Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Former Country
The Shunga Empire (IAST: Template:IAST) was a ruling entity centred around Magadha and controlled most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 75 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra, after taking the throne of Magadha from the Mauryas. The Shunga empire's capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar (modern Vidisha) in eastern Malwa.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This dynasty is also responsible for successfully fighting and resisting the Greeks in Shunga–Greek War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Pushyamitra ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. There were ten Shunga rulers. However, after the death of Agnimitra, the second king of the dynasty, the empire rapidly disintegrated:<ref name="books.google.com">K.A. Nilkantha Shastri (1970), A Comprehensive History of India: Volume 2, p.108: "Soon after Agnimitra there was no 'Sunga empire'."</ref> inscriptions and coins indicate that much of northern and central India consisted of small kingdoms and city-states that were independent of any Shunga hegemony.<ref name="Bhandare, Shailendra 2006 p.96">Bhandare, Shailendra. "Numismatics and History: The Maurya-Gupta Interlude in the Gangetic Plain". in Between the Empires: Society in India, 300 to 400, ed. Patrick Olivelle (2006), p.96</ref> The dynasty is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought the Kalinga, the Satavahana dynasty, the Indo-Greek kingdom and possibly the Panchalas and Mitras of Mathura. Template:Citation needed
Art, education, philosophy, and other forms of learning flowered during this period, including small terracotta images, larger stone sculptures, and architectural monuments such as the stupa at Bharhut, and the renowned Great Stupa at Sanchi. The Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of Brahmi script and was used to write Sanskrit. Template:Citation needed
The Shungas were important patrons of culture at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya was composed in this period. Artistry also progressed with the rise of the Mathura art style.
The last of the Shunga emperors was Devabhuti (83–73 BCE). He was assassinated by his minister Vasudeva Kanva and was said to have been overfond of the company of women. The Kanva dynasty succeeded the Shungas around 73 BCE.
NameEdit
The name "Shunga" has only been used for convenience to designate the historical polity now generally described as "Shunga empire", or the historical period known as the "Shunga period", which follows the fall of the Maurya empire.<ref name="RSS"/> The term appears in a single epigraphic inscription in Bharhut, in which a dedication to the Buddhist Bharhut stupa is said to have been made "at the time of the Suga kings" (Suganam raje), with no indication as to whom these "Suga kings" might be.<ref name="RSS">Template:Cite book</ref> Other broadly contemporary inscriptions, such as the Heliodorus pillar inscription, are only assumed to relate to Shunga rulers.<ref name="RSS"/> The Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana mentions a ruler named Pushyamitra, but does not mention the name "Shunga".
The Bharut epigraph appears on a pillar of the gateway of the stupa, and mentions its erection "during the rule of the Sugas, by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti".<ref name="About INC-ICOM">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="academia.edu">Template:Cite journal</ref> The expression used (Suganam raje, Brahmi script: 𑀲𑀼𑀕𑀦𑀁 𑀭𑀚𑁂), may mean "during the rule of the Sugas [Shungas]", although not without ambiguity as it could also be "during the rule of the Sughanas", a northern Buddhist kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="academia.edu"/> There is no other instance of the name "Shunga" in the epigraphical record of India.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The unique inscription reads:
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Dhanabhuti was making a major dedication to a Buddhist monument, Bharhut, whereas the historical "Shungas" are known to have been Hindu monarchs, which would suggest that Dhanabhuti himself may not have been a member of the Shunga dynasty.<ref name="SRQ">Template:Cite book</ref> Neither is he known from "Shunga" regnal lists.<ref name="SRQ"/><ref name="SRQ13"/> The mention "in the reign of the Shungas" also suggests that he was not himself a Shunga ruler, only that he may have been a tributary of the Shungas, or a ruler in a neighbouring territory, such as Kosala or Panchala.<ref name="SRQ13">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="SRQ"/>
The name "Sunga" or "Shunga" is also used in the Vishnu Purana, the date of which is contested, to designate the dynasty of kings starting with Pushyamitra Template:Circa, and ending with Devabhuti circa 75 BCE. According to the Vishnu Purana:<ref name="RSS"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
OriginsEdit
Shungas were originally from Vidisha.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to historical reconstructions, the Shunga dynasty was established in 184 BCE, about 50 years after Ashoka's death, when the emperor Brihadratha Maurya, the last ruler of the Maurya empire, was assassinated by his Senānī or commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra,<ref>"Pushyamitra is said in the Puranas to have been the senānī or army-commander of the last Maurya emperor Brihadratha" The Yuga Purana, Mitchener, 2002.</ref> while he was reviewing the Guard of Honour of his forces. Pushyamitra then ascended the throne.Template:Sfn<ref>Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE By Patrick Olivelle, Oxford University Press, Page 147-152</ref>
Pushyamitra became the ruler of Magadha and neighbouring territories. His realm essentially covered the central parts of the old Mauryan empire.<ref name="NA"/> The Shunga definitely had control of the central city of Ayodhya in northern central India, as is proved by the Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscription.<ref name="NA">Ancient Indian History and Civilization, Sailendra Nath Sen, New Age International, 1999, p.169</ref> However, the city of Mathura further west never seems to have been under the direct control of the Shungas, as no archaeological evidence of a Shunga presence has ever been found in Mathura.<ref name="Rhie"/> On the contrary, according to the Yavanarajya inscription, Mathura was probably under the control of Indo-Greeks from some time between 180 BCE and 100 BCE, and remained so as late as 70 BCE.<ref name="Rhie">History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.8-10 [1]</ref>
Some ancient sources however claim a greater extent for the Shunga empire: the Asokavadana account of the Divyavadana claims that the Shungas sent an army to persecute Buddhist monks as far as Sakala (Sialkot) in the Punjab region in the northwest: Template:Quote Also, the Malavikagnimitra claims that the empire of Pushyamitra extended to the Narmada River in the south. They may also have controlled the city of Ujjain.<ref name="NA"/> Meanwhile, Kabul and much of the Punjab passed into the hands of the Indo-Greeks and the Deccan Plateau to the Satavahana dynasty.
Pushyamitra died after ruling for 36 years (187–151 BCE). He was succeeded by son Agnimitra. This prince is the hero of a famous drama by one of India's greatest playwrights, Kālidāsa. Agnimitra was viceroy of Vidisha when the story takes place.
The power of the Shungas gradually weakened. It is said that there were ten Shunga emperors. The Shungas were succeeded by the Kanva dynasty around 73 BCE.
Decline of BuddhismEdit
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Accounts of persecutionEdit
Following the Mauryans, the first Sunga emperor, a Brahmin named Pushyamitra,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> is believed by some historians to have persecuted Buddhists and contributed to a resurgence of Brahmanism that forced Buddhism outwards to Kashmir, Gandhara and Bactria.<ref name="Sarvastivada">Sarvastivada pg 38–39</ref> Buddhist scripture such as the Asokavadana account of the Divyavadana and ancient Tibetan historian Taranatha have written about persecution of Buddhists. Pushyamitra is said to have burned down Buddhist monasteries, destroyed stupas, massacred Buddhist monks and put rewards on their heads, but some consider these stories as probable exaggerations.<ref name="Sarvastivada"/><ref name="books.google.fr">A Journey Through India's Past Chandra Mauli Mani, Northern Book Centre, 2005, p.38</ref>
Pushyamitra is known to have revived the supremacy of the Bramahnical religion and reestablished animal sacrifices (Yajnas) that had been prohibited by Ashoka.<ref name="books.google.fr"/>
Accounts against persecutionEdit
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Later Shunga emperors were seen as amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut.<ref>Akira Hirakawa, Paul Groner, "A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana", Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1996, Template:ISBN pg 223</ref> During his reign the Buddhist monuments of Bharhut and Sanchi were renovated and further improved. There is enough evidence to show that Pushyamitra patronised Buddhist art.<ref>Sir john Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi", 1918</ref> However, given the rather decentralised and fragmentary nature of the Shunga state, with many cities actually issuing their own coinage, as well as the relative dislike of the Shungas for the Buddhist religion, some authors argue that the constructions of that period in Sanchi for example cannot really be called "Shunga". They were not the result of royal sponsorship, in contrast with what happened during the Mauryas, and most of the dedications at Sanchi were private or collective, rather than the result of royal patronage.<ref>Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 p.58</ref>
Some writers believe that Brahmanism competed in political and spiritual realm with Buddhism<ref name="Sarvastivada"/> in the Gangetic plains. Buddhism flourished in the realms of the Bactrian kings. Template:Citation needed
Some Indian scholars are of the opinion that the orthodox Shunga emperors were not intolerant towards Buddhism and that Buddhism prospered during the time of the Shunga emperors. The existence of Buddhism in Bengal in the Shunga period can also be inferred from a terracotta tablet that was found at Tamralipti and is on exhibit at the Asutosh Museum in Kolkata.
Royal dedicationsEdit
Two dedications by a king named Brahmamitra as well as the monarch Indragnimitra are recorded at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya. Some may claim these show Sunga support for Buddhism. These kings, however, are essentially unknown, and do not form a part of the Shunga recorded genealogy. They are thought to be post-Ashokan and to belong to the period of Sunga rule.<ref>Asoka, Mookerji Radhakumud, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1962 p.152</ref><ref name="p.58-59">Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE Patrick Olivelle, Oxford University Press, 2006 p.58-59</ref> A Brahmamitra is known otherwise as a local ruler of Mathura, but Indragnimitra is unknown, and according to some authors, Indragnimitra is in fact not even mentioned as a king in the actual inscription.<ref name="p.58-59"/><ref>Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE Patrick Olivelle, Oxford University Press, 2006 p.75</ref>
- An inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows:
- "The gift of Nagadevi the wife of King Brahmamitra."
- Another inscription reads:
- "The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of King Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the royal palace shrine."<ref name="ccbs.ntu.edu.tw">(Barua, B.M., 'Old Buddhist Shrines at Bodh-Gaya Inscriptions)</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Cunningham has regretted the loss of the latter part of these important records. As regards the first coping inscription, he has found traces of eleven Brahmi letters after "Kuramgiye danam", the first nine of which read "rajapasada-cetika sa". Bloch reads these nine letters as "raja-pasada-cetikasa" and translates this expression in relation to the preceding words:
"(the gift of Kurangi, the wife of Indragnimitra and the mother of living sons), "to the caitya (cetika) of the noble temple", taking the word raja before pasada as an epithet on ornans, distinguishing the temple as a particularly large and stately building similar to such expressions as rajahastin 'a noble elephant', rajahamsa 'a goose' (as distinguished from hamsa 'a duck'), etc."
Cunningham has translated the expression "the royal palace, the caitya", suggesting that "the mention of the raja-pasada would seem to connect the donor with the king's family." Luders doubtfully suggests "to the king's temple" as a rendering of "raja-pasada-cetikasa."
Shunga period contributions in SanchiEdit
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On the basis of Ashokavadana, it is presumed that the stupa may have been vandalised at one point sometime in the 2nd century BCE, an event some have related to the rise of the Shunga emperor Pushyamitra who overtook the Mauryan empire as an army general. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.<ref>"Who was responsible for the wanton destruction of the original brick stupa of Ashoka and when precisely the great work of reconstruction was carried out is not known, but it seems probable that the author of the former was Pushyamitra, the first of the Shunga kings (184-148 BC), who was notorious for his hostility to Buddhism, and that the restoration was affected by Agnimitra or his immediate successor." in John Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, p. 38. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918).</ref> The original brick stupa was covered with stone during the Shunga period.
According to historian Julia Shaw, the post-Mauryan constructions at Sanchi cannot be described as "Sunga" as sponsorship for the construction of the stupas, as attested by the numerous donative inscriptions, was not royal but collective, and the Sungas were known for their opposition to Buddhism.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Great Stupa (No 1)Edit
During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade. The railing around Stupa 1 do not have artistic reliefs. These are only slabs, with some dedicatory inscriptions. These elements are dated to Template:Circa.<ref name="Shaw 88"/>
Stupa No2 and Stupa No3Edit
The buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and Third stupas (but not the highly decorated gateways, which are from the following Satavahana period, as known from inscriptions), and the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa (Stupa No 1). The Relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana are said to have been placed in Stupa No 3.<ref>Marshall p.81</ref> These are dated to Template:Circa for the medallions, 80 BCE for the gateway carvings,<ref name="Shaw 90">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 p.90</ref> slightly after the reliefs of Bharhut, with some reworks down to the 1st century CE.<ref name="Shaw 88">Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 p.88ff</ref><ref name="Shaw 90"/>
The style of the Shunga period decorations at Sanchi bear a close similarity to those of Bharhut, as well as the peripheral balustrades at Bodh Gaya, which are thought to be the oldest of the three.
| Shunga structures and decorations (150-80 BCE) | |
| File:Great Sanchi Stupa Side view.jpg Great Stupa (Stupa expansion and balustrades only are Shunga). Undecorated ground railings dated to approximately 150 BCE.<ref name="Shaw 88"/> |
|
| File:Sanchi Stupa Nr. 2 (1999).JPG Stupa No 2 Entirely Shunga work. The reliefs are thought to date to the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE (Template:Circa for the medallions, 80 BCE for the gateway carvings),<ref name="Shaw 90" /> slightly after the reliefs of Bharhut, with some reworks down to the 1st century CE.<ref name="Shaw 88"/><ref name="Shaw 90"/> |
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| File:Stupa 3 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4268.JPG Stupa No 3 (Stupa and balustrades only are Shunga). |
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WarfareEdit
Template:Main Article Template:Continental Asia in 100 BCE War and conflict characterised the Shunga period. They are known to have warred with the Kalingas, Satavahanas, the Indo-Greeks, and possibly the Panchalas and Mathuras.Template:Citation needed
The Shunga empire's wars with the Indo-Greek kingdom figure greatly in the history of this period. From around 180 BCE the Greco-Bactrian ruler Demetrius conquered the Kabul Valley and is theorised to have advanced into the trans-Indus to confront the Shungas.<ref name="books.google.fr"/> The Indo-Greek Menander I is credited with either joining or leading a campaign to Pataliputra with other Indian rulers; however, very little is known about the exact nature and success of the campaign. The net result of these wars remains uncertain.Template:Citation needed
Literary evidenceEdit
Several works, such as the Mahabharata and the Yuga Purana describe the conflict between the Shungas and the Indo-Greeks.
Military expeditions of the ShungasEdit
Scriptures such as the Ashokavadana claim that Pushyamitra toppled Emperor Brihadratha and killed many Buddhist monks.<ref name="John1989 292">Template:Cite book</ref> Then it describes how Pushyamitra sent an army to Pataliputra and as far as Sakala (Sialkot), in the Punjab, to persecute Buddhist monks.<ref>"Pushyamitra equipped a fourfold army, and intending to destroy the Buddhist religion, he went to the Kukkutarama (in Pataliputra). ... Pushyamitra therefore destroyed the sangharama, killed the monks there, and departed. ... After some time, he arrived in Sakala, and proclaimed that he would give a ... reward to whoever brought him the head of a Buddhist monk."Template:Cite book</ref>
War with the Yavanas (Greeks)Edit
The Indo-Greeks, called Yavanas in Indian sources, either led by Demetrius I or Menander I, then invaded India, possibly receiving the help of Buddhists.<ref>A Journey Through India's Past Chandra Mauli Mani, Northern Book Centre, 2005, p.39</ref> Menander in particular is described as a convert to Buddhism in the Milindapanha.
The Hindu text of the Yuga Purana, which describes Indian historical events in the form of a prophecy,<ref>"For any scholar engaged in the study of the presence of the Indo-Greeks or Indo-Scythians before the Christian Era, the Yuga Purana is an important source material" Dilip Coomer Ghose, General Secretary, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2002</ref>Template:Refn relates the attack of the Indo-Greeks on the Shunga capital Pataliputra, a magnificent fortified city with 570 towers and 64 gates according to Megasthenes,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and describes the impending war for city:
However, the Yuga Purana indicates that the Yavanas (Indo-Greeks) did not remain for long in Pataliputra, as they were faced with a civil war in Bactria.
Western sources also suggest that this new offensive of the Greeks into India led them as far as the capital Pataliputra:<ref>Indian History Allied Publishers</ref> Template:Quote
Battle on the Sindhu riverEdit
An account of a direct battle between the Greeks and the Shunga is also found in the Mālavikāgnimitram, a play by Kālidāsa which describes a battle between a squadron of Greek cavalrymen and Vasumitra, the grandson of Pushyamitra, accompanied by a hundred soldiers on the "Sindhu river", in which the Indians defeated a squadron of Greeks and Pushyamitra successfully completed the Ashvamedha Yagna.<ref>The Malavikágnimitra : a Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa; Tawney, C. H. p.91</ref> This river may be the Indus River in the northwest, but such expansion by the Shungas is unlikely, and it is more probable that the river mentioned in the text is the Sindh River or the Kali Sindh River in the Ganges Basin.<ref>"Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian coins in the Smithsonian institution", Bopearachchi, p16. Also: "Kalidasa recounts in his Mālavikāgnimitra (5.15.14–24) that Puṣpamitra appointed his grandson Vasumitra to guard his sacrificial horse, which wandered on the right bank of the Sindhu river and was seized by Yavana cavalrymen- the latter being thereafter defeated by Vasumitra. The "Sindhu" referred to in this context may refer the river Indus: but such an extension of Shunga power seems unlikely, and it is more probable that it denotes one of two rivers in central India -either the Sindhu river which is a tributary of the Yamuna, or the Kali-Sindhu river which is a tributary of the Chambal." The Yuga Purana, Mitchener, 2002.</ref>
Epigraphic and archaeological evidenceEdit
Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscriptionEdit
Ultimately, Shunga rule seems to have extended to the area of Ayodhya. Shunga inscriptions are known as far as Ayodhya in northern central India;<ref name="NA"/> in particular, the Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscription refers to a local king Dhanadeva, who claimed to be the sixth descendant of Pushyamitra. The inscription also records that Pushyamitra performed two Ashvamedhas (victory sacrifices) in Ayodhya.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Yavanarajya inscriptionEdit
The Greeks seem to have maintained control of Mathura. The Yavanarajya inscription, also called the "Maghera inscription", discovered in Mathura, suggests that the Indo-Greeks were in control of Mathura during the 1st century BCE.<ref name="Rhie 254">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The inscription is important in that it mentions the date of its dedication as "The last day of year 116 of Yavana hegemony (Yavanarajya)". It is considered that this inscription is attesting the control of the Indo-Greeks in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE in Mathura, a fact that is also confirmed by numismatic and literary evidence.<ref name="Rhie"/> Moreover, it does not seem that the Shungas ever ruled in Mathura or Surasena since no Shunga coins or inscriptions have been found there.<ref name="Rhie"/>
The Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata affirms that the city of Mathura was under the joint control of the Yavanas and the Kambojas.<ref>"tatha Yavana Kamboja Mathuram.abhitash cha ye./ ete ashava.yuddha.kushaladasinatyasi charminah."//5 — (MBH 12/105/5, Kumbhakonam Ed)</ref>
Later however, it seems the city of Mathura was retaken from them, if not by the Shungas themselves, then probably by other indigenous rulers such as the Datta dynasty or the Mitra dynasty, or more probably by the Indo-Scythian Northern Satraps under Rajuvula. In the region of Mathura, the Arjunayanas and Yaudheyas mention military victories on their coins ("Victory of the Arjunayanas", "Victory of the Yaudheyas"), and during the 1st century BCE, the Trigartas, Audumbaras and finally the Kunindas also started to mint their own coins, thus affirming independence from the Indo-Greeks, although the style of their coins was often derived from that of the Indo-Greeks.
Heliodorus pillarEdit
Very little can be said with great certainty. However, what does appear clear is that the two realms appeared to have established normalised diplomatic relations in the succeeding reigns of their respective rulers. The Indo-Greeks and the Shungas seem to have reconciled and exchanged diplomatic missions around 110 BCE, as indicated by the Heliodorus pillar, which records the dispatch of a Greek ambassador named Heliodorus, from the court of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, to the court of the Shunga emperor Bhagabhadra at the site of Vidisha in central India.
DeclineEdit
After the death of Agnimitra, the second king of the dynasty, the empire rapidly disintegrated:<ref name="books.google.com"/> inscriptions and coins indicate that much of northern and central India consisted of small kingdoms and city-states that were independent of any Shunga hegemony.<ref name="Bhandare, Shailendra 2006 p.96"/>
The last king of Sungas, Devabhuti was assassinated by his minister Vasudeva Kanva, who then established Kanva dynasty.Template:Sfn According to the Puranas: "The Andhra Simuka will assail the Kanvayanas and Susarman, and destroy the remains of the Sungas' power and will obtain this earth."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Andhras did indeed destroy the last remains of the Sunga state in central India somewhere around Vidisha,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> probably as a feeble rump state.
ArtEdit
The Shunga art style differed somewhat from imperial Mauryan art, which was influenced by Persian art. In both, continuing elements of folk art and cults of the Mother goddess appear in popular art, but are now produced with more skill in more monumental forms. The Shunga style was thus seen as 'more Indian' and is often described as the more indigenous.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Art, education, philosophy, and other learning flowered during this period. Most notably, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and Mahabhashya were composed in this period. It is also noted for its subsequent mention in the Malavikaagnimitra. This work was composed by Kalidasa in the later Gupta period, and romanticised the love of Malavika and King Agnimitra, with a background of court intrigue.
Artistry on the subcontinent also progressed with the rise of the Mathura school, which is considered the indigenous counterpart to the more Hellenistic Gandhara school (Greco-Buddhist art) of Afghanistan and North-Western frontier of India (modern day Pakistan).
During the historical Shunga period (185 to 73 BCE), Buddhist activity also managed to survive somewhat in central India (Madhya Pradesh) as suggested by some architectural expansions that were done at the stupas of Sanchi and Bharhut, originally started under Emperor Ashoka. It remains uncertain whether these works were due to the weakness of the control of the Shungas in these areas, or a sign of tolerance on their part.
| Shunga statuettes and reliefs |
|
ScriptEdit
The script used by the Shunga was a variant of Brahmi, and was used to write the Sanskrit language. The script is thought to be an intermediary between the Maurya and the Kalinga Brahmi scripts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Shunga coinage |
|
Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists
List of Shunga emperorsEdit
| Emperor | Reign |
|---|---|
| Pushyamitra | 185–149 BCE |
| Agnimitra | 149–141 BCE |
| Vasujyeshtha | 141–131 BCE |
| Vasumitra | 131–124 BCE |
| Bhadraka | 124–122 BCE |
| Pulindaka | 122–119 BCE |
| Ghosha or Vajramitra | 119–114 BCE |
| Bhagabhadra | 114–83 BCE |
| Devabhuti | 83–73 BCE |
See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
SourcesEdit
- Template:Citation
- "The Legend of King Ashoka, A study and translation of the Ashokavadana", John Strong, Princeton Library of Asian translations, 1983, Template:ISBN
- "Dictionary of Buddhism" by Damien KEOWN (Oxford University Press, 2003) Template:ISBN
- Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, Romila Thapar, 1961 (revision 1998); Oxford University Press, Template:ISBN
- "The Yuga Purana", John E. Mitchiner, Kolkata, The Asiatic Society, 2002, Template:ISBN
External linksEdit
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