Shungas, Satavahanas and Kalinga

A king carved his own year-by-year life story into solid rock. Historians still argue over which century he actually ruled. After the Mauryas collapsed, three very different powers filled the gap. The Shungas ruled the north, the Satavahanas ruled the Deccan, and King Kharavela ruled Kalinga on the east coast.

The Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri, near Bhubaneswar — King Kharavela’s own account of his reign, carved into the rock face. Photo by Kevin Standage, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Three Powers After the Mauryas

AncHist0017

185 BCE

Pushyamitra Founds the Shungas

Kills Brihadratha, ends Mauryan rule

185–149 BCE

Ashvamedha & a Greek War

Vedic revival, Greek forces repelled

Dating Disputed

Kharavela Rules Kalinga

Placed anywhere from c. 200 to 1st century BCE

His Year 12

Kharavela Conquers Magadha

Recovers a Jina image lost to the Nandas

c. 1st Century BCE

Satavahanas Rise in the Deccan

Prakrit inscriptions, Roman trade

106–130 CE

Gautamiputra Satakarni’s Peak

Defeats the Western Kshatrapas

Three powers, three records: each left its own inscription behind — Pushyamitra’s sacrifices, Kharavela’s own res gestae, and Gautamiputra’s mother’s tribute to him.

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📑 Contents

1Timeline
2Pushyamitra’s Throne
3A Persecution in Dispute
4Satavahanas of the Deccan
5Kharavela’s Own Record
6The Post-Mauryan Story
7Test Yourself

Timeline

185 BCE: Pushyamitra Shunga, a Mauryan commander, assassinates the last Mauryan emperor, Brihadratha.
185–149 BCE: Pushyamitra rules for 36 years. He performs Ashvamedha sacrifices and repels a Greek invasion.
73 BCE: A Shunga minister kills the last Shunga king, ending the dynasty.
c. 2nd–1st century BCE: King Kharavela rules Kalinga. His exact dates remain disputed among historians.
His 12th regnal year: Kharavela conquers Magadha and recovers a Jina image the Nandas had taken generations earlier.
c. 1st century BCE: The Satavahana dynasty rises in the Deccan, trading with Rome and using Prakrit in its inscriptions.
106–130 CE: Gautamiputra Satakarni, the Satavahanas’ greatest king, defeats the Western Kshatrapas.

Pushyamitra’s Throne Need to Know

Pushyamitra Shunga was commander-in-chief of the Mauryan army.
In 185 BCE, he assassinated Emperor Brihadratha, the last Mauryan ruler. For the full story of the Mauryan collapse, see AncHist0073 — Later Mauryan Kings and the Decline of the Empire.
He founded the Shunga dynasty, ruling from Pataliputra for 36 years, until 149 BCE.
Pushyamitra performed the Ashvamedha, a Vedic horse sacrifice, to legitimise his new rule.
He also fought and repelled a Greek invasion, remembered as the Shunga-Greek War.
The dynasty continued under his son, Agnimitra, after Pushyamitra’s death.
It lasted until 73 BCE, when a minister killed the last Shunga king. For what happened next, see AncHist0075 — Minor Post-Mauryan Powers of North India.

A Persecution in Dispute Need to Know

Buddhist texts describe Pushyamitra as a violent persecutor of their faith.
The Ashokavadana claims he destroyed a monastery in Pataliputra and killed the monks there.
It also says he offered a reward for every Buddhist monk’s head, at Sakala in Punjab.
A later text, the Vibhasa, claims he destroyed 500 monasteries in Kashmir and burned scriptures.
Many historians doubt these claims. The reward is said to have been paid in Roman dinara coins.
Roman dinaras did not circulate in India until the 1st century BCE, a century after Pushyamitra’s reign.
Archaeology adds to the doubt. The Buddhist monuments at Sanchi and Bharhut were actually expanded during Shunga rule.
Historian Romila Thapar and others argue there is no solid archaeological evidence of persecution.
One theory holds any conflict was political, not religious. Some Buddhists had backed rival Greek invaders.
This dispute remains unresolved. This Article presents both sides rather than picking one.

Satavahanas of the Deccan Need to Know

Simuka founded the Satavahana dynasty in the Deccan, with its capital at Pratishthana (Paithan).
Satavahana kings are sometimes identified through matronymics, names derived from their mother’s lineage.
The dynasty’s exact origins are debated. Some link them to the “Andhras” named in Puranic texts.
Their actual base of power, though, was further northwest, in present-day Maharashtra.
Satavahana inscriptions used Prakrit, not Sanskrit, written in the Brahmi script.
The dynasty traded heavily with Rome. Roman coins have been found across the Krishna-Godavari region.
King Hala is credited with part of the Gatha Saptashati, an early Prakrit poetry collection.
The dynasty’s greatest king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, ruled from around 106 to 130 CE.
He defeated the Western Kshatrapas, a Saka dynasty, reclaiming lost Satavahana territory.
His mother, Gautami Balashri, later had his achievements praised in her own Nashik cave inscription.

Kharavela’s Own Record Good to Know

Kalinga’s King Kharavela left behind his own inscription, the Hathigumpha, carved into a cave at Udayagiri.
It records his reign almost year by year, a rare first-person royal record from this period.
In his second regnal year, he clashed with Satakarni, a Satavahana king.
In his eighth year, a Greek king retreated before him, possibly Demetrius, though this is debated.
In his twelfth year, Kharavela conquered Magadha. He recovered a Jina image the Nandas had seized generations before.
Kharavela was a devoted patron of Jainism, funding caves for ascetics at Udayagiri. For more on his Jain patronage, see AncHist0063 — History and Spread of Jainism.
His inscription opens with the Namokar Mantra, its earliest known appearance in any inscription.
Historians still dispute exactly when he ruled, with estimates ranging across nearly two centuries.
Centuries before Kharavela, Ashoka’s Mauryan army had conquered Kalinga in one of history’s bloodiest wars. By Kharavela’s time, Kalinga was independent again, and strong enough to conquer back.

The Post-Mauryan Story Great to Know

This Article covers the Shungas, Satavahanas, and Kharavela’s Kalinga, three of the major post-Mauryan successor states.
The Mauryan collapse that made room for them is covered in full in AncHist0073 — Later Mauryan Kings and the Decline of the Empire.
North India also had smaller, shorter-lived powers alongside the Shungas: the Kanvas, and various local Mitra kings. These are covered in AncHist0075 — Minor Post-Mauryan Powers of North India.
Kharavela’s Jain patronage connects to a much wider story of Jainism’s spread across India, covered in AncHist0063 — History and Spread of Jainism.
Across these three powers, a pattern repeats: a central empire falls, and regional rulers rush to fill the vacuum.