Ancient History of the Deccan c3.s3: § 3. Khâravela of Kalinga

Ancient History of the Deccan c3.s3

Language: English

§ 3. Khâravela of Kalinga

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The Udayagiri hill is situated nineteen miles south of Cuttack in Orissa. The Jains have cut many caves there. One of them called Hâtigumphâ contains a famous inscription which has been decently copied and studied only in 1917 (See Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. III, December 1917, pp. 425-507)

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This inscription dated the 165th year of "râja-muriyakâle" which corresponds to the 13th year of the reign of Khâravela, king of Kalinga, gives us very valuable information about the reign of this king. He belongs to the Cheta dynasty; he vanquished Sâtakarni and forced Bahapati, king of Râjagriha to flee to Mathurâ. Besides, the inscriptions in the Manchapuri cave (see Ep. Ind. Vol. XIII, p. 159, No. 13) mention (insc. No. I) the chief queen of Khâravela who was the daughter of King Lâlâka, the grandson of Hastisâha (insc. No. II), the king of Kalinga Kûdepasiri and (insc. No. III) the prince Vadukha.

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The date 165 will be of very great value if we knew exactly the origin of the era that has been employed; unfortunately we have to remain content with a supposition; it is however probable that this era dates from the coronation of Chandragupta and in that case the year 165 will correspond to 157 B.C.

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The reading and the translation of the Khâravela inscription as given by Messrs. R. D. Banerji and K. P. Jayaswal, is open to some criticism; Mr. R. C. Majumdar (Ind. Ant. Vol. XLII, Aug. 1918, pp. 223 and 224) has contested many of these conclusions (see also: "Khâravela" by Ramâprasâd Chanda in J. R. A. S., July 1919, page 395). However, Mr. Vincent A. Smith (J. R. A. S. for 1918, page 543, "New light on Ancient India") has admitted that king Bahapati can be identified with Pushyamitra and with Bahasatimitra of the coins and inscriptions, and he places the epoch of Pushyamitra in about 160 B. C.

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The synchronism of Sâtakarni and Khâravela with Pushyamitra is enough, by itself, to establish approximately the date of the ancient kings of the Deccan.

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§ 4. The earliest Sātavāhana kings.

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No. 1. Sātakarṇi of Nānāghāṭ.— Nānāghāṭ is a defile (the Nana pass) in the mountains to the east of Bombay. There is here a chamber cut in the rock to serve probably as a place of shelter for travellers. The walls of this cave contain inscriptions (No. 1112 of Lüders's list in Ep. Ind. Vol. X) and further there are remnants of some bas-reliefs representing certain personages. These bas-reliefs contain explanatory legends (Nos. 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116, 1117, 1118 of Lüders's list). From these inscriptions Bühler (A. S. W. I., Vol. V, p. 66) has drawn the following conclusions: Sātakarṇi, king of Dakṣiṇapatha and son of Simuka of the Sātavāhana dynasty gained many victories and performed the horse-sacrifice (Aśvamedha) twice. After his death, his wife Nāganikā daugther of Mahāraṭhi [Tra]nakayiro [Kaḷa]lāya, the scion of the Angira family, was proclaimed regent during the minority of the princes, the elder called Vediśri and the younger Śakti-Śri (Sati-Srimat) or Haku-Śri. Here we have to note that an inscription at Nāsik (No. 1141 of Lüders's list) mentions the granddaughter of Mahāhakuśri (Ep. Ind. Vol. VIII, p. 91). As prince Hakuśri was but a child at the time when the Nānāghāṭ inscriptions were written and his granddaughter was an elderly woman at the time of the Nāsik inscription (her son Kapaṇaṇaka was probably a man at this time) the two Haku-Śris may be dentified with each other by supposing that there was an interval of about a century between the two inscriptions. The palæography of the inscriptions seems in fact to indicate nearly this difference in age.

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The alphabet of the inscriptions in the Nānāghāṭ cave seems almost to belong to the same epoch as that of the Khāravela inscription; and all the authors have admitted the possibility of identifying Sātakarṇi of Nānāghāṭ with the one mentioned in the Khāravela inscription.

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No. 2. Kṛiṣhṇa of Nâsik.— In Nâsik there is a small cave which seems to be the most ancient of all this group of excavations that are found in this place. An inscription (No. 1144 of Lüders's list and Ep. Ind. Vol. VIII, p. 93) tells us that it was caused to be made by an inhabitant of Nâsik in the time of Râjan Kânha (Kṛiṣhṇa) of the Śadavâhana family. The alphabet of this inscription is analogous to that of the Nânâghâṭ and Udayagiri inscriptions.

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We must mention here that according to the Purâṇas the dynasty of the Ândhras (Śâtavâhanas) was founded by a king name Śiśuka, who had as his successors his brother Kṛiṣhṇa and a third king called Śâtakarṇi. The name Śiśuka is possibly a modified form of the name Simuka that we find in Nânâghâṭ, that his brother Kṛiṣhṇa was he of Nâsik and that Śâtakarṇi was the one of Nânâghâṭ.

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No. 3. Śâtakarṇi of Sâñchi.— The grand Stûpa at Sâñchi which dates from Aśôka has been restored and embellished at different times. The most interesting part of it is undoubtedly the balustrade which has four magnificently ornamented gateways. The oldest of them (Archæological Survey of India; Report for 1913-1914, page 6) is the one in the south. It is also the only one that contains an inscription in which the name of a king is mentioned and this name, strange to say, is Śâtakarṇi. This inscription says, in fact, that an image is due to the sculptor of the great king Śâtakarṇi. Unfortunately, this name has been borne by a great number of Śâtavâhana kings. We are however glad to have the certainty that this dynasty extended its empire up to Bhilsâ, namely the antique Vidiśa, and that it was precisely under this dynasty that one of the most celebrated monuments of India was sculptured. The inscription has been reproduced only in fac-simile in Cunningham's "Bhilsâ Topes" where it figures as No. 190. Bühler has formed the following judgment (Ep. Ind. Vol. II. p. 88) on the characters of the inscription: "they are almost identical with those of the Nânâghâṭ inscriptions, and differ only slightly from the type of the characters of Aśôka times."

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There can therefore be no question of identifying this Śātakarṇi with the later king Gautamiputra though this king probably reigned not far from Sāñchi. The characters of our inscription are much too archaic. We cannot also identify this Śātakarṇi with those of the Udayagiri or Nānāghāt inscriptions, for it was Pushyamitra that reigned at Bhilsā at this time. When, then, did Śātakarṇi of Sāñchi reign? It is probable that Bhilsā, which was under the Mauryas passed directly into the hands of the Śungas. It was the capital of the viceroy Agnimitra. We are sure (Archæological Survey of India Report for 1908-1909, page 127) that later on Kāutsīputra-Bhāgabhadra was the king of Vidiśa (Bhilsā) and a contemporary of Antialkidas. If the Besnagar inscriptions, to which we allude, mean by Kāsiputra Bhāgabhadra the 9th Śuṅga king, there is no doubt that Bhilsā remained in the possession of this dynasty till the 10th king, Devabhūmi, the successor of Bhāgavata (Bhāgabhadra) was murdered by Vasudēva Kāṇva.

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It is not impossible that a Śātavāhana helped Vasudēva in his usurpation and so appropriated the country of Bhilsā to himself. It must have taken place about 72 B. C. Besides, it is very probable that the Śakas invaded northern India in the middle of the 1st century before our era; it is possible that this great conquest took place about 58. B. C; at this epoch the Śātavāhanas would have been driven not only from Bhilsā but also out of Mahārāshtra. There is therefore room to think that the Śātakarṇi who is mentioned on the Sāñchi gateway reigned at Bhilsā between 72 B. C. and 58 B. C. or in round figures from 70 to 60 B. C. I think that ths alphabet of the inscription and the style of the sculpturē accord with each other to justify this date.

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The most ancient conis of the dynasty of Śātavāhanas have been found in western India and are of the type that Mr. Rapson calls Mālwā fabric and which he thinks is "connected with the early east and punch-marked coins of Eran" (see Rapson: "coins of Āndhra dynasty" page 1, Nos. 1 and 2). These coins represent an elephant and a river and bear the inscription "Śri Sata" We may think that this king reigned at an epoch which is very close to that of Śātakarṇi of Sāñchi.