Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c17.s2.52

c17.s2.52

There is reason to believe that the so-called "Andhra," "Andhra-bhṛitya" or Sātavāhana kings were Brāhmaṇas with a little admixture of Nāga blood. The *Dvātriṁśat-puttalikā* represents Sālivāhana (*Prakṛit* form of Sātavāhana) as of mixed **Brāhmaṇa and Nāga origin.**² The Nāga connection is suggested by names like Nāga-nikā³ and Skanda-nāga-Sātaka, while the claim to the rank of Brāhmaṇa is actually put forward in an inscription. In the Nāsik *praśasti* of Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi the king is called "*Eka Bamhaṇa*," *i.e.*, the unique Brāhmaṇa. Some scholars, however, are inclined to take *Bamhaṇa* to mean merely a Brāhmaṇical Hindu, but this interpretation cannot be accepted in view of the fact that Gautamīputra is also called "*Khatiya-dapa-māna-madana*," *i.e.*, the destroyer of the pride and conceit of Kshatriyas. The expression "*Eka-bamhaṇa*" when read along with the passage "*Khatiya-dapa-māna-madana*" leaves no room for doubt that Gautamīputra of the Sātavāhana family not only claimed to be a Brāhmaṇa,⁴ but a Brāhmaṇa like Paraśurāma who humbled the pride of the Kshatriyas. As a matter of fact in the *praśasti* the king is described as "the unique Brāhmaṇa in prowess equal to Rāma."¹