The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s3.13

v1.c7.s3.13

There seems to be no reason why we should not understand the *ekabamhaṇa* of the record as we do the other epithets in the same inscription given to Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, namely, that he was the *ekadhanudara*, ekasūra, &c., unless, of course, there is anything so very repugnant in Sātavāhanas being Brāhmans. For aught we know, during that Buddhistic age which lowered the prestige of the Vedic faith, when the Kshatriyas, who had been the protectors of Brāhmans and Brāhmanism for centuries, became converts to Buddhism in their hundreds, many Brāhmans may have felt it necessary to call themselves Kshatriyas directly in order to protect the Vedic faith so dear to their hearts. The Śuṅga and Kaṇva dynasties of Magadha were dynasties founded by the Brāhmans. A similar and contemporaneous development in the Deccan was certainly to be expected. It is true that the Sātavāhanas showed admirable toleration for men of other faiths to whom they gave many a benefaction. No persecution of non-Brāhmanical opinion or practices existed. But that Brāhmanism itself was again ascendant may easily be gathered from the Nānāghāṭ inscription in which King Sātakarṇi is stated to have celebrated numerous Vedic sacrifices.