In Magadha and the neighbouring provinces the immediate successors of the Mauryas were the Sungas. The founder was Pushyamitra. He was the general of the last of the Imperial Mauryas.
The dominions of the new king at first extended as far south as the Narmada. The north-western boundary seems to have been ill-defined, but tradition credits the house of Pushyamitra with having exercised control as far as Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab.
Pushyamitra died after a reign of thirty-six years. He was succeeded by his son Angimitra. This prince is the hero of a famous drama by India’s greatest playwright, Kalidasa. After him the history of the dynasty became obscure.
The Satavahanas
The founder of the family was Simuka, but the man who raised it to eminence was his son or nephew Satakarni I. Some time after his death, the Satavahana power seems to have been submerged but the fortunes of the dynasty were restored by Gautamiputra Satakarni. Gautamiputra built up an empire that extended from Malwa in the north to the Kanarese country in the south. The power of the Satavahanas revived under Sri Yajna Satakarni, but he was the last great prince of the line, and after him the empire began to fall to pieces. 19 kings of this dynasty ruled for 300 years. The dynasty came to an end about the middle of the third century A.D.
Kanishka
Kanishka is usually regarded as a successor of Kadphises II. Kanishka was no doubt a Kushan and not strictly speaking a Saka.
According to Hiuen Tsang the great empire over which Kanishka exercised his sway had its capital at Purushapura or Peshwar. Epigraphic evidence points to the inclusion within his dominions of the wide expanse of territory from Gandhara to Oudh and Benaras. The pilgrim Hiuen Tsang refers to a war with China in the course of which the Kushan king obtained some initial successes in eastern Turkistan. But he was unable to make much impression on his mighty northern neighbour. The north alone, according to tradition, remained unsubdued.
But it is not as a conqueror that Kanishka is chiefly remembered by posterity. The celebrated chaitya that he constructed at Peshawar excited the wonder and admiration of travellers down to a late period. Among the celebrities who graced his court the most eminent was Asvaghosha, philosopher, poet and dramatist, who wrote the Buddha Charita and other books.
Successors of Kanishka
Kanishka’s rule lasted for twenty-three years. His immediate successor was Vasishka, who had a short reign and was succeeded by Huvishka.
The last great Kushan king was Vasudeva I, who ruled from about the year 67 to 98 of the Kanishka era. Most of his inscriptions have been found at or near Mathura.
Shopping Cart
