The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s3.187

c8.s3.187

The period during which the Sâtavâhanas or Andhrabhrityas ruled over Mahârâshtra must have been a prosperous one in the history of the country. Hence several traditions with regard to different kings of this dynasty have been preserved. But that Sâlivâhana or Sâtavâhana was a family name has been forgotten, and different princes of the dynasty have been confounded and identified. Thus Hemachandra in his Desîkośa gives Sâlivâhana, Sâlana, Hâla, and Kuntala as the names of one individual; but we see from the list given above that the last two were borne by different princes, and both of them were Sâlivâhanas. In his grammar he gives Sâlivâhana as a Prâkrit corruption of Sâtavâhana. In modern times the Śaka era is called the Sâlivâhana era or an era founded by Sâlivâhana. When it began to be attributed to him it is difficult to determine precisely. All the copper-plate grants up to the eleventh century speak of the era as Śakanripakâla, i.e., the era of the Śaka king, or Śakakâla, i.e., the era of the Śaka, and in an inscription at Bâdâmi it is stated to be the era beginning from "the coronation of the Śaka king." Subsequently, the simple expression "Śake, in the year of the Śaka," was used, and thereafter Śake or "in the Śaka." The word Śaka thus came to be understood as equivalent to "an era" generally, the original sense being forgotten. And since the era had to be connected with some great king it was associated with the name of Sâlivâhana whom tradition had represented to be such a king; and thus we now use the expression Sâlivâhana Śaka, which etymologically can have no sense and is made up of the names of two royal families. The current legend makes Sâlivâhana the son of a Brâhman girl who was a sojourner at Paithan and lived with her two brothers in the house of a potter. On one occasion she went to the Godâvarî to bathe, when Śesha, the king of serpents, becoming enamoured of her, transformed himself into a man and embraced her. In due course she gave birth to Sâlivâhana, who was brought up in the house of the potter.¹ Some time after, king Vikramâditya of Ujjayinî, to whom a certain deity had revealed that he was destined to die at the hands of the son of a girl of two years, sent about his Vetâla or king of Ghosts to find out if there was such a child anywhere. The Vetâla saw Sâlivâhana playing with his girlish mother and informed Vikramâditya. Thereupon he invaded Paithan with a large army, but Sâlivâhana infused life into clay figures of horses, elephants, and men, by means of a charm communicated to him by his father, the king of serpents, encountered Vikramâditya, and defeated him. This descent of a king of Ujjayin on Paithan I have already alluded to and endeavoured to explain. The Sâlivâhana referred to in this tradition appears to be Puḷumâyi who in conjunction with his father freed the country from the Śakas and fought with Chashtana or Jayadâman and Rudradâman whose capital appears to have been Ujjayinî. It was in consequence of some faint reminiscence of Puḷumâyi Sâlivâhana's relations with the Śakas and their Satrap kings that his name was attached to the era first used by his adversaries.