Shungas, Kanvas and the Invaders from the North-West

Prerequisites

• Magadha and the Mauryan Empire: how the Mauryan empire was built, and why it broke up after Ashoka
• Jainism and Buddhism: the councils and sects that the Kushana age continued (Mahayana, the Fourth Council)
• Ancient Chhattisgarh: what Dakshin Kosala looked like in the same centuries

The Hook: A Greek Who Worshipped Vishnu

Why it matters: Prelims asks one-liners on this period every few years: who founded which dynasty, which inscription belongs to whom, and the Shaka era of 78 CE (India’s national calendar). Mains GS-I asks about the cultural results of foreign contact: Gandhara art, Mahayana and trade.

The Big Picture: 185 BCE to c. 300 CE

The Mauryan empire ended in about 185 BCE (dated variously 187–185 BCE). For the next five centuries no single power held north India. Two kinds of rulers filled the gap:

1. Indian dynasties in the Ganga valley and central India: the Shungas and then the Kanvas.
2. Rulers who came through the north-western passes: Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians and Kushanas.

timeline
    title North India after the Mauryas (all dates approximate)
    c. 185 BCE : Pushyamitra Shunga kills the last Mauryan, Brihadratha
    2nd century BCE : Indo-Greek kings in the north-west, Menander at Sakala
    c. 73 BCE : Vasudeva Kanva replaces the last Shunga, Devabhuti
    1st century BCE : Shakas spread to Taxila, Mathura, western India
    1st century CE : Parthian Gondophernes; Kushanas under Kujula and Vima Kadphises
    78 CE : Start of the Shaka era, usually linked with Kanishka's accession
    150 CE : Junagadh inscription of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman I

The Shungas (शुंग वंश), c. 185–73 BCE

Buddhism under the Shungas: the Buddhist text Divyavadana paints Pushyamitra as a persecutor of Buddhists. Historians treat this with caution, because the great Buddhist monuments at Bharhut and the stone enlargement of the Sanchi stupa belong to the Shunga period. Write “the persecution story is from a hostile source and is disputed”.

Art: the railings and gateway of the Bharhut stupa (Satna, Madhya Pradesh) carry labelled relief panels of Jataka stories. They are among the earliest narrative sculpture in India.

The Kanvas (कण्व वंश), c. 73–28 BCE

• Founded by Vasudeva Kanva; four kings in all, ruling for roughly 45 years.
• They ruled a shrunken Magadha. According to the Puranas, the last Kanva, Susharman, was overthrown by the Andhra (Satavahana) king Simuka. The chronology here does not fit neatly, and historians flag the problem.

The Indo-Greeks (हिन्द-यवन)

After Alexander, Greek kingdoms grew up in Bactria (north Afghanistan). Pressed by the Parthians and Central Asian tribes, Bactrian Greeks moved into north-west India from the early 2nd century BCE.

Contribution:

• Coins: standard textbooks (R. S. Sharma’s NCERT text) note that the Indo-Greeks were the first rulers in India to issue coins that can be definitely attributed to named kings, with portraits and legends. The same texts credit them with the first gold coins in India; this became large-scale only under the Kushanas.
• Hellenistic art in the north-west, which fed into the Gandhara school.
• Astronomy and drama: Greek influence on Indian astronomy (Sanskrit hora from Greek hora), and the word yavanika for the stage curtain.

The Shakas (शक) and the Western Kshatrapas

The Shakas (Scythians) came from Central Asia and pushed the Greeks out of much of the north-west. They set up several branches, each ruled by governors with the Persian titles Kshatrapa and Mahakshatrapa.

Rudradaman I (रुद्रदामन) and the Junagadh Inscription

The Western Kshatrapas of Ujjain lasted until Chandragupta II of the Gupta dynasty defeated the last of them, Rudrasimha III, around the end of the 4th century CE.

The Parthians (पह्लव)

• Also called Pahlavas; they came from Iran and ruled parts of the north-west, overlapping with the Shakas.
• Best-known king: Gondophernes (Gondophares), named in the Takht-i-Bahi inscription (near Peshawar).
• Christian tradition says St Thomas the Apostle came to India and visited Gondophernes’ court. Write it as a tradition.

The Kushanas (कुषाण)

The Kushanas were one branch of the Yuezhi (Yueh-chi), a Central Asian people. They built an empire that stretched from Central Asia and Afghanistan to the Ganga valley, and controlled a large part of the Silk Route.

Kanishka

• Date problem: 78 CE is the date most textbooks and exams use. Some scholars, using the Bactrian-language Rabatak inscription (found in Afghanistan in 1993) and other evidence, place him later, around 127 CE. For Prelims use 78 CE; in Mains you can note the debate.
• Shaka era (शक संवत्): begins in 78 CE. The Saka calendar was adopted as India’s national calendar in 1957.
• Buddhism: patron of Mahayana. The Fourth Buddhist Council was held under him in Kashmir (traditionally at Kundalvana), with Vasumitra as president and Ashvaghosha as vice-president. Some traditions place it at Jalandhar.
• Court scholars (by tradition): Ashvaghosha (अश्वघोष), author of the Buddhacharita; Vasumitra; the physician Charaka; the Mahayana philosopher Nagarjuna is also linked to this age, though most place him a little later and in the Deccan.
• Coins: the Buddha appears on some of his coins with the Greek-script label Boddo, along with Greek, Iranian and Indian gods.
• Title and image: used the title Devaputra (“son of god”). A headless statue of Kanishka was found at Mat, near Mathura.

Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Sculpture

The Buddha was shown only by symbols (footprints, the Bodhi tree, an empty seat, the wheel) in earlier art. In the Kushana age he appears in human form, in two schools at once.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

These are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. The founder of the Shunga dynasty, ________, killed the last Mauryan king ________.
2. The dialogue between Menander and the monk Nagasena is recorded in the Pali text ________.
3. The Shaka era begins in ________ CE and is usually linked with the accession of ________.

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements about the Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman I:

1. It is written in Prakrit.
2. It records the repair of the Sudarshana lake.
3. It says Rudradaman defeated the lord of Dakshinapatha twice but did not destroy him.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Match List-I (Ruler) with List-II (Associated evidence or event):

(a) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4 (b) A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4 (c) A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3 (d) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4

Q3. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?

(a) Patanjali : Mahabhashya (b) Ashvaghosha : Buddhacharita (c) Nagasena : Milindapanho (d) Agnimitra : Mudrarakshasa

Q4. Which of the following is a feature of the Mathura school of art but not of the Gandhara school?

(a) Use of grey-blue schist (b) Heavy, wavy-haired Buddha figures in Greco-Roman style (c) Use of spotted red sandstone and images of Jain tirthankaras and Hindu deities (d) Patronage by the Kushanas

Q5. Arrange in chronological order:

1. Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman I
2. Pushyamitra Shunga’s seizure of power
3. Start of the Shaka era
4. Vasudeva Kanva’s seizure of power

(a) 2-4-3-1 (b) 2-3-4-1 (c) 4-2-3-1 (d) 2-4-1-3

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. What were the cultural consequences of the rule of foreign dynasties in north-west India between 200 BCE and 300 CE? (150–200 words)

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Satavahanas, Kharavela and the Sangam Kingdoms: the Deccan and the south in the same centuries
• Gupta Empire: Rulers, Polity and Society: the empire that ended the age of division
• Art and Culture: the full story of Indian sculpture and architecture
• Mauryan and Satavahana Period in Chhattisgarh: Dakshin Kosala in these centuries