After Emperor Ashoka, Maurya power
started declining. The last Maurya Emperor
was called Brihadratha. The Maurya
General Pushyamitra Shunga revolted
against Brihadratha, killed him and
became the king himself.8.2 Indo-Greek kings
During this period, there were several
small kingdoms ruled by Greek kings to
the northwest of the Indian subcontinent.
Those kings are known as Indo-Greek
kings. In the history of the coins of ancient
India, the coins of these kings are very
important. They had a tradition of putting
the picture of the king on one side and
that of a deity on the other side. This
tradition later took root in India. One of
the famous Indo-Greek kings was
Menander, who discussed Buddhist
philosophy with the Buddhist bhikkhu,
Nagasena. Menander is also referred to as
‘Milinda’. The questions that he discussed
with Bhikkhu Nagasena led to the creation
of the book ‘Milind Panha’. The Pali word
‘panha’ means ‘question’. 8.3 Kushana kings
India was invaded from time to time
by several tribes. The Kushanas were one
such tribe from Central Asia. They
established their rule in the northwestern
region and in Kashmir in the first century
CE. The Kushana kings were the first to
start minting of gold coins in India. They
started the custom of putting the images
of Gautama Buddha and different Indian
deities on the coins. The Kushan king
Kanishka extended their empire.Emperor Kanishka : Kanishka’s
empire extended from Kabul in the west
to Varanasi in the east. Gold and copper
coins minted by him have been found in
North India. The fourth Buddhist
Council was held in Kashmir during his
reign. He established the city of
Kanishkapur in Kashmir. It is believed
that the village of Kampur near Srinagar
today could be Kanishkapur.
The well-known poet Ashvaghosh
lived during the reign of Kanishka. He
wrote the texts ‘Buddhacharita’ and
‘Vajrasuchi’. The famous vaidya
Charaka was also in Kanishka’s court.8.4 The Gupta Dynasty
The end of the third century CE saw
the rise of the Gupta dynasty in North
India. The Guptas remained in power for
nearly three centuries. ‘Shrigupta’ was the
founder of the Gupta dynasty.
Samudragupta and Chandragupta II were
the notable kings of the Gupta dynasty.
Samudragupta : The expansion of
the Gupta empire began during the reign
of Chandragupta I. His son, Samudragupta,
defeated the smaller neighbouring
kingdoms and extended the empire further.
In his time, the Gupta empire spread from
Assam upto the Punjab. He had also
conquered the eastern coastal region up to
Kanchi in Tamilnadu. Due to these
victories, his power came to be recognised
everywhere. As a result, kings on the
northwestern frontiers as well as those in
Sri Lanka made treaties of friendship with
him. A pillar inscription at Prayag
describes Samudragupta’s conquests and
victories. This inscription is known as
‘Prayag-prashasti’ and also as ‘Allahabad
Prashasti’. He was an expert veena player.
He minted coins which had a variety of
images engraved on them. In one of them,
he is seen playing the veena. His name
Samudragupta, is engraved on it.Chandragupta II : After
Samudragupta, his son Chandragupta II
ascended the throne. He extended the
Gupta empire towards the northwest. He
also won Malwa, Gujarat and Saurashtra.
He established good relations with the
powerful Vakataka rulers in the south by
giving his daughter Prabhavati in marriage
to Rudrasen II.
There is an iron pillar at Mehrauli
near Delhi. It has not rusted even in the
course of the last fifteen hundred years. It
is an excellent specimen of the metallurgical
skill of the ancient Indian people. The
inscription on the pillar bears the name of
a king called ‘Chandra’. It is on this basis
that the iron pillar is assumed to be of the
period of Chandragupta II.
Do you know ?
The Chinese traveller Fa Hien
came to India during the reign of
Chandragupta II. In his travelogue, he
has described the social life during the
Gupta period. He says that Indian
cities are big and prosperous. There
are several guest houses for travellers
and also several charitable
organizations. The city has hospitals
where the poor get medical treatment
free of charge. There are great vihars
and temples. People are free to choose
any occupation. They move about
freely - there are no restrictions on
their movement. Government officers
and soldiers are paid their salaries
regularly. People do not drink alcohol
or commit violence. The administration
of the Gupta rule is conducted in a
proper and efficient manner.
In this period, the Bauddha bhikkhu,
Fa Hien, came to India from China.
He has written an account of his travels
in India. From his writings, we learn
about the efficient administration of the
Gupta emperors.
8.5 The Vardhan Dynasty
With the decline of the Gupta power,
many States emerged in North India. The
Vardhan dynasty was one of them.
Prabhakar Vardhan was the king of
Thanesar, near Delhi. The Vardhan
dynasty became powerful during his reign.
His son, Harshavardhan, expanded the
Vardhan Empire up to Nepal in the north,
up to the river Narmada in the south,
Assam in the east and Gujarat in the west.
He had cordial relations with Raja
Bhaskarvarman of Kamrup, i.e., ancient
Assam. He had also established friendly
relations with the Emperor of China and
even sent his ambassador to the Chinese
court.
The capital of Harshvardhan’s
Empire was Kanauj. Trade flourished
during his reign. He spent a large portion
of his revenue for the welfare of the
people. Every five years, he would
distribute all his wealth amongst the
people.
The court poet Banabhatta wrote
‘Harshacharita’, a biography of Emperor
Harshavardhan. This text provides
information on the life and achievements
of Harshavardhan. Harshavardhan had
become a follower of Buddhism but gave
generous patronage to other religions,
too. He wrote three Sanskrit plays
‘Ratnavali’, ‘Naganand’ and
‘Priyadarshika’. The Buddhist bhikkhu,
Yuan Chwang had come to India from
China during his regime. He travelled to
all parts of India. He stayed at the
Nalanda University for two years. On
returning to his homeland, he translated
many Buddhist manuscripts into Chinese.
Yuan Chwang8.6 Powers in Northeast India
A story in Mahabharata tells about
the marriage of Arjuna and Ulupi - the
princess of Manipur State in East India.
The State of ‘Kamrup’ emerged in the
fourth century CE. It was established by
Pushyavarman. His name has been
mentioned in the pillar inscription of
Samudragupta at Allahabad. Many
inscriptions of the Kamrup kings are
available. The epics Mahabharata and
Ramayana use the name ‘Pragjyotish’ for
Kamrup. The capital of that State was
‘Pragjyotishpur’. Today, we know it as
the city of Guwahati in Assam.
In the book ‘Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea’, Kamrup is mentioned as ‘Kirhadiya’
or ‘the region of the Kirat people’. The
Kamrup kingdom extended in the
Brahmaputra river basin, Bhutan, some
parts of Bengal and Bihar. During the
reign of king Bhaskarvarman, Yuan
Chwang had visited ‘Kamrup’.
In this chapter, we learnt about the
different kingdoms in North India that
emerged in the period after the Mauryas.
Similarly, we also learnt about the
situation in the northeastern part of India
during that period. In the next chapter, we
will get acquainted with the kingdoms of
the south of the same period.
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