Brhadrata was the last ruler of the Indian Mauryan dynasty.

It is said that his territories, centered around the capital of Pataliputra, had shrunk considerably from the time of the great Emperor Ashoka, but that he was still upholding the Buddhist faith.

He was assassinated in 185 BCE during a military parade by the commander-in-chief of his guard, the Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga, who then took over the throne and established the Sunga dynasty.

The assassination of Brhadrata and the rise of the Sunga empire led to a wave of persecution for Buddhists, and a resurgence of Hinduism.

It also triggered the 180 BCE invasion of northern India by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius, who went as far as Pataliputra and established an Indo-Greek kingdom that was to last close to two centuries until around 10 BCE, and under which Buddhism was able to flourish.