Who were the Satavahanas? Explain early state formation in the Deccan with reference to the Satavahanas.

The Satavahanas, also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late second century BCE and lasted until the early third century CE, although some assign the beginning of their rule to as early as the 3rd century BCE based on the Puranas, but uncorroborated by archaeological evidence. The Satavahana kingdom mainly comprised the present-day Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. At different times, their rule extended to parts of modern Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. The dynasty had different capital cities at different times, including Pratishthana (Paithan) and Amaravati (Dharanikota).

 The origin of the dynasty is uncertain, but according to the Puranas, their first king overthrew the Kanva dynasty. In the post-Maurya era, the Satavahanas established peace in the Deccan region, and resisted the onslaught of foreign invaders. In particular their struggles with the Saka Western Satraps went on for a long time. The dynasty reached its zenith under the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni and his successor Vasisthiputra Pulamavi. The kingdom fragmented into smaller states by the early 3rd century CE.

 The Satavahanas were early issuers of Indian state coinage struck with images of their rulers. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade and the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India. They supported Hinduism as well as Buddhism, and patronised Prakrit literature.

 

The names of the Satavahana rulers, also known as the Andhras, occur in the lists of kings found in the Puranas. However, there are many difficulties in using these lists as sources of history without critically comparing them with other sources. For example, the names of the kings and the duration of their rule vary in the different Puranas. Moreover, information about the kings is interwoven with myths and legends, and one has to carefully distinguish between facts and legendary stories. The Puranas are, nevertheless, useful when studied with other sources such as coins and inscriptions. The Satavahanas minted a large number of coins in: lead, silver, and an alloy of copper.

Their silver coins carry the portrait of the king and his name. The inscriptions are found in Buddhist caves cut in rock and record donations made by Satavahana kings and queens as well as by a large number of ordinary people. By comparing the information available in these different sources, scholars generally accept that the Satavahanas began their rule around the 1st century BCE. Their earliest record is found engraved on rock in a cave near Nasik in the present state of Maharashtra.

 Scholars generally agree that a state is a more efficient method of controlling expanding populations. A state exercises control over a more or less well-defined territory and maintains an administrative machinery to collect taxes and revenue. It pays for a regular army that enforces law and order. But together with all this, the inequality and stratification in society also increases. There is a well-marked distinction between the rulers and the ruled. The rulers control the resources of society for their own benefit and use. The ruled, on the other hand, provide the revenue and the money required to maintain the members of the ruling family, the notables in the state, the various categories of officials and the army. Thus, the basic difference between a tribal society and a state society is in the nature of political control. In a state system, a specialized administrative machinery separates the rulers from the ruled. In a tribal society, political power is generally exercised by a clan which has no authority to enforce its decisions. The position of the clan depends on the loyalty of the members and most decisions are taken together.

 According to the Puranic tradition it was Simuka Satavahana who established the Satavahana power. Kanha or Krishna, his brother, is perhaps known to us from an inscription at Nasik. Another record that lists several rulers of the dynasty is the Nanaghat inscription of Queen Nayanika, the widowed queen of Satakarni, who performed Vedic sacrifices. Nanaghat was a major pass connecting Junnar with the coast, and in a cave at the head of the pass, portraits of the Satavahana rulers were carved. Unfortunately, the sculptures are now completely destroyed and all that remains are labels over their heads giving their names.

 

We know very little about the rulers that followed Satakarni till we come to the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni. An inscription of his mother engraved on the entrance to a cave at Nasik provides us details about the extent of his kingdom and the events of his reign. One of his major achievements was the defeat of the Kshatrapas of western Deccan and Gujarat. His mother’s epigraph praises him as the restorer of Satavahana glory and further proof of this comes from numismatic evidence. After his victory, he counterstruck silver coins of the Kshatrapa Nahapana with his own legend and symbols. According to the Periplus of the Erytheaen Sea, as a result of rivalry between the Kshatrapas and Satavahanas, Greek ships entering Kalyan, a port near present Mumbai, were sent under guard to the port of Bharuch. Perhaps, control of the lucrative foreign trade was one of the causes for the conflict. It would also seem that under Gautamiputra Satakarni, Satavahana rule extended over Andhra as well. Gautamiputra was succeeded by his son Pulumavi and it was at this time that the Satavahanas consolidated their power in eastern Deccan. For the first time we find Satavahana inscriptions outside western Deccan at Amaravati. Yajnasri Satakarni was the last important Satavahana ruler and after him the kingdom was splintered and divided between his successors – one line of kings ruling in the Andhra region. It was also under the later Satavahanas that coins with bilingual legends were issued and in addition to the name of the king in Prakrit these carried a legend in a south Indian language – opinion being divided on its identification between Tamil and Telugu.

 In addition to the Kshatrapas, an early Satavahana ruler had to contend with the power of Kharavela from Odisha (Kalinga). Kharavela rose to power in Kalinga in the middle of the 1st century BCE. He dispatched an army to the west without caring for Satakarni; this suggests that early Satavahana power suffered setbacks both at the hands of the Kshatrapas and of Kharavela. It was revived only through the exploits of Gautamiputra Satakarni.

 One of the problems of Satavahana history is that we know very little about the different pockets of Deccan. For example, the inscriptions refer to marriage relations of the Satavahanas with the Maharathis and the Mahabhojas– in fact, in the Nanaghat label inscriptions a Maharathi finds precedence over a Kumara (prince) and Queen Nayanika herself was the daughter of a Maharathi. Maharathis are also known to have made independent donations – most of their inscriptions having been found around Karle, while the records of the Mahabhojas occur along the west coast.

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