The Shunga Empire's own name appears in just one ambiguous inscription
For roughly a century after the Mauryas, a dynasty historians call the Shungas dominated much of northern India. Yet the name survives in stone only once, on a Buddhist gateway at Bharhut, in a phrase that might instead refer to a different kingdom. Much about this empire, including its religious policy, remains argued over.
According to historical reconstructions, the dynasty began around 184 BCE, some 50 years after Ashoka's death, when the commander Pushyamitra assassinated the last Maurya emperor, Brihadratha, as he reviewed his guard of honour. Ruling from Pataliputra, Pushyamitra held the heart of the old Mauryan realm, including Ayodhya, for 36 years. Mathura, further west, shows no sign of Shunga presence and seems to have been under Indo-Greek control. His son Agnimitra became the hero of a drama by the great playwright Kālidāsa.
Ten rulers are listed, but after Agnimitra the state fragmented into small kingdoms and city-states, many minting their own coins. The Shungas fought repeatedly, against the Indo-Greeks, Kalinga and the Satavahanas among others. The line ended when the minister Vasudeva Kanva assassinated the last emperor, Devabhuti, and the Kanva dynasty took over around 73 BCE.
The Bharhut gateway was paid for by one Dhanabhuti and dated to the rule of the Sugas, which could mean the Shungas or the Sughanas, a northern Buddhist kingdom. Because Dhanabhuti was funding a Buddhist monument while the Shungas are known as Hindu monarchs, he may have been a tributary or neighbour rather than a family member.
Religion is the sharpest dispute. Buddhist texts such as the Ashokavadana, and the Tibetan historian Taranatha, portray Pushyamitra, a Brahmin, as a persecutor who burned monasteries, and he did revive Brahmanical sacrifices that Ashoka had banned. Some scholars treat those stories as probable exaggerations, pointing out that Bharhut and Sanchi were renovated and enlarged in this era; others reply that the Sanchi work came from private donors, not royal patronage. Culturally the period was rich regardless, seeing Patanjali's great grammatical commentary, the Mahābhāṣya, and the rise of the Mathura art style.
Source: Shunga Empire
