Who was the last Mauryan ruler?

Concept

The "last ruler" of a dynasty is the final person to hold its throne before the line ends, whether through conquest, assassination, or replacement by a new dynasty. Historians establish this position from the dynasty's own king list, preserved in inscriptions, chronicles, and Puranic genealogies.

Application

The Mauryan dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Maurya around 321 BCE and continued through Bindusara, Ashoka, and several weaker successors. Its final ruler was Brihadratha, who held the throne until around 185 BCE, when his own commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Shunga, assassinated him while reviewing the army and founded the Shunga dynasty in his place.

Contrast

• Chandragupta Maurya founded the dynasty around 321 BCE, making him the first ruler, at the opposite end of the timeline from the one asked about here.

• Bindusara reigned between his father's founding rule and his son Ashoka's accession, an early ruler and not the dynasty's final one.

• Devavarman was one of the later Mauryan rulers, but he was still a predecessor of Brihadratha, who held the throne after him until the assassination that ended Mauryan rule, so he was not the dynasty's last ruler either.

Brihadratha is therefore the correct answer as the last Mauryan ruler.