Polity and Society in Post-Mauryan Period

decline of the Mauryan Empire, parts of India were subject to the invasion of the IndoGreeks, Sakas and
Kushanas from West and Central Asia.

This strengthened the process of acculturation and the assimilation of foreign cultures and art forms
into Indian society

Indo-Greek Relations

Began-invasion of north-western India by Alexander (327–325 BCE).

SeleucusNicator-territory from Phrygia (Turkey) to the river Indus after 311BCE

305 BCE-Seleucus defeated.. Megasthenes

Bindusara-maintain friendly ties with the Greek kingdoms(Asoka TOO).Greek historians refer to
ambassadors sent by Ptolemy II of Egypt and to

Bindusara’s correspondence with Antiochus of Syria.

Rock Edict (13) mentions five yona kings

Antiochus II Theos of Syria, Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, AntigonusGonatas of Macedonia, Magas of

Cyrene and Alexander of Corinth

yavana (or yona)=Persian word yauna(referred to Greeks)

regular trade from India to the West as far as Egypt.

overland route: north-west Afghanistan (Bactria)

coastal route : the Persian Gulf and Red Sea

luxury goods, including ivory, tortoise shell, pearls, indigo and other dyes, aromatic substances like
spikenard or nardrare woods were exported

from India.

The cultural influence of the Greeks is evident from the capitals of monuments

Indo-Greek kings -coinage

The Seleucid Empirefrom northern Afghanistan (Bactria) to Syria,disintegrate after 250 BCE.

Governor Diodotus, revolted against Antiochus II and became the independent ruler of Bactria

212 BCE, the king of Bactr-Greek named Euthydemus

Antiochus III did come down the Kabul river.o defeat the local Indian king –Subhagasena

Euthydemus’s son Demetrius succeeded him (c. 200 BCE), and another Demetrius, probably Demetrius
II, was the first known Indo-Greek king (c.

175 BCE).
Demetrius’s-bi lingual SQUARE COIN-Greek, Kharoshti

Indian accounts of the period refer to the yavana invasion of Ayodhya (Saketa) and further east into the
Magadha

territory

GREEKS ceded land to Pushyamitra, the Sunga emperor who had usurped the throne after the last
Mauryan ruler

165 BCE, Bactria was lost to the Parthians and SakAS

yavanas continued to rule in central and southern Afghanistan and north-western India

Menander (c.165/145–130 BCE) - best known of the Indo-Greek kings.King Kharavela of Kalinga
mentioned in the Hathigumpa inscription, was

not able to stop him.hero of the Buddhist text, Milinda-pinha-nagasena

COINS-all stages of life Kabul and Indus rivers to as far as western Uttar Pradesh

Antialcidas (or Antialkidas), c. 110.- emissary Heliodorus, court of King kasiputra Bhagabhadra-pillar-
garuda dhvajja vidisha(mp)

Agathokela(queen)-strato (son)-cions -joint

Ekuraties family-taxila amynthus,antialcidas,archbishop,hermaeus

Sakas, Parthians and Kushanas

nomadic tribes from Central Asia

theSakas (Scythians)

Parthians (Pahlavis)

Kushanas (yueh-chi or yuezhi tribes in Chinese)

Yueh-chi were being pushedwestward by the Chinese(BCZ OF WALL BUILDING)

THEY pushed the Sakas towards eastern Iran, where theParthians had become rulers following the
collapse of the Seleucid empirE

Vikramsamvat ERA- 58 BCE

Parthians

Gondophernes(19-45)CE-coins:middle age

St.Thomas-christian proselytizing

Sakas

Sakas were pushed back from eastern Iran by the Parthian ruler Mithradates (188–123 BCE),
settled in the region between the Indus valley and Saurashtra.

1 st -Maues or Moa/Moga (20 BCE to 22 CE) gandara

CCoinscopper, pure silver-Greek dieties,siva,budha

Pushvakalti-taxila

successorAzes destroyed the last remnants of the Indo-Greek kingdoms AND occupied till mathura

Azesl,Azesll-jointly ruled(cions)

The Sakas appointed kshatrapas-provincial governors, then independent-mambarus(peri er sea)

Kshaharatas-bhumaka-nahapana-minnagara©

Kardamakas-chastana-andau inscription 130AD

Sakas became assimilated into Hindu society

kshatrapas was Rudradaman -ujjain©(130–150 CE).inscription of Junagadh (in Gujarat)-chandragupta-

pushya gupta(lake-sudarsana),pure sanskrit,mahaksatrapa-ru.dh) -(defeated the Satavahanas)-patron of
learning(Sanskrit)

Rudradamanlll-Harshacharita

Kushanas(taxila)-joint rule-satrapy sys

coins were of the highest quality and conformed to the weight standards of Roman coins

Parthian Gondophernes, who first conquered Kabul (c. 43 CE). He lost the Kabul valley to the Kushanas,

conquered Afghanistan-KhujulaKadphises-WimaKadphises(rock of Hunza+Kusanadevaputra).BOTH…

Kushana territory to Gandhara, Punjab and as far to the east as the Ganga-Jumna doab till Mathura

Wima(64-78)-saivism cions(Au,Ag)-maheswara

BEST Kushana kings was Kanishka(rock of Hunza).RULE(between 78 and 144 CE).Central Asia till eastern
India.78-saka era(march-22)

Devaputra,sator(saviour),kasisara.kanshikapura(kashmir) coins-ghazipur-gorakpur-purushapura©-
mathura©(headless statute)

follower of Buddhism.fourth Buddhist mahasangha vasumitra©-Mahayana

Buddhism(Sanskrit).Bhodhisattavas-vehicle to nirvana

missions sent to China to preach Buddhism

Indo-Greek style of sculpture -Gandhara art

Buddhists began to carve out rock caves (religious centres)-Chaityas and viharas-Ajanta caves to the
Kanheri caves in Mumbai

statues of Buddha-Mahayana tradition

Kanishka was the patron of Buddhist philosophers:Asvaghosha, Parsva and Vasumitra,
Nagarjuna,mathava

Asvaghosha -Buddhacharita , author of the first Sanskrit play, Sariputraprakarana, in nine acts

Manusmriti, Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra and Kautilya’s Arthasastra taking final shape by the second
century CE,Rajatarangini-stream of kings (his j/k)-kalhana si-yu-ki(bu-text)

Madhyamikasutra(relativity theo)-nagarjuna

MMahavibhashasastra-vasumitra

Dr.Charaka-charakasamhita

King: Varishka-jushkapura(zukar-srinagar)

Huvishka- cions siva,bull