Post-Mauryan regional powers and Sangam age

After the Mauryas, India was not a dark age but a period of vibrant regional kingdoms, Indo-Greek and Kushana rule, expanding trade and flourishing art. The Shungas, Satavahanas, Indo-Greeks, Shakas and Kushanas each shaped different regions, while in the south the Sangam age produced Tamil poetry about Chera, Chola and Pandya kings, trade and everyday life. The famous Gandhara and Mathura schools of art, and the Silk Road trade through Kushana territory, belong to this creative, connected period.