The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s5.1

v1.c7.s5.1

T HE process of snatching away the Sātavāhana provinces begun by Chashṭana continued with repeated and increasing aggressions so that by the year A.D. 150, Chashṭana's grandson Rudradāman could claim to have twice defeated Sātakarṇi, the Lord of Dakshiṇāpatha, in fair fight, and even won fame for leaving him personally unharmed because their relationship was not remote. This Sātakarṇi can only have been Gautamīputra Yajña Śrī Sātakarṇi who ruled from A.D. 128 to 157. But the not remote *sambandha* between them is not specified. There can be little doubt, however, that this relationship must have been the result of a marriage referred to in a record from Kānheri.¹ This record registers the gift of a water-cistern by Sateruka the confidential minister of the *Devi* of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi. She was descended from a family of Karddamaka kings and was the daughter of a ‘mahākshatrapa Ru...’ ‘Ru...’ must have been Rudra and the letters of the Kānheri inscription being an exact counterpart of the Girnār record, this Rudra has been identified by Bühler and other scholars with Rudradāman.²