Pariksha SaathiLesson 5 of 10 · Ancient and Medieval Indian History
Post-Mauryan Kingdoms and the Sangam Age
Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 28 October 2026; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections
Shungas and Kanvas
Pushyamitra Shunga, a Brahmin commander, founded the Shunga dynasty around 185 BC. He performed two Ashvamedha sacrifices, recorded in the Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva, and resisted the Greeks; Buddhist texts call him a persecutor. His son Agnimitra is the hero of Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitram, and the grammarian Patanjali lived in this age. The Shungas enlarged the Sanchi stupa and built the stone railing at Bharhut. At Besnagar (Vidisha), Heliodorus, envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, raised a Garuda pillar to Vasudeva and called himself a Bhagavata. The last Shunga, Devabhuti, was killed by his minister Vasudeva Kanva, whose short-lived Kanva dynasty the Satavahanas ended.
Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Parthians
Bactrian Greeks crossed the Hindu Kush in the second century BC. Their best-known king, Menander (Milinda), ruled from Sakala (Sialkot) and discussed Buddhism with the monk Nagasena in the Pali text Milindapanho. The Indo-Greeks were the first rulers in India to issue coins that can be clearly attributed to kings, and standard textbooks also credit them with the first gold coins, though gold was issued on a large scale only by the Kushanas; their Hellenistic art fed the Gandhara school. The Shakas (Scythians) came next; tradition says a king of Ujjain drove them out in 57 BC, the start of the Vikram Samvat. Their greatest ruler, Rudradaman I of Ujjain, issued the Junagadh inscription of AD 150, the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit, which records his repair of the Sudarshana lake. The Parthian king Gondophernes is linked by Christian tradition with St Thomas.
The Kushanas
The Kushanas, a branch of the Yuezhi of north-west China, built an empire from Central Asia to the Ganga valley. Vima Kadphises issued gold coins in large numbers and was a devotee of Shiva. Kanishka, the greatest Kushana, ruled from Purushapura (Peshawar) with Mathura as a second centre; tradition makes him the founder of the Saka era of AD 78, which India adopted as its national calendar in 1957, though his accession is now dated later. His Rabatak inscription in Afghanistan gives the dynasty's line. He held the fourth Buddhist council in Kashmir and patronised Ashvaghosha (Buddhacharita), Vasumitra and, by tradition, the physician Charaka. Controlling the Silk Route, the Kushanas grew rich, and Mahayana Buddhism spread from their lands to Central Asia and China.
Three schools of art
The Gandhara school of the north-west blended Greek and Roman style with Buddhist themes; its Buddha, carved mostly in grey-blue schist, has wavy hair, a muscular body and heavy folded robes. The Mathura school was indigenous and used spotted red sandstone; its Buddha has a shaven head and a smiling face, and it also made Jain and Hindu images, including the headless statue of Kanishka found at Mat. The Amaravati school, patronised by the Satavahanas in Andhra, used a pale greenish-white limestone that exam books call white marble, and carved narrative panels of the Buddha's life.
The Satavahanas
Also called the Andhras, the Satavahanas ruled the Deccan from Pratishthana (Paithan) on the Godavari; Simuka founded the dynasty. The Naneghat inscription of Queen Naganika records the sacrifices of Satakarni I. The greatest king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, defeated the Shaka ruler Nahapana and restruck his coins; the Nasik inscription of his mother Gautami Balashri calls him the destroyer of Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. Kings bore their mothers' names, though the royal family was patriarchal. The Satavahanas were the first rulers to grant tax-free land to Brahmins and Buddhist monks, used Prakrit in the Brahmi script, issued many lead coins, and supported Buddhist sites such as Karle and Amaravati. King Hala compiled the Prakrit Gathasaptashati.
The Sangam literature
Sangam means an assembly of Tamil poets; tradition speaks of three Sangams under Pandya patronage, the last at Madurai, and the surviving poems date roughly from the third century BC to the third century AD. The corpus includes the Tolkappiyam (grammar), the Ettuthogai (eight anthologies) and the Pattuppattu (ten idylls), with poems of akam (love) and puram (war and public life). The Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar and the twin epics, Silappadikaram by Ilango Adigal (the story of Kovalan and Kannagi) and Manimekalai by Sattanar, came later.
The three kingdoms
The Cheras of Kerala had the bow as emblem, Vanji as capital and Muziris and Tondi as ports; Senguttuvan, the Red Chera, began the Pattini (Kannagi) cult. The Cholas of the Kaveri delta had the tiger emblem, Uraiyur as capital and Puhar (Kaveripattinam) as port; Karikala is credited with the Kallanai dam on the Kaveri. The Pandyas had the fish emblem, Madurai as capital and Korkai, famous for pearls, as port. Ashoka's Rock Edict II already names the Cholas, Pandyas and Keralaputras.
Trade with Rome
In the first century AD sailors learned to use the monsoon winds, a discovery credited to the Greek pilot Hippalus, to cross the Arabian Sea directly. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an anonymous Greek guide, lists Indian ports and goods, and Pliny's Natural History complains of Roman gold draining to India. India sent pepper (called yavanapriya, dear to the Yavanas), spices, pearls, ivory, gems and fine cotton, and received wine, pottery and gold and silver coins. Arikamedu near Puducherry, excavated by Mortimer Wheeler, was an Indo-Roman trading station with Roman amphorae and Arretine pottery.
Key facts
- Pushyamitra Shunga performed two Ashvamedhas (Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva); his son Agnimitra is the hero of Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitram.
- Heliodorus, envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, raised the Garuda pillar at Besnagar (Vidisha) and called himself a Bhagavata.
- Menander (Milinda) ruled from Sakala; his dialogue with the monk Nagasena is the Milindapanho; textbooks credit the Indo-Greeks with India's first gold coins, but the Kushanas issued gold on a large scale.
- Rudradaman I's Junagadh inscription (AD 150) is the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit and records the repair of the Sudarshana lake.
- Kanishka: capital Purushapura, fourth Buddhist council in Kashmir, patron of Ashvaghosha (Buddhacharita); the Saka era of AD 78 is India's national calendar (adopted 1957).
- Art schools: Gandhara (grey-blue schist, Greco-Roman style), Mathura (spotted red sandstone, indigenous), Amaravati (white marble, strictly a pale limestone; Satavahana patronage).
- Gautamiputra Satakarni defeated Nahapana; his mother Gautami Balashri's Nasik inscription praises him; the Satavahanas were the first to give tax-free land grants to Brahmins.
- Sangam emblems: Cheras bow, Cholas tiger, Pandyas fish; ports Muziris (Chera), Puhar (Chola), Korkai (Pandya, pearls).
- Silappadikaram (Ilango Adigal) tells of Kovalan and Kannagi; Manimekalai is by Sattanar; Tirukkural is by Tiruvalluvar; Tolkappiyam is a grammar.
- Arikamedu near Puducherry was an Indo-Roman trading station; the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and Pliny describe the Rome-India trade.
Quick revision
Shungas from about 185 BC (Pushyamitra, two Ashvamedhas); Heliodorus' Garuda pillar at Besnagar; Menander and Nagasena (Milindapanho); Indo-Greek gold coins; Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription AD 150; Kanishka, Saka era AD 78, fourth council, Ashvaghosha; Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravati art; Gautamiputra Satakarni, Nasik inscription, first land grants; Sangam Tolkappiyam, Silappadikaram; Chera bow, Chola tiger, Pandya fish; Karikala's Kallanai; Arikamedu and Roman trade.