Brihadratha Maurya

Brihadratha Maurya was the last ruler of the Maurya Empire of India. He was the ruler from 187 BC-180 BC. He succeeded Emperor Shatadhanvan, and was killed by his general Pushyamitra Sunga in 180 BC.

During his rule, the Mauryan Empire got smaller. The Paramparapustaka mentions that in 186 BC, the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I invaded India, and gave his daughter Berenice in marriage to Brihadratha.^[1] Later on, according to the Harshacharita, the general Pushyamitra Sunga crushed Brihadratha to death during a military parade in Pataliputra, around 180 BC.^[2] After his death, Pushyamitra Sunga founded the Sunga dynasty controlling the Mauryan territories.

1. ↑ Paranavithana, Senarath (1971). The Greeks and the Mauryas. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Lake House Investments. p. 84.
2. ↑ Lahiri, B. (1974). Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B. C. to 320 A. D.). Calcutta, India: University of Calcutta. p. 24.