[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c23.101 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c23.101 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c23.101 - **Language:** English ### [c23.101](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23.101) The whole duration of the Maurya dynasty, according to Purānic authority, was 137 years, and if this period be accepted and reckoned from the accession of Chandragupta in 322 B. C., the dynasty must have come to an end in 185 B. C., which date certainly is approximately correct. Four princes who, according to the Purānic lists, succeeded Asoka's grandsons, and each reigned for a few years, are mere names¹; and, if the real existence of Samprati and his successors be assumed, they are equally shadowy personages. The only certainty is that the great empire founded by Chandragupta, and gloriously maintained by his son and grandson, did not long survive the latter. The fall of the Maurya authority probably was due in large measure to a reaction promoted by the Brahmans, whose privileged position must have been seriously affected by the extreme favour which Asoka showed to the Buddhist monks. The prohibition of bloody sacrifices and the irritating proceedings of the Censors must have produced much unrecorded discontent, and we may fairly assume that when the strong hand of the old emperor dropped the sceptre, Brahman influence reasserted itself and produced a revolt against the inquisitorial tyranny of Asoka's system.² The descendants of Asoka whose names are recorded in the Purānas probably retained possession of only Magadha and the neighbouring home provinces. In or about 185 B. C. the last prince of the Maurya dynasty, named Brihadratha, was slain by his com-mander-in-chief, Pushyamitra (or Pushpamitra), who estab-lished a new dynasty known as that of the Sungas. The Āndhra state, between the Krishnā and Godāvarī rivers, was among the earliest defections, and rapidly grew into a powerful kingdom, stretching right across India, as will be narrated in the next chapter. - [Previous: c23.100](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23.100) - [Next: c23.102](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23.102) - [Up: c23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23.101](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c23.101) · Pramāṇa