Sungas

• Mauryan rule was replaced by the Sunga dynasty
• Founder- Pushyamitra Sunga, who was the commander-in-chief under the Mauryas
• He assassinated the last Mauryan ruler Brihadratha and usurped the throne

Challenges to the Sunga rule

• To protect north India against the invasions of the Bactrian Greeks from the northwest
• To regain the lost territory from the Greeks already advanced up to Pataliputra 
• Campaign against Kharvela of Kalinga who invaded north India

Pushyamitra followed Brahmanism. He performed two asvamedha sacrifices. 

• Buddhist sources refer to him as a persecutor of Buddhism but evidences also shows that Pushyamitra patronized Buddhist art
• During his reign, the Buddhist monuments in Bharhut and Sanchi were renovated and further improved
• After the death of Pushyamitra, his son Agnimitra became the ruler
• The last Sunga ruler- Devabhuti, who was murdered by his minister Vasudeva Kanva, the founder of the Kanva dynasty
• Importance:
  • They defended the Gangetic valley from foreign invasions
  • In the cultural sphere, the Sungas revived Brahmanism and horse sacrifice 
  • They also promoted the growth of Vaishnavism and the Sanskrit language