Post Mauryan Period Sunga Satavahanas Kushanas. Kanishka, Shaka Era and Bactrian Invasion by Greeks
After Mauryas – Post Mauryan Period
- After the death of Asoka, his successors were not able to keep the vast Mauryan Empire intact. The provinces started declaring their independence.
- The northwest India slipped out of the control of the Mauryas and a series of foreign invasions affected this region.
- Kalinga declared its independence and in the further south the Satavahanas established their independent rule
- Mauryan rule was confined to the Gangetic valley and it was soon replaced by the Sunga dynasty
Sunga Dynasty (187 -78 BCE)
- The founder of the Sunga dynasty was Pushyamitra Sunga, who was the commander-in-chief under the Mauryas.
- He assassinated the last Mauryan ruler and became the ruler
Satavahanas (100BC to 300AD)
- In the Deccan, the Satavahanas established their independent rule after the decline of the Mauryas.
- Their rule lasted for about 450 years.
- Ancient Indian dynasty, also called Andhras in Puranas
Bactrian Invasion by Greeks
- Bactria and Parthia became independent from the Syrian empire in the middle of the third century B.C.
- Demetrius, the Greek ruler of Bactria invaded Afghanistan and Punjab and occupied them
- The Indo-Greek rule lasted from about 180 BC till about 55 BC
- The Sakas (also written Shakas), alternatively known as Indo-Scythians, invaded northwest India in the first century BC onwards.
Sakas
- The Sakas or the Scythians attacked Bactria and Parthia and captured them from the Greek rulers.
- The first Saka ruler in India was Maues or Moa/Moga (20 BCE to 22 CE).
- In India, the Sakas became assimilated into Hindu society. They began to adopt Hindu names and religious beliefs
Kushanas
- The Sakas were displaced by the Parthian Gondophernes, who first conquered Kabul
- He lost the Kabul valley to the Kushanas.
- Kushana kings extended Kushana territory to Gandhara, Punjab region
Kanishka – Kushana King
- The best known of the Kushana kings was Kanishka, who is thought to have ruled from 78 CE till 101 or 102 CE.
- 78 AD is held to be the beginning of the “Saka era” in the Indian calendar.
- Kanishka was a follower of Buddhism and hosted the fourth Buddhist mahasangha or council
- Kushana coins were of the highest quality and conformed to the weight standards of Roman coins
Shaka Era – National Calender
- The national calendar based on the Saka Era, with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes:
- Gazette of India.
- News broadcast by All India Radio.
- Calendars issued by the Government of India.
- Government communications addressed to the members of the public.
- Dates of the national calendar have a permanent correspondence with dates of the Gregorian calendar, 1 Chaitra falling on 22 March normally and on 21 March in leap year.
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