Far East Kingdoms

Satvahanas
c.240 BC - AD 200

If the Mauryas are credited with forming the first empire in northern India then credit for forming the first southern empire should go to the Satvahanas.

The Satvahanas (otherwise shown as Satavahanas, or Sattvahana) are also referred to as the Andhras. This is mainly because one of their clansmen, Puloma, is considered to have been the first of the Andhra kings - the Andhras survive today as a community which resides in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, while Puloma was the first to capture territory which later made up the territory of the Andhras.

They are generally claimed as being of Dravidian stock, Indians who predated the arrival of Indo-Aryans from the north-west. They were, in essence, Brahmins who were later accepted in the Indo-Aryan fold. They probably remained as regional chieftains under Indo-Aryan Mauryan rule but, following the death of Ashoka, they declared their independence from the Mauryas and founded their own empire.

The kingdom of the Satvahanas lay to the west of Iron Age Kalinga. One of the most important areas within the confines of their territory was the city of Musikanagara, but the kingdom also encompassed territories which made up the later states of Berar, Ahmednagar, and Goa, and the region of Khandesh, extending as it did from present day Andhra Pradesh to parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajputana and Gujarat. The capital was at Pratishthana (or Paithan, in the modern state of Maharashtra). It survived well into the early years of the first millennium AD, and fought the invading Sakas in the west.

However, it would appear that, prior to their rise to prominence, the Satvahanas had accepted an Indo-Aryan elite to control them. Mainstream academic ideas regarding the meaning of 'Satvahana' ('satavahana') are easily dismissed as ridiculous, as they appear to be based on having no accurate idea of the meaning of 'satva'. That core, 'satva', refers to a being or beings (noun), as it is derived from 'sat', the verb 'to be'. This clearly marks it out as an Indo-European word as usage of this verb is near-universal amongst these steppe nomads, and especially amongst Indo-Iranians.

The second part of the name is 'hana'. The old 'Wilson' dictionary of 1832 shows this as 'hana', which has a large variety of applications but which has the general core meaning of 'to hurt, to strike, to injure, to do any act which tends to the destruction of life, to kill'. The possibilities in its use are great, but the most likely usage here would seem to be along the lines of 'we are killers'.

(Information by Abhijit Rajadhyaksha, with additional information by Manjiri Bhalerao, Edward Dawson, and Peter Kessler, and from A Dictionary in Sanscrit and English, Horace Hayman Wilson (translated, amended, and enlarged from an original compilation, Fort William College, 1832, p 968).)

Captured territory for the Andhra homeland.

c.230 - 207 BC

Alternate dates of rule 271-248 BC. Ruled 23 years.

Simuka is instrumental in destroying the rule of the Kanavas of Magadha and the Sungas of Vidisha. He further acquires large territories in central India.

207 - 189 BC

Brother. Ruled 18 years. Added Nasik (Maharastra) to kingdom.

Ruled 10 years.

Ruled 18 years.

? - 133 BC

Son. Ruled 56 years.

Shathakarni proves to be a great king, conquering western Malwa, Vidharba (Berar) and parts of the south. For this he is called Dakshina Pathapati (lord of the south). He performs the Rajasuya Yagna and two Ashwamegha Yagnas (Vedic fire rituals to declare oneself the emperor).

c.175 BC

Shathakarni is a valiant king and a conquer, and a powerful enemy of King Kharavela of Kalinga. In the second year of Kharavela's reign the Kalingan marches his army to the bank of Krishnabena and threatens the city of Musikanagara. However the expedition fails to produce any concrete result because Kharvela is unable to take Musikanagara from the Satvahanas. Moreover the Hatigumpha Pillar inscription does not mention any battles between the two, contrary to some claims. It simply states: 'in the second year his [Kharavela's] strong army of the four-fold units of cavalry, elephants, infantry and chariots was sent against the western regions controlled by Satkarni, and also threatened the city of the Mushika people'.

Naganika, the wife of Shathakarni, commissioned the cave inscriptions in the Naneghat, or 'coin pass', an important toll for travellers passing though this Western Ghats trade route

c.173 BC

Kalinga takes the areas of Berar, Ahmednagar and Khandesh.

133 BC

After Shathakarni's death, his wife Nayanika (Naganika) rules the kingdom on the behalf of her young sons, Satkarni II and Vedashree. She has to face simultaneous onslaughts by the Indo-Greeks, the Sakas and the Parthians.

133 - ? BC

Son.

Satkarni II rules for a long period of time, capturing Pataliputra, capital of Magadha, during his reign. He further extends his empire by conquering Vidisa and Kalinga. He also foils an attempt by the Sakas to capture Kalinga following their conquest of Ujjain and Pataliputra. Towards the end of his reign, the Sakas conquer the Western Deccan. During his own subsequent reign, Vedishree, his brother, makes Junnar, thirty miles north of Pune, his capital.

Brother.

133 - ? BC

Mother and regent.

This is the point at which confusion arises. Renowned historians such as Majumdar, Thapar, and Prasad have named Satkarni and Vedashree as the successors to Shathakarni. However, some of the old texts (especially the Matsya Puranas), give a different post-Shathakarni lineage as far as Gautamiputra Satkarni (shown below).

There are also differing references to the actual number of Satvahana rulers and the time of their rule. The Matsya Purana states that the Satvahana family ruled for 400 years and had thirty kings (only nineteen of which are actually named), whereas the Vayu Purana states that the Satvahanas ruled for 300 years and had nineteen rulers. Historian Dr Roychoudhary concludes that the main family ruled for 300 years and had nineteen rulers, while some of the family offshoots ruled for another hundred years and had eleven more rulers.

Ruled 18 years.

87 - 67 BC

Ruled 18 years.

75 - 35 BC

The Satvahanas are probably vassals of the Kanavas during this period, although this regional dominance is apparently brief.

By the period between 100-50 BC the Greek kingdom of Bactria had fallen and the remaining Indo-Greek territories (shown in white) had been squeezed towards eastern Punjab. India was partially fragmented, and the once tribal Sakas were coming to the end of a period of domination of a large swathe of territory in modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and north-western India. The dates within their lands (shown in yellow) show their defeats of the Greeks which had gained them those lands, but they were very soon to be overthrown in the north by the Kushans while still battling for survival against the Satvahanas of India (click or tap on map to view full sized)

c.50? BC

The Kushans capture the territory of the Sakas in what is now Afghanistan, and probably cause the downfall of Indo-Greek king Hermaeus, conquering Paropamisadae in the process. The Sakas consolidate their rule in northern India as compensation, where they come into competition with the Satvahanas, and later enter into matrimonial alliances with them.

Ruled 12 years.

Ruled 18 years.

Ruled 18 years.

Ruled 7 years.

Ruled 8 years. Also known as Mrgendra Svatikarna.

Ruled 8 years.

Ruled 12 years.

Ruled 1 year.

Ruled 36 years.

Ruled 38 years.

Ruled 25 years.

AD 20 - 24

Ruled 5 years. Author of the Gathasaptasati literature classic.

Hala, the seventeenth king of the Satvahanas, is mentioned by Vatsyayana in his Kamasutra and Rajasekhara in his Kavya Mimamsa. Hala patronises literature and the arts, and the Prakrit work, Saptasati, is ascribed to him. Gunadhya, the author of Brihat Katha, is his contemporary. As he is a patron of poets, he is known by the title 'Kavivatsala'. He marries a Ceylonese princess on the banks of the River Sapta-Godavari-Bhima.

Ruled 5 years.

Ruled 5 years.

Ruled 1 year.

Ruled 6 months.

Ruled 6 months.

Ruled 28 years.

1st century AD

By the first century AD, the Sakas have wrested away the northern Satvahana territories of Kathiawar, Malwa and Nasik. The empire slowly contracts. The later Satvahana kings prove very vulnerable against their enemies. But just when it seems as though the glory of the Satvahanas is going to fade away, an illustrious king takes control. King Gautamiputra Satkarni holds the fort against the various invaders on his borders.

106 - 130

119

Following the Kushan collapse, the western kshatrapas (satraps) of the Sakas once again rise in prominence, especially under King Nahapana, who occupies large swathes of Satvahana territory in western and central India.

According to the Nasik inscription, the king's mother, Gautami Balsari, writes about her son as follows: '...who crushed the pride and conceit of the Kshatriyas [the native Indian princes / Rajputs of Rajputana, Gujarat and central India]; who destroyed the Shakas [Western Kshatrapas], Yavanas [Indo-Greeks] and Pahlavas [Indo-Parthians]... who rooted out the Khakharata family [the Kshatrapas of Nahapana]...'

From this it can be concluded that Gautamiputra Satkarni manages to drive from his territories all invaders and annexes to his kingdom the regions of Gujarat, Kathiawar, Saurashtra, western Rajputana, Malwa, Berar and North Konkan. Gautamiputra has often been referred to as 'Rajaraja' and Vindhya Raja (lord of the Vindhya mountains). The Sakas accept the power of the Satvahanas in AD 124 and agree to act as their vassals, entering into matrimonial alliances with them. The date given here for this war has been recalculated in recent years, with a date of AD 78 generally being accepted. As a result of the defeat, the Sakas lose Malwa and western Maharashtra and are forced to concentrate on Gujarat.

130

Gautamiputra Satkarni's death is the signal for the Sakas to reclaim their lost territory from Satvahanas. The Saka king, Chastana, goes on to rule a large area of western India, especially the area of Ujjain (Ozene), during the reign of Satvahana King Vasisthiputra Sri Pulamavi.

130 - 159

Son. Also known as Puliman. Ruled 29 years.

In spite of his matrimonial relations with the Sakas, Vasisthiputra fights various wars against them and is twice defeated by his father-in-law, Rudradaman I (as related by the Junagadh rock inscription). Puloma does manage to capture present day Andhra Pradesh and extend his kingdom to the south-east, but he loses much territory to the Sakas including the north-western parts of his kingdom.

Confusion has existed amongst historians about the exact period of rule of the Satvahana kings or the order in which they rule (except in regard to Simuka, Krishna, and Satkarni being followed after a gap by Gautamiputra Satkarni and his son, Puloma. This is where firm records end and the Matsya Purana list takes over.

Saka vassal. Ruled 7 years.

Saka vassal. Ruled 7 years.

167 - 196

Ruled 29 years.

Yajna Sri Satakarni is the last great Satvahana ruler. He conquers Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and North Konkan, defeats the Western Kshatrapas, taking their southern provinces and re-establishing the glory of the Satvahanas.

Shown here are two sides of a Satvahana coin which is typical of the type produced during their second century AD period of empire, even though a good deal of territory had only recently been lost to Nahapana of the Sakas

Ruled 6 years.

Ruled 10 years.

Ruled 7 years.

fl c.220

early-3rd century

By the middle of the third century the Satvahana kingdom has fragmented into many parts, each having a ruler of its own who claims to be the true Satvahana descendant.

In the north-western part of the former kingdom.

220 - 320

In the Krishna-Guntur region.

In the western part of the kingdom (Konkan, S Gujarat).

The Abhiras ultimately succeed the Satvahanas in ruling from the ancient capital of Pratishthana.

Of Banavasi in North Karnatka.

Of Kanchipuram, founders of the Pallava dynasty.

After the fall of the Satvahanas, the Vakataka dynasty rises to prominence in the Deccan in the fourth century. Some historians claim the Pallavas descend from Satvahana governors.

Much later, areas of Satvahana territory become part of the Bahamani sultanate in the fourteenth century. A section of it emerges in sixteenth century India as the state of Ahmednagar, and later forms part of the Maratha empire.