Sunga Dynasty

The Sunga Empire or the Shunga Empire was an ancient Indian dynasty from the Magadha that controlled the vast areas of the Indian subcontinent from around the 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by the Pushyamitra Sunga after the fall of the Maurya Empire. Its capital was the Pataliputra but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at the Besnagar, modern vidisha in the Eastern Malwa.

Pushyamitra Sunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. There were ten Sunga rulers. The empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought battles with the Kalingas, Satavahanas, the Indo-Greeks, and possibly the Panchalas and Mathuras.

The Sunga Empire played an imperative role in patronizing Indian culture at the time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. Patanjali's Mahabhasya was composed in this period. Artistry also progressed with the rise of the Mathura school of art. Thereafter, there was a downfall of the dynasty and Kanvas succeeded around 73 BCE.

The Sunga dynasty was established in the 185 BCE, about 50 years after the Ashoka's death, when the Emperor Brhadratha, the last of the Mauryan rulers, was assassinated by the then commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pushyamitra Sunga, while he was taking the Guard of Honour of his forces. Pushyamitra Sunga then ascended the throne.

Pushyamitra Sunga became the ruler of Magadha and neighbouring territories. The empire of Pushyamitra was extended up to Narmada in the south, and controlled by Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab in the north-western regions and the city of Ujjain in central India. The Kabul Valley and much of the Punjab passed into hands of the Indo-Greeks and the Deccan to the Satavahanas.
The Sungas were succeeded by the Kanva dynasty around 73 BCE.

Rulers of the Dynasty:

Pushyamitra Sunga:

Pushyamitra Sunga from 185–149 BCE was the founder and first King of the Sunga Dynasty in Northern India.
Pushyamitra was originally the Senapati (General) of the Mauryan Empire. In 185 BCE he assassinated the last Mauryan Emperor (Brihadratha Maurya) during an army review, and proclaimed himself King. He then performed the Ashwamedha Yajna and brought much of Northern India under his rule. Inscriptions of the Shungas have been found as far as the Jalandhar in the Punjab, and the Divyavadana mentions that his rule extended as far as Sagala (Sialkot, Pakistan).

Agnimitra 

Agnimitra (reigned 149–141 BCE) was the second King of the Sunga Dynasty of northern India. He succeeded his father, Pushyamitra Sunga, in 149 BCE. The Vayu Purana and the Brahmanda Purana have assigned 8 years as the length of his reign.
Agnimitra's reign ended in 141 BCE and he was succeeded either by his son Vasujyeshtha (according to the Matsya Purana) or Sujyeshtha (according to the Vayu, Brahamānda, Vishnu, and Bhagavata Puranas).

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunga_Empire

Mewar dynasty

Mewar or Mewad is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur and some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and Harayana.

The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom, the Mewar Kingdom or Udaipur Kingdom, that later became aprincely state under the British.

It was originally called Medhpaat and Lord Shiva (Ekling Nath) is called The King of Mewar. So Shiva is also called Medhpateshwar (Lord of Medhpaat). Over time, Medhpath became Mewar. The Mewar region it includes lies between the Aravali Range to the northwest, Ajmer to the north, Gujarat and the Vagad region of Rajasthan to the south, the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state to the southeast and the Hadoti region of Rajasthan to the east.

The northern part of Mewar is a gently sloping plain, drained by the Bedach and Banas River and its tributaries, which empty northwest into the Chambal River, a tributary of the Yamuna River. The southern part of the region is hilly, and marks the divide between the Banas and its tributaries and the headwaters of the Sabarmati and Mahi rivers and their tributaries, which drain south into the Gulf of Khambhat through Gujarat state. The Aravalli Range, which forms the north western boundary of the region, is composed mostly of sedimentary rocks, like marble and Kota Stone, which has traditionally been an important construction material.

The Udaipur State, also known as Mewar Kingdom, was a princely state in India at the time of the British Raj.

The state of Mewar was founded around 530; later it would also, and ultimately predominantly, called Udaipur after the name of the capital. When Udaipur State joined the Indian Union in 1949 it had been ruled by the Chattari Rajputs of Mori Guhilot Parihar and Sisodia dynasties for over 1,400 years.

Rulers of Mewar Dyansty:

Maharana Pratap:

Maharana  Pratap the Hindu Rajput ruler of Mewar. He belongs to the Sisodia clan of Rajput. Maharana pratap is considered to exemplify qualities of bravery and Chivalry to which the Rajputs aspire, especially in the context of his opposition to the Mughal emperor Akhbar. Maharana Pratap was said to be a man of the strong Rajput Character. He was far more brave and chivalrous. He is the only ruler of India that didn’t give into Mughal rule.

Maharana Pratap was born on 9th may 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan.  He was the son of Maharana Udai Singh II and his mother was Rani Jeevant Kanwar. Maharana Udai Singh II ruled ruled the kingdom of Mewar, with his capital of the Chittor. Maharana Pratap was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar in the Sisodiya Rajput. Maharana Pratap was the eldest of twenty five sons and he was given the title of crown prince.

Maharana Pratap died at the age of 27 in year 1597 due to the multiple injuries in an accident. In his life the main goal of Maharana Pratap was not to surrender in the front of Mughals. Even while lying in the lap of death Maharana Pratap made his son and successors swear to maintain the eternal conflict against the Mughal Emperor. Maharana Pratap lived his whole life with the courage and he never bowed down in front of any situation. He died in fighting for his own nation, for his people and importantly for his honour.

Maharana Sanga:

Maharana sangram singh also famous as Rana Sanga. Rana Sanga was the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajput. Maharaja Sangram was Rajput ruler of Mewar, Rajasthan, India.  He ruled between 1509 and 1527. Maharaja Sangram Singh succeeded his father, Rana Raimal, as the king of Mewar in 1509. The crisis of succession led Rana Sangram singh to the throne and bringing the forth other mighty warrior son of Mewar who fought for his kingdom till the last drop of his blood.
Rana Sanga fought against the Mughals in the Battle of Khanwa, which ended with the Mughal victory, and died shortly after that on March 17, 1527.
Maharana Sanga is also remembered for his Chivalry, when he restored the kingdom Of Mandu. After defeating the Sultan Mahmud of Mandu and taking his as a prisoner of war, he treated him and his kingdom with the generosity and bravery.


Resources:

http://www.eternalmewarblog.com/rulers-of-mewar/maharana-sangram-singh/
http://www.eternalmewarblog.com/rulers-of-mewar/

Shishunaga dynasty

The Shishunaga dynasty is believed to have been the third ruling dynasty of the Magadha, the kingdom in the ancient India. But according to the Puranas, this Shishunaga dynasty is the second ruling dynasty of the Magadha, which succeeded the Barhadratha dynasty.

Shishunaga, the founder of this dynasty was the initially an amatya (minister) of the last Haryanka dynasty ruler Nagadasaka and the ascended to the throne after the popular rebellion in the c. 413 BCE. The capital of this dynasty initially was the Rajagriha but later it shifted to the Pataliputra near the present day Patna during the reign of the Kakavarna. According to its tradition, Kakavarna was succeeded by his 10 sons. This dynasty was succeeded by the Nanda Dynasty in the c.245 BCE.

Later rulers:
According to the tradition,the ten sons of the Kalashoka ruled in dynasty simultaneously. The Mahabodhivamsa states their names as the Bhadrasena, Korandavarna, Mangura, Sarvanjaha, Jalika, Ubhaka, Sanjaya, Koravya, Nandivardhana and Panchamaka. Only one of them mentioned in the Puranic lists, Nandivardhana. Nandivardhana or the Mahanandin was probably the last ruler of this dynasty; his empire was the inherited by his illegitimate son Mahapadma Nanda

 Shishunaga Dynasty rulers:

 Shishunaga:

 Shishunaga or the Shusunaga from c. 413-395 BCE was the founder of the Shishunaga dynasty of the Magadha Empire in the present day northern India. Initially, he was the official or an amatya of the Magadha under the Haryanka dynasty. The Puranas tells that he placed his son at the Varanasi and himself from the Girivraja (Rajagriha).  He was succeeded by his son at the Kakavarna Kalashoka.

According to the Mahavamsatika, Shishunaga was son of a Licchavi Raja of Vaishali. He was conceived by the nagara-shobhini and brought up an officer of state. At the time of the revolt, he was the viceroy at Varanasi of king Nagadasaka, the last ruler of the Haryanka dynasty.

Kakavarna  Kalashoka  

According to the Puranas, Shishunaga was succeeded by his son Kakavarna and according to the Sinhalachronicles by his son Kalashoka. On the basis of the evidence of the Ashokavadana, Hermann Jacobi, Wilhelm Geiger and Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar concluded that both are same. During Shishunaga's reign, he was the governor of Varanasi. Two most significant events of his reign are the Second Buddhist council at Vaishaliin383BC and the final transfer of capital to Pataliputra. According to the Harshacharita, he was killed by a dagger thrust in to his throat in the vicinity of his capital.

Resources:
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=ecmvPwAACAAJ&dq=Shishunaga+Dynasty&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hMbIVNLvMqWwmwWnsoLoDQ&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ

Nanda dynasty

The Nanda Dynasty from 345 BCE – 321 BCE, originated from region of Magadha in the ancient India during the 4th century BC.  At its greatest extent, the empire ruled by the Nanda Dynasty extended from the Bengal in the east to the Punjab in the west and as far south as the Vindhya Range. The rulers of this dynasty were famed for the great wealth which they accumulate. The Nanda Empire was the later conquered by the Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the Maurya Empire.
Establishment of the Dynasty:

Mahapadma Nanda, who has been described in the Puranas as “the destroyer of all the Kshatriyas”, defeated many other kingdoms, including the Panchalas, Kasis, Haihayas, Kalingas, Asmakas, Kurus, Maithilas, Surasenas and the Vitihotras; to name the few.  The Nandas who usurped the throne of the Shishunaga dynasty c. 345 BC thought to be of the low origin with some sources stating that the dynasty’s founder, Mahapadma was the son of the Shudra mother.

Nanda Rule:

The Nandas are sometimes described as first empire builders in the recorded history of the India. They are inherited by the large kingdom of the Magadha and wanted to extend it to yet more distant frontiers. To this purpose they built up the vast army, consisting of the 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 war chariots and the 3,000 war elephants. According to Plutarch however, the size of the Nanda army was even larger. However, the Nandas never had the opportunity to see their army up against the Alexander, who invaded India at the time of Dhana Nanda, since Alexander had to confine his campaign to plains of Punjab, for his forces, frightened by prospect of facing the formidable foe, mutinied at the Hyphasis River (the modern Beas River) refusing to march any further. This river thus marks the eastern-most extent of Alexander's conquests.
The Nandas were also renowned for their immense wealth. They undertook the irrigation projects and invented standardized measures for trade across their empire and they ruled with assistance of many ministers. The Nanda Dynasty was also mentioned in the ancient Sangam literature of the Tamil people.

Rulers of the Dynasty:

Mahapadma Nanda:

Mahapadma Nanda c. 400-329 BC was the 1st king of the Nanda dynasty. He was the son of Mahanandin, aKshatriya king of the Shishunaga dynasty and a Shudra mother. Sons of Mahanandin from his other wives opposed the rise of Mahapadma Nanda, on which he eliminated all of them to claim the throne. Mahapadmananda was the Barber (Nai) caste person.

Dhana Nanda: 

According to the Mahabodhivamsa, Dhana Nanda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. He was one of the nine sons of the Mahapadma Nanda. Plutarch tells that Androkottos or Chandragupta Maurya had stated that Nanda was hated and despised by his subjects on account of the wickedness of his disposition and meanness of his origin.

During his reign, the Nanda Empire extended from Bihar and Bengal in the east to Punjab and Sindh in the west. His Prime Minister was Shaktar. He tortured the ladies of his kingdom and they were treated like animals. He drunk till his teeth and was always in a drunken state. The people of his kingdom feared him so much that they began taking refugee far away from his kingdom in caves and under trees. He greatly despised Chanakya and Chandragupta as well as their followers and known for his cruel nature.

Resources:
https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=817533083X
http://www.mapsofindia.com/history/nanda-empire-323-bce.html

Maurya Empire

The Maurya Empire was the geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the ancient India, ruled by the Maurya dynasty from the 322 – 185 BCE. It is originating from the kingdom of the Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (modern Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh) in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent; the empire had its capital city at the Pataliputra (the modern Patna). The Empire was founded in the 322 BCE by the Chandragupta Maurya, who had overthrown the Nanda Dynasty and the rapidly expanded his powers westwards across the central and the western India, taking the advantage of the disruption of the local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by the Alexander’s Hellenic armies. By 316 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander. Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army, gaining additional territory west of the Indus River.

The Maurya Empire was one of the world’s largest empires in its time and the largest ever in the Indian subcontinent. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, to the east into the Assam, to west into the Balochistan (south West Pakistan and the south east Iran) and the Hindu Kush mountains of what is now Afghanistan.  The Empire was expanded into the India's central and southern regions by emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded the small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka. It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Sunga Dynasty in Magadha.
Under the Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India thanks to creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of India. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia and Mediterranean Europe.

Rulers of Mauryan Dynasty:

1. Chandragupta Maurya:

Chandragupta Maurya (340 BC – 298 BC) was the founder of Maurya Empire and the first emperor to unify the most of the greater India into one state. Chandragupta ruled from the 322 BC until his voluntary retirement and the abdication in the favour of his son Bindusara in the 298 BC.

Chandragupta Maurya was a pivotal figure in the history of India. Prior to his consolidation of power, most of South Asia was ruled by small states, while the Nanda Empire dominated the Indus-Gangetic Plain. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering and subjugating almost all of the Indian subcontinent by the end of his reign, except the Tamil regions (Chera, Chola and Pandya) and Kalinga. His empire extended from Bengal in the east, to Afghanistan and Baluchistan in the west, to the Himalayas and Kashmir in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. It was the largest empire yet seen in Indian history.


2. Ashoka

Ashoka Maurya from 304–232 BCE, commonly known as Ashoka and also as the Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian sub continent from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in the west to Bengal in the East and covered the entire Indian sub continent except parts of present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The empire's capital was Pataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Bihar), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.

In about 260 BCE Ashoka waged a bitterly destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha). He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had done. He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. "Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations." Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. "Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity." Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator. In the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his "children", and mentions that as a father he desires their good.

Resources:

https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8120804058

http://www.dhakatribune.com/heritage/2014/dec/31/road-empires