15. Post Mauryan India

• The period which began after 200 B.C. Didn't witness a large empire like Mauryas but is notable for intimate and widespread contact between Central Asia and India.
• In eastern India, central India and Deccan the Mauryas were succeeded by Sungas, Kanvas and Satavahanas. In north-western front they were succeeded by a large no. Of ruling dynasties from Central Asia.

 

The Indo-Greeks

• With the construction of Chinese wall, the Scythians were unable to push forward into China, so they turned towards neighbouring Greeks and Parthians ruling in Bactria lying south of Oxus river in north Afghanistan and adjoining areas of Iran called Parthia respectively.
• One important cause of invasions was the weakness of the Seleucid empire established in Bactria and Parthia.
• The first one to invade India were the Greeks also called Indo-Greeks or Bactrian Greeks. They pushed forward as far as Ayodhaya but failed to establish united rule in India.
• The most famous Indo-Greek ruler was Menander(165-145 B.C.) also called Milinda and had his capital at Sakala(now Sialkot) Punjab. He was converted to Buddhism by Nagasena, also known as Nagarjuna.
• The Indo-Greeks were the first ruler in India to issue coins which can be definitely attributed to the kings and were the first to use gold-coins in India, which increased in numbers under Kushans.
• The Greeks also introduce Hellenistic art features in north-west frontier of India, giving rise to Gandhara art.

 

The Sakas

• The Greeks were followed by the Sakas, who controlled a much larger area in India than Greeks did.
• There were 5 branches of sakas with their seats of power in different parts of India and Afghanistan.
• One branch settled in Afghanistan, other in Punjab capital at Taxila, third in Mathura, fourth established its hols in western India and fifth established its power in the upper Deccan.
• They didn't meet much effective resistance from the rulers and peoples of India. But it is said that the king of Ujjain, Vikramaditya drove them out of his kingdom and an era called the Vikrama Samvat is reckoned from the event of his victory over the Sakas in 58 B.C.
• Although they ruled in different parts of the country but only those who ruled in western India held power for considerable amount of time(about 4 centuries).
• The most famous Saka ruler was Rudradaman I (AD 130-150) who ruled over Sindh, Gujarat and Kutch and also recovered Narmada valley, Malwa, Konkan and Kathiawar from the Satavahanas.
• He was a lover of Sanskrit and issued the first ever long inscription in chaste Sanskrit as all the earlier inscriptions that are found in the country were composed in Prakrit.

 

The Parthians

• The Saka domination in north-west India was followed by that of the Parthians and in many Sanskrit texts were mentioned as Saka-Pahlavas.
• In fact they ruled over the country on parallel lines for some time. In course of time the Parthians, like the Sakas before them became an integral part of Indian polity and society.

 

The Kushans

• The Parthians were followed by the Kushans, who are also called Yuechis or Tocharians. The Kushans were one of the 5 Yuechi tribes, a nomadic tribe in north  Central Asia.
• They occupied Bactria or north Afghanistan displacing Sakas, moved to Kabul valley and seized Gandhara by crossing the Hindukush, replacing the Greeks and Parthians in these areas.

• Their empire extended from the Oxus to the Ganga, from Khorasan in Central Asia to Varanasi in UP.
• There were 2 successive dynasties of the Kushans. First dynasty was founded by the house of chiefs who were called Kadphises and ruled for 28 years from about A.D. 50.
• It had 2 kings, first was Kadphises I, who issued coins south of Hindukush and minted copper coins in imitation of Roman coins. Second was Kadphises II, who issued gold money and spread his kingdom east of Indus.
• The house of Kadphises was succeeded by that of Kanishka. Its kings extended the Kushan power over upper India and lower Indus basin and issued gold coins with higher gold content than the Guptas.
• Its inscriptions are distributed not only in north-western India and Sindh but also in Mathura, Sravasti, Kausambi and Varanasi.
• The most famous Kushan ruler was Kanishka although he suffered defeat at the hands of the Chinese but he is known because first he started an era in A.D. 78 known as Saka era and is used by the govt. Of India and second he extended his whole-hearted patronage to Buddhism.
• Kanishka held a Buddhist council in Kashmir, where the doctrines of the Mahayana form of Buddhism were finalized and was also a great patron of art and Sanskrit literature.
• Kushans ruled north-western India upto 230 A.D. And their empire in Afghanistan and areas west of Indus was supplanted in the mid-third century A.D. By the Sassanian power who arose in Iran.
• The Kushans authority seems to have lingered in the Kabul valley, Kapisa, Bactria, Khorezm and Sogdiana in third and fourth centuries.
• Many Kushans coins, inscriptions and terracottas have been found in these parts, especially a palace was unearthed in Toprak-Kala in Khorezm containing inscriptions and documents written in Aramaic script and Khorezmian language.

 

Impact of Central Asian Contacts

Structures and Pottery

• The Saka-Kushan phase registered a distinct advance in building activities, they used burnt bricks for flooring and tiles for both flooring and roofing.
• This period was marked by the construction of brick-wells and typical pottery is red-ware both plain and polished with medium to fine fabric found in the same period in Kushan layers in Central Asia.

Trade and Technology

• The Sakas and Kushans added new ingredients to Indian culture and enriched it immensely. Since they didn't have their script, language or religion they adopted these elements of culture from India.
• They introduced better cavalry and the use of the riding horse on a large scale, made common use of reins and saddles and were excellent horsemen and fought with spear and lances.
• They introduced turban, tunic, trousers and heavy long-coat and also brought in cap, helmets and boots which were used by warriors.
• Due to their contacts with Central Asia, India received a good deal of gold from the Altai mountains and also through trade with Roman empire.
• The Kushans controlled the Silk route which passed through their empire and was a great source of income for them as they levied tolls on the traders.
• They were also the first rulers in India to issue gold coins on a wide scale.

Polity

• The Sakas and Kushans imposed their rule on numerous petty native princes developing a feudatory organisation, adopting the title of king of kings, indicating their supremacy.
• They adopted the idea of divine origin of kingship, probably adopted from the Chinese, who called their king the son of heaven.
• They introduced the satrap system of govt. The empire was divided into numerous satrapies and each satrapy was placed under the rule of satrap.
• They introduced the practice of military governorship to maintain the power of foreign rulers over the conquered people.

New Elements in Indian Society

• The Greeks, the Sakas, the Parthians and the Kushans ultimately lost their identity in India or they became completely Indianized in course of time.
• Since most of them came as conquerors they were absorbed in Indian society as a warrior class, that is as the kshatriyas.

Religion

• Some of the foreign rulers were converted to Vaishnavism, and some adopted Buddhism. As the Greek ruler Heliodorus set up a Pillar in honour of Vishnu near Vidisa in MP.
• The Kushan ruler worshipped both Siva and the Buddha as the images of these gods appear on their coins. Several Kushan rulers were also worshipper of Vishnu.

The Origin of Mahayana Buddhism

• The contact with foreigners brought about changes in Indian religions especially Buddhism.
• Buddhism in its pure form was too puritanical and too abstract for foreigners who wanted something concrete and intelligible.
• So they developed a new form of Buddhism called the Mahayana or the Great Wheel in which image of the Buddha began to be worshipped open to all sections of the people. 
• Those who did not subscribe to the newly founded sect came to be known as the followers of the Hinayana or the Small Wheel.

Gandhara Art

• The Indian craftsmen came into contact with the Greeks and the Romans, especially in the north-west frontier of India in Gandhara giving rise to a new form of art called Gandhara Art.
• The images of Buddha were made in Greco-Roman style. And its influence also spread to Mathura which was a primary centre of indigenous art and its product were made in red stone.
• During the same period we notice beautiful works of art at several places south of Vindhyas such as in Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh.

Literature and Learning

• The foreigners cultivated and patronized Sanskrit literature as most of the texts written afterwards were composed in chaste Sanskrit.
• Asvaghosha who wrote Buddhacharita enjoyed the patronage of the Kushans and also composed Saundarananda both in Sanskrit kavya.
• The progress of Mahayana Buddhism led to the composition of numerous avadanas composed in Buddhist-hybrid Sanskrit to preach the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism.
• The foreigners also contributed to the development of the Indian theatre by introducing the use of curtain borrowed form the Greeks and known as Yavanika from term Yavana sanskritized form of Ionian, a branch of Greeks known to ancient Indians.

Science and Technology

• Indian astronomy and astrology profited from contact with the Greeks as many terms such as about the movement of planets in Sanskrit were taken form Greeks.
• However the Indian didn't owe anything to Greeks in terms of medicine, botany and chemistry and these subjects were dealt with by Charaka and Susruta.
• In the field of technology also Indians seem to have been profited as possibly the art of making leather shoes began in India during this period.
• Kushan copper coins and gold coins were imitations of the Roman coins.
• Working in glass during this period was especially influenced by foreign ideas and practices.