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English · हिन्दी · తెలుగు · தமிழ் · മലയാളം · मराठी · ಕನ್ನಡ

The Shungas, Kanvas, Satavahanas and Kharavela

తెలుగులో వివరణ

India after the Mauryas and the Sangam age · Part 1 / 3 · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

Pushyamitra Shunga and his successors, the horse sacrifices and the Yavana wars; Bharhut, Sanchi and the Heliodorus pillar; the Kanvas; the Satavahanas, from Simuka and the Naneghat inscription to Gautamiputra Satakarni and the Nasik inscription; Satavahana government, land grants, coins and rock-cut caves; and Kharavela of Kalinga and the Hathigumpha inscription.

Each idea is explained first in Telugu (తెలుగు), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Telugu and revise it in English.

మౌర్యులు సుమారు క్రీ.పూ. 185లో పడిపోయాక, గుప్తుల దాకా దేశమంతా ఒకే రాజ్యం లేదు. ఒక పెద్ద చెట్టు కూలాక చుట్టూ చిన్న చిన్న మొక్కలు పెరిగినట్టు — గంగా లోయలో శుంగులు, కణ్వులు; దక్కన్‌లో శాతవాహనులు; కళింగలో ఖారవేలుడు; వాయవ్యం నుంచి వచ్చినవాళ్లు; దక్షిణాన తమిళ రాజ్యాలు. రాజకీయంగా ముక్కలైనా వ్యాపారం, కళలు బాగా పెరిగాయి. (→ English: post-Mauryan age · Satavahanas · Shungas · हिन्दी: मौर्योत्तर युग · सातवाहन · शुंग)

In exam EnglishAfter the fall of the Mauryas around 185 BCE, no single power ruled most of India again until the Guptas in the fourth century CE. The five centuries in between are often called the post-Mauryan age. Instead of one empire there were many regional states: the Shungas and Kanvas in the Ganga valley, the Satavahanas in the Deccan, Kharavela in Kalinga, rulers who entered from the northwest, and the Tamil kingdoms of the far south. Political division did not mean decline. Trade, crafts, towns and art flourished, Buddhist and Jain monuments multiplied, and new forms of worship grew. This part covers the Indian kingdoms of the north, the Deccan and the east; Part 2 turns to the Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Kushanas and to the trade and art of the age, and Part 3 to the Sangam age.

మౌర్య సేనాపతి, బ్రాహ్మణుడైన పుష్యమిత్ర శుంగుడు సుమారు క్రీ.పూ. 185లో చివరి మౌర్య రాజు బృహద్రథుడిని చంపి పాటలీపుత్ర సింహాసనం ఎక్కాడు — కాపలాదారే యజమాని అయినట్టు. రాజ్యం చిన్నది: మగధ నుంచి విదిశ దాకా. అతను రెండు అశ్వమేధ యాగాలు చేశాడని ధనదేవుని శాసనం చెబుతుంది. వ్యాకరణ పండితుడు పతంజలి (మహాభాష్యం) ఈ కాలం వాడే అంటారు. (→ English: Pushyamitra Shunga · ashvamedha · Patanjali · हिन्दी: पुष्यमित्र शुंग · अश्वमेध · पतंजलि)

In exam EnglishThe Shunga line came to power through a coup inside the court. Pushyamitra Shunga, a Brahmana who commanded the Mauryan army, killed the last Mauryan king, Brihadratha, around 185 BCE and took the throne at Pataliputra. His kingdom was much smaller than the Mauryan empire, centred on Magadha and stretching west to Vidisha in central India, which became an important second centre. Pushyamitra returned to the old Vedic royal rituals: an inscription of Dhanadeva, a later ruler of Ayodhya, describes him as having performed two horse sacrifices (ashvamedha). The grammarian Patanjali, whose Mahabhashya is a great commentary on Panini's grammar, is generally placed in his time. The revival of Vedic sacrifice under a Brahmana king is one reason this period is linked with a renewed Brahmanical tradition.

పుష్యమిత్రుని కొడుకు అగ్నిమిత్రుడు విదిశలో పాలించాడు; కాళిదాసు నాటకం మాళవికాగ్నిమిత్రంలో అతనే నాయకుడు. ఆ నాటకంలో అగ్నిమిత్రుని కొడుకు వసుమిత్రుడు సింధు నది ఒడ్డున యవనులను ఓడించాడు. బౌద్ధ గ్రంథాలు పుష్యమిత్రుడిని బౌద్ధ ద్వేషిగా చూపిస్తాయి — కానీ ఇది ప్రత్యర్థి వర్గం చెప్పిన కథ, అదే కాలంలో బౌద్ధ స్తూపాలు పెరిగాయి కూడా. చివరి శుంగ రాజు దేవభూతిని మంత్రి వసుదేవుడు తొలగించి కణ్వ వంశం స్థాపించాడు. (→ English: Agnimitra · Malavikagnimitram · Yavanas · Kanva dynasty · हिन्दी: अग्निमित्र · मालविकाग्निमित्रम् · यवन · कण्व वंश)

In exam EnglishPushyamitra's son Agnimitra governed Vidisha as viceroy and later succeeded him. Agnimitra is the hero of Kalidasa's Sanskrit play Malavikagnimitram, written centuries later, which also tells how Agnimitra's son Vasumitra, guarding the horse for Pushyamitra's sacrifice, defeated the Yavanas (Greeks) on the bank of the Sindhu river. Wars with the Indo-Greeks of the northwest were a real feature of the period. Buddhist texts such as the Divyavadana portray Pushyamitra as an enemy who destroyed monasteries and killed monks, but historians treat this charge with caution: it comes from a hostile tradition written long afterwards, and great Buddhist monuments were enlarged and decorated in Shunga territory in this very period. The last Shunga king, Devabhuti, was killed, according to the Puranas, through the plotting of his minister Vasudeva, who founded the Kanva dynasty.

శుంగుల కాలంలో భర్హుత్ (మధ్యప్రదేశ్) స్తూపం చుట్టూ రాతి కంచె, ద్వారం కట్టి జాతక కథలు, యక్షులు చెక్కారు; ఒక శాసనం దాన్ని 'శుంగుల రాజ్యకాలం' అంటుంది. సాంచీలో అశోకుని ఇటుక స్తూపాన్ని పెద్దది చేసి రాతితో కప్పారు. బుద్ధుని మనిషి రూపంలో చూపలేదు — చెట్టు, చక్రం, పాదముద్రలు, ఖాళీ ఆసనం గుర్తులతో; ఇంట్లో లేని పెద్దాయన కుర్చీ ఖాళీగా ఉంచి గౌరవించినట్టు. (→ English: stupa · Bharhut · Sanchi · Jataka · हिन्दी: स्तूप · भरहुत · साँची · जातक)

In exam EnglishShunga rule saw some of the finest early Buddhist art. At Bharhut, in present-day Madhya Pradesh, a stupa was surrounded by a stone railing and gateway carved with scenes from the Jataka stories, the life of the Buddha, and spirits such as yakshas and yakshis, many with short label inscriptions naming the scene or the donor. One inscription on the gateway dates it to the reign of the Shungas. Most of the surviving Bharhut carvings are now in the Indian Museum at Kolkata. At Sanchi the brick stupa of Ashoka's time was enlarged, encased in stone and given a stone railing; its four great carved gateways were added somewhat later. In both places the Buddha himself is never shown in human form; he is suggested by symbols such as a tree, a wheel, footprints or an empty seat. Donors were often ordinary monks, nuns, merchants and artisans.

విదిశ దగ్గర బేస్‌నగర్‌లో ఒక రాతి స్తంభం ఉంది. తక్షశిలకు చెందిన గ్రీకు వ్యక్తి హెలియోడోరస్, ఇండో-గ్రీకు రాజు ఆంటియాల్కిడస్ రాయబారిగా రాజు భాగభద్రుని ఆస్థానానికి వచ్చి, వాసుదేవుని గౌరవార్థం ఈ గరుడ స్తంభం నిలిపాడు; తనను 'భాగవతుడు' అని చెప్పుకున్నాడు. విదేశీ అతిథి మన గుడికి వచ్చి ధ్వజస్తంభం కట్టించినట్టు. భాగవత భక్తికి ఇది తొలి గట్టి ఆధారం. (→ English: Heliodorus pillar · Besnagar · Bhagavata · Vasudeva · हिन्दी: हेलियोडोरस स्तंभ · बेसनगर · भागवत · वासुदेव)

In exam EnglishA stone pillar at Besnagar, near Vidisha, shows how far foreign rulers were drawn into Indian religion. Its inscription records that Heliodorus, son of Dion, a Greek from Taxila who came as envoy of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of King Bhagabhadra, set up this Garuda pillar in honour of Vasudeva, the god of gods. Heliodorus calls himself a Bhagavata, a devotee of Vasudeva, and the inscription names three steps that lead to heaven: self-control, generosity and watchfulness. The pillar is among the earliest firm evidence of Bhagavata worship, the devotion to Vasudeva-Krishna that later grew into Vaishnavism. It also shows that Indo-Greek kingdoms in the northwest and Indian kingdoms of central India exchanged envoys, much as Seleucus and Chandragupta had done.

వసుదేవుడు స్థాపించిన కణ్వ వంశం కొద్దికాలమే — నలుగురు రాజులు, సుమారు నలభై ఐదేళ్లు. దాన్ని ఆంధ్రులు, అంటే శాతవాహనులు, అంతం చేశారని పురాణాలు చెబుతాయి. శాతవాహనుల పుట్టిల్లు ఎక్కడ అనేది చర్చ — మహారాష్ట్ర, తెలంగాణ, ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ మూడు చోట్లా వాళ్ల ఆధారాలు దొరుకుతాయి; ఒకే కుటుంబం మూడు ఊళ్లలో ఇళ్లు కట్టుకున్నట్టు. స్థాపకుడు సిముకుడు; రాజధాని ప్రతిష్ఠానం (పైఠాన్). (→ English: Kanva dynasty · Satavahanas · Simuka · Pratishthana · हिन्दी: कण्व वंश · सातवाहन · सिमुक · प्रतिष्ठान)

In exam EnglishThe Kanva dynasty that Vasudeva founded was short-lived; the Puranas give it four kings and a rule of only about forty-five years. Its last king was overthrown, the Puranas say, by the first king of the Andhras, the dynasty that inscriptions call the Satavahanas. The Satavahanas are the most important power of the Deccan in this age. The Puranas list some thirty kings and a long reign, but the numbers are hard to trust, and the dynasty's own inscriptions never use the word Andhra. Where it began is debated: its earliest records and coins come from the western Deccan, in present-day Maharashtra, as well as from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and its later strength lay in the Krishna and Godavari deltas. The founder is named Simuka. The chief capital was Pratishthana, modern Paithan on the Godavari.

తొలి శాతవాహన రాజు శాతకర్ణి I గురించి నానేఘాట్ (పుణె దగ్గర కనుమ) గుహ శాసనం చెబుతుంది — కొంకణ్ ఓడరేవులను దక్కన్ పీఠభూమితో కలిపే దారి అది. అతని భార్య రాణి నాగనిక దాన్ని వేయించింది; అశ్వమేధం, రాజసూయం వంటి యాగాలు, పురోహితులకు ఇచ్చిన ఆవులు, నాణేలు, ఏనుగుల లెక్క అందులో ఉంది — పెళ్లి ఖర్చుల పుస్తకం లాగా. రాజులు వైదిక యాగాలూ చేశారు, బౌద్ధ విహారాలకూ సాయం చేశారు. (→ English: Naneghat inscription · Naganika · Satakarni I · हिन्दी: नानेघाट अभिलेख · नागनिका · शातकर्णि प्रथम)

In exam EnglishThe early Satavahana king Satakarni I is known chiefly from an inscription in a cave at Naneghat, a mountain pass near Pune that linked the ports of the Konkan coast with the Deccan plateau. It was set up by his widow, Queen Naganika (Nayanika), and lists the Vedic sacrifices the royal family performed, including the horse sacrifice (ashvamedha) and the rajasuya, and the large gifts of cows, coins and elephants given to the priests. Labels in the same cave once named statues of the royal family. Satakarni I appears to have ruled a wide area of the northern Deccan; the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela even mentions sending an army west without regard for a king Satakarni. The Naneghat record shows Deccan rulers taking up Vedic kingship while also supporting the Buddhist monasteries that were spreading along the same trade routes.

శాతవాహనుల్లో గొప్పవాడు గౌతమీపుత్ర శాతకర్ణి. అతని తల్లి గౌతమి బాలశ్రీ నాసిక్ గుహ శాసనంలో అతన్ని పొగిడింది: శకులు, యవనులు, పహ్లవులను నాశనం చేశాడు, క్షహరాత వంశాన్ని పెకిలించాడు, వర్ణం వ్యవస్థను కాపాడాడు. జోగల్‌తెంబి దగ్గర నహపానుని వెండి నాణేలపై గౌతమీపుత్రుడు తన పేరు మళ్లీ ముద్రించాడు — ఓడిపోయినవాడి బోర్డు మీద గెలిచినవాడు తన పేరు రాసినట్టు. (→ English: Gautamiputra Satakarni · Nasik inscription · varna · Nahapana · हिन्दी: गौतमीपुत्र शातकर्णि · नासिक अभिलेख · वर्ण · नहपान)

In exam EnglishThe greatest Satavahana king was Gautamiputra Satakarni, who ruled in the early second century CE. His achievements are celebrated in a long Prakrit inscription in a cave at Nasik, set up by his mother, Gautami Balashri, in the nineteenth year of his son and successor Vashishthiputra Pulumayi. It praises him as the destroyer of the Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas, as the king who rooted out the Kshaharata family and restored the glory of the Satavahanas, and as a protector of the varna order who prevented the mixing of varnas. Coin evidence supports the claim against the Kshaharatas: at Jogalthembi near Nasik a hoard of silver coins of the Kshaharata ruler Nahapana was found, most of them restruck with Gautamiputra's name. His victories won back the western Deccan, though a later Shaka ruler, Rudradaman, would twice defeat the Satavahanas (Part 2).

శాతవాహన రాజుల పేర్లు తల్లి పేరుతో — గౌతమీపుత్ర అంటే 'గౌతమి కొడుకు'. 'సుజాత కొడుకు రాము' అని ఊళ్లో పిలిచినట్టు. కానీ సింహాసనం తండ్రి నుంచి కొడుకుకే వెళ్లింది; అంటే మాతృస్వామ్యం కాదు. యజ్ఞశ్రీ శాతకర్ణి ఓడ బొమ్మ నాణేలు వేశాడు — సముద్ర వ్యాపారం ముఖ్యమని గుర్తు. భాష ప్రాకృతం; రాజు హాలుడు గాథాసప్తశతి కూర్చాడని సంప్రదాయం. (→ English: matronymic names · ship coins · Prakrit · Gathasaptashati · हिन्दी: मातृनाम · जहाज़ वाले सिक्के · प्राकृत · गाथासप्तशती)

In exam EnglishSeveral features of the Satavahana house stand out. Many kings are named after their mothers, as in Gautamiputra ('son of Gautami') and Vashishthiputra ('son of Vasishthi'), and queens such as Naganika and Gautami Balashri issued major inscriptions. Yet the throne passed from father to son, so these names do not mean the kingdom followed a female line. Vashishthiputra Pulumayi extended Satavahana power to the east, and a later king, Yajna Sri Satakarni, in the late second century CE, issued coins showing a ship with masts, a sign of the importance of sea trade. The language of the court and of the inscriptions was Prakrit, written in Brahmi. Tradition credits a Satavahana king, Hala, with compiling the Gathasaptashati, an anthology of seven hundred short Prakrit poems about love and village life.

శాతవాహన పాలన మౌర్యులంత కఠినం కాదు: జిల్లాలు (ఆహారాలు), వాటిపై అమాత్యులు; స్థానిక పెద్ద కుటుంబాలు మహారథి, మహాభోజ బిరుదులతో సామంతులు. బ్రాహ్మణులకు, బౌద్ధ భిక్షువులకు పన్ను లేని గ్రామ దానాలు మొదలుపెట్టింది వీళ్లే. పడమటి కనుమల్లో వ్యాపారులు, చేతివృత్తుల వాళ్లు రాళ్లలో గుహలు తొలిపించారు: చైత్యం (చివర స్తూపం ఉన్న ప్రార్థనా మందిరం), విహారం (చుట్టూ చిన్న గదులున్న మఠం) — కార్లే చైత్యం దేశంలోనే పెద్దది. (→ English: chaitya · vihara · land grants · Karle · हिन्दी: चैत्य · विहार · भूमि-दान · कार्ले)

In exam EnglishSatavahana government was looser than the Mauryan. The kingdom was divided into districts (aharas) under officers called amatyas, and powerful local families with titles such as maharathi and mahabhoja held lands as feudatories, sometimes marrying into the royal house. The Satavahanas are known for the earliest recorded land grants: villages given to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks free of taxes, with royal officers and soldiers forbidden to enter them. Such grants became common in later centuries. The economy rested on agriculture and on trade through western ports such as Bharukachchha (Broach), Sopara and Kalyan. Coins were mostly of lead, potin and copper. In the western Ghats, merchants, artisans, guilds and even Yavanas paid for Buddhist caves cut into the rock: the chaitya, a prayer hall with a stupa at its far end, and the vihara, a monastery of small cells around a hall, at Bhaja, Karle, Nasik and Kanheri. The chaitya at Karle is the biggest ever cut into rock in India, and in the east the Amaravati stupa in the Krishna valley was richly carved.

తూర్పున కళింగ మళ్లీ బలపడింది — చేది (మహామేఘవాహన) వంశపు ఖారవేలుడి కాలంలో. భువనేశ్వర్ దగ్గర ఉదయగిరి కొండల్లోని హాథీగుంఫా శాసనం అతని పాలనను ఏడాది వారీగా చెబుతుంది — డైరీలో రోజువారీ రాసినట్టు. పశ్చిమాన శాతకర్ణిని లెక్కచేయకుండా సైన్యం పంపాడు, మగధ నుంచి నంద రాజు ఎత్తుకెళ్లిన జిన విగ్రహం తెచ్చాడు, తమిళ రాజ్యాల కూటమిని విడగొట్టాడు. ఖారవేలుడు జైనుడు. (→ English: Kharavela · Hathigumpha inscription · Udayagiri · हिन्दी: खारवेल · हाथीगुंफा अभिलेख · उदयगिरि)

In exam EnglishIn the east, Kalinga regained its strength under Kharavela of the Chedi or Mahameghavahana dynasty, probably in the first century BCE. Almost everything known about him comes from the Hathigumpha ('elephant cave') inscription in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar, written in Prakrit in the Brahmi script. It is unusual in describing the king's reign year by year: repairs to his capital, festivals and public works, the extension of a canal first dug by a Nanda king, and campaigns in every direction. It says he sent an army west without regard for Satakarni, marched against Magadha and brought back an image of a Jina that a Nanda king had carried off from Kalinga, and broke up a confederacy of Tamil states. Kharavela was a Jain, and the caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri were cut for Jain monks.
Key inscriptions of the age
InscriptionPlaceWhat it records
Ayodhya inscription of DhanadevaAyodhya (Uttar Pradesh)Pushyamitra Shunga's two horse sacrifices
Heliodorus pillarBesnagar, near Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh)Greek envoy of Antialcidas, a Bhagavata, sets up a Garuda pillar to Vasudeva
Naneghat inscriptionNaneghat pass, near Pune (Maharashtra)Queen Naganika; Vedic sacrifices of Satakarni I's family
Nasik inscription of Gautami BalashriNasik caves (Maharashtra)Victories of Gautamiputra Satakarni over Shakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas and the Kshaharatas
Hathigumpha inscriptionUdayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar (Odisha)Year-by-year reign of Kharavela, a Jain king of Kalinga

మొత్తంగా: మౌర్యుల తర్వాత అధికారం ఒక్క కేంద్రం నుంచి ప్రాంతీయ వంశాలకు వెళ్లింది — గంగా లోయలో శుంగులు, దక్కన్‌లో శాతవాహనులు, కళింగలో ఖారవేలుడు. ఒక పెద్ద జాయింట్ ఫ్యామిలీ విడిపోయి ఎవరి ఇల్లు వాళ్లు నడుపుకున్నట్టు. వైదిక యాగాలు, బౌద్ధ స్తూపాలు, జైన గుహలు అన్నీ ఒకేసారి పెరిగాయి. రాణులు, వ్యాపారులు వేయించిన శాసనాలే మన ముఖ్య ఆధారాలు. (→ English: regional kingdoms · inscriptions · Satavahanas · हिन्दी: क्षेत्रीय राज्य · अभिलेख · सातवाहन)

In exam EnglishTaken together, these kingdoms show how India changed after the Mauryas. Power shifted from one imperial centre to regional dynasties, each drawing on local resources: the Shungas in the Ganga valley and central India, the Satavahanas across the Deccan, Kharavela in Kalinga. Kings of all three revived or patronised religion in public ways, through Vedic sacrifices, Buddhist stupas and caves, and Jain cave shelters, while foreign envoys such as Heliodorus took up Indian devotion. Inscriptions, many set up by queens, merchants and guilds rather than kings, become our main sources. Land grants and feudatory families point ahead to the looser states of later centuries. The rival kings of the northwest, whom the Satavahanas and Shungas fought, are the subject of Part 2.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. The Heliodorus pillar at Besnagar was set up by an envoy of which ruler?

  1. The Indo-Greek king Antialcidas
  2. The Seleucid king Antiochus I
  3. The Kushana king Kanishka
  4. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni
Show answer

Answer: A. The Indo-Greek king Antialcidas

Answer (a). Heliodorus came from Taxila as envoy of Antialcidas to King Bhagabhadra. Antiochus I (b) sent Deimachus to Bindusara much earlier; Kanishka (c) ruled centuries later; and Heliodorus was a Greek envoy, not a Satavahana official (d).

Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. The Naneghat inscription was set up by Queen Naganika.
2. The Nasik inscription praising Gautamiputra Satakarni was set up by his mother, Gautami Balashri.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

Answer (c). Both are correct. Options (a) and (b) each drop a true statement, and (d) rejects both.

Q3. The Hathigumpha inscription gives a year-by-year account of the reign of

  1. Kharavela of Kalinga
  2. Ashoka
  3. Pushyamitra Shunga
  4. Rudradaman
Show answer

Answer: A. Kharavela of Kalinga

Answer (a). The Hathigumpha inscription near Bhubaneswar records Kharavela's reign. Ashoka (b) conquered Kalinga but left no such year-by-year record; Pushyamitra (c) is known from the Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva; Rudradaman (d) is known from the Junagadh inscription.

Q4. Match the sites with what they are known for:
A. Bharhut 1. Largest rock-cut chaitya in India
B. Karle 2. Garuda pillar of Heliodorus
C. Besnagar 3. Stupa railing carved with Jataka stories
D. Naneghat 4. Inscription of Queen Naganika
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
  2. A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
  3. A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
  4. A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
Show answer

Answer: A. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4

Answer (a). Bharhut is known for its carved railing, Karle for the largest rock-cut chaitya, Besnagar for the Heliodorus pillar and Naneghat for Naganika's inscription. Option (b) swaps Bharhut and Karle, (c) swaps Besnagar and Naneghat, and (d) swaps Bharhut and Besnagar.

Q5. Consider the following statements about the Satavahanas:
1. Several kings were known by names derived from their mothers.
2. The throne normally passed from a king to his sister's son.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct (Gautamiputra, Vashishthiputra). Statement 2 is wrong: succession was from father to son. So (b) and (c) fail by accepting statement 2, and (d) rejects the true statement 1.

Q6. Kalidasa's play Malavikagnimitram has as its hero

  1. Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Shunga
  2. Pushyamitra Shunga himself
  3. Vasudeva Kanva
  4. Gautamiputra Satakarni
Show answer

Answer: A. Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra Shunga

Answer (a). Agnimitra, the viceroy at Vidisha, is the hero. Pushyamitra (b) appears only in the background as the king who performs the sacrifice; Vasudeva Kanva (c) and Gautamiputra Satakarni (d) have no part in the play.

Q7. Which one of the following is correct about the Satavahanas?

  1. They made the earliest recorded tax-free land grants to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.
  2. Their coins were mostly of gold.
  3. Their inscriptions were mostly in classical Sanskrit.
  4. They ruled mainly from Pataliputra.
Show answer

Answer: A. They made the earliest recorded tax-free land grants to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.

Answer (a). Satavahana grants are the earliest recorded tax-free land grants. Their coins were mostly lead, potin and copper, not gold (b); their inscriptions were in Prakrit, not classical Sanskrit (c); and their chief capital was Pratishthana in the Deccan, not Pataliputra (d).

Q8. Gautamiputra Satakarni is credited with uprooting the Kshaharata family. Which ruler belonged to this family?

  1. Nahapana
  2. Rudradaman
  3. Menander
  4. Kharavela
Show answer

Answer: A. Nahapana

Answer (a). Nahapana was the Kshaharata ruler whose coins Gautamiputra restruck. Rudradaman (b) belonged to a different Shaka line and defeated the Satavahanas later; Menander (c) was an Indo-Greek king; Kharavela (d) ruled Kalinga.

All partsNext: Part 2 →

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