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Pusyamitra Sunga (also Pushyamitra Shunga) was the founder of the Indian Sunga dynasty (185-78 BCE). He reigned from 185 BCE to 151 BCE.
Originally a general and commander-in-chief on the armies of the Mauryan empire, he assassinated the last Mauryan emperor Brhadrata in 185 BCE, and subsequently founded the Sunga dynasty. He then performed the Ashwamedha Yajna, or horse sacrifice, and brought Northern India under his rule. Inscriptions of the Sungas have been found as far as the Jalandhar in the Punjab.
Theorized persecution of Buddhism
Pusyamitra Sunga was a Hindu monarch, deeply established in the tradition of orthodox Hinduism. He is said in Buddhist tradition, such as the Asokavadana, to have been very active in persecuting the Buddhist faith, which the Mauryan empire had been promoting since Ashoka around 250 BCE. He is said to have destroyed Buddhist monasteries and exterminated monks, offering to pay 100 gold coins for the head of each one (Indian Historical Quarterly Vol. XXII, p.81 ff cited in Hars.407, also Divyavadana, p.429-434). It is also said that he destroyed 84,000 buddhist stupas which had been built by the Mauryan king Ashoka (R. Thaper). A large number of Buddhist monasteries (viharas) have also said to have been converted to Hindu temples, in such places as Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Sarnath or Mathura.
However, the Sungas may at some point have also supported Buddhism, as they seem to have been involved in the building of a stupa at Bharhut. The problem with the debate on the proposed persecution is that neo-Buddhists harass the Brahmins and try to hide from history the Brahmin contribution to the Buddhist religion.
War history
The new Sunga ruler was attacked around 180 BCE by the Greek rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and they conquered the Punjab and ruled Mathura for a time, and may have campaigned as far as Pataliputra.
The Greco-Bactrians established in India the Indo-Greek Kingdom, which was to last until the end of the 1st century BCE, and under which Buddhism was able to flourish. One of the Indo-Greek kings, the "Saviour King" Menander, has been remembered as a great benefactor of the Buddhist faith.
Pusyamitra's kingdom of Magadha, and the capital of Pataliputra, was apparently attacked by king Kharavela of Orissa, who claims he made king "Bahasatimita" (thought to be a Sunga king Brhaspatimitra, or Pusyamitra himself) bow at his feet.
Sucession of the thrown
Pusyamitra Sunga was succeeded in 151 BCE by his son Agnimitra.
| Preceded by: Brhadrata (Mauryan dynasty) | Sunga ruler | Succeeded by: Agnimitra |
See also:
External links
- Was Pusyamitra more secular than Ashoka? Article on the alleged Hindu persecution of Buddhism by Pushyamitra
"Pusyamitra Sunga"