Sunga Dynasty
Sunga Dynasty After the death of Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire steadily disintegrated as his successors were not able to keep the vast empire from fracturing away. Independent kingdoms arose out of the provinces. Foreign invasions were occurring in the northwest. Kalinga declared its independence. In the South, the Satavahanas rose to power and in the Gangetic plains, Sunga or Shunga dynasty replaced the Mauryas. Pushyamitra Sunga Pushyamitra Sunga was Brahmin army chief of Brihadratha, the last king of the Mauryas. During a military parade, he killed Brihadratha and established himself on the throne in 185 or 186 BC. According to some historians, this was an internal revolt against the last Mauryan king. Some say it was a Brahminical reaction to the Mauryan overwhelming patronage of Buddhism. Pushyamitra Sunga’s capital was at Pataliputra. He successfully countered attacks from two Greek kings namely, Menander and Demetrius. He also thwarted an attack from the Kalinga king Kharavela. H