Professional Documents
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Post Mauryans
Post Mauryans
Indo-Greeks:
The first to invade India were the Greeks or Bactrian Greeks who
were called the Indo-Greeks or Bactrian Greeks in the early second
century B.C. The history of the Indo-Greeks has been reconstructed
mainly on the evidence of their coins bearing legends in Greek and
later in Brahmi as well.
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The Shakas:
The decline of the Greek kingdoms in the north-west coincided with
an attack on Bactria itself by nomadic tribes from central Asia.
These tribes included the Scythians, who were primarily responsible
for destroying Bactrian power.
The pressure of the consolidated Chinese empire under Shi Huang
Ti, who built the Great Wall, as well as the drying up of their
pastures drove central Asian nomadic tribes including the Yuechis
westward. Pressed from the north and east, the Scythians attacked
Bactria and occupied it.
The first Shaka king in India was Maues or Moga (C. 80 B.C.), who
established Shaka power in Gandhara. Maues issued a large number
of coins mostly in copper, and a few in silver. Maues adopted the
title Maharaja Mahatma, the great king of kings, an exact Prakrit
translation of the title basileos megalou adopted by several Indo-
Greek kings.
The two groups of satraps are known from the inscriptions and
coins. The earlier group consists of two persons only, Bhumaka and
Nahapana belonging to the Kshaharata race while the latter group
comprises a large number of satraps known to have descended from
Chashtana.
1. The Kshaharatas:
The first Ksatrap of the Kshaharata family was Bhumaka who was
probably entrusted with the task of administering the south-western
part of the empire of the Kushanas. The use of both Kharoshthi and
Brahmi scripts in Bhumaka’s coins points to the fact that the
satrapa territories not only comprised such districts as Malwa,
Gujarat and Saurashtra where Brahmi was in vogue but also some
regions of western Rajasthan and Sind where Kharoshthi was
prevalent.
He ruled not only over Sindh, but also over a good part of Gujarat,
Konkan, the Narmada Valley, Malwa and Kathiawar. He is famous
in history because of the repairs he undertook to improve the
Sudarshana lake in the semi-arid zone of Kathiawar.
This lake had been in use for irrigation for a long time, and was old
as the time of the Mauryas. Rudradaman was a great lover of
Sanskrit. Although a foreigner settled in India, he issued the first-
ever long inscription in chaste Sanskrit.
2. The Parthians:
The Shaka domination in the north-western India was followed by
that of the Parthians, and in many ancient Indian Sanskrit texts the
two peoples are together mentioned as Shaka-Pahlavas. In fact they
ruled over this country on parallel lines for some time. Originally
the Pathians lived in Iran from where they moved to India. In
comparison with the Greeks and the Shakas, they occupied only a
small portion of north-western India in the first century.
The Kushanas:
The Parthians were followed by the Kushanas who are also called
Yuechis or Tocharians. The Kushanas were one of the five tribes in
which the Yuechi tribe was divided. We come across two successive
dynasty of the Kushanas.
The first dynasty was founded by a house of chiefs who were called
Kadphises and who ruled for 28 years from about A.D. 50.
Dynasty of Kadphises:
The Chinese historian Ssu-ma-chien records that a Yuechi chief,
Kujula Kadphises, united the five tribes of the Yuechis and led them
over the northern mountains into the subcontinent, establishing
himself in Kabul and Kashmir by defeating Hermaeus the last
Bactrlan-Greeks. Soon after the middle of the first century A.D.
Kujula died at the age of eighty and was succeeded by his son, Vima
Kadphises who invaded India and advanced far into the interior of
North India.
Dynasty of Kanishka:
The house of Kadphises was succeeded by that of Kanishka. Its
kings extended the Kushana power over upper India and the lower
Indus basin. Under Kanishka, the Kushana dynasty flourished. The
date of his accession is a matter of inconclusive debate, but 78 A.D.
seems to be the most probable of the dates suggested so far.
Kanishka was a great patron of arts and letters. The age of Kanishka
witnessed the execution of the best work in Gandhara style. He is
said to have constructed at Peshawar a multistoreyed relic tower
enshrining the relic of the Buddha under the supervision of a Greek
engineer Agesilaos.
The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, who came to India in the seventh
century, gives a detailed account of the stupa. Kanishka built a
tower near Taxila and the city of Kanishkapura in Kashmir probably
owed its foundation to him.
Successors of Kanishka I:
Kanishka’s rule lasted for twenty-three years. His immediate
successor was Vasishka, who had a short reign and was succeeded
by Huvishka. The empire of Huvishka was not less extensive than
that of Kanishka. It may have spread further to the west, as a record
of his reign has been unearthed at Wardak to the west of Kabul.
The last great Kushana 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, and his coins usually bear the god
Siva and rarely any Iranian deity.
The Kushans controlled the silk route which started from China and
passed through their empire in central Asia and with the help of
tolls levied from the traders, Kushans built a large empire. It is
significant that the Kushans were the first rulers in India to issue
gold coins on a wide scale.
Development of Religion:
Some of the foreign rulers were converted to vaishanavism. The
Greek ambassador Heliodoros set up a pillar in honour of Vishnu
near Vidisa in Madhya Pradesh. The famous Greek ruler Menander
was converted to Buddhism. The Kushan rulers worshipped both
Shiva, and Buddha and the images of these two gods appeared on
the Kushan coins.
Mahayana:
One of the two sects of Buddhism that become a considerable force
in India around the first century A.D. The other sect is called
Hinayana. Literally meaning ‘the great Vehicle’, the Mahayana was
concerned with the salvation of the collective humanity.
The Kushan Empire was divided into smaller units which were
governed by the Kshatraps or Satraps. It was the beginning of the
Kshatrapa system. They also started the curious practice of
hereditary dual rule when both father and the son ruled the same
kingdom at the same time. This practice of military governorship
was also started during this period as these military governors were
quite necessary to control the rebellious people.
Social Life-New Elements in Indian Social Life:
The Bactrian’s, the Parthians, the Sakas and the Kushans came into
India and settled there permanently, thus becoming an integral part
of the Indian society. Thus they lost their separate social identity
and they became completely Indianized. Being brave and bold
conquerors, they were admitted into the Indian social system as
member of the Kshatriya caste.
Religious Life:
Some of the foreign rulers were converted to Hinduism and they
became staunch devotees of Vishnu and Shiva. Some others
embraced Buddhism. The Greek ruler Milind was converted to
Buddhism. As the Greeks were primarily image worshippers, they
made images of the Buddha too and started worshipping his idol. It
was the beginning of the practice of idol-worship among the
Buddhists.
The Buddha was regarded as a god and images of the Buddha and
Budhisatvas were made and worshipped. The goal of life also was
changed from ‘Nirvana’ to the attainment of ‘Swarga’ or heaven. The
old language Pali was also discarded in favour of the Sanskrit and
faith took the place of logic. As a result of these changes, the
Buddhism gained immense popularity and it spread not only in
India but also in several foreign countries like China, Japan, Tibet
and Central Asia.
Astronomy:
The Indians also learnt a lot from the Greeks in the field of
astronomy. The Indians too honoured the learned Greek
astronomers and were impressed by their knowledge in this field.
The renowned Indian treatise on astronomy ‘Gargi Samhita’ asserts,
“The Yavanas are barbarians yet the science of astronomy
originated with them and for this they must be reverenced like
Gods”. Of the different principles of astronomy, the Indians
borrowed many from the contemporary Greeks. Several of the
Greek terms are still prevalent in Indian astronomy. Some scholars
even believe that the Indians learnt from the Greeks the science of
casting horoscopes.
Coinage:
Before the Greeks, the Indian coins were rough and punch-marked.
These coins were not cast in moulds and only one side bore any
inscription. The Indians learnt from the Greeks the art of moulding
coins and they now struck beautiful coins bearing inscriptions on
both the sides. The gold coins of Kanishka were also beautiful and
attractive with artistic images of Gods and Goddesses on them.
They depicted scenes from the life of the Buddha on stone. Most of
the specimens of the Ghandara Art relating to this period are
executed in stone. But some of the specimens founded at Taxila are
in stucco (lime), cement, terracota (baked clay) and clay. The
Gandhara Art greatly influenced other schools of Indian sculpture.
The rise of the Mahayana sect led to the composition of dramas. The
Indian drama was also influenced by the Greece drama. It is on the
Greek model that in the Indian dramas too the character of a clown
(Vidushaka) was introduced and the use of curtain, which is called
‘Yavanika’ in Sanskrit, was started.