Ancient Aryan Dynasties
Haryanka dynasty :
Of all the Ancient Aryan Dynasties, Magadha, roughly embracing the present districts of Patna and Gaya in Bihar, was a powerful kingdom which witnessed the rise and fall of great ancient aryan dynasties beginning with Haryanka dynasty founded in 566 B.C. by the grandfather of the famous Bimbasara. During the reigns of Bimbasara and Ajatashatru, Mahavira and Gautam Budha preached their religions.
Shishunaga dynasty:
Haryanka dynasty was at last overthrown by Shishunaga in about 407 B.C. Shishunaga extended his domain greatly
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Nanda dynasty:
Shishunaga dynasty was superseded by Nanda dynasty founded by Mahapadma or Mahapadmapati belonging to Nanda family. He exterminated all Kshatriyas including Chandragupta Maurya who was his rival.
Maurya dynasty (322-185 B.C.) :
Chandragupta maurya after the departure of Alexander conquered the Magadha Empire in 322 B.C. and founded the Mauryan dynasty on the ruins of Nanda dynasty. He also annexed the Greek possessions in India. He ruled till 298 B.C. Kautilya or Chanakya was his Prime Minister who wrote Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft for the guidance of the Emperor. Megasthanese was the Greek envoy accredited to the court of Chandragupta. Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara who died in 271 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Ashoka.
Kalinga War:
In 259 B.C. Ashoka invaded Kalinga (Orissa) and conquered it after much bloodshed. The brutality of Kalinga proved to be a turning point in the career of Ashoka who since then began to hate wars and violence and became a Buddhist and made Buddhism the State religion he propagated Buddhist teachings
far and wide. Brihadratha, the last king of the dynasty was murdered in 185 B.C. by his own Commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra.
Sunga dynasty (155-73 B.C.) :
Sunga dynasty was founded in 155 B.C. by Pushyamitra. Its sway lasted till 73 B.C. when the last ruler of the dynasty was assassinated by his own minister Vasudeva.
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Kanva dynasty (73-28 B.C.) :
Kanva dynasty was founded in 73 B. C. by Vasudeva, the assassin of the last Sunga ruler. The rule of this dynasty ended in 28 B.C. It was overthrown by Simuk belonging to the Satavahana family of Andhra, Deccan.
Gupta Dynasty :
In 320 A.D. Magadha witnessed the rise of Gupta dynasty founded by Chandra Gupta I (320-330) who started on February 26,320 the Gupta Samvat, a new era after his name to commemorate his coronation. The important rulers who succeeded him were his son Samudra Gupta (330-380), and grandson Chandra Gupta II (380-415) famous as Vikramaditya or the Vikram of Ujjain. Vikramaditya was succeeded in turn by Kumara Gupta (415-455) and Skanda Gupta (455-467).
Samudra Gupta extended the empire to Assam, Orissa, Deccan, Malwa and Bundelkhand, while Vikramaditya added Kathiawar, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Pataliputra (Patna) and Kausambi were his capitals. Vikram’s reign is known for the great literary resurgence. Kalidasa, the great Sanskrit poet, the famous author of Shakuntalam, Meghadoot and other literary works of excellence, flourished at Ujjain during his reign.
This is all about Ancient Aryan Dynasties.
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