The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s7.2

v1.c7.s7.2

On the whole the cultural history of the Deccan is in fact the history of its Āryanization. Administration, social and economic life, religion and philosophy, art and literature—in fact every branch of human activity, was recast in the Āryan mould. The Vedic rishis, Mauryan officers and Buddhist missionaries alike by precept and example hastened the revolutionary change and served to implant Āryan institutions firmly in the Deccan soil. The Sātavāhanas and the Western Kshatrapas accepted these as a matter of course. Indeed there is some evidence to show that they deliberately and consciously followed the policy laid down in such of the *arthaśāstras* and *smṛtis* as were available to them. Among the works of this type, the *Arthaśāstra* of Kauṭilya and the *Mānavadharma-śāstra* appear to have been frequently copied and carefully studied in those days. ‘At the end of the first century’, says Jayaswal, ‘Manu’s code is the Dharmaśāstra.’¹ In the Nāsik cave inscription No. 2 Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi is said to have ‘properly devised time and place for the pursuit of the Tivaga (i.e. Trivarga), and sympathized fully with the weal and woe of the citizens’.² This is in complete accord with Kauṭilya’s recommendation that the king may ‘enjoy in equal degree the three pursuits of life—dharma, artha, and kāma—which are interdependent upon one another’ and that ‘in the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare’.³ Hence where archaeological evidence is non-existent, works on ancient Indian polity may be accepted as sufficiently reliable sources for the study of the administrative machinery and life of the people. There is no reason to think that in the government of the Deccan the Sātavāhanas ignored the ideals set forth in Kauṭilya’s *Arthaśāstra*.