divyavadana but this view is not accepted by many historians. c) Most of the historians accept Sungas as Brahmins. According to Malavikagnimitra, Sungas belonged to Baimbik dynasty (according to Shraut Sutra Baimbik belonged to the Kashyap of Brahmins). Panini called the Sungas as Brahmins of Bharadwaj gotra.

During the time period of Sungas there were two important scholars in their court. One was Patanjali, who was also the Purohit of the Sungas. Manu also belonged to the time period of Sungas.

Pushyamitra Sunga (184-148B.C)

He was the founder of the Sunga Dynasty. Earlier he was viceroy of the Mauryas at Ujjain. He gave himself the title of Senapati or Senani. He is also known as Audabhijja which means 'who rose suddenly'.

When he came to the throne the condition of the empire was worst. So, he first tried to consolidate his position and reorganized the empire. Many states like Kalinga, Maharashtra, Andhra etc. became independent. This became a challenge for the new king. Besides, this, there was always a fear of foreign invasion from the north-western frontiers of . In this difficult situation he firstly tried to solve the internal problems of the empire. a) Conquest of Vidharbha : Pushyamitra was a great warrior. After consolidating his empire he began to expand his empire. In this direction his first attempt was the conquest of Vidharbha and he was successful in this conquest. The leader of this conquest was Agnimitra, the son of Pushyamitra Sunga.

The play "Malavikagnimitra" tells us that Yagyasena laid the foundation of a new state vidharbha. He was the father-in-law of the Mauryan king Brihadratha. This shows that he was against Pushyamitra. Agnimitra conspired with Yagyasena's cousin Madhavasen. Therefore Yagyasena caught Madhavasen which resulted in the conquest of Vidharbha by Agnimitra. After the victory, Yagyasena had to give some parts of his kingdom to Madhavasen. Thus the state of Vidharbhahad to accept the suzerainty of Pushyamitra Sunga. b) Invasion of the Greeks : During the reign of Pushyamitra Sunga, Greeks attacked India. Pushyamitra successfully driven them out of India. We get this information from Patanjali's Mahabhasya, Yugpurana of Gargi Samhita and from Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitra. But who provided the leadership to the Greeks is a bit controversial. Most of the historians agreed that it was Menander. c) Ashwamedha Yagya : Pushyamitra Sunga was a thus he performed Ashwamedha Yagya. Patanjali himself performed Ashwamedha Yagya for Pushyamitra. d) War with Kharvel : According to some historians there was a war fought between Kharvel ruler and Pushyamitra in which he got defeated. But some historians are of the view that Kharvel was not the contemporary of Pushyamitra so, how it can be possible that Pushyamitra got defeated.

Religious Policy

It is written in the Buddhist texts that Pushyamitra was a staunch supporter of Brahmin religion and he tortured Buddhists. It is said that he planned to destroy the famous Kukkutaram Vihar of Patliputra, which was built by Ashoka.

It is written in Divyavadana that he announced 100 dinars for each Buddhist monk's head. But this episode does not look right. It is known from the records of Bharhut that at this time, many charities voluntarily donated for pylons etc. If Pushyamitra's policy was strict towards Buddhists, he would have ordered the Governor of not to allow the Buddhists to build buildings. It is possible that some Buddhists have opposed Pushyamitra and for political reasons Pushyamitra has treated them harshly.

Pushyamitra's Successors

Pushyamitra died in 148 B.C. It is mentioned in the Puranas that he had eight sons and he divided his empire into eight parts. But in other sources there is no such information. From Malavikagnimitra, we get to know that Agnimitra succeeded Pushyamitra and ruled for next 8 years. After Agnimitra, Vasujayeshtha came to the throne. After him Vasumitra (son of Agnimitra) came to the throne. The last king of this dynasty was Devabhuti whom his amatya, Vasudeva killed. Sungas ruled for almost 112 years. In this way Sunga Dynasty declined and Vasudeva established the new Kanva Dynasty.

Kanva Dynasty (73-28 B.C)

The Kanva dynasty was a Brahmin dynasty founded by Vasudeva kanva, the minister of Devabhuti, the last Sunga king. This period is said to have witnessed the rule of four kings extending to a period about 45 years : 1) Vasudeva

2) Bhumimitra

3) Narayana

4) Susarman

Bhumimitra succeeded Vasudeva and coins bearing the legend Bhumimitra have been discovered from realm. Copper coins with the title "kanvasya" have also been found from Vidisha, as well as Kaushambiin the realm.

Susarman was the last ruler of this dynasty who ruled for 10 years. He was killed by the Satavahana ruler Simuk. After the fall of the , Magadh itself came under the hegemony of the Mitra Dynasty. Important Questions Q. 1) Write a detailed account on Sunga Dynasty. Q. 2) Write a short note on the achievements of Pushyamitra Sunga. Q. 3) Write a short note on Kanva Dynasty.