Rise of the Satavahana:

Gautamiputra Satakarni
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• After the downfall of the vast Mauryan Empire when Magadha saw
the rise of the Sunga and the Kanva dynasties.
• Kalinga saw the rise of the Chedi Mahameghavahana Dynasty, South
India also saw the rise of the Satavahana Dynasty in its Andhra region.
• The founder of this southern dynasty was a King named Simuka.
While this name ‘Simuka’ is seen in the inscription, the Puranas
mention him as Sisuka and Sindhuka.
• From the descriptions in the Puranas it is understood that this hero defeated some of the last surviving
rulers of the Sunga Dynasty who ruled in the North and also the King of the Kanva Dynasty who ruled over
Magadha, and established his power in the South. It is believed that Simuka rose to power during the First
Century before Christ, after conquering an extensive territory in the Deccan.
• A definite historical evidence is available regarding the authenticity of the Satavahana rule in the South. It is
mentioned in the Hatigumpha Inscription of the Kalinga Emperor Kharavela that he defeated a King of the
Andhra Satavahana Dynasty named Sri Satakarni. Since Kharavela belonged to the 1 st century B.C., it can be
historically said that the time of the rise of the Satavahana Dynasty in the Andhra region also took place in
that century. King Sri Satakarni might have been one of the descendants of King Simuka, the founder of the
Satavahana Dynasty.
• The original home of the Satavahanas was somewhere in the Deccan, and most likely they belonged to the
Andhra territory. Because, the Puranas described them as the Andhras. In other words, though the Dynasty
became famous as the Satavahana, they were the inhabitants of Andhra. The Andhras were no doubt one of
the most famous races of ancient India.
• Apart from what the Puranas described of them, one finds the name ‘Andhra’ in the ‘Indica’of the Greek
Ambassador Megasthenes who lived in the Court of Chandragupta Maurya. The Asokan Inscriptions also
contain the name ‘Andhra’. Most probably, the Satavahanas were a branch of the Andhra race. That is why
the first King of the Satavahana Dynasty, Simuka, was described in the Puranas as a man of the Andhra Race.
Rule of the Satavahana Rulers:
• The first King of the Satavahana Dynasty Simuka conquered a large territory in Southern India and established his authority a s a
successful ruler. In the North, he extended his power as far as Vidisha. But he could not advance as far as Magadha even thou gh
the ruling Kanva Dynasty in Pataliputra was on its path towards decline and fall.
• After the death of Simuka, the next King of the Dynasty named Krishna ruled over the Satavahana Kingdom for eighteen Years.
After him, Sri Satakarni came to the throne. He was a powerful king. He tried to conquer new territories in the Deccan and
succeeded in his attempts. It is for his new conquests that his queen Nayanika described her husband in the Nanaghat inscript ion
as the ‘Dakshinapatha-Pati’ or the Lord of Southern India. Sri Satakarni ruled over many portions of the Godavari Valley and the
northern regions of the Deccan. After conquering some territories of the Magadhan Kingdom and extensive areas of Western
India, Sri Satakarni proclaimed his royal glory by performing both ‘Rajasuya’ and ‘Ashwamedha’ Yajnas.
• But, to the misfortune of King Sri Satakarni, when he was trying to become the paramount lord of the South, the Kalinga Emper or
Mahameghavahana Aira Kharavela led his aggressive military expeditions towards the South to conquer new territories for the
Kalinga Empire. As a result, war broke out between the armies of the Kalinga Mahameghavahana Dynasty and the Andhra
Satavahana Dynasty. In that struggle for supremacy, it was the Kalinga power which won victory after victory. Kharavela annexed a
large part of the Satavahana territory to his Kalinga Empire.
• By the time King Satakarni died, his sons were minor in age. The wife of the dead King, Queen Nayanika, therefore, looked aft er
the administration of the kingdom. But, it was difficult for her to save the kingdom from decline. By the 1 st century A.D., the
foreign invaders named the Sakas invaded the Satavahana Kingdom again and again and took possession of the north -western
regions of that Kingdom.
• The power which the rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty enjoyed in the 1 st century B.C. Was no longer there during the first century
of the Christian Era. Yet, the Satavahana Dynasty did not disappear from the history of the Deccan like the Sungas and the Ka nvas
of Magadha in the North. The dynasty continued to rule over the Andhra region even if the size of the territory was reduced.
Gautamiputra Satakarni:
• It was during the first half of the 2 nd century A.D. That the Satavahana power once again rose into eminence in the South. The man of destiny this time
was a king named Gautamiputra Satakarni. By his achievements as a conqueror and as an able administrator he raised the presti ge of the Satavahana
Dynasty to a new height and came to be regarded as its greatest monarch.
• Gautamiputra first increased the size of his army and made it a strong fighting force. Next, he led expeditions against the f oreign Saka rulers and drove
them out of the Maharashtra region. After liberating that area, he fought against the Yavanas and the Palhavas and conquered their territories in the
west. Like Emperor Kharavela of Kalinga, Gautamiputra Satakarni recorded his victory over others in his inscriptions.
• It is known from his inscriptions that the empire of Gautamiputra Satakarni included such territories as Asmaka in the Godava ri basin, Suratha or
modern Kathiawad, Aparanta or northern Konkan, the land of Anupa on the bank of river Narmada, Vidarbha or modern Berar, Akar a or Eastern
Malwa, and Avanti or Western Malwa. It is thus estimated that the territory of Gautamiputra extended from Kathiawad in the no rth to the river
Krishna in the south, and from Konkan in the west to Berar in the east.
• Though Gautamiputra established his power over a vast territory, yet it proved difficult for him to consolidate his rule over the lands to the north of
the Vindhyas. The conquered areas beyond the Vindhya Mountains could not be held for long because of the foreign invasions. During the life time of
Gautamiputra, a foreign race called the Scythians conquered the land of Malwa. Other conquered regions on the northern side o f the Vindhya ranges
also became independent of the Satavahana power.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni was a patron of Brahmanism. True to Brahmanical orthodoxy, he did not permit intercaste marriage among the people of the
established ‘Four Varnas’. On the other hand, he was a benevolent king who looked after the welfare of his subjects. He took several steps to benefit
the peasant population of his country and to improve the condition of agriculture. He was also a ruler of humanitarian attitu de to help the poor and
the needy. On the whole, during his liberal monarchy, the subjects lived in peace and enjoyed prosperity.
• Gautamiputra was described in his inscriptions as the destroyer of the Sakas, Pahlavas and Yavanas. He was also mentioned as the ‘Lord of the
Western Vindhyas’. Proud of his power, he styled himself as the ‘Raja-Raja’ or the King of Kings, and as the ‘Maharaja’. After a long reign, this King died
in 104 A.D.
The Later Satavahanas:
• Gautamiputra Satakarni was succeeded by his son Vasishthaputra Pulumayi. In his religious policy, he was not as orthodox as h is
father. While Gautamiputra did not permit marriages among the people of four traditional Varnas, his son Vasishthaputra did n ot
hesitate to establish matrimonial relation even with the Sakas who belonged to a foreign race.
• During his time, the Saka Satraps (Kshatrapas) were the most powerful rulers in different regions of Western India. The ruler of
Ujjayini, Saka Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman became so strong that he reconquered the territories of Malwa, Kathiawad and
northern Konkan which lands were once annexed by Gautamiputra Satakarni to the Satavahana Empire.
• In view of the growing aggression of the Saka King, Vasishthaputra Satakarni decided to establish matrimonial relation with t hat
foreign ruler and himself married a daughter of King Rudradaman. Because of that marriage, the hostility between the
Satavahanas and the Sakas got diminished. The Saka Raja Rudradaman, of course, could proudly proclaim that even though he
defeated the Lord of the Deccan (Dakshinapatha-pati) in battles, yet, because of the family relation between the two royal
families, he did not put an end to the Satavahana rule in the South. In other words, Vasishthaputra’s matrimonial relation wi th the
Sakas appears to be more of a political alliance than social or racial friendship.
• Vasishthaputra could not overcome the Sakas in the North. On the other hand, he consolidated his power over the Andhra
territory extending between the rivers Godavari and Krishna in the South.
• The next notable king of the Satavahana Dynasty after Vasishthaputra was Sri Satakarni. From some of his silver coins, it is
presumed that this King perhaps recovered from the Sakas some of the lost territories of his predecessors in the West. The
inscriptions of Sri Yajna are found in such places as Nasik, Kanheri and Chinna-Ganjam. He was perhaps the last powerful king of
the Satavahana Dynasty with a big kingdom to rule over. This King died towards the close of the 2 nd century A.D.
• Some later kings of the dynasty seem to have ruled over much smaller regions in the South for some years more, as is evident from
available coins. But, in course of time, the powerful neighbouring enemies conquered those areas and the Satavahana Dynasty
vanished from history.