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Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c17.s2.t1: Early Sātavāhanas

Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c17.s2.t1

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Early Sātavāhanas

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``` Sātavāhana-kula Aṁgiya (Ambhiya) kula │ │ ┌────────┴────────┐ Kalalāya Mahāraṭhi │ │ │ Rāyā (Rājā) Simuka Kṛishṇa Aṁgiya (Ambhiya) kula-vardhana Sātavāhana Mahāraṭhi Tranakayiro ¹ │ │ Son or nephew │ Sātakarṇi I, King of Dakshiṇāpatha = Devī Nāyanikā │ │ ├────────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ Kumāras Vedaśrī (? Khandasiri or Sakti Srīmat Sātavāhana Skandaśrī ² and Bhāya? ```

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¹ On page 57 of Rapson’s *Andhra Coins* Kalalāya Mahāraṭhi bears the name "Sadakana" (=Sātakarṇi). His other name or epithet "Tranakayiro" reminds us of "Tanaka" which occurs as a variant of the name of the 18th "Andhra" king of Pargiter’s list (DKA, 36, 41).

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² *ASI. AR*, 1923-24, p. 88; A. Ghosh, *History of Central and Western India*, 140. Mr. Ghosh identifies him with the fifth king of the Purāṇic list.

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The Sātavāhanas were not the only enemies of the decadent Magadha empire in the first century B.C. We learn from the Hāthīgumphā Inscription that when Sātakarṇi was ruling in the west, **Khāravela of Kaliṅga** carried his arms to Northern India and humbled the king of Rājagṛiha.

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Khāravela belonged to the **Cheta** dynasty. Mr. R. P. Chanda points out that Cheta princes are mentioned in the *Vessantara Jātaka*.³ The *Milinda-pañho* contains a statement which seems to indicate that the Chetas were connected with the Chetis or Chedis. The particulars given in that work regarding the *Cheta* king *Sura Parichara* agree with what we know about the *Chedi* king *Uparichara*.⁴

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³ No. 547.

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⁴ Rhys Davids, *Milinda*, SBE, XXXV, p. 287; Mbh. I, 63, 14. According to Sten Konow (*Acta Orientalia*, Vol. 1, 1923, p. 38) *Ceti* (not *Ceta*) is the designation of the dynasty of Khāravela occurring in the Hāthīgumphā Inscription.

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Very little is known regarding the history of Kaliṅga from the death of Aśoka to the rise of the Cheta or Cheti dynasty probably in the first century B.C. (three hundred years after the Nandas). The names of the first two¹ kings of the Cheta line are not clearly indicated in the Hāthīgumphā inscription. Lüders Ins. No. 1347 mentions a king named Vakradeva (Vakadepasiri or Kūdepasiri ?) But we do not know for certain whether he was a predecessor or successor of Khāravela.

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¹ For *Purusha-Yuga* (generation) see Hemachandra, *Pariśishta-parvan*, VIII, 326 *gāmī purusha-yugāni nava yāvattavānvayaḥ*.

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During the rule of the second king, who must have reigned for at least 9 years (c. 37-28 B.C.), Khāravela occupied the position of Crown Prince (*Yuvarāja*). When he had completed his 24th year, he was anointed *Mahārāja* of Kaliṅga (c. 28 B.C.). His chief queen was the daughter of a prince named Lalāka, the great-grandson (according to some) of Hathisiṁha. In the first year of his reign he repaired the gates and ramparts of his capital, Kaliṅga-nagara. In the next year (c. 27 B.C.), without taking heed of Sātakarṇi, he sent a large army to the west and with its aid, having reached the Kṛishṇaveṇā, struck terror into the hearts of the people (or city) of Musika (Asika ?)-nagara.² According to another interpretation, “he went to the rescue of Sātakarṇi and having returned with his purpose accomplished, he with his allies made gay the city.” He followed up his success by further operations in the west and, in his fourth year, compelled the *Raṭhikas* and *Bhojakas* to do him homage. In the fifth year (c. 24 B.C.) he had an aqueduct, that had been opened out 300 years back by Nandarāja, conducted into his capital.

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² *Cf.* Ep. Ind. XX. 79, 87. Barua reads Aāvaka or Ṛṣika (*Old Brāhmī Ins.*, p. 176; Asika IHQ, 1938, 263). Dr. F. W. Thomas, too, finds in the passage no reference to a Musika capital (JRAS., 1922, 83). The alternative interpretation in the next sentence is his. *Cf.* Bühler, *Indian Palaeography*, 39.

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Emboldened by his successes in the Deccan the Kaliṅga king turned his attention to the North. In the eighth year he stormed Gorathagiri (Barābar Hills near Gayā) and harassed (the king of ?) Rājagṛiha.¹ If Dr. Jayaswal is right in identifying this king with Bṛihaspatimitra, then king Bṛihaspati must have ruled over Magadha after the Kāṇva dynasty.

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¹ Some scholars find in line 8 of the Hāthīgumphā Ins. a reference to the *Yavana-rāja* (Di) *ma* (ta), *i.e.*, Demetrios who “went off to Mathurā in order to relieve his generals who were in trouble” (*Acta Orientalia*, I. 27; *Cal. Rev.*, July, 1926, 153). But the reading is doubtful (*cf.* Barua, *Old Brāhmī Inscriptions in the Udayagiri and Khaṇḍagiri Caves*, pp. 17-18; IHQ., 1929, 594). Even if the reading *Dimata* be correct, the reference may be to Diyumeta or Diomedes (Whitehead, *Indo-Greek Coins*, p. 36) and not necessarily to Demetrios.

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The attack on Northern India was repeated possibly in the tenth and certainly in the twelfth year. In the tenth year the Kaliṅga king, in the opinion of some scholars, overran countries in *Bhārat-varsha*, which are surmised to refer to those in Upper India. In the twelfth year he claims to have terrified or harassed the kings of *Uttarāpatha* and watered his elephants in the Gaṅgā (Ganges).² The north-western expeditions apparently led to no permanent result. But in north-eastern India the Kaliṅga king was more successful; the repeated blows certainly “struck terror into the Magadhas,” and compelled the Magadha king (Bṛihaspatimitra?) to bow at his feet.

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² Some scholars find here a reference to the Sugāṅgīya palace (Ep. Ind., xx. 88).

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Having subjugated Magadha, and despoiled Aṅga, the invader once more turned his attention to Southern India. Already in his eleventh year “he had had Pithuḍa ploughed with a plough drawn by an ass.”³ Levi⁴ identified this city with **Pihuṇḍa** of the *Uttarādhyayana* (21), and ‘Pitundra metropolis’ of Ptolemy in the interior of the country of Masulipatam (Maisoloi). The conqueror seems to have pushed further to the south and made his power felt even in the Tamil country by princes amongst whom the most eminent was the king of the Pāṇḍyas. In the thirteenth year Khāravela erected pillars on the Kumārī Hill (Udayagiri in Orissa) in the vicinity of the dwelling of the Arhats (Khaṇḍagiri?).

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³ Barua interprets the passage differently. But *cf.* Nilakanta Sastri, *The Pandyan Kingdom*, p. 26.

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⁴ Ind. Ant., 1926, 145. Sea-faring merchants are represented as going by boat from Champā to Pihuṇḍa in the days of Mahāvīra, the Jina. *Cf.* Mbh. I. 65. 67, 186, VII. 50.

Cites (6)