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Indo-Greeks, the Kushans of the Silk Road, the Deccan and the Roman trade of the Tamil south.

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Post-Mauryan India · 185 BC–320 AD
Kushans, Satavahanas & the South

Post-Mauryan India

From the successor states of the Mauryas and the Indo-Greek kings of the north-west, through the Deccan empire of the Satavahanas and the golden age of the Kushans astride the Silk Road, to the Tamil south of the Sangam poets and a booming trade that carried Indian goods to Rome. Slide across five centuries of division and dazzling cross-cultural exchange, in which Buddhism first took human form in art and India became the hub of a wider ancient world.

185 BC
The Successor States
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185 BC

The Successor States
  • Political

    The Shungas and a divided north

    A carved railing from the Buddhist stupa at Bharhut
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    As the Mauryas fall, the Shunga dynasty and rival kingdoms carve up northern India.

6 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 185 BC

Full Chronicle

Post-Mauryan India

From the successor states of the Mauryas and the Indo-Greek kings of the north-west, through the Deccan empire of the Satavahanas and the golden age of the Kushans astride the Silk Road, to the Tamil south of the Sangam poets and a booming trade that carried Indian goods to Rome. Slide across five centuries of division and dazzling cross-cultural exchange, in which Buddhism first took human form in art and India became the hub of a wider ancient world.

  1. The Successor States

    • The Shungas and a divided north

      As the Mauryas fall, the Shunga dynasty and rival kingdoms carve up northern India.

  2. The Indo-Greeks

    • Menander, the Greek king of India

      Indo-Greek kings such as Menander rule the north-west, blending Hellenistic and Indian worlds.

  3. The Deccan

    • The Satavahanas of the Deccan

      The Satavahana dynasty builds a powerful empire across the Deccan, linking north and south.

  4. The Kushan Empire

    • Kanishka and the Kushans

      Under Kanishka the Kushan empire straddles the Silk Road, and Buddhism flowers and spreads to China.

  5. Art and Faith

    • The first images of the Buddha

      In the workshops of Gandhara and Mathura, artists give the Buddha human form for the first time.

  6. The Tamil South

    • The Sangam age and the Roman trade

      In the far south, the Tamil kingdoms of the Sangam poets grow rich shipping spices and pearls to Rome.