The political history of this period has to be pieced together by going through different types of

sources. the Puranic lists of dynasties and rulers become important sources of information.
Inscriptional souices are also very important and in some cases, they supplement the information
that we get from the Puranas. For the period immediately succeeding the overthrow of the Mauryas
scraps of information are found in such texts as: the Gargi Samhita, the Mahabhashya of Patanjali,
the Divyavadana, the Malavikagnimitra of Kalidasa and the Harshacharita of Bana. Evidence of Sunga
history comes to us alsb from the inscriptions from Ayodhya, Vidisa and Bharhut. In the post-
Mauryan period political power did not remain in the hands of one family. Coins, with the names of
rulers appearing on them, thus become a major source now, but for the political history of this
period, this source has to be supplemented by other sources. . Cultural contacts with parts of
Western Asia but more with Central Asia became regular in this period. So for the north western
region some other types of sources become important in this period.

THE SUNGAS:

The founder of the Sunga dynasty was Pushyamitra Sunga who according to tradition, assassinated
the last of the Maurya Kings Brihadratha in 180 B.C. nis is corroborated by Bana, the Sanskrit prose
writer and court poet of Harshvardhana of Kanauj.

a keen supporter of Brahmanism and is known to have underiaken the performance of the
asvamedha or horse sacrifice, a Vedic ritual symbolising royal glory. In the Ayodhya inscription of
Dhanadeva, Pushyamitra is credited with the performance of two horse sacrifices. This is indicative
of Pushyamitra's hold over a large territory and also of Brahmanical orthodoxy

Buddhist sources claim that he persecuted the Buddhists. The Buddhist tradition as is preserved in
the Divyavadana depicts Pushyamitra as a destroyer of Buddhist monasteries and places of worship,
particularly those constructed by Asoka

THE INDO-GREEKS

From about 200 B.C. a series of movements across the north western borders of the Indian sub-
continent took place. Among the first to cross the Hindukush were the Greeks, who ruled Bactria,
south of the Oxus river in the area covered by North Afghanistan. Alexander's invasion in north
western India did not result in Greece and India coming together in any significant manner. The
mingling of the two cultures came about in the second century B.C. through the ~rkekings of Bactria
who moved into northwest India and came to be called the Indo - Greeks.

Numismatics:

In the domain of numismatic studies, the Graeco-Bactrian and the Indo-Greek coins occupy a pre-
eminent position. This is primarily due to the fact that the numismatic evidence constitutes the main
source for the reconstruction of the history of Bactrian Greeks and the Indo-Greeks. The existence of
more than forty different names of these kings is known to us from coins, whereas literature and
inscriptions mention only eight. . The coins were die struck, displayed portraits of rulers, and had
legends written on them. There were monograms and deities belonging to multiple pantheons were
also depicted.

. Political history
The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek territories were divided between rival rulers. There were
‘additional sub kings, joint-kings, expected kings and satraps or governors’, all of whom may have
minted coins. This implies that there might have been, at times, simultaneous reigns of different
monarchs in different areas. B.N. Mukherjee opined that ‘it was perhaps possible for some scions of
a royal family, serving under a reigning king, to strike coins with full royal titles. At least such a
hypothesis explains the presence of so many kings in a comparatively short span of time.’

It is to be noted that in the literary works of the ancient world, we can find the names of only seven
of the kings who ruled Bactria and north-west India. They are Diodotus I, Diodotus II, Euthydemus I,
Demetrius I, Eucratides the Great, Apollodotus I, and Menander I. The rest of the rulers are known
only from their coins, barring Antialcidas who is mentioned as the ruler of Taxila in the Besnagar
Pillar of Heliodorus. The accepted classification for the Bactrian Greek rulers are Diodotus I and II,
Euthydemus I, Demetrius I, Euthydemus II, Agathocles, Pantaleon, Antimachus I, Demetrius II and
Eucratides I.

. Metrology

For gold coins the Bactrian Greek Kings used the Attic standard (Athenian standard) of 132 grains.
Alexander adopted this standard for his empire and this was followed suit by his successors. The
gold coins were known as stater. In case of silver they followed two weight standards. Initially for
Bactria and neighbouring regions they followed the attic standard, which was 66 grains generally but
also, weighed 67.2 grains. These coins were known as drachms. We know about drachms, tetra
drachms =4-drachm, hemi-drachm=1/2drachm and obol=1/6th drachm. The Greek copper unit was
the Chalkon. 8 chalkons=1obol 48chalkon=1drachm. The Indian standard was raised to 70 grains in
order to unify the Greek and Indian systems by making the Greek chalkon exactly equal to half an
Indian pana of 140 grains.

Impact of Central Asian Conquests

· The coming of the foreigners established intimate contacts between central Asia and India.
The turn of the millennium had been a period of central Asian intervention in the history of
Northern India that took the form of conquest, migrations and commerce.
· The second Greek conquest of India of Demetrius, Eucratides and Menander penetrated
deep into the Indian Territory with the obvious purpose of setting up an empire.
· India and China were brought closer through the interlinking Oases and through Kushana
territory bordering both.
· The Sakas and the Kushanas strengthened the idea of the Divine origin of kingship. The Indo
Greek kings and the Kushanas took exalted titles ‘Rajadhiraja’ (king of kings), ‘Daivaputra’
(son of heaven), Soter (Savior) and Kaisara (caesor). The Kushanas introduced the Satrap
system of Government where as the Greeks followed the practice of military Governship.
· The Sakas and Kushanas added new ingredients to Indian culture and enriched it immensely.
They settled in India for good and completely identified themselves with its culture. Since
most of them came as conquerors, they were absorbed in to Indian society as a warrior class
i.e., Kshatriyas.
· Given the territorial span of the contact, and the intermingling of people, royal patronage
had to extend to variety of religions-Buddhism, Jainism, Bhagavata and Saiva sects,
 Zoroastrianism and Hellenistic cults. The foreign princes also patronized and cultivated the
Sanskrit literature.
· Gandhara School of Art originated during the reign of Indo-Greek rulers but the real patrons
of this school of Art were the Sakas and the Kushanas, particularly Kanishka. The Gandhara
School made sculptures of Buddha in various sizes, shapes and postures. The hair of the
Buddha was fashioned in the Graeco-Roman style. A large number of monasteries were built
from First to Fourth century CE.
· The influence of the Gandhara art also spread to Mathura although it was primarily a centre
of indigenous art. The School of Art that developed in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh is called
Mathura Art. Mathura School of Art produced beautiful images of Buddha exhibiting the
spiritual feeling in his face which was largely absent in Gandhara School of art. It also
produced several stone images of Vardhamana Mahavira. The Madhura School also carved
out the images of Siva and Vishnu along with their consorts Parvathi and Lakshmi. At present
the Mathura Museum preserves the largest collection of sculptures of Kushana times.

The Sakas:

The Sakas are referred to also as Scythians. In the Indian context, the sources sometimes
mention the Scythians arid Parthians together as Saka-Pahlawa. Even from the names of the
rulers it is at times impo.ssible to distinguish between a Saka and a Pahlawa. Even so some
families of rulers, which were associated with different regions of north-westem, northern and
western have been distinguished as Saka. The Sakas poured into India through the Bolan Pass
and may have first settled in lower Indus region. . There are coins and other sources associated
with different branches of the Sakas. One branch is believed to have settled in Afghanistan.
Another line of the Sakas settled in Punjab with Taxila as the capital. There was another that
ruled from Mathura.

The Sakas gradually spread their supremacy over the northern and north-western regions of
India at the expense of the local Indo - Greek rulers. There are different types of sources for the
reconstruction of the Sakas in India. There are references to the people in Greek and
GraecoRoman annals and in early Chinese accounts. Epigraphic and numismatic sources are also
useful. The earliest Indian textual reference to the Sakas is perhaps to be found in the
Mahabhashya. The Puranic and epic texts also mention the Sakas along with the Kambojas and
the Yavanas in the extreme north.

Political:

The rulers belonging to all these branches were now known as Kshatrapas or Mahakshatrapas.
An early Kshatrapa line of western India was represented by Mambarus, who is mentioned in the
Periplus. There were two important line of Kshatrapa rulers – the Kshaharatas and Kardamakas.
The earliest known Kshatrapa of Maharashtra was Bhumaka, who belonged to Kshaharata
family. Bhumaka and his son Nahapana were responsible for the extension of Saka Power. They
occupied Western Deccan, Northern Parts of Maharastra, Konkan, Malwa, Kathiawar and
Southern Rajasthan from 100 BCE. Bhumaka’s successor and most illustrious king of the
Kshaharata family was Nahapana. Nahapana’s coins have been found in the Ajmer area of
Rajasthan and Nasik in Maharashtra.
Another line of Saka-Kshatrapas known as Kardamakas came into a force in western India. The
founder of this dynasty was Chastana. The Andau inscription of 130 CE shows that Chastana had
been ruling conjointly with his grandson Rudradaman. Both of these rulers were successful in
winning back some of the territories conquered by Gautamiputra Satakarni from Nahapana. The
most famous Saka ruler in India was Rudradaman I (130 – 150 CE). According to the Junagadh
Rock inscription, men of all castes chose him as protector and that he won for himself the title of
Mahaksatrapa. He twice defeated a Satavahana king named Satakarni, the lord of the Deccan,
but spared his life because of family relations. He ruled not only over Sindhu, Kutch and Gujarat,
but had also recovered from the Satavahanas Konkan, the Narmada valley, Malwa and
Kathiawar. He also humbled the warlike Yaudheyas who inhabited southern Punjab and the
adjoining regions. He had his capital at Ujjain.