Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c24.s3: § 82. Inscrr. on Kṣatr. Coins
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c24.s3
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§ 82. Inscrr. on Kṣatr. Coins
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— The long *rev.* inscrr. regularly give the names and titles both of the reigning satrap and of his father. The data thus afforded, when taken in conjunction with the dates on the *obv.* (v. inf. § 83), make it possible to reconstruct the outlines of this dynasty with an unusual degree of precision (v. Genealogical Table in C.CMI. p. 5). An interloper, named Īśvaradatta, who takes the title *mahākṣatrapa* and strikes coins dated in the first and second years of his own reign, is probably to be placed between the fourteenth and fifteenth members of the dynasty, Vijayasena and Dāmajadaśrī III (v. inf. § 84).
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There is a coin of an otherwise unknown Kṣatrapa, Satyadāman son of Dāmajadaśrī I, in the collection of Col. J. BIDDULPH. This coin is remarkable as having its inscr. in pure Sanskrit. For a coin of Arjuna, who may possibly also be a member of this dynasty, v. SMITH, JBA. 1897, p. 9, Pl. I, 15.
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§ 83. Dates on Kṣatr. Coins. — The inscriptional dates begin with the year 72 of Rudradāman's Junāgaḍh inscr. (v. sup. § 80). The coin-dates (**Plate III**, 3; Dāmasena, date 153) begin with the year 100, in the reign of the 5^th satrap, Jīvadāman, and continue regularly to the end of the dynasty. The last known dates are those of Rudrasiṁha, 310, and of his sister's son Siṁhasena, 304 (BH.JRAS. 1890, p. 662; C.CMI. p. 4). In determining the era to which these dates should be referred, it should be borne in mind that they probably do not mark the extreme limits of the dynasty. In the period of confusion, when the kingdom of the satraps was falling to pieces before the attacks of the Guptas, it is at least possible that no coins may have been struck. The earliest coins of the Guptas struck in this part of India have, unfortunately, no dates which have as yet been read with certainty (SMITH, JRAS. 1889, p. 123); but it is certain that the Gupta conquest took place in the latter part of the reign of Candragupta Vikramāditya (c. A.D. 380—414, SMITH, JRAS. 1893, p. 82). If, therefore, the coin-dates of these satraps be referred to the Śaka era, 78 A.D., the latest known date 310 = A.D. 388, would fall well within the reign of Candragupta; and there would seem to be no sufficient reason for the alternative which has been suggested by OLDENBERG (ZfN. 1881, p. 318 = Ind. Ant. 1881, p. 224), viz. that these dates should be referred to an independent satrapal era beginning c. 100 A.D.
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Cp. also Ar. Ant. p. 405; STEVENSON, JBRA. II, p. 377; NEWTON, id. 1861, p. 15; VII, p. 1; IX, p. 1; TH.JRAS. 1850, p. 1; FLEET, Ind. Ant. 1885, p. 325; PE. I, pp. 334. 425; II, pp. 69. 84. For the numerals, cp. also PE. II, p. 80; BHAU DĀJĪ, JBRA. VIII, p. 225.
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§ 84. Ābhīras. — These Ābhīra kings are known from inscrr. at Nasik, and also from the Pauranic lists (BHAND., Hist. Dek. p. 45; Tr. I. Or. Cong. 1874, p. 341; BÜHLER, ASWI. IV, 103 f.). They are known to have been connected with the Kṣatrapas of Surāṣṭra and Malwa sometimes as commanders of their armies (BH.JRAS. 1890, p. 657); and it has been suggested that they were the governors of the Sahyādris and Konkan during the same period (BH., Bomb. Gaz. XVI, p. 624). It has been conjectured that the interruption in the line of Mahākṣatrapas between Vijayasena, year 171, and Dāmajadaśrī, year 176 (v. sup. § 82), may have been caused by an insurrection of the Ābhīra king against his feudal lord. The contemporary Kṣatrapa, Viradāman reigns uninterruptedly through this interval, but the position of Mahākṣatrapa seems to have been usurped by Īśvaradatta who strikes coins apparently imitated from those both of Vijayasena and Viradāman dated in the first and second years of his reign. This conjecture is supported by arguments derived from (1) the formation of the name, and (2) the method of dating in regnal years.
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BH.JRAS. 1890, p. 656. BH. points out that if the last year of Vijayasena, 171, be the first year of Īśvaradatta, this = 248 A.D. may possibly mark the beginning of the Traikūṭaka (or of the Chedi) era; v. also C.CMI. p. 4. He also suggests that Māḍharīputa, who is usually regarded as an Andhra may be an Ābhīra. The use of metronymics is common to Andhras and Ābhīras (Bomb. Gaz. XVI, p. 623, note 2).
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§ 85. The Andhras. — The Andhras (Andhrabhṛtyas or Sātavāhanas), though classed by the Purāṇas among the rulers of Magadha, are, in historical times, a Southern Indian power, the capital of which was Dhānyakaṭaka Dharanikot or Amarāvatī on the Kistna in the Gantur Dist. of Madras (C., Geog. p. 540). But as, during the period for which the evidence of coins is available, their history is closely connected with that of the Kṣaharātas and the Kṣatrapas of Surāṣṭra and Malwa, and as the style of some of the coins themselves bears witness to this fact, it will be most convenient to discuss them here.
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§ 86. E. and W. Andhras. — At some time previous to this period the Andhra kingdom had been extended westwards across the peninsula from sea to sea, and northwards beyond the Narbadda. The provinces to the north of this river seem to have been conquered by Nahapāna (BH.JRAS. 1890, p. 642), reconquered by Gotamīputra Sātakarṇi I (prob. beg. of 2^nd cent. A.D.), and included in the satrapy of Caṣṭana. Of this western and northern portion of the Andhra kingdom, the capital was Paithan, the ancient Pratiṣṭhāna, on the Godavari in the Aurangabad Dist. of the Nizam's Dominions. It has been supposed (BHAND., Hist. Dek. p. 33) that at this second capital the heir apparent to the throne ruled as viceroy, bearing the same relation to the Andhra sovereign at Dhānyakaṭaka as the *kṣatrapa* bore to the *mahākṣatrapa* in the kingdom of Surāṣṭra and Malwa after the time of Rudradāman. This point is not determined by the coin-legends; but it is noteworthy that the two chief classes of Andhra coins correspond to these two divisions of the kingdom. The same names are found on the coins of both classes; but the Western coins, found chiefly in the state of Kolhapur, are distinguished from the Eastern, found chiefly in the deltas of the Godavari and Kistna, not only by their types (C.CAI. p. 107), but also by the fact that their inscrr. include certain names or titles not found on the others.
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*Viḷivāyakura<a* on coins of Gotamīputa (**Plate III, 4**) and Vāsiṭhīputa, and *Sevalakurasa* (BHAND., Hist. Dek. p. 20) or *Sivāla°* (C.) on coins of Mādharīputa. BHAND. (l. c.) interprets these as names of viceroys of the Kolhapur dist. He supposes the former to be mentioned by Ptolemy VII, 1, 83: Ἱππόκουρα (=? Karhād or Kolhapur, p. 44) Βασίλειον Βαλεοκούρου.
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§ 87. Types of E. and W. Andhra coins. — From a consideration of the types represented on the coins of these two classes, the following suggestions may be made: — (1) the 'caitya' symbol which is characteristic of the coins of Caṣṭana and all his successors is no doubt derived from the Andhras; (2) the use of the symbol found on most of the coins of Ujjain seems to be an additional piece of evidence of the fact that, before the Saka conquest under Nahapāna, Malwa was included in the Andhra dominions; (3) the style and types of other coins seem to connect them with coins ascribed to the Pallavas (v. inf. § 128).
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All the Andhra coins hitherto mentioned are of lead or of a peculiar alloy of copper; in fabric they differ greatly from the northern coinages; and nothing certain can be said about their weight-standard; but compare E.CSI. p. 23, note 2.
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There is, however, a third class, a specimen of which was discovered in the tope at Supāra, which is of silver, precisely similar in fabric and style to the earliest coins of the Kṣatrapas of Surāṣṭra and Malwa, and probably struck according to the same weight-standard (**Plate III, 5**). Of this coinage only two specimens are at present known, and both of them bear the name of *Siriyaña Gotamīputa Sātakaṇi II*, who may, perhaps, have been a contemporary of Jayadāman or Rudradāman.
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BH.JBRA. XV, p. 305, Pl. II, 7. 7a; BÜHLER, Ind. Ant. 1883, p. 273.
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§ 88. Succession of Andhra kings. — In regard to the order of succession and chronological arrangement of the different members of this dynasty there is at present great uncertainty, and this uncertainty extends to the attribution of the coins. Those bearing the inscr. *Raño Gotamīputasa Viḷivāyakurasa* (C.CAI. Pl. XII, 6. 7; E.CSI. Pl. II, 39. 40) are by some (Bhaṇḍ., Tr. I. Or. Cong. 1874, p. 351; Old., Ind. Ant. 1881, p. 226) assigned to Gotamīputra Sātakarṇi I, the conqueror of Nahapāna, and by others (Bh.JBRA. XIII, p. 308; C.CAI. p. 105) to Siriyaña Gotamīputa Sātakaṇi II, whose name occurs in full on other issues (§ 87; C.CAI. Pl. XII, 8—12; E.CSI. p. 25). The attribution of the coins of the successor of Gotamīputa Sātakaṇi I, *Vāsiṭhīputa Puḷumāyi*, who was probably contemporary with Caṣṭana, is, on the other hand, quite certain¹.
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¹ Bühler, Ind. Ant. 1883, p. 272. The synchronism of Puḷumāyi and Caṣṭana is in every way probable and is rendered almost certain by the quotations from Ptolemy VII, 1, 82 Βαίθανα (Paithan) βασίλειον [Σιρο]πτολεμαίου, and VII, 1, 63, Ὀζηνή (Ujjain) βασίλειον Τιαστανοῦ: Bhāu Dājī, JBRA. VII, p. 117.
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There is less certainty as to the position which the coins bearing the names *Māḍharīputa* (C.CAI. Pl. XII, 4) and *Vāsiṭhīputa Srī Vadasata* (id. 13. 14) should occupy in the Andhra series².
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² Bh. suggests that Māḍharīputa may perhaps be an Ābhīra (v. sup. § 84), and Bhaṇḍ. (Hist. Dek. p. 35) that he may belong to a branch of the Andhra dynasty; but v. Bühler, Ind. Ant. 1883, p. 273; C.CAI. p. 107. For the coins of the Andhras: C.CAI. p. 102, Pl. XII; Bh.JBRA. XIII, p. 303, Pll. III. IV; id. XV, p. 273, Pl. II; E.CSI. p. 28, Pl. II, 39—48; Th., Ind. Ant. 1877, p. 274; 1880, p. 61. Cp. also Proc. BA. 1882, p. 59; 1893, p 117; JBRA. XII, p. 407; XIV, p. 153; PE. II, p. 66. For the chronology: Bühler, Ind. Ant. 1883, p. 272; Bhaṇḍ. Tr. I. Or. Cong. 1874, p. 347; and Hist. Dek. p. 25 (rev. Miss Duff, JRAS. 1895, p. 693); Old., ZfN. 1881, p. 323 = Ind. Ant. 1881, p. 227.
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§ 89. Nanda Kings of Kārwār. — Similar in style and fabric to the large coins of the Andhras, and, therefore, probably belonging to the same period, are those bearing the names of two Nanda kings of Kārwār.
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C.CAI. p. 111; E.CSI. p. 31, Pl. II, 41. 42.