Sātavāhana Dynasty

▪ Indian dynasty

      Indian family that, according to some interpretations based on the Purāṇas (ancient religious and legendary writings), belonged to the Andhra jāti (“tribe”) and was the first Deccanese (Deccan) dynasty to build an empire in daksināpatha—i.e., the southern region. At the height of their power the Sātavāhanas held distant areas of western and central India.

      On the strength of Purāṇic evidence the beginnings of Sātavāhana ascendancy can be dated to late in the 1st century BC, although some authorities trace the family to the 3rd century BC. Initially, Sātavāhana rule was limited to certain areas of the western Deccan. Inscriptions found in caves, such as those at Nānaghāt, Nāsik, Kārlī, and Kanheri, commemorate the early rulers Simuka, Krishna, and Śātakarṇi I.

      The accessibility, from the early Sātavāhana kingdom, of the western-coastal ports, which prospered in this period of Indo-Roman trade, and the close territorial proximity with the western Kṣatrapas resulted in an almost uninterrupted series of wars between the two Indian kingdoms. The first stage of this conflict is represented by Kṣatrapa Nahapāna's penetration into the Nāsik and other areas of the western Deccan. Sātavāhana power was revived by Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi (reigned c. AD 106–130), the greatest ruler of the family. His conquests ranged over a vast territorial expanse stretching approximately from Rājasthān in the northwest to Andhra in the southeast and from Gujarāt in the west to Kaliṅga in the east. Some time before 150, the Kṣatrapas recovered most of these areas from the Sātavāhanas and twice inflicted defeats upon them.

      Gautamīputra's son Vāśiṣṭhīputra Pulumāvi (reigned c. 130–159) ruled from the west. The tendency seems to have been to expand to the east and the northeast. Inscriptions and coins of Vāśiṣṭhīputra Pulumāvi are also found in Andhra, and Śivaśrī Śātakarṇi (reigned c. 159–166) is known from coins found in the Krishna and Godāvari districts. The distribution area of Śri Yajña Śātakarṇi's (reigned c. 174–203) regional coins is spread over the Krishna and Godāvari districts, the Chānda district of Madhya Pradesh, Berār, northern Konkan, and Saurāṣṭra.

      Śri Yajña is the last important figure in the history of the Sātavāhana dynasty. He achieved success against the Kṣatrapas, but his successors, known mostly from Purāṇic genealogical accounts and coins, ruled over a comparatively limited area.

      The “local” character of later numismatic issues and their distribution pattern indicates the subsequent fragmentation of the Sātavāhana empire. The Andhra region passed on first to the Ikṣvākus and then to the Pallava. Different areas in the western Deccan experienced the emergence of new local powers—e.g., the Cūtūs, the Ābhīras, and the Kurus. In the Berār region the Vākāṭakas emerged as a formidable political force in the early 4th century. By this period the dismemberment of the Sātavāhana empire was complete.

      Despite the achievements of the northern Mauryas in the Deccan in the 4th–3rd century BC, it was under the Sātavāhanas that the historical period proper began in this region. Although there are no clear indications as to whether a centralized administrative system was evolved, an extensive system of currency was introduced throughout the empire. The Indo-Roman trade reached its peak in this period. The resultant material prosperity is reflected in the liberal patronage of Buddhist and Brahmanical communities, enumerated in contemporary inscriptions.

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