Question

Which of the following statement is correct about the Shungas and Kanvas?

• A. The Shungas supported Buddhism and the Kanvas supported Hinduism.
• B. The Shungas and the Kanvas were the immediate successors of the Mauryas.
• C. The Shungas and the Kanvas ruled after the Gupta rulers.
• D. The Shungas succeeded the Mauryas and the Kanvas succeeded the Gupta rulers.

Hint:

Remember the sequence: Mauryas → Shungas → Kanvas. The Gupta Empire came centuries later.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The Maurya Empire, which controlled a significant portion of the Indian subcontinent, ceased to exist around 185 BCE. This occurred when Pushyamitra Shunga, a Brahmin general, deposed the final Mauryan ruler. Consequently, the Shunga dynasty was founded immediately after the Maurya Empire's collapse.
Subsequently, the Shungas were replaced by the Kanvas, who also governed a part of northern India. Vasudeva Kanva established the Kanva dynasty by overthrowing the last Shunga ruler. In terms of chronology and political succession, both the Shunga and Kanva dynasties are recognized as immediate successors to the Mauryan Empire.
The other provided options are inaccurate:

• (A) The Shungas were noted for reinstating Brahmanical traditions and showed less support for Buddhism.
• (C) and (D) contain factual errors; the Gupta Empire emerged considerably later (in the 4th century CE), while the Shungas and Kanvas reigned during the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE.