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 dominated most of the Indian subcontinent, came to an end around 185 BCE when the last Mauryan ruler was overthrown by his Brahmin general Pushyamitra Shunga. Thus, the Shunga dynasty was established immediately after the fall of the Mauryas.
Later, the Shungas were succeeded by the Kanvas, who also ruled a portion of northern India. The Kanva dynasty was founded by Vasudeva Kanva, who overthrew the last Shunga ruler. Both dynasties are considered immediate successors of the Mauryan Empire in chronological and political terms.
The other options are incorrect:

• (A) The Shungas were known for reviving Brahmanical traditions and were less favorable to Buddhism.
• (C) and (D) are factually incorrect, as the Gupta Empire came much later (4th century CE), whereas the Shungas and Kanvas ruled in the 2nd–1st centuries BCE.