History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c5.6.1

c5.6.1

On the other side of it, the region round Adoni is described in early inscriptions as Sātāhani Āhāra, sometimes as Sātavāhani Rāshṭra perhaps giving us the indication that it was a settlement of Sātavāhanas, which may be recent or early. It probably indicates that the Sātavāhanas were perhaps not exactly native to the locality, but acquired the territory and gave it their name to mark a new acquisition unless it be that other people called it by that name as the homeland of the Sātavāhanas. In either case, we find the Sātavāhana rulers on this border of the Tamil country, and one of the inscriptions of Pulumāvi mentions a great Sātavāhana general, Maha Sēnātipati Skandanāga, probably an earlier governor of a troublesome border country. The records of the Pallavas similarly have reference to this region, and are couched in a form like the Sātavāhana inscriptions in regard to language, the details of the definition of time, and even such details as do occur in regard to the very nature of the administration itself. The provenance of the ship-coins of lead or potin sometimes ascribed to the Pallavas, but more generally taken to be Sātavāhana coins, in the region extending from the Northern Pennar to the Southern gives an indication of an effort of the Sātavāhana to bring this region under their authority.