Agnimitra Shunga - Second ruler of Shunga dynasty

Agnimitra (Agnimitra Sunga) was the second king of Shunga dynasty and successor of Pushyamitra Shunga, who reigned from 149 B.C.E. to 141 B.C.E. Mauryan empire who had great emperors like Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Ashoka was later collapsed by a normal army commander named Pushyamitra Shunga and he established Shunga dynasty. According to Puranas, Agnimitra was the son of Pushyamitra Shunga.

Ancestry:

According to a drama called Malavikagnimitram wriiten by Kalidasa, Agnimitra belonged to Baimbika family ( Baimbika-Kula ). He had three wives namely Dharini, Iravati and Malavika. queen Dharani was the mother of fourth Shunga king, Vasumitra. Malavika was a princess of Vidarbha. During his father's rule, Agnimitra was assigned as viceroy of Vidisha.

War with Vidarbha:

At the time of Ashoka, Vidarbha was a part of Mauryan empire, but due to inefficiency of later Mauryan kings, it became independent. Vidarbha became independent when a Mauryan minister put his brother-in-law, Yajnasena on the throne. They ruled for some years. When Shungas came in to power, they captured the Mauryan minister and prisoned him. Yajnasena had a cousin named Madhavasena. Both cousins had a enmity between them. Madhavasena developed good relation with Agnimitra. Once, due to the disputes between him and Yajnasena, Madhavasena tried to leave Vidarbha and take shelter there. But before he could do so, Yajnasena captured and imprisoned him. Agnimitra demanded for the release of Madhavasena, while Yajnasena demanded for the release of the Mauryan minister. This led to war between Shungas and Vidarbha. Agnimitra sent his mighty army to Vidarbha and Agnimitra won the battle. As a consequence of the war, Vidarbha was divided in to two parts among both the cousins and both accepted the sovereignty of the Agnimitra.



According to some inscriptions, it was said that he met one of his wife Malavika in Vidarbha and fell in love with her and married her. The drama Malavikagnimitram mainly dipicts the life of Agnimitra and his love episode with Malavika.

Succession:

Agnimitra's reign ended around 141 B.C.E. He was succeeded by either his son Vasujyeshtha ( according to Matsya Purana ) or Sujyeshtha ( according to the Vayu, Brahmanda, Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas ). After Agnimitra, the power of Shungas gradually weakened.