The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t2: Later Sātavāhanas
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c17.s2.t2
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Later Sātavāhanas
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Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, who reasserted the Sātavāhana power, naturally issued a large number of coins. His coinage is mostly in potin and his most popular type shows an Elephant with trunk upraised with the legend above on the obverse (Pl. LXII, 12) and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse.¹ Out of 1,160 coins of this type in the Tarhala hoard, on which the legend was legible, 525 belonged to Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi. Though the legend on these coins is only *Sātakaṇisa*, their attribution to Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi is fairly certain; for the same hoard contained other coins with the full legend *Raṇo siri Yaña Sātakaṇisa*.
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¹ *BMCAK*, No. 171; the weight of this coin is 36.3 grains.
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Potin coins found in Western India with an Elephant on the obverse and a Tree with large leaves on the reverse seem to have faint traces of the legend *Raṇo siri Sātakaṇisa* on them (*BMCAK*, p. 17). They were most probably issued by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi.
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Some lead and potin coins have been found in southern Gujarat at Karavan and Kamrej, which have traces of the indistinct legend, *Raṇo siri Sātakaṇisa*. Very probably these coins were struck by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi.
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karṇi after his conquest of Nahapāna. These pieces have either an Elephant or a Lion on one side and the Ujjain symbol or a Tree within a railing on the other (*JNSI*, xii, 28-29).
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When Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi crushed the power of Nahapāna and annexed his kingdom, he took the rather unusual step of recalling the silver currency of his vanquished foe and stamping it with his own symbols, bust, and legend. A hoard of about 13,250 such counterstruck silver coins was discovered at Jogalthembi near Nasik in 1906. On the original hemidrachms of Nahapāna the obverse had a bust of the king with a corrupt Greek legend Ranniw IAHAPATAC NAHAPANAC (giving a transliteration of the Indian legend); and the reverse had Thunderbolt, Arrow, and Pellet with legends both in Brāhmī and Kharoshṭhī *Rājño Kṣaharātasa Nahapanasa* and *Raña Chhaharatasa Nahapanasa* respectively (Pl. LXII, 13). Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi counterstruck one side with Chaitya and its own legend and other with the Ujjain symbol. We describe and illustrate below two such coins.
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Silver; round; 0·65 in.; 35·6 grains; *BMCAK*, no. 255 *Obv.* Chaitya superimposed over the bust of Nahapāna; Brāhmī legend, beginning at XII, *Raño Gotami* . . . . *ri Satakanisa*; traces of Greek legend. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol struck over the reverse of Nahapāna’s coin, leaving traces of Brāhmī and Kharoshṭhī legends, *Raño Khaharatasa Nahapanasa*. Pl. LXII, 14.
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Silver; round; 0·65 in.; 31·2 grains; *BMCAK*, no. 257. *Obv.* Chaitya superimposed over the reverse of Nahapāna-type; Brāhmī legend, beginning at XI, *Raño Gotamiputara*; traces of Brāhmī *Nahapanasa* and Kharoshṭhī *hapanasa* of the original legend are also visible. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol counterstruck over the face of Nahapāna; faint traces of corrupt Greek legend. Pl. LXII, 15.
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When Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi found a silver currency so profusely in circulation in the new provinces annexed by him, did he himself then proceed to issue his own independent silver coinage? It is by no means improbable that he did so, and in fact a unique silver coin was published by the present writer, which has on it an incomplete legend containing the word *Gotami*. But Gautamīputra was also the matronymic of a later ruler named Yajñaśrī, and since the legend on the piece in question is incomplete, it is difficult to say whether it contained or did not contain the name Yajña-śrī. Gautamīputra Yajñaśrī’s silver coinage, however, has usually a bust on the obverse and is therefore of a different type; it is thus not improbable that the present coin may indeed have been struck by Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi. We describe the coin below.
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Silver; round; 0·7 in.; 30 grains; from Ujjayini; *JNSI*, viii, 111. *Obv.* Six-arched Hill with dot in each orb on a platform; Brāhmī legend commencing from the top of the hill, *Raño Gotami*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol with a pellet in each orb. Pl. LXII, 16.
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Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi
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Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi's son and successor Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi has left us a fairly large number of coins. The Tarhala hoard of 1,160 legible pieces contained 175 coins of this king and the Chanda hoard of 183 coins had 24 pieces issued by him. They are of the Elephant and Chaitya type, the legend being Puḷumavi(sa) (Pl. LXIII, 1). This type has already been referred to. The type of round lead coins, which he had issued for Āndhra-deśa, had a Three-arched Hill above a wavy line with the legend Raño Vasiṭhīputasa siri Puḷumavisa on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIII, 2-3). The weights of these coins vary from 78 to 85 grains. The Ship-mast type, once attributed to this ruler (BMCAK, p. 22), has now been shown to be an issue of Yajñaśrī Sātakarṇi; see p. 796.
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A silver coin of this ruler was found in the river-bed at Bhelsa in 1949. We describe it below; its size has been magnified in the Plate.
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Silver; round; 0.65 in. in diameter; 28 grains; JNSI, xiv, 1. *Obv.* Bust of king to right; circular legend around beginning at I [*Vasithi*] *putasa sara* . . . *Rev.* In the middle, Ujjain symbol and six-arched Chaitya; legend, fragmentary and blurred, but *siri Puḷu* clear from VIII to XI. Pl. LXIII, 4 (enlarged).
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The nose of the king is aquiline and the portrait shows grim determination in the face.
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Śivaśrī
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According to the Purāṇas, Puḷumāvi was succeeded by Śivaśrī and we may reasonably identify this ruler with Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śiva-śrī of the lead coins found in Āndhra-deśa. On his coins, which weigh about 90 grains, the obverse shows a Three-arched Hill and River with the legend Raño Vasisṭhīputra Śiva-sirisa, and the reverse has an ornamental Ujjain symbol (Pl. LXIII, 5).¹ Rapson read at the end of the legend the word *Sātakaṇisa*, but it is not visible on any coin known to us. Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śiva-śrī was probably a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi and might have ruled as a sub-king in Āndhra-deśa.
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¹ BMCAK, 29.
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Śivaskanda Sātakarṇi
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Śivaśrī was succeeded, according to the Purāṇas, by Śivaskanda Sātakarṇi, and we may reasonably identify this prince with King Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śrī-Chandra Sātī or Sri Chandra Sāti known from coins found in Āndhra-deśa. He also was probably a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi ruling over a small fief in Āndhra-deśa. On one of his coins we have a Three-arched Hill and the Ujjain symbol and on the other a Horse to the right and the Ujjain symbol.
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Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi
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It will be convenient here to discuss a silver coin of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi published by the present writer in *JNSI*, xi, 59. Very probably he was a brother of Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvi who succeeded him as supreme overlord. I had once thought that he might be identical with Śiva-śri-Sātakarṇi, whose coins we have discussed above, but we cannot be sure about this point. We shall now describe his unique silver coin.
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Silver; round; 0.6 in.; 28 grains; Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, *JNSI*, xi, 59, pl. ii. 5.
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*Obv.* Bust of the king to right; circular legend beginning at I *Raño Vasishṭhiputasa*.
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*Rev.* Ujjain symbol; Six-arched Hill, River, &c.; legend starting at XII, *Ara* . . . . . . *na Haṭakaṇisha*.
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The reverse legend is probably identical with that on the obverse, but is in a different script and dialect. Pl. LXIII, 6.
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Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi was the son-in-law of Rudradāman and seems to have been the first Sātavāhana king to imitate the bust type coinage of the Western Kshatrapas.
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Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi
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In the Paurāṇic list Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi succeeds Śiva-Skanda Sātakarṇi, and we can therefore confidently identify him with the Gautamīputra Yajña-śri-Sātakarṇi of the coins. There was a revival of the Sātavāhana power during his reign and it is reflected in his coinage. He issued several types of coins and they have been found over a large area.
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In the Andhra country, lead coins of this ruler are found in large numbers. One type is that of the Three-arched or Six-arched Hill above a river on the obverse with the legend giving the king's name, occasionally along with some symbols. The reverse has the Ujjain symbol (Pl. LXIII, 7).¹ These coins are in different denominations, as suggested by their varying weights, such as 244, 72, 40, 20 grains. The full legend on this type is *Raño Gotamīputasa siri Yaña Sātakanisa* (Pl. LXIII, 7-8).
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¹ Pl. LXIII, 7 is *BMCAK*, 140 and Pl. LXIII, 18 is *BMCAK*, 139. Their weights are 83.5 and 71 grains respectively.
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Another type in lead (?) struck by this ruler in the *Andhra-deśa* has a Horse on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. Sometimes there is a crescent above the Horse; sometimes the Horse faces left, and sometimes to the right (Pl. LXIII, 9). The legend is intended to be *Raño Gotamiputa (Yaña) Satākanisa*.
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A third lead type minted in the *Andhra-deśa* shows an Elephant, facing right, with the trunk hanging down on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIII, 10).
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Yajña-śri issued a fairly large number of potin coins of the Vidarbha type, showing an Elephant with the trunk upraised on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse (Pl. LXIV, 1-2).¹ The Chanda hoard of 183 coins contained 42 pieces of Yajña-śrī and the Tarhala hoard of 1,125 legible coins had 248 pieces of this ruler. The legend is siri Yaña Sata and the average weight is 41 grains.
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¹ *BMCAK*, 166, 165.
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The lead coins of the type with a Ship with two masts were ascribed for a long time to Vāsiṣṭhīputra Puḷumāvī, though it was admitted that the reading of the name of this king was by no means certain. Fresh coins since discovered show that the issuer of these coins was in fact Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi. We describe the type below; the photograph in the plate is an enlarged one. Lead; 0-8 in.; 125-7 grains; *JNSI*, iii, 43. *Obv.* Ship with two masts; legend *Raṇa Sāmisa siri Yaña Satakaṇisa*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol. Pl. LXIV, 3.
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One of these coins was found in the Coromandel coast area and the other in the Guntur district.
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Yajña-śrī-Sātakarṇi issued silver coins imitating the Kshatrapa type. Originally only three such coins were known, which one came from Sopara near Bombay and the second from Amreli in Kathiwar; the findspot of the third is unknown. Subsequently a fourth coin was discovered at Besnagar by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar and a fifth one was afterwards acquired near Tripuri by Dr. Katare.
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We shall describe this important type: Silver; round; 0-6 in.; weight not known; Sopara, *BMCAK*, vii E. 1. *Obv.* Bust of king to right; legend in ordinary Brāhmī characters, *Raño Gotamīputasa siri-Yaña Sātakaṇisa*. *Rev.* Ujjain symbol surmounted with a crescent; Six-arched crescented Hill to right; River below. Sun above. Legend in a different script and dialect, [...] *Gotamiputasha hiru Yaña Hatakaṇisha*. Pl. LXIV, 4.
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The reverse legend was read by R. G. Bhandarkar (B.G., I, ii, p. 153) as *Gotamiputa Kumara Yaña Sātakaṇi Chaturapaṇasa*, ‘of Chaturapaṇa Yajña Sātakaṇi, prince of Gotamiputra’, the reverse legend giving the name of the prince viceroy Chaturapaṇa and the obverse one of the ruling king Yajña-śrī. Bhagwanlal Indraji read it [*Chatarapaṇasa*] *Gotamiputasha kumaru Yaña Hātakaṇi*. He thought that the legend showed that Yajña-śrī was the son of Chaturapaṇa. D. R. Bhandarkar’s reading was *Gotamiputa Kshahara Yaña Hāta(kaṇi)*. He connected Kshaharu with Chhahara occurring in the Taxila plate of Patika.²
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² *ASIAR*, 1913-14, p. 217.
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It may be pointed out that the lacuna on the coin is not sufficient to accommodate a word of five Nāgarī letters such as Chaturapaṇa. Only three letters could have been engraved and these were probably *Araka* (*Aryaka*, honourable). The word *kumaru* does not exist; in the reverse legend the three characters read *shaharu*. The reverse legend is identical with that on the obverse except that it uses *araka* instead of *raño*, and *hiru* instead of *siri*, and *Hatakaisnha* instead of *Satakanisa*.
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Vijaya and Chandaśrī Sātakarṇi
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According to the Purāṇas, Yajñaśrī was succeeded by Vijaya and the latter by Chandaśrī Sātakarṇi. Coins of both these kings were discovered in the Tarhala hoard; they show the Elephant with trunk upraised on the obverse and the Ujjain symbol on the reverse. The name of Vijaya appears without any change in the coin legend; the Sanskrit original of Chandaśrī was probably Skandaśrī. Coin No. 179 in *BMCAK*, though attributed to Rudra Sātakarṇi, is probably an issue of this ruler. The first character in the legend is off the flan and so does not appear.
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The last king of the Paurāṇic list is Puḷumāvi III. Probably the coins of the Tarhala hoard giving the name Pulahamavi were struck by this ruler.