[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884) › c15 # Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c15: Section VIII. Religious, Social, and Economic Condition of Mahârâshtra under the Andhrabhṛityas or Sâtavâhanas Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c15 - **Language:** English ### Section VIII. Religious, Social, and Economic Condition of Mahârâshtra under the Andhrabhṛityas or Sâtavâhanas ### [c15.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.2) DURING this period the religion of Buddha was in a flourishing condition Princes and chiefs calling themselves Mahâbhojas and Mahâraṭṭhis, merchants (Naigamas), goldsmiths (Suvarṇakâras), carpenters (Vardhakas), corn-dealers (Dhânyakaśreṇis) druggists (Gândhikas), and ordinary householders (Gṛihasthas) caused at their expense temples and monasteries to be excavated out of the solid rock for the use of the followers of that religion It has been mentioned that in the first part of this period the country was exposed to the inroads of foreign tribes, such as Yavanas or Bactrian Greeks, Śakas, and Pahlavas These afterwards settled in the country and adopted the Buddhist religion For, among the donors and benefactors whose names are recorded in the cave inscriptions, there are a good many Śakas and Yavanas But some and especially the Śakas seem to have adopted Brâhmaṇism The Buddhist temples were provided with \*chaityas\* or tombs in imitation of those in which some relic of Buddha was buried, and these were objects of worship The monasteries contained cells intended as residences for Bhikshus or mendicant priests ### [c15.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.3) These travelled over the country during the year and spent the four rainy months at one of these monastic establishments In the month of Śrâvaṇa the monks held the ceremony of robing, at which the old clothes were thrown away and new ones worn To provide these for them, charitable persons deposited, as we have seen, sums of money with certain guilds with directions that out of the interest new robes should be purchased and given to the priests Villages were assigned by kings and their officers for the support of these religious establishments The mendicant priests often travelled by sea, and hence at the head of several of the creeks in the Konkan we have cave monasteries intended as Dharmas'a'lâs or rest-houses for them We have such caves at Chiplun, Mahâd, and Kuda situnted respectively on the Dâbhol, the Bânkot and the Râjpuri creeks For those who landed at the head of the Bombay harbour or at Ghodbandar, there were the Kânheri caves ### [c15.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.4) Brâhmaṇism also flourished side by side with Buddhism In the inscription at Nâsik in which Ushavadâta dedicates the cave monastery excavated at his expense for the use of the itinerant "priests of the four quarters," he speaks, as we have seen, of his many charities to Brâhmans The same notions as regards these matters prevailed then as now Ushavadâta fed a hundred thousand Brâhmans as the Mahârâj Sindia did about thirty years ago It was considered highly meritorious to get Brâhmans married at one's expense then as now Gotamiputra also, in the same inscription which records a benefaction in favour of the Buddhists, is spoken of as the only protector of Brâhmaṇs, and as having like Ushavadâta \[42\] put them in the way of increasing their race Kings and princes thus appear to have patronized the followers of both the religions, and in none of the inscriptions is there an indication of an open hostility between them ### [c15.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.5) Trade and commerce must also have been in a flourishing condition during this early period Ships from the western countries came, according to the author of the Periplus, to Barugaza or Bharukachchha, the modern Bharoch, and the merchandize brought by them was thence carried to the inland countries Onyx stone in large quantities from Paiṭhan, and ordinary cottons, muslins, mallow-coloured cottons, and other articles of local production from Tagara, were carried in waggons to Barugaza and thence exported to the west Paiṭhaṇ is placed by the author of the Periplus at the distance of twenty days' journey to the south of Barugaza, and is spoken of as the greatest city in Dakhinabades or Dakshiṇâpatha, and Tagara, ten days' east of Paiṭhaṇ ¹ This town has not yet been identified Its name does not occur in any of the cave inscriptions, but it is mentioned in a copper-plate grant of the first half of the seventh century, and princes of a dynasty known by the name of Śilâhâra call themselves "sovereigns of Tagara, the best of towns," in all their grants Some have identified it with Devagiri and others with Junnar, but in both cases its bearing from Paiṭhan as given by the Greek geographers has not been taken into account I have elsewhere discussed the question, and have proposed Dhârur in the Nizâm's territory as the site of the ancient city The other sea-port towns mentioned in the Periplus are Souppara, the modern Supârem or Supârâ near Bassein and the Śorparaka of the inscriptions and the Purâṇas, where interesting Buddhistic relics were dug out by Mr Campbell and Paṇḍit Bhagvânlâl, Kalliena, the modern Kalyâṇ, which must have been a place of great commercial importance since a good many of the donors whose names are inscribed in the caves at Kânheri and some mentioned in the caves at Junnar were merchants residing in Kalyân,² Semulla identified with Chembur by some and with Chaul by others, Mandagora, very likely the same as the modern Mândâḍ, originally Mandagaḍa, situated on the Râjapurî creek near Kuḍem where we have the caves, Palaipatmai, which probably was the same as Pâl which is near Mahâd, Melizeigara, the second part of the name of which can at once be recognized as Jayagaḍ and which must be identified with that place whatever the first part Meli may mean, Buzantion, and others Buzantion is probably the Vaijayantî³ of the inscriptions, but with what modern town it is to be identified it is difficult to say Vaijayantî is mentioned in the Kadamba copper-plates translated by Mr Telang,⁴ and was most probably some place in North Kânara \[43\] In a grant of the Vijayanagar dynasty, Mâdhava, the great counsellor of king Harihara, is represented to have been appointed viceroy of Jayantîpura He then conquered Goa and seems to have made that his capital⁵ Jayantîpura is said to be another name for Banavâsî In the Sabhâparvan of the Mahâbhârata, Banavâsî is spoken of as if it were the name of a country, and immediately after it, Jayantî is mentioned as a town⁶ If then Jayantî and Vaijayantî were two forms of the same name, Vaijayantî was probably the modern Banavâsî, or perhaps in consideration of the facts that the name of Vaijayantî occurs in an inscription at Kârlı and also that the Greek geographers in mentioning the places of note on the coast could not have run at once from Jayagaḍ to the southern limit of North Kânarâ, Vaijayantî may be identified with Vijayadurg But these objections are not of very great weight ### [c15.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.6) ¹ Ind Ant, Vol VIII, pp 143, 144 ### [c15.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.7) ² See the inscriptions in Jour B B R A S, Vol VI, and in Arch Surv, W India, No 10 ### [c15.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.8) ³ Kârli No 1, Arch Surv West Ind, No 10 ### [c15.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.9) ⁴ Jour B B R A S, Vol XII pp 318 and 321 ### [c15.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.10) ⁵ Jour B B R A S, Vol IV, p 115 ### [c15.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.11) ⁶ Chap XXXI, vv 69 and 70, Bom Ed The Vanavâsinaḥ at the end of v 69 refers to the town or country of Banavâsi and ought properly to appear as Vanavâsikân In the Purâṇas, too, Vanavâsikâḥ is given as the name of a people ### [c15.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.12) It is not possible to ascertain the names of all the towns in the inland country that were in a flourishing condition during the time we have been speaking of Besides Paıṭhaṇ and Tagara there was Nâsık, which is mentioned in an inscription in one of the caves at the place and also at Beḍsâ The dıstrict about the town was called Govardhana Junnar was another flourishing town, as is attested by the number of cave-temples at the place But what its name was we do not know The name Junnar, Junanara, Jûrnanagara, or Jîrṇanagara, which means the old town, must have been given to it after it had lost its importance I have already expressed my belief that it was the capital of Nahapâna Puḷumâyı, who overthrew the dynasty of Nahapâna, is in one of the Nâsık inscriptions styled "lord of Navanara," meant probably for Navanagara or the new town That he reigned at Paıṭhaṇ we know from Ptolemy, and also from the many traditions about Sâlıvâhana which locate the person or persons bearing that name at that city The Navanara, then, of the inscription was probably another name given to the town when Puḷumâyı re-established his dynasty, and, in contrast with it, Nahapâna's capital was called the "Old Town" Or perhaps Puḷumâyı wındened the old town of Paıṭhaṇ and called the new extension Navanara What town existed near the group of caves at Kârlı and the adjoining places, we do not know But the place spoken of in connection with the monastic establishment is in an inscription named Valuraka,⁷ and the district in which it was situated is called Mâmalâhâra,⁸ or the district of Mâmala, the modern Mâval. Further south there was the town of Karahâṭaka, the modern Karhâḍ, which is mentioned in an inscription at Kuḍeṁ⁹ and also in the Mahâbhârata.¹⁰ Kolhâpur also must have been a flourishing town in those days, since a Buddhistic stûpa containing the coins \[44\] we have already noticed and other remains of antiquity have been found there. The old name of the place is unknown. Either Karhâḍ or Kolhâpur must be the Hippocura of Ptolemy in which he locates Baleocuros whom we have identified with the Viḷivâyakura of the Kolhâpur coins. ### [c15.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.13) ⁷ No. 14, Kârli. Arch. Surv. West. Ind., No. 10. ### [c15.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.14) ⁸ Ibid. No. 19. ### [c15.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.15) ⁹ No. 20, Kuḍâ Caves. Arch. Surv. West. Ind., No. 10. ### [c15.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.16) ¹⁰ In the place above referred to. ### [c15.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.17) Persons engaged in trade and commerce probably acquired large fortunes. The great \*chaitya\* cave at Kârli was caused to be constructed by a Śeṭh (Śreshṭhin) of Vaijayantî, and in other places also, especially at Kânheri, their gifts were costly. There were in those days guilds of trades such as those of weavers, druggists, corn-dealers, oil-manufacturers, &c. Their organization seems to have been complete and effective, since, as already mentioned, they received permanent deposits of money and paid interest on them from generation to generation. Self-government by means of such guilds and village communities has always formed an important factor of the political administration of the country. A \*nigamasabhâ\* or town-corporation is also mentioned in one of Ushavadâta's Nâsik inscriptions, which shows that something like municipal institutions existed in those early days. It is also worthy of remark that the yearly interest on the 2000 \*kârshâpanas\* deposited by Ushavadâta was 100 \*kârshâpanas\*, and in another case that on 1000 and 75 showing that the rate of interest was not so high as it has been in recent times, but varied from five to seven and a half per cent per annum If the rate of interest depends on the degree of security and bears an inverse ratio to the efficiency of government, it appears that the country was well governed notwithstanding political revolutions To this result the efficient local organization spoken of above, which no changes of dynasties ever affected, must no doubt have contributed in a large measure ### [c15.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.18) Communication between the several provinces does not appear to have been very difficult Benefactions of persons residing in Vaijayantî or Banavâsî, and Śorparaka or Supârâ, are recorded in the cave at Kârlı, of a Nâsik merchant at Beḍsâ, of some inhabitants of Bharukachchha and Kalyâṇ at Junnar, of natives of Northern India and Dâttâmitrî, which I have elsewhere shown was situated in Lower Sindh, at Nâsik, and of an iron-monger of Karahâkaḍa or Karhâḍ at Kuḍem On the other hand, gifts of natives of Nâsik and Karhâḍ are recorded on the \*stûpa\* at Bharhut which lies midway between Jabalpur and Allahâbâd ¹¹ Unless there were frequent communications between these places, it is not possible that the natives of one should make religious endowments at another ### [c15.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15.19) ¹¹ Cunningham's Stupa of Bharhut, pp 131, 135, 136, 138, 139 ## Linked texts (8) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Indian Antiquary](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.epigraphy.corpora.ia) - [Bharhut](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.bharhut) - [Nāsik](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nasik) - [Junnar](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.junnar) - [Beḍsâ](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.bedsa) - [Karli](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.karli) - [Kuda cave inscription (No. 24)](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.epigraphy.deccan.kuda.kuda-cave-inscription-no-24) — Prakrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.bhandarkar-1884.c15) · Pramāṇa