'Brihadrata' was the last ruler of the
Indian
Mauryan dynasty. He ruled c.
197–
185 BCE.
Maurya territories, centered around the capital of
Pataliputra, had shrunk considerably from the time of the great Emperor
Ashoka when Brihadrata came to the throne.
He was killed in
185 BCE and power usurped by his commander-in-chief, the
Brahmin general
Pusyamitra Sunga, who then took over the throne and established the
Sunga dynasty.
In
180 BCE, northwestern India (parts of modern day
Afghanistan and
Pakistan) were attacked by the
Greco-Bactrian king
Demetrius. He established his rule in the Kabul Valley and parts of the Punjab in modern-day Pakistan. His successors would later engage in a series of wars with the Sungas.
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