Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c13.10

c13.10

The history of the relations of these princes appears to be this Nahapâna was a Satrap rulıng over Mahârâshṭra Hıs capıtal was probably Junnar since the inscriptions at the place show the town to have been in a flourıshıng condition about that tıme, and we have a record there of the gıft of hıs mınıster He must have dıed soon after 46 Saka or A D 124 Gotamîputra and Puḷumâyı came from the south-east to regain the provinces lost to their famıly, overthrew Nahapâna's successor, whoever he was, kıld all hıs heırs, and re-establıshed their power over this sıde of the country This appears to be what ıs meant by Gotamîputra's having been represented in the Nâsık inscrıptıon to have "left no remnant of the race of Khagârâta," and to have "regained the prestige of hıs famıly" Chashṭana founded or belonged to another dynasty of Satraps whıch reıgned at Ujjayınt In the Junâgaḍ inscrıptıon, men of all castes are represented to have gone to Rudradâman and chosen hım theır lord for theır protectıon,⁶ and he ıs spoken of as havıng re-establıshed the kıngdom that had been lost,⁷ hımself assumed the tıtlę of the Great Kshatrapa, conquered Akarâvantî, Anûpa, Surâshṭra, Aparânta and other provinces which, as we have seen, were owned by Gotamîputra, and some more, and as having twice subdued Sâtakarṇi, the lord of Dakshiṇâpatha, but still not destroyed him in consequence of his connection⁸ with him not being remote [29] and acquired a good name on that account The meaning of all this appears to me to be this Gotamîputra Sâtakarṇi, after having destroyed Nahapâna or his successor, turned his arms against another dynasty of foreigners that was ruling at Ujjayinî Or the Kshatrapa sovereign of Ujjayinî, Chashṭana, or very probably his son Jayadâman, having observed the growing power of Gotamîputra or Puḷumâyi who had put an end to a kindred family of rulers, and desirous of preventing his further growth, must have attacked him A fact such as this must be the basis of the popular stories about a king of Ujjayinî having attacked Sâlivâhana at Paiṭhaṇ and been defeated by him Sâlivâhana is but another mode of pronouncing Sâtavâhana,⁹ and Puḷumâyi or Gotamîputra was a Sâtavâhana The ruler of Ujjayinî was defeated and pursued by the victorious Gotamîputra into his own dominions, when the latter subjugated Avantî, Anûpa, Surâshṭra and Aparânta, and dethroned Jayadâman For a time he and his successors held sway over the territories owned by Chashṭana, but subsequently Rudradâman collected a band of followers, the same as those that are represented in the inscription as having chosen him their lord, and driving away the Sâtavâhanas, regained his lost kingdom and got himself crowned as Mahâkshatrapa But as appears from the Supârâ coin of Yajña Śrî which bears such striking resemblance to the Kshatrapa coins and is so unlike the Kolhâpur coins of that monarch, large or small, and from the fact that his son Chaturapana was his viceroy or representative, the Sâtavâhanas retained possession of a part at least of the Kshatrapa territories up to the time of Yajña Śrî They even entered into blood relationship with the Kshatrapas, as we learn from the Kânheri inscription, which speaks of the wife of Vâsishṭhîputra Sâtakarṇi being the daughter of a Mahâkshatrapa But Rudradâman pursued his victories and according to his Junâgaḍ inscription twice conquered Sâtakarṇi the lord of Dakshiṇâpatha, but did not destroy him, and acquired a good name by his forbearance towards one whose connection with him was not remote Thus the lord of Dakshiṇâpatha that he conquered was Yajña Śrî Sâtakarṇi He could not have been his son Chaturapana, for the expression "non-remoteness of the connection" suits the former better than the latter, as Chaturapana's wife was the daughter of a Mahâkshatrapa, perhaps his own and the connection with him was positively close The re-acquisition of his lost kingdom by Rudradâman took place after the nineteenth year of Puḷumâvi’s reign, that is, after about A D 150 It is in this way alone that the scraps of information derived from the Greek writers and gathered from inscriptions, coins, and popular legends as well as the dates, can be made to harmonize with each other