Pushyamitra Shunga

Pushyamitra Shunga
Pushyamitra Shunga
	A figure from the Shunga period
1st Shunga Emperor
Reign	c. 185 – c. 149 BCE
Predecessor	Brihadratha Maurya (as Mauryan Emperor)
Successor	Agnimitra
General of the Mauryan Empire
Dynasty	Shunga
Religion	Hinduism

Pushyamitra Shunga (IAST: Puṣyamitra Śuṅga) or Pushpamitra Shunga (IAST: Puṣpamitra Śuṅga) (ruled c. 185 – c. 149 BCE) was the founder and the first ruler of the Shunga Empire which he established to succeed the Maurya Empire.^[1] His original name was Puṣpaka or Puṣpamitra and the confusion between Puṣyamitra and Puṣpamitra arose because of the erroneous readings of 'p' and 'y' in the manuscripts.^[2]

Pushyamitra is recorded to have performed the Ashvamedha ritual to legitimize his right to rule.^[3] Inscriptions of the Shungas have been found as far as the Ayodhya (the Dhanadeva–Ayodhya inscription), and the Divyavadana mentions that his empire stretched as far as Sakala (now Sialkot) in the northwestern Punjab region.

Buddhist texts claim that Pushyamitra persecuted Buddhists; scholars have rejected these claims.^[4]^[5]

^ Mitchiner, John E. (1986). The Yuga Purāṇa (1st ed.). Kolkata: The Asiatic Society. p. 71. ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.
^ Mitchiner, John E. (1986). The Yuga Purāṇa (1st ed.). Kolkata: The Asiatic Society. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.
^ Dineshchandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 175. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.
^ Mishra, Ram Kumar (2012). "Pushyamitra Sunga and the Buddhists". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 73: 50–57. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44156189.
^ Cite error: The named reference thapar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] Mitchiner, John E. (1986). The Yuga Purāṇa (1st ed.). Kolkata: The Asiatic Society. p. 71. ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.

[2] Mitchiner, John E. (1986). The Yuga Purāṇa (1st ed.). Kolkata: The Asiatic Society. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.

[3] Dineshchandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the Religious Life of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 175. ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.

[4] Mishra, Ram Kumar (2012). "Pushyamitra Sunga and the Buddhists". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 73: 50–57. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44156189.

[thapar-5] Cite error: The named reference thapar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]