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Tribes in Ancient India c37: Chapter XXXIII. The Andhras

Tribes in Ancient India c37

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Chapter XXXIII. The Andhras

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The earliest mention of the Andhras as a tribe is to be found along with the Śavaras, Pulindas and probably also the Mūtibas, in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* where all these tribes are referred to as dasyus or non-Aryans.¹ In the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* also, the Andhras are mentioned along with the Puṇḍras, Śavaras, Pulindas and the Mūtibas.² Vincent Smith is of opinion that the Andhras were a Dravidian-speaking people and were evidently the progenitors of the modern Telegu-speaking people occupying the deltas of the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇa,³ while P.T.S. Iyangar also holds that the Andhras were originally a Vindhyan tribe that extended its political power from the west gradually to the east down the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇa valleys.⁴ That the Andhras were indigenous to the Deccan is attested to by both the epics; the *Mahābhārata* says that they were Dakṣiṇa-patha-janmānaḥ, while the *Rāmāyaṇa* connects them with the Godāvarī:

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¹ *Aitareya Br.*, VII, 18.

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² ‘Antān vaḥ prajāḥ takṣiṣṭa iti, etc. Andhrāḥ Puṇḍrāḥ Śavarāḥ Pulindāḥ Mūtibāḥ iti uddyantāḥ vahaboḥ bhavanti.’

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³ *Ind. Ant.*, 1913, pp. 276–8.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, 1918, p. 71.

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Dakṣiṇa-patha-janmānaḥ sarve naravarāndhrakaḥ,
Guhāḥ Pulindāḥ Śavarāś Cukukā Madrakaiḥ (?) saha.
(*Mbh.*, XII, 207, 42.)
Nadīṃ Godāvarīṃ caiva sarvamevānupaśyataḥ,
Tathaivāndhrāṃśca Puṇḍrāṃśca coḷān Pāṇḍrāṃścakebalān.
(*Rām.*, Kish. Kāṇ., 41, Chap. 11.)

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That the Andhras occupied the Godāvarī-Kṛṣṇa valley is further upheld by one of the earliest records of the Pallava dynasty that flourished in the Andhra region. The Mayidavolu plates of the early Pallava ruler Śivaskandavarman prove that the Andhrāpatha or the region of the Andhras embraced the Kṛṣṇa district with Dhaññakada or Bezwada as its capital.⁵

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⁵ *Ep. Ind.*, VI, p. 88.

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The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*⁶ mentions in the list of peoples inhabiting the eastern countries a tribe called the Andhrarakas which is substituted by the Andhravākas.⁷ But both seem to be misreadings for the Andhras who were always a people of the southern regions, as also in view of the fact that the same *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* places a people called the Andhas along with the Maulikas, Aśmakas, Bhogavardhanas, Naiṣikas, Kuntalas, etc., in the southern region.¹ The reading Andhas is also corrected in the *Vāyupurāṇa* as Andhras.² These peoples are mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* in the *Udyogaparvan* and *Bhīṣmaparvan* as Andhakas and Andhras respectively.³ According to the *Sabhāparvan* and *Vanaparvan*,⁴ the Andhas or Āndhras were a rude uncivilised people.

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⁶ Canto LVII, 42.

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⁷ XLV, 122.

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¹ LVII, 48-9.

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² XLV, 127.

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³ XVIII, 586 and X, 357 respectively.

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⁴ IV, 119; XXX, 1175; XXXIII, 1270 and *Vanaparvan*, LI, 1988.

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The earliest epigraphic mention of the Andhra people is made in some of the edicts (XIII, R.E.) of Aśoka where the Andhras, Palidas (Pāladas, Parimdas = the Pulindas, or the Pāradas), Bhojas and Rāthikas (Rāṣṭrikas) are said to have been vassal tribes of the great Maurya. The Andhra people are also referred to by Pliny who says that the Andarae or Āndhras possessed a very large number of villages, thirty towns defended by walls and towers, and supplied their king with an army of 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants.⁵

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⁵ *Ind. Ant.*, 1877, p. 339.

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The founder of the great Sātavāhanas, Simuka, who is credited by the Purāṇas to have assailed the Kāṇvāyanas and destroyed the remains of the Śuṅga power in about the first century B.C. is said to have started a dynasty that ruled over the Dakṣiṇāpatha, for about 250 years. The Sātavāhanas are claimed by the Purāṇas to have been Andhras or Andhrabhṛtyas. The exact significance of this appellation cannot, however, be determined but doubtless they ruled over the whole of Andhradeśa and the adjoining regions.

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In the Harāhā Inscription of the Maukhari king Kumāragupta III (554 A.D.) a certain ‘lord of the Andhras’ (Andhrādhipati) is said to have given the Maukhari king a great trouble by his ‘thousands of three-fold rutting elephants’. ⁶ Dr. H. C. Ray Chaudhuri suggests that the Andhra king referred to was probably Mādhavavarman (I, Javāśraya) of the Polamuru plates belonging to the Viṣṇukuṇḍin family.⁷ This suggestion seems to be in agreement with the fact that the Jaunpur Inscription of Īśvaravarman, father of Īśanavarman Maukhari, refers to victory over the Andhras on behalf of Īśvaravarman.⁸ The Vākāṭaka king Harisena, father-in-law of Mādhavavarman of the Viṣṇukuṇḍin family referred to above, also claims to have conquered the Andhra and Kaliṅga regions.⁹

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⁶ *Ep. Ind.*, XIV, pp. 110ff.

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⁷ *P.H.A.I.*, 4th Ed., p. 509.

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⁸ *C.I.I.*, III, p. 230.

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⁹ *J.R.A.S.*, 1914, p. 137.

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The Ikṣvākus succeeded the Sātavāhanas in the rule of the Andhra region where almost all the records of the dynasty have been found. At the time of Pallava Śivaskandavarman, the Andhrāpatha or the Andhra country seems to have come under the sway of the Pallava dynasty whose headquarters at this time were at Dhamnakada (Dhānya-kaṭaka). According to the Purāṇas, the Andhra (i.e. the Sātavāhana) dynasty had five different branches.¹ In fact, one of these five branches, namely, the Cuṭusātakarṇi branch, is known from inscriptions, coins and literary references to have ruled in the Kuntala country before the Kadambas.² The Vāyu-purāṇa in the same context referred to above mentions the Ābhiras who ruled after the Andhras (i.e. the Sātavāhanas).

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¹ E.g. Vāyu P., 99, 358. 'Andhrāṇām saṃsthitāḥ pañca teṣāṃ vaṃśāḥ samāḥ punaḥ.'

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² Sircar, Successors of the Sātavāhanas, pp. 218ff. For a summary of the historical vicissitudes of Andhradeśa after the Sātavāhanas, see ibid., pp. 3-5 of the introduction.

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In about the second quarter of the seventh century A.D., the celebrated Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang visited the An-to-lo or the Andhra country. The nearest transcription of An-to-lo is Andara which is comparable to Pliny's Andarae referred to above, though doubtless it means the Andhra country. From Kosala (evidently South Kośala), the pilgrim travelled south, through a forest, for above 900 li to the An-to-lo country which 'had a rich fertile soil with a moist hot climate; the people were of violent character; their mode of speech differed from that of "Mid-India", but they followed the same system of writing. There were twenty odd Buddhist monasteries with more than 3,000 brethren. Near the capital was a large monastery with a succession of high walls and storeyed terraces . . .'³

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³ Watters, On Yuan Chwang, Vol. II, p. 209.

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The name of the capital of the country as given by the pilgrim was Ping-ki-lo which does not seem to have as yet been correctly identified, though Cunningham sought to equate it with Warangal.

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We have seen above that in the time of Pallava Śivaskandavarman, Dhāryakaṭaka was the capital of the Andhrāpatha, but Hsüan Tsang seems to refer to Dhānyakaṭaka as a region separate from Andhra. The pilgrim proceeds to relate that from Andhra he continued his journey south, through wood and jungle, for over 1,000 li, and reached the Te-na-ka-che-ka country which was above 6,000 li in circuit, and its capital was above 40 li in circuit. Te-na-ka-che-ka has been equated with Dhānyāyaṭaka or Dhanakaṭaka.⁴ ‘The country had a rich soil and yielded abundant crops; there was much waste land and the inhabited towns were few; the climate was warm, and the people were of black complexion, violent disposition, and fond of the arts. There was a crowd of Buddhist monasteries but most of them were deserted, about 20 being in use, with 1,000 brethren mostly adherents of the Mahāsanghika system. There were about 100 Deva temples and the followers of the various sects were numerous . . .’

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⁴ Watters, ibid., Vol. II, pp. 214ff. But there are scholars who hold that Yuan Chwang's description of the city and its surroundings does not suit the identification. Fergusson, Burgess and Sewell therefore locate the city at Bezwada. Cunningham, A.G.I., Majumdar's Ed., notes, p. 737.

c37.33

Stray references to the Andhra country and people are made in later epigraphic records as well. Thus the Indian Museum inscription of the ninth year of Nārāyaṇapāladeva of the Pāla dynasty refers to the Andhra-vaiṣayika Sākyabhikṣu Sthavīra Dharmamitra who erected an image, evidently of the Buddha.

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The Pāli Buddhist literature is not wanting in references to the Andhras. The *Apadāna*,¹ a book of the Pāli Canon, mentions Andhakas along with the Muṇḍakas, Kolakas and Cīnas who came to show respect to a banker’s son named Jatukannika in the town of Haṃsavatī.

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¹ Pt. II, p. 359.

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A young brahmin after completing his education at Takkasilā (Taxila), then a great seat of learning, came to the Andhra country to profit by practical experience.² Assaka and Aḷaka or Muḷaka were the two Andhaka kings.³ A brahmin well versed in mantras belonging to the kingdom of Kośala came to live in the kingdom of Assaka on the banks of the Godāvarī.⁴

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² *Jāt.* [I, pp. 356ff (Fausböll)]. Cowell means *Mahimsakaraṭṭha* by *Andhradeśa* (Cowell, *Jāt.*, I, p. 203).

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³ *Suttanipāta* Commentary, II, p. 581.

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⁴ *Suttanipāta*, p. 190.

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