Editing History of India (section)

=== Early classical period (c. 200 BCE – 320 CE) ===

==== Shunga Empire ====
{{Main|Shunga Empire}}
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 3
| total_width       = 450
| caption_align     = center
| title             = Shunga Empire
| image1            = East Gateway and Railings Bharhut Stupa.jpg
| caption1          = East Gateway and Railings, [[Bharhut]] [[Stupa]], 2nd century BCE.
| image2            = Royal family Sunga West Bengal 1st century BCE.jpg
| caption2          = Shunga art [[Ancient vina]], 1st century BCE.
| image3            = MET DT6881.jpg
| caption3          = Royal family, 1st century BCE in West Bengal.
}}

The Shungas originated from [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], and controlled large areas of the central and eastern Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78&nbsp;BCE. The dynasty was established by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]], who overthrew the last [[Maurya Empire|Maurya emperor]]. Its capital was [[Pataliputra]], but later emperors, such as [[Bhagabhadra]], also held court at [[Vidisha]], modern [[Besnagar]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stadtner|first=Donald|year=1975|title=A Śuṅga Capital from Vidiśā|journal=Artibus Asiae|volume=37|issue=1/2|pages=101–104|issn=0004-3648|jstor=3250214|doi=10.2307/3250214}}</ref>

Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son [[Agnimitra]]. There were ten Shunga rulers. However, after the death of Agnimitra, the empire rapidly disintegrated;<ref>K. A. Nilkantha Shastri (1970), [https://books.google.com/books?id=E3tDAAAAYAAJ ''A Comprehensive History of India: Volume 2''], p. 108: "Soon after Agnimitra there was no 'Sunga empire'".</ref> inscriptions and coins indicate that much of northern and central India consisted of small kingdoms and city-states that were independent of any Shunga hegemony.<ref>Bhandare, Shailendra. "Numismatics and History: The Maurya-Gupta Interlude in the Gangetic Plain" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC ''Between the Empires: Society in India, 300 to 400''] ed. Patrick Olivelle (2006), p. 96</ref> The empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought with the [[Mahameghavahana dynasty]] of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]], [[Satavahana dynasty]] of [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], the [[Indo-Greeks]], and possibly the [[Panchala]]s and [[Mitra dynasty (Mathura)|Mitras of Mathura]].

Art, education, philosophy, and other forms of learning flowered during this period including architectural monuments such as the Stupa at [[Bharhut]] and the renowned Great Stupa at [[Sanchi]]. The Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of [[Brahmi]] and was used to write the [[Sanskrit language]]. The Shunga Empire played an imperative role in patronising [[Indian culture]] at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place.

==== Satavahana Empire ====
{{Main|Satavahana Empire}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| title = Satavahana Empire
| image1 = Sanchi Stupa No.2 Front view1.jpg
| caption1=[[Sanchi|Sanchi Stupa Two and Southern Gateway]], 1st century CE ([[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]).
| image2 = Indian ship on lead coin of Vashishtiputra Shri Pulumavi.jpg
|caption2=Indian ship on lead coin of [[Vasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi]], testimony to the naval, seafaring and trading capabilities of the Sātavāhanas during the 1st–2nd century CE.
}}
The Śātavāhanas were based from [[Amaravathi, Palnadu district|Amaravati]] in [[Andhra Pradesh]] as well as [[Junnar]] ([[Pune]]) and Prathisthan ([[Paithan]]) in [[Maharashtra]]. The territory of the empire covered large parts of India from the 1st century BCE onward. The Sātavāhanas started out as feudatories to the [[Mauryan dynasty]], but declared independence with its decline.

The Sātavāhanas are known for their patronage of Hinduism and Buddhism, which resulted in Buddhist monuments from [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) to [[Amaravathi village, Guntur district|Amaravati]]. They were one of the first Indian states to issue coins with their rulers embossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] to the southern tip of India.

They had to compete with the [[Shunga Empire]] and then the [[Kanva dynasty]] of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] to establish their rule. Later, they played a crucial role to protect large part of India against foreign invaders like the [[Sakas]], [[Yavanas]] and [[Pahlavas]]. In particular, their struggles with the [[Western Kshatrapas]] went on for a long time. The notable rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty [[Gautamiputra Satakarni]] and [[Sri Yajna Sātakarni]] were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the [[Western Kshatrapas]] and to stop their expansion. In the 3rd century CE, the empire was split into smaller states.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1JYwP5tVQUC&pg=PA113|title=Studies in Indian Coins|isbn=9788120829732|last1=Sircar|first1=D. C.|year=2008|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}}</ref>

==== Trade and travels to India ====
{{Further|Silk Road transmission of Buddhism}}
[[File:Silk route copy.jpg|thumb|right|[[Silk Road]] and [[Spice trade]], ancient trade routes that linked India with the [[Old World]]; carried goods and ideas between the ancient civilisations of the Old World and India. The land routes are marked as red, and the water routes are marked as blue.]]
The [[spice trade]] in [[Kerala]] attracted traders from all over the Old World to India. India's Southwest coastal port [[Muziris]] had established itself as a major spice trade centre from as early as 3,000&nbsp;BCE, according to [[Sumer|Sumerian records]]. [[Jewish]] traders arrived in [[Kochi]], [[Kerala, India]] as early as 562 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schreiber|first=Mordecai|title=The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia|year=2003|publisher=Schreiber Publishing|location=Rockville, MD|isbn=978-1-887563-77-2|page=125}}</ref> The [[Greco-Roman world]] followed by trading along the [[incense route]] and the [[Indo-Roman trade relations|Roman-India routes]].{{sfn|Law|1978|p=164}} During the 2nd century BCE Greek and Indian ships met to trade at [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] ports such as [[Aden]].<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/alex5.htm ''Greatest emporium in the world''], CSI, UNESCO.</ref> During the first millennium, the sea routes to India were controlled by the Indians and [[Ethiopian]]s that became the maritime trading power of the [[Red Sea]].

Indian merchants involved in spice trade took [[Indian cuisine]] to Southeast Asia, where spice mixtures and [[curry|curries]] became popular with the native inhabitants.{{sfn|Collingham|2006|p=245}} Buddhism entered China through the [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism|Silk Road]] in the 1st or 2nd century CE.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLFXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA506|title=The Medical Times and Gazette, Volume 1|year=1867|publisher=John Churchill|location=London|page=506}}</ref> Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of South and Southeast Asia came to be centres of production and commerce as they accumulated capital donated by patrons. They engaged in estate management, craftsmanship, and trade. Buddhism in particular travelled alongside the maritime trade, promoting literacy, art, and the use of coinage.{{sfn|Donkin|2003|pp=67, 60–70}}

==== Kushan Empire ====
{{Main|Kushan Empire}}

{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 300
| caption_align     = center
| title             = Kushan Empire
| image1            = Map of the Kushan Empire.png
| caption1          = Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (dotted line), according to the Rabatak inscription
| image2            = Kanishka Buddha detail.jpg
| caption2          = Depiction of the [[Buddha]] in Kanishka's coinage, [[Mathura art]], 2nd century CE
}}

The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is now Afghanistan into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent under the leadership of their first emperor, [[Kujula Kadphises]], about the middle of the 1st century CE. The Kushans were possibly a [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian speaking]] tribe,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Loewe|first1=Michael|last2=Shaughnessy|first2=Edward L.|author-link1=Michael Loewe|author-link2=Edward L. Shaughnessy|title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC|year=1999|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-47030-8|access-date=1 November 2013|pages=87–88}}</ref> one of five branches of the [[Yuezhi]] confederation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Runion|first=Meredith L.|title=The history of Afghanistan|url=https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653|url-access=limited|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-33798-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653/page/n66 46]|quote=The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BCE. and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Liu|first=Xinrui|title=Agricultural and pastoral societies in ancient and classical history|year=2001|publisher=Temple University Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1-56639-832-9|page=156|editor=Adas, Michael}}</ref> By the time of his grandson, [[Kanishka the Great]], the empire spread to encompass much of [[Afghanistan]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120307154447/http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm ''Buddhist Records of the Western World''] Si-Yu-Ki, (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-Sing, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 318–350</ref> and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>which began about 127 CE. "Falk 2001, pp. 121–136", Falk (2001), pp. 121–136, Falk, Harry (2004), pp. 167–176 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 33, 368–371.</ref>

Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward, the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new [[Hindu]] majority.<ref>{{cite book|author=Grégoire Frumkin|title=Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum|url-access=registration|year=1970|publisher=Brill Archive|pages=[https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum/page/51 51]–|id=GGKEY:4NPLATFACBB}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rafi U. Samad|title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA93|year=2011|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-859-2|pages=93–}}</ref> Historian [[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent Smith]] said about Kanishka:

{{Blockquote|He played the part of a second Ashoka in the history of Buddhism.<ref>Oxford History of India – Vincent Smith</ref>}}

The empire linked the Indian Ocean maritime trade with the commerce of the [[Silk Road]] through the Indus valley, encouraging long-distance trade, particularly between China and [[Roman empire|Rome]]. The Kushans brought new trends to the budding and blossoming [[Gandhara art]] and [[Mathura art]], which reached its peak during Kushan rule.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Los Angeles County Museum of Art|author2=Pratapaditya Pal|title=Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.–A.D. 700|url=https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa|url-access=registration|year=1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-05991-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa/page/151 151]–}}</ref> The period of peace under Kushan rule is known as ''[[Pax Kushana]]''. By the 3rd century, their empire in India was disintegrating and their last known great emperor was [[Vasudeva I]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm|publisher=kushan.org|title=The History of Pakistan: The Kushans|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-date=7 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707162312/http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Si-Yu-Ki, ''Buddhist Records of the Western World'', (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-Sing, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906</ref>