Shungas and Kanvas – Post-Mauryan Rule in the Ganga Valley

At a Glance

• Founder Pushyamitra Shunga, 185 BC
• Varna Brahmana dynasties
• Capitals Pataliputra and Vidisha
• Monuments Bharhut, Sanchi, Heliodorus pillar
• Successors Kanvas, then Satavahanas
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Mauryan Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the last topic of the category on the Mauryan Empire. The previous topic explained the empire’s decline, and this one covers its successors in the Ganga valley. The next category begins with the Indo-Greeks. Previous topic: Causes of the Decline of the Mauryan Empire.

How Did the Shungas Come to Power?

In short: a Mauryan general killed his king and founded a brahmana dynasty.

The most important native successors of the Mauryas in the north were the Shungas, followed by the Kanvas. Pushyamitra Shunga, a brahmana and general of the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha, is said to have killed him in public in 185 BC and usurped the throne of Pataliputra. He ruled for about 36 years. The Shungas ruled at Pataliputra and in central India, and later kings such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar near Vidisha. Tradition counts ten Shunga kings, and Agnimitra, Pushyamitra’s son, appears in the play Malavikagnimitra. The kingdom was far smaller than the Mauryan empire; the same material knowledge that had spread from Magadha allowed such regional dynasties to rise, as explained in Causes of the Decline of the Mauryan Empire.

What Marked Shunga Religion, Wars and Culture?

The Shungas performed several Vedic sacrifices to mark the revival of the brahmanical way of life, and an inscription at Ayodhya says Pushyamitra performed two ashvamedha sacrifices. They are said to have persecuted the Buddhists. This comes from later Buddhist accounts, and many historians consider it exaggerated; another account notes that the Vedic religion received royal patronage from Pushyamitra. The Greeks of Bactria pressed into north-west India, and another account says the Indo-Greek Menander attacked Pataliputra but retreated without consolidating his conquest. The Greeks ceded land to Pushyamitra. Patanjali’s Mahabhashya, which mentions the presentation of scenes from stories, is dated to this period, around 150 BC. The Heliodorus pillar, a garuda pillar at Vidisha, was set up by Heliodorus, an ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas sent to the court of Bhagabhadra, in honour of Vasudeva, so a Greek had become a follower of Vishnu. Stupa work at Bharhut and Sanchi expanded in the second century BC, though the name Shunga appears in only one inscription at Bharhut and some scholars say the building was private or collective patronage. The Indo-Greeks are discussed in Indo-Greeks in North-West India.

How Far Did Shunga Power Reach?

Historians debate the reach of the dynasty. An inscription of Dhanadeva at Ayodhya records a local king who claimed descent from Pushyamitra, which suggests that Shunga influence reached Ayodhya. At the same time, no Shunga presence has been found at Mathura, where an inscription points instead to Indo-Greek control, and the name Shunga itself appears in only one inscription, at Bharhut, where it may refer to another kingdom. Dates drawn from the Puranic lists are also contested. The result is a picture of a kingdom whose core was Magadha and Vidisha, with a shifting frontier. The tradition of ten kings and the rapid break-up of the state after Agnimitra shows that central control weakened, and small independent states emerged in the Ganga valley and central India.

Who Were the Kanvas and How Did Rule End?

The Shunga line ended when Devabhuti was killed by his minister Vasudeva Kanva about 73 BC, and the Kanvas, also brahmanas, followed. The Kanva rule was short and confined to the Ganga valley and nearby central India. The Satavahanas, who rose in the Deccan, defeated the Kanvas in the first century BC and established power in parts of central India. The Satavahanas also claimed to be brahmanas. In this sense the post-Mauryan Ganga valley passed from Mauryan imperial rule through brahmana dynasties to Deccan power. The sequence is in Satavahanas – Political History.

As an analytical point, the Shunga period marks a shift from imperial integration to regional states, with brahmanical patronage replacing Ashokan neutrality. Yet the period was not a dark age: art, grammar and trade continued, and the pillars and stupas show continuity with Mauryan traditions, as in Mauryan Art and Architecture. Foreign relations are considered further in Cultural Consequences of Central Asian Contact.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Dynastic list Prelims favourite
• Culture Vedic revival and stupas
• Transition To regional powers

What Came Next?

The next category begins with the Indo-Greeks in north-west India. Next topic: Indo-Greeks in North-West India.

Key People and Terms

• Ashvamedha Horse sacrifice
• Malavikagnimitra Play linking Agnimitra
• Heliodorus pillar Garuda pillar at Vidisha
• Besnagar Site near Vidisha
• Mahabhashya Commentary of Patanjali
• Kanvas Brahmana successors of the Shungas

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about the post-Mauryan political order. These points add depth.

• Origin Coup by general
• Culture Vedic revival, stupas
• End Kanvas and Satavahanas