page_title: Pushyamitra Shunga
section_title: Ancestry
hierarchical_section_title: Pushyamitra Shunga / Ancestry
caption_attribution_description: Une monnaie en argent de 1 karshapana du roi Pushyamitra Sunga (185-149 BC) de la dynastie Sunga (185-73 BC), atelier de Vidisa(&#160;?). A/ 5 symboles dont un soleil R/ 2 symboles Dimensions&#160;: 19,7 x 13,87 mm Poids&#160;: 3,5 g. Référence&#160;: Mitchiner ACW 4325 Coins of rulers of India A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King Pushyamitra Sunga (185-149 BC) of the Sunga dynasty (185-73 BC), workshop of Vidisa (?). A / 5 symbols including a sun R / 2 symbols Dimensions: 19.7 x 13.87 mm Weight: 3.5 g.
context_page_description: Pushyamitra Shunga was the founder and first ruler of the Shunga Empire in East India. He was a follower of Hinduism.
  Pushyamitra was originally a Senapati "General" of the Maurya Empire. In 185 BCE he assassinated the last Mauryan Emperor, Brihadratha Maurya, during an army review, and proclaimed himself emperor.
  Pushyamitra is recorded to have performed numerous Ashvamedha campaigns to legitimize his right to rule.
  Inscriptions of the Shungas have been found as far as the Ayodhya, and the Divyavadana mentions that he sent an army to persecute Buddhist monks as far as Sakala in the Punjab region in the northwest.
  The Buddhist texts state that Pushyamitra cruelly persecuted the Buddhists, although some modern scholars have expressed skepticism about these claims.
context_section_description: Pushyamitra Shunga was the hereditary ruler of Vidisha. It was incorporated into the Maurya Empire uptil his led coup d'état.
  Several sources suggest that Pushyamitra was a Brahmin warrior and the 16th century Buddhist scholar Taranatha explicitly calls him a Brahmin king. However, the various sources offer differing suggestions about which Brahmin gotra (clan) Pushyamitra belonged to. A Puranic manuscript mentions persons who were born of "Shunga, a descendant of Bharadvaja, by a woman married in the family of Kata, a descendant of Vishvamitra". Based on this, K. P. Jayaswal theorized that Shunga was a Brahmin with two gotras (dwaimushyayana or dvigotra): his family traced their ancestry to both Bharadvaja and Vishvamitra lineages. The Pravara Kanda of the Apastamba mentions a "Shunga-Shaishiri" gotra. J. C. Ghosh theorized that the Shunga family derived from the Shunga of the Bharadvaja gotra, and the Shaishiri of the Vishvamitra gotra (Kata group).
  However, the Matsya Purana mentions the "Shunga-Shaishiri" dwaimushyayana gotra (named "Shaunga-Shaishireya" here) as a combination of the Bharadvaja and Kashyapa (not Vishvamitra) gotras. The Harivamsa mentions a twice-born general of the Kashyapa gotra who performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice. Some scholars such as Jayaswal identify this general with Pushyamitra. The Malavikagnimitra describes Pushyamitra as a "Baimbaki". H. C. Raychaudhuri, who read this term as "Baimbika", identified it with Baimbakayah of the Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra, who was of the Kashyapa gotra (although other scholars believe that the term "Baimbaki" signifies descent from a person named Bimba, or refers to a heroic lover in general). Bela Lahiri theorizes that the constituents of a dwaimushyayana gotra may have differed during different periods, and Pushyamitra may have belonged to one of these gotras.
  According to the Puranas, Pushyamitra became the king after killing his master Brihadratha, the last Mauryan king. However, the Buddhist text Divyavadana names Pushyamitra as the last Mauryan king. This text appears to have confused Brihadratha with Pushyamitra.
  H. C. Raychaudhuri theorized that the name "Shunga" is derived from the Sanskrit word for the fig tree.
caption: A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King Pushyamitra Sunga (185-149 BC) of the Sunga dynasty (185-73 BC), workshop of Vidisa (?). Obv: 5 symbols including a sun Rev: 2 symbols.
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