Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c14.11

c14.11

There ıs a work wrıtten ın the old Mahârâshṭrî dıalect called Saptaśatî, whıch ıs of the nature of an anthology consıstıng of Gâthâs or stanzas ın the Âryâ metre, mostly on love matters The author of thıs ıs ın the thırd verse mentıoned as Hâla, and ordınarıly he ıs spoken of as Sâlınvâhana Bâṇa speaks of ıt ın a verse ın the ıntroductıon to hıs Harshacharıta as "an ımperıshable and refıned reposıtory of good sayıngs composed by Sâlınvâhana " Verses from ıt are quoted ın Dhanıka's commentary on the Dasarûpaka, ın the Sarasvatı Kaṇṭhâbharaṇa, and ın the Kâvyaprakâsa There ıs, ıt wıll be observed, ın the lıst of the Andhrabhṛıtya prınces, one of the name of Hâla, who probably was eıther the author of the work or to whom ıt was dedıcated by a court-poet From these traditions we may, I think, safely conclude that literature flourished under the rule of the Andhrabhṛityas, and that the Prakṛits or spoken languages, especially the Mahârâshṭrî, were probably for the first time used for literary purposes In Vâtsyâyana's Kâmasûtra or Institutes of Love, Kuntala Sâtakarṇi Sâtavâhana is spoken of as having killed Malayavatî, who is called [40] Mahâdevî, and consequently must have been his chief queen, by means of a pair of scissors in connection with certain amorous sports ⁷ The name Kuntala occurs in the list given in the Mâtsya Purâna