History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.s6.24

v1.c14.s6.24

Who were these Sātavāhanas? Were they mixed Aryans or non-Aryans, Marathas or Dravidas? That is the next question, difficult yet important, which has not yet been answered. As we solved the first question by the aid of the Rāmāyana, we will try to solve this question by the aid of inscriptions and the Purānas. The latter call them Śudras. The popular tradition which of course is usually absurd with some truth behind it tells us that Sātavāhana or Śalivahana was born of a Brahmin girl from Śesha or the sacred Serpent. The Āndhras appear to be distinct from the other Dravidians. They came under Aryan influence very early and their country is mentioned (as we have seen) in the Mahābhārata among the northern i. e. Aryan or mixed Aryan peoples and not among the southern mlechchhas. Were the Āndhras Nāgas? Apparently the Nāga population is still predominant in the Nagpur division which is contiguous to the Āndhra or Telagu country. The Telagu Brahmins are unquestionably Aryans and have still marriage relations with the Mahārāshtra Brahmins. The Telagu Kshatriyas so to speak have however no marriage relations with the Maratha Kshatriyas*. It may be surmised that the Sātavahana family was a family belonging to the Nāga race which became predominant in the middle country by conquering Pātaliputra about the middle of the 1st century B. C.—and conquered Mahārāshtra also. They made Pratishthāna or Paithana their capital as it must have been the capital already of Mahārāshtra during the times of Aśoka and earlier kings and thus made it the centre of an extensive empire. They called themselves Āndhrabhṛtyas because they still owed allegiance to the Āndhra original seat of power at Dhanakataka. But Paithana was their favourite seat. Being the capital of a vast empire extending from the north to the south of India (from Patna to Mysore) Paithana became famous and a centre of commerce and of rich manufactures. Hence its fame in the days of Ptolemy and hence the name Paithani in Marathi designating a silk gold bordered cloth. The Śātavahanas also appear to have been learned men themselves and patrons of learned men. And Paithana became the chief seat of learning in India next only to Benares. Paithana retained this predominance throughout the succeeding centuries down even to the end of the Mahomedan power. Maratha kingdoms after the Śātavāhanas never ruled in Paithana. But their new capitals Vātāpi or Mānkhed, Kalyān or Devagiri never rose to the importance of Paithana which still remained the chief place in Mahārāshtra for learning and for rich manufactures. Strangely enough, its pre-eminence remained so far recognised that even during Mahomedan and Maratha times complicated cases were settled at Paithana under the Panchayats of its learned men. All this pre-eminence is of course due to its being the capital of the extensive empire of the Śātavāhanas who therefore must have been thoroughly orthodox Hindus although some kings of the family may have extended patronage to Buddhists also.