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Maurya Empire (322–180 BCE)
Chandragupta 322–297 BCE Bindusara 297–273 BCE Ashoka the Great 273/268–232 BCE Dasharatha 232–224 BCE Samprati 224–215 BCE Shalishuka 215–202 BCE Devavarman 202–195 BCE Shatadhanvan 195–187 BCE Brihadratha 187–180 BCE
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Brihadratha was the 9th and last Emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty. He ruled from 187 to 185 BCE, when he was overthrown and assassinated by his General, Pushyamitra Shunga, who went on to establish the Shunga Empire. The Mauryan territories, centred on the capital of Pataliputra, had shrunk considerably from the time of Ashoka to when Brihadratha came to the throne.

Reign

According to the Puranas, Brihadratha succeeded his father Shatadhanvan to the throne and ruled for three years.

Overthrow by Pushyamitra Shunga

Brihadratha Maurya the last Mauryan Emperor was killed in 185 BCE and power usurped by his general, Pushyamitra Shunga who then took over the throne and established the Shunga Empire. Bāṇabhaṭṭa's Harshacharita says that Pushyamitra, while parading the entire Mauryan Army before Brihadratha on the pretext of showing him the strength of the army, crushed his master. Pushyamitra killed the former emperor in front of his military and established himself as the new ruler.

Invasion of Demetrius I

In 185 BCE just after assassination of Brihadratha by his army chief Pushyamitra, Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius (Dharmamita) invaded northwestern India (parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) in 186 BCE and occupied it. The Mauryans had diplomatic alliances with the Greeks, and they may have been considered as allies by the Greco-Bactrians. A key detail is mentioned by Ceylonese Buddhist monks, pointing that Brihadratha married Demetrius' daughter, Berenice (Suvarnnaksi in Pali texts). The Greco-Bactrians may also have invaded India in order to protect Greek populations in the subcontinent. He established his rule in the Kabul Valley and parts of the Punjab region. Soon, however, they had to leave for Bactria to fight a fierce battle (probably between Eucratides I and Demetrius).

The hypothesized Yavana invasion of Pataliputra is based in the Yuga Purana. The scripture describes the campaign of King Dharmamita:

47. Then, having approached Saketa, together with the Panchalas and Mathura, the Yavanas (Indo-Greeks), wicked and valiant, will reach Kusumadhvaja ("The city of the flower-standard", Pataliputra).
48. Then, once Puspapura (Pataliputra) has been reached, its celebrated mud cast down, all the realms will be in disorder, there is no doubt.
49. There will then finally be a great war, of wooden weapons, and there will be the vilest of men, dishonourable and unrighteous.

— Yuga Purana

See also

• Magadha
• Maurya Empire
• Shunga Empire

References

Citations

1. Thapar, Romila (1998). Aśoka and the decline of the Mauryas : with new afterword, bibliography and index (2nd ed.). Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-19-564445-X.
2. Thapar 2013, p. 296.
3. Lahiri, B. (1974). Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D.) , Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.24-5
4. Paranavithana, Senarath (1971). The Greeks and the Mauryas. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Lake House Investments. p. 84.
5. Lahiri, B. (1974). Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D.) , Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.22-4
6. The Yuga Purana. Translated by Mitchiner, John E. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society. 1986. p. 91.
7. The Sungas, Kanvas, Republican Kingdoms and Monarchies, Mahameghavahanas, Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, p.6

Sources

• Thapar, Romila (2013), The Past Before Us, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2

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