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CHAPTER IX
MAHĀMEGHAVĀHANA KHĀRAVELA
(SECTION I) POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY ON THE
EVE OF KHĀRAVELA'S ACCESSION
With the fall the great Maurya Empire, Indian history for the time being loses its unity. The command of one single political authority is no longer obeyed from the snowy heights of the Hindukush to the verdant plains of Bengal and Upper Karnatak Hoards of outlanders passed through the north western gates of the country and estab. lished aggressive monarchies in Gandhara, Western Malwa and neighbouring regions. The Punjab is seized by foreigners and the Deccan by local dynasties. The political connection of the Madhyadeśa with the valleys of the Indus and the Godavari is temporarily snapped and the splendour of the Magadhan metropolis is dimmed by the rising glory of Śākala, Vidiśā, Prathishțhāna and other cities. Brahmanism gains ground in the Ganges valley and the Deccan, while Jainism flourishes in Orissa and possibly in Malwa. The sects of the Māheśvara and the Bhāgvata became powers to reckon with. The study of Sanskrit receives an impetus at the hands of the Grammarians of Madhyadeśa, while Prakrit enjoys the patronage of the courts of Pratishthāna, Kuntala and also other parts of Southern India.
Political conditions in the centuries at the eve of the Christian era were extremely complicated in India. The causes of this complications were two folds-internal strifes
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