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Approximate greatest extent of the Sunga empire ( 185 BCE- 73 BCE)The Sunga empire (or Shunga empire) controlled the eastern part of India from around 185 to 73 BCE. It was established after the fall of the Indian Mauryan empire. The capital of the Sungas was at Pataliputra.
1 Overthrow of the Mauryan dynasty (185 BCE)
The Sunga dynasty was established in 185 BCE, about 50 years after Ashoka's death, when the king Brhadrata, the last of the Mauryan rulers, was brutally murdered by the then commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pusyamitra Sunga, while he was taking the Guard of Honour of his forces. Pusyamitra Sunga then ascended the throne.
2 Persecution of Buddhism
Pusyamitra Sunga, a Brahmin, is known for his hostility and persecution towards the Buddhist faith. He is recorded as having "destroyed monasteries and killed Monks" (Divyavadana, p429-434): 84.000 Buddhist stupas which had been built by the Mauryan king Ashoka were destroyed (R. Thaper), and 100 gold coins were offered for the head of each Buddhist monk (Indian Historical Quarterly Vol. XXII, p.81 ff cited in Hars.407). A large number of Buddhist monasteries ( viharas) were converted to Hindu temples, in such places as NalandaNalanda is a place in central Bihar, India, 90km south-east of the state capital of Patna. It is not inhabited now, and the nearest habitation is a village called Badgaon. It is important to the history of India, and that of Buddhism. The famous Nalanda U, Bodhgaya, SarnathSarnath (formally Isipathana , located 13 kilometres from Varanasi, is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha was founded. Origin of Names Isipatana is the name used in the Pali Canon, and means the place or Mathura.
Plaque of the Mother Goddess Durga, wife of the God of Cyclic Destruction Shiva, Sunga period, 1st century BCE, West Bengal, India
3 Conflict with the Indo-Greeks (180 BCE- )
From around 180 BCE the Indian territory was invaded as far as Pataliputra by the Greco-Bactrian ruler Demetrius, with the long-term effect of confining the Sungas to the eastern part of India. Demetrius established an Indo-Greek kingdom in the northern and northwestern part of India, which was to last until the end of the 1st century BCE, and under which Buddhism was able to flourish. In particular, one of the successors of Demetrius, the Indo-Greek "Saviour king" Menander (Pali: Milinda) was a strong benefactor of the Buddhist faith at that time.
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