Chapter- 7- Post-Mauryan Kingdoms

As we have discussed that Pushyamitra Sunga (185 B.C.-149 B.C.) the general of last Mauryan king Brihadratha, killed him. After that he captured the region of Magadha from the Mauryans and established the Sunga Dynasty, his region was extended upto Sialkot in north west. However, the dynasty of Sungas didn't ruled very long. Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Agnimitra Sunga (149 B.C.-141 B.C.), who ruled for 8 years. Agnimitra was succeeded by his son Vasujyestha and he was followed by his half brother Vasumitra who ruled from 131 B.C.-124 B.C. Vasumitra was credited with the successful repelling of Yavanas (Indo-Greek). The last ruler of Sunga Dynasty was Devabhuti, who was killed by his Minister Vasudeva Kanva in 73 B.C., later Vasudeva Kanva established the rule of Kanva Dynasty, who according to some sources lasted for only 45 years. This dynasty was brought to an end by Satavahana dynasty.

Meanwhile, after the end of Seleucid empire, Greek rule of north west was prevalent in two provinces, Parthia and Bactria. Menander(reigned from 165 B.C.-145 B.C.), A Bactrian king stretched his kingdom towards west and penetrated into the Ganga-Yamuna Doab region. He made Sakala (now, Sialkot) his capital. As per Buddhist texts, as he was a Buddhist, he was referred to as 'Milinda'. Gold coins were issued by Indo-Greek for the first time in India. Art under Indo-Greek also flourished in the Gandhara region, & was known as Hellenistic art.

Indo-Greek Campaigns

The flourishing reign of Indo-Greeks came to an end by the attacks of a tribe of Central Asia, known as the Sakas. Sakas didn't faced any resistance from India, as there wasn't any powerful Indian king or kingdom.
They established their kingdom almost throughout the India. Their conflict with satavahanas ended when Satavahana king, Gautamiputra Satakarni (78 C.E.-102 C.E.) defeated Saka king Nahapana. However, Rudradaman, the greatest Saka king tried to recover the regions the sakas had lost earlier to satavahanas & later succeeded. Rudradaman was a good administrator. He reigned from 130 C.E. to 150 C.E. 



During the reign of Sakas and Satavahanas there was also tribe named, Yue-chi controlled the area of modern day eastern Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan. The major clan of this tribe was the Kushana clan, they dominated the area of Indus valley. Greatest among the rulers of Kushana clan was Kanishka, who ruled from A.D. 78 to A.D. 101. Kanishka, started a new era called, Saka era from the year A.D. 78. He said to have convened the fourth buddhist council in Kashmir or Jalandhar. Under his reign, Kushanas controlled the great Silk Route. The successors of Kanishka were weak rulers and later the reign of Kushanas came to an end after its conquest by Sassanid empire.

Kushana Empire Under Kanishka

This was the story of the Post-mauryan period. Many dynasty came and all of them went on one after another, none of them had the capacity of holding India together for many years like Mauryans did. But, The prosperity of India didn't end after the Mauryans actually it started after the end of 3rd century, The age of history makers, also referred by many historians as the 'Golden Age of India', the dynasty known as 'The Gupta Empire' emerged as the leading power in India under the leadership of Chandra Gupta I. We will know more about them in the Next post.









  

Chapter-6- The Mauryans

The defeat of Dhana nanda and loosing kingdom of Magadha at the hands of Chandra Gupta Maurya & the the rebellion of Alexander's soldiers, which stopped him from penetrating further into the Indian sub-continent & compelled him to continue his homeward journey and weak territories that he had left after him, Helped Chandra Gupta in establishing for a first time a unified India in history under the reign of the 'Great Mauryas'. The Glory of the history of Indian Kingdoms had actually started from the reign of Mauryans.



Chandra Gupta Maurya (Reigned from 322 B.C. to 298 B.C.) took advantage of weaknesses in the leftover regions by Alexander in north west (now, Pakistan) & the growing unpopularity of Nandas among the mass and overthrew the Nandas and established a vast empire including modern day India, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan, But all of this wasn't done by him alone, it was a cunning and a clever mind that was behind him. The person bearing that mind was known as Chanakya* or Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta(370 B.C.-283 B.C.) in the history. He was regarded as the architect of Chandra Gupta's rise. He helped Chandra Gupta in campaigning against Dhana nanda and in the conquest of the areas in the north west front. Chandra Gupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I nicator, the appointed satrap(general) of Alexander and conquered some of his territories, but later both of them declared peace and Seleucus ceded his territories including Baluchistan and east Afghanistan. Seleucus even sent his ambassador Megasthenes* to the court of Chandra Gupta Maurya at Patliputra.

According to Jain tradition, after being able to unite India under his rule for a long time, Chandra Gupta became a Jain monk under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu, abdicated his throne in favour of his son, Bindusara and went to Sravana Belgola near Mysore(Karnataka). There he fasted till death in 298 B.C.

*India Under Chandra Gupta Maurya*

Bindusara, the son and successor of Chandra Gupta Maurya (reigned from probably 300 B.C. to 272 B.C.) was too a successful ruler as his father. His two well-known sons were, Susima (viceroy of Takshashila) and Ashoka (viceroy of Ujjain). He was well known as 'Amitraghata' {(Slayer of enemies)Sanskrit meaning of his Greek name Amitrochates}. He expanded his territories towards southwards in India. His empire included the whole of India except the region of Kalinga & the tamil regions. He had a good relations with the syrian king  Antiochus I. He died in 272 B.C. (268 B.C., according to some sources). He was succeeded by his able son Ashoka who went on to become 'Ashoka the Great'.




Ashoka the Great (reigned from 268 B.C. to 232 B.C.) captured the left Kalinga region by his father in the famous Kalinga war (fought in 261 B.C.), that left him changed forever. He was grief-stricken and vowed not to wage war in future. He changed the Dig Vijaya (Conquest by war) to Dharma Vijaya (Conquest by peace) and visited Bodh gaya after this and became a buddhist.

*Ashoka the Great*

To communicate with the people, he set up Rock pillar edicts in different parts of his empire. The edicts were written in the Brahmi script (except the capital region, where the Pali and Prakrit scripts were used and the north-west region where kharosthi and greek scripts were used.). He emphasized on religious tolerance, he himself was a buddhist but never thrusted his own religion on anyone else. He took the title of Dharmasoka, due to these policies his name shines with unique brilliance.

*India Under Ashoka the Great*

The unity of this great empire abruptly disintegrated after Ashoka's reign. Last and the tenth mauryan ruler was, Brihadratha, who was murdered by his general (senapati) Pushyamitra Sunga, who thereafter established the Sunga Dynasty. With the death of Brihadratha, the great mauryan rule ended 137 years after its formation.



With the end of the Mauryan era, India again got disintegrated & many kingdoms were established. we will discuss about those Kingdoms & their relevance in the ancient India in later posts.





*Chanakya- the 'Arthashastra' is a great source of information of administration under Chandra Gupta.
*Megasthenes- The 'Indica' written by megasthenes is a rich source of the history of Mauryas in the Contemporary India.








           

Chapter-5- Mahajanapadas

The time has come, when all the small kingdoms has merged and soon developed into the Empires i.e. Mahajanapadas. Wars were common in the period, every ruler tried to conquer each other's territory. A group of many cities called Mahajanapadas stretched along the Gangetic plain. Kasi(Kashi), Kosala and Magadha were the most famous territory in this region. To the region in the west was the State of Gandhara. Ujjayini was the most prosperous city of the time, it was the capital of Avanti. The city commanded the way from the Northern plains to the Deccan.

Haryankas- The kingdom of Magadha came into prominence under the leadership of Bimbisara {reigned from 543 B.C. to 492 B.C.(till his death). He annexed the famous kingdom of Anga to the east. The capital of Magadha under Haryankas was Rajgriha(Rajgir).

Bimbisara was succeeded by his son Ajatasatru{means; the one who is the enemy of his own clan, (reigned from 492 B.C. to 460 B.C.)}. He imprisoned and later executed his father and seized the throne. His aggressive policy of expansion fetched him Kasi, Kosala.and Vaishali.

Ajatasatru was later succeeded by his son Udayin(Udayabhadra), according to Buddhist texts, Udayin brutally murdered Ajatasatru & captured the throne.

The Sisunagas- The Haryankas were later succeeded by the dynasty of Sisunagas. The founder of this dynasty was Shishunaga (reigned from 413 B.C. to 395 B.C.), he temporarily shifted his capital to Vaishali, then to Rajgriha & later shifted it to the Pataliputra(Modern, Patna). Sisunagas later expanded further into Ganga valley.

Sisunaga(Shishunaga) was later succeeded by his son Kalashoka. He organised the 'Second Buddhist council' at Vaishali (the most significant event during his reign).

Nandivardhana or Mahanandin (reigned from 367 B.C. to 345 B.C.) was probably the last ruler of this dynasty, his empire was inherited by his illegitimate son Mahapadma Nanda.

The Nandas- The Nandas were the first non-Kshatriya rulers, but described according to some sources as, The fist Empire builder, founded by Mahapadma Nanda (reigned from 345 B.C.-329 B.C.). He defeated Panchalas, Kasis, Haihayas, Kalingas, Asmakas, Kurus, Maithilas, Surasenas and the Vitihotras and later described as the "Destroyer of the Kshatriyas" or "Ekarat" (the sole king who destroyed all the other ruling princes).

Mahapadma Nanda later succeeded by his son Dhana Nanda (reigned from 329 B.C.-321 B.C.). Dhana Nanda dynasty was very unpopular among the people and the neighboring states. During his reign, the Nanda Empire extended from Punjab and Sindh in the west to Bihar and Bengal in the east. It was in his reign, when Alexander invaded India. Dhana nanda was later killed by Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of 'Mauryan Dynasty'.

Indian Conquest of Persian Empire :-

Meanwhile an Iranian(Persian) Empire, (Achaemenid Empire- established by Cyrus the great) was also expanding its territory simultaneously with the Magadhan Empire. They took advantage of the political disunity that arose in India. Small kingdoms such as, Gandhara and Kamboja were existed on the north west front of India. Darius I of Persia, took advantage of this disunity and entered India in 516 B.C. annexed the region to the west of the Indus. It was considered the 20th Satrapy (Province) of Persian empire according to Herodotus (Father of history) & was the richest province of the empire. Kharosthi script of Iranian language was Introduced in the Indian language. Even the term 'lipi' was derived from an Iranian term 'dipi' in the Ashokan inscriptions.

Alexander's Conquest of India:-

The Persian hold of India became weak, On the eve of the invasion of 'Alexander the Great' in India. In 327 B.C., Alexander led a campaign against India, he marched from Iran, and conquered the kingdoms one by one. Ambhi the ruler of Taxila accepted the sovereignty of Alexander, but Puru (Porus, according to Greek texts), who ruled in the region of Punjab refused to do so. A battle was fought between Alexander and Puru known as the 'Battle of Hydaspes' in 326 B.C. in which Puru was defeated and had to surrender to Alexander, but his bravery proved to be fruitful as Alexander made him an ally, restored his land to him and made him a satrap (General). In 325 B.C. Alexander began his homeward journey, leaving all the winning land between his generals.

*Alexander 'The Great'*

Historical evidences of Alexander's invasion has helped the Indian historians in the construction of the history of Contemporary India, this invasion also led the foundation of 'Gandhar school of art'. It also opened a trade route between north-west India and west Asia. Indian history is also grateful to his invasion as it helped Chandragupta Maurya to reconquer these leftover areas by Alexander and to lay a foundation of United India.

We will discuss about the Indian Unity under The 'Mauryan Empire' in the next post.

Chapter-4- The Age of Buddha

As we have discussed that the rigidity and the complexion in the 'Hinduism' & enlightened views of two great reformers 'Gautama Buddha'and 'Vardhamana Mahavira'; led shudras and the untouchables on the paths of the simplicity of the philosophy(Religion) of the two, known as 'The Buddhism' & 'The Jainism'. Their views had affected whole of the Indian Subcontinent.

Vardhamana Mahavira was the the 24th & the last tirthankara(1st tirthankara, Rishabhdeva) of Jainism. He was born in 540 B.C.(599 B.C., according to Jainism) in Kundaligrama near Vaishali in Bihar. Father Siddhartha belonged to a kshatriya clan of Vajji tribe. His mother, Trisala Belonged to a ruling family of Magadha. He married to a princess named, Yashoda and had a girl named, Priyadarshana. After living a pious life, He left the home at at the age of 30 years and after practising severe penance and living a life of an ascetic for 13 years, he gained spiritual consciousness & came to be known as conqueror or 'Jina'. Thus his followers came to be known as 'Jains' and his philosophy (Religion) as 'Jainism'.

Vardhamana died at the age of 72, at Pava(Pavapuri), near Rajgriha(now Rajgir) in 468 B.C(527 B.C., according to Jainism).

Mahavira preached the Three-fold path to attain 'Nirvana' or salvation (freedom from the cycle of the life and death), They are :- Right Belief, Right Conduct, Right Knowledge. He taught his followers; Not to steal, Not to tell a lie, to be Honest, Non-violent and Kind.

The jains were later divided into two sects- Digambaras(naked) and Svetambaras(who wore white cloth).

Gautama Buddha(original name; Siddhartha) was born in 563 B.C.(around 486 B.C., according to some sources) in a Sakya Kshatriya clan, in Kapilavastu(Nepal). His father Suddhodana was the king of Kapilavastu and her mother named, Maya was a princess of Devadaha in sakya territory. He was married to a princess called Yashodhara and had a son named Rahul. He was brought up in a luxurious life however a vision of a sick person, an old man, a dead person and an ascetic robbed his happiness and forced him to find out the source of permanent happiness. Ultimately he left his house at the early age of 29 years in search of his answers, till six years after his renunciation of his luxurious life he couldn't find anything except wandering, finally he sat under a pipal tree, in Bodh Gaya(Bihar) and started meditating and it is here he attained 'Enlightenment' and became 'Buddha'- the enlightened one and that pipal tree came to be known as 'Bodhivriksha'.

Siddhartha died at the age of 80(known as Mahaparinirvana) in 483 B.C.(around 400 B.C., according to some sources) in Kushinagar, in Deoria(Uttar Pradesh).

Gautama Buddha told that the causes of all the suffering is 'Desire' & to overcome these desires & to attain 'Nirvana' one has to follow Eight-fold path, i.e. - Right views, Aspirations, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Effort, Action and Thinking. It is also called the Middle path.

The early Buddhists worshipped the 5 symbols of Buddha (Lotus, Wheel, Stupa, Paduka, Bodhi tree) & known as Hinayana sect of Buddhism. Later the image worship started, that came to be known as Mahayana sect of Buddhism.

Both, the Mahavira and Buddha preached in the language of common people that is Prakrit and/or Pali, this helped them to share their message to a large number of people.

Growing importance of the kings and their patronage also helped both the religions to spread in almost the whole of the Indian subcontinent. we will discuss about the rising Kingdoms and the kings, who gave their importance to these new religions in later posts.

Chapter-3- The Aryans

After 1500 B.C. comes the most controversial part of discussion in between many historians, is the origin of 'The Aryans". around this part of the time the indus valley declined and new age of the Aryans came in India. The matter of dispute is that whether they were the descendents of the indus valley people who left their former tradition or they were the people came from outside india (from some part of Central Asia or Russia). whoever they were but the truth is that the Hindu people of the major part of the india are the descendents of the Aryans. 

The period of the Aryans i.e. from 1500 B.C. to 600 B.C. is divided into two parts:

1.The Early Vedic Period.(1500 B.C.- 1000 B.C.)

2.The Later Vedic Period.(1000 B.C.- 600 B.C.)

The Aryans of Early Vedic Period were the first to introduce the use of Iron in India, they cleared many parts of the forest with their iron axes for cattle rearing purposes and to establish villages consists of mud huts (It was found that the Aryans of early vedic period were rural tribes, they hardly knew about agriculture or building of houses or cities of bricks) & this clearing of the forests led them ahead in the Gangetic Valley. 

The chief source of information about the Aryans are "The Vedas". These were composed in the language of Aryans i.e. Sanskrit. In the chronological order they are-

Rig Veda- Consists of the hymns in praise of the Gods and Goddesses (written in Early Vedic Period).

Sama Veda- Is the book of chants (written in Later Vedic Period). 

Yajur Veda- Is the book of sacrificial prayers (written in Later Vedic Period).

Atharva Veda- Is the book of magic formulas meant to cure ailments (written in Later Vedic Period).

As many of the historians led stress on the point that Aryans came from outside justifies their gratefulness towards the Nature (as because of the favourable conditions they might have found in here; such as, warm climate and fertile land). All the aspects or the components of the nature became their Gods; e.g.- Sun(Surya), Land(Prithvi), Thunder(Indra), Sky(Varuna), Fire(Agni).

The Later Vedic Period saw a drastic change in the life of the Aryans. The dependency of cattle rearing was replaced by Agriculture. Wars between the tribes for the possession of lands was common in this period & it resulted in the formation of the new Kingdoms. The two epics, The Ramayana and The Mahabharata were composed in this period that reveals the power of those kingdoms.

This development in Kingship & Religious matters led to the formation of societies in four varnas(Casts):

The Brahmanas (Priests).

Kshatriyas (Kings).

Vaishyas (farmers, merchants et-cetera).

Sudras (labourers).

The Concept of four Ashramas or four stages of life was known in that time. The four ashramas were as follows:-

Brahmacharya, meant for education.

Grihastha, meant for marriage and having a family.

Vanaprastha, meant for the stage when the person was to detach from his social life.

Sanyasa, meant for the stage when the person was to go to forest and prepare himself to leave the world.

In the Later Vedic Period, Two Great reformers Gautama Buddha and Vardhamana Mahavira came in the period when the complexities and the rigidities of the religion and the ill-treatment of the Shudras led to the complexion in the 'Hinduism'. we will discuss about these reformers in the next post.

Chapter-2- The Indus Valley Civilization

The two officers of Archaeological Survey of India, Daya Ram Sahni(Harappa) and Rakhal Das Banerjee(Mohenjo Daro) are credited with the Discovery of Indus Valley Civilization in 1921 and 1922 respectively. As we have already discussed in the previous post that Indus valley civilization was an urban civilization it was flourished in between 2500 B.C.-1500 B.C. This civilization was spread along the river Indus and its tributaries and the remains of the civilization has been found at Harappa(Pakistan), Mohenjo Daro(Pakistan), Kalibangan(Rajasthan), Alamgirpur(UP), Lothal(Gujarat), Rangpur(Gujarat), Dholavira(Gujarat) et-cetera.

As it was an urban civilization the cities were well planned, trading was well flourished, impressive buildings were build, the life of people seemed prosperous & it is found that they even had a vision towards religion.

Every city's division in three parts shows us the well planned system of Indus valley civilization.The 3 parts in which cities were divided are:

1. Citadel was an artificially raised hillock in the center of every city.

2. The Lower Part had the common people's houses.

3. The Outer Part was provided for the agricultural processes beyond the boundary walls.

Every was provided with a reservoir and granary for storage of surplus grain.

The people of Indus valley also concentrated on trade and commerce. The evidences have been found of the trading of Indus valley people with the other contemporary civilizations i.e., Mesopotamia* (lies in the major part of modern Iraq) and The Egyptian civilizations. Images of ships on seals depicts the trading by sea.

Indus valley people were not only good traders but also were great builders of that time. The Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro with the dimension of 12*7*2.4 metres, the Great Granary of Harappa had a dimension of 50*15.5 metres, and a structure at lothal resembling a dockyard shows extensive professionalism in the field of architecture in the contemporary world.

This all shows us the prosperous life of the people of Indus valley civilization, and the ruins of a large number of two storeyed houses, gold and silver ornaments, numerous toys of clay fulfills that.

A particular seal shows a male god like figure with three faces, two horns, surrounded by animals is a replica of Indian religious concept of Bhagwan Pashupati or Shiva Pashupati (the lord of animals).

There are many views on how the well flourished cities of Indus Valley declined abruptly. Some historians says it could be due to any natural calamity or the floods in the rivers has ended this ancient prosperous City. whatever the reason was, the only thing comes to our mind is that it was just the starting of what is going to call The 'History Of India'. 

Mesopotamia* :- A greek word, Mesos means 'In between' & Potamus means 'rivers', a civilization in between two rivers Tigris and euphrates

Chapter-1- Indian History:From The Starting

History is defined by many scholars as the study of past, but for many Indians, History has been a part of their present always. Indian history has the most controversial past as we can say India had been the cradle of many kingdoms, India had been a source of the treasury for many colonial powers.

But if we look deeply, we can find India had been humiliated, exploited for many years and from many different persons or powers, but it has the stamina to stand up again and again after every problem.

India has the one of the oldest history (the oldest as per spiritual teaching says) in the world. As per historic evidences it is stated that the history of humans in India started way before 10000 B.C., and the civilization of humans in India started with one of the major civilization of ancient world- "Indus Valley civilization", it was a technology based urban civilized culture that flourished from 2500 B.C. to 1500 B.C. it is also been stated as 'The Bronze age'. we will discuss about it in the next post.