Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha. His rise to power began after the death of Alexander in 323 BCE, when at ca. 317 BCE he raised an army to resist the Greeks following a period of unrest and local warfare, defeating them and annexing Greek territory in the eastern Indus Valley. After insulting the Nanda king and ordered to be executed, he started a war against the unpopular Nanda dynasty, defeating them and establishing his own dynasty, "widely, and casually" dated at ca. 322-319 BCE, or "between c. 311 and c. 305 bc." According to Buddhist and Jain legends, he did this with help of his mentor Chanakya who later became his minister. He expanded his reach beyond the Ganges Valley into parts of the western Indus Valley and possibly eastern Afghanistan through a dynastic marriage alliance with Seleucus I Nicator in ca. 305-303 BCE, exploiting the power-vacuum that arose after Alexander's Indian campaign and his early death. His empire also included Gujarat, controlling a geographically extensive network of cities and trade-routes.
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya between c. 322 BCE and c. 305 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sources for the written records of the Mauryan times are partial records of the lost history of Megasthenes in Roman texts of several centuries later, the Edicts of Ashoka, which were first read in the modern era by James Prinsep after he had deciphered the Brahmi and Kharoshthi scripts in 1838, and the Arthashastra, a work first discovered in the early 20th century, and previously attributed to Kautilya, but now thought to be composed by multiple authors in the first centuries of the common era.
Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. It is one of the holiest pilgrimages for Jains, where the 22nd Tirthankar, Lord Neminath attained omniscience, and later nirvana along with other five hundred and thirty three enlightened sages. This is well described in ancient texts such as Kalpa Sūtra written by acharya Bhadrabāhu.
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.
Junagadh is the city and headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, 355 kilometres (221 mi) southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, it is the seventh largest city in the state. It is dominated by the Chudasama clan of Rajputs since ancient times.
Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a state of India before it merged with Bombay state. In 1961 it separated from Bombay and joined Gujarat.
Skandagupta was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He repulsed an invasion by the Indo-Hephthalites, probably the Kidarites. He seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, and is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors. The Gupta genealogy after him is unclear, but he was most probably succeeded by Purugupta, who appears to have been his younger half-brother.
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India, between 35 and 415 CE. The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and were possibly vassals of the Kushans. They were also contemporaneous with the Satavahana who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western Satraps" in modern historiography in order to differentiate them from the "Northern Satraps", who ruled in Punjab and Mathura until the 2nd century CE.
Avanti was an ancient Indian Mahajanapada, roughly corresponding to the present-day Malwa region. According to the Buddhist texts, the Anguttara Nikaya, Avanti was one of the solasa mahajanapadas of the 6th century BCE. The janapada was divided into two parts by the Vindhyas, the northern part had its capital at Ujjayini and the southern part had its centre at Mahishmati.
Rudradāman I was a Śaka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. He was the grandson of the king Caṣṭana. Rudradāman I was instrumental in the decline of the Sātavāhana Empire. Rudradāman I took up the title of Maha-kshtrapa, after he became the king and then strengthened his kingdom.
Yaudheya (Brahmi script: 𑀬𑁅𑀥𑁂𑀬) or Yoddheya Gana (Yoddheya Republic) was an ancient military ganasangha (republic) based in the Eastern region of the Sapta Sindhu. The word Yaudheya is a derivative of the word from yodha meaning warriors and according to Pāṇini, the suffix '-ya', was significant of warrior tribes, which is supported by their resistance to invading empires such as the Kushan Empire and the Indo-Scythians. Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps notes in his Junagadh rock inscription that the Yaudheyas were 'heroes among all Kshatriya' and 'were loath to surrender'. They were noted as having a republic form of government, unique from other Janapadas which instead maintained monarchies.
Aparanta, or Aparantaka was a geographical region of ancient India. It corresponded to the northern part of the Konkan region on the western coast of India. English civil servant-turned-historian J. F. Fleet believed that the Aparanta region included Kathiawad, Kutch, and Sindh, beside Konkan. However, historical records make it clear that the extent of Aparanta was much smaller.
Bhagwan Lal Indraji or Bhagwanlal Indraji was an Indian archaeologist and scholar. A member of the Royal Asiatic Society's Bombay branch. He made transcripts of several ancient Indian inscriptions, including the Hathigumpha inscription. He discovered many archaeological relics, including the Mathura lion capital, the Bairat and Sopara Ashokan inscription, the Nanaghat reliefs, the Mathura Vishnu image, drum miniature stupa with a frieze of eight metopes representing the four principal and four secondary scenes from Buddha's life, Jain Aayagpata, various Mathura railing pillars, Mankuwar Buddha, Besnagar coping stone depicting Bodhi Tree, and Gadava surya frieze. He was the first Indian to receive an honorary doctorate from a foreign University.
The Chudasama dynasty, a Samma branch, ruled parts of the present-day Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India between the 9th and 15th centuries. Their capital was based in Junagadh and Vamanasthali.
The Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman, also known as the Girnar Rock inscription of Rudradaman, is a Sanskrit prose inscribed on a rock by the Western Satraps ruler Rudradaman I. It is located near Girnar hill near Junagadh, Gujarat, India. The inscription is dated to shortly after 150 CE. The Junagadh rock contains inscriptions of Ashoka, Rudradaman I and Skandagupta.
Tushaspa was a "Yavanaraja" for Emperor Ashoka, in the area of Girnar, near Junagadh, in Gujarat, India. He is only known from the Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman, in which the Western Satrap king Rudradaman, writing circa 150 CE, mentions his role in the construction of a local dam, in which he added a canal through Sudarshana Lake during the reign of Ashoka. The part of the inscription mentioning him reads:
"(L.8)……… ordered to be made by the Vaishya Pushyagupta, the provincial governor of the Maurya king Chandragupta; adorned with conduits for Ashoka the Maurya by the Yavana king Tushaspa while governing; and by the conduit ordered to be made by him, constructed in a manner worthy of a king (and) seen in that breach, the extensive dam…………..."
Ra Meliga, also known as Melaga or Maleka, was a Chudasama king of Saurashtra region of western India who reigned from 1400 CE to 1416 CE. He remove his capital from Vanthali back to Junagadh, from which place he expelled the thanadar appointed by Gujarat Sultan. Thus Gujarat Sultan Ahmad Shah I sent an army against Junagadh. He captured Vanthali and later Junagadh was besieged. Meliga left to a fort on Girnar hill which was inaccessible to the forces. So the forces left and placed two officers in Junagadh to collect tribute. Meliga died and was succeeded by his son Jayasimha II in 1416 CE.
Mahipala I was a Chudasama king of Saurashtra region of western India who reigned from 1308 CE to 1331 CE. His capital was at Junagadh.
Khengara was a Chudasama king of Saurashtra region of western India who reigned in the 12th century. His capital was at Junagadh. He was a contemporary of Jayasimha Siddharaja, the Chaulukya ruler of Anahilapataka. According to bardic tales, he was a son of Navaghana and had succeeded him.
The Gupta–Saka Wars refers to the military conflict between the Gupta Empire and the Western Satraps during the 4th century CE. Chandragupta II, also known as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was a prominent ruler of the Gupta Empire during the 4th century CE. His reign is marked by significant military achievements, notably his subjugation of the Western Kshatrapas who ruled in west-central India. Chandragupta II's success against the Western Kshatrapas is attested by a combination of historical and literary evidence.
