The Śhungas

Puṣhyamitra Śhunga founded the Śhunga dynasty, which ruled parts of north and central India.

To show he was the most powerful ruler, he performed the aśhvamedha yajña, a Vedic ritual. Here's how it worked:

• a horse was set free to wander, with soldiers following it
• any land it crossed unchallenged became part of the king's empire
• if a ruler stopped the horse, there was a battle to decide who was stronger

Clever, isn't it? The horse is a question to every neighbour: let it pass and you accept the king; catch it and you must fight.

His empire was smaller than the Mauryas', but he kept it safe from invaders. After some early fighting with the Greeks, he kept friendly relations with them. Still, the empire didn't last long after him: about a century later it was gone.

In this period Vedic rituals came back, but other schools of thought kept flourishing too. Sanskrit became a favourite language for philosophy and literature, and Patañjali compiled the Yoga Sūtras.

The Śhungas supported art and architecture. The Bharhut Stūpa (in today's Madhya Pradesh) was probably first built in Aśhoka's time, and the Śhungas added beautifully carved railings and panels showing stories from the Buddha's life, some of the earliest Buddhist art. A king who revived Vedic rituals also decorated a Buddhist monument!