Satavahanas, Kharavela and the Sangam Kingdoms
Post-Mauryan Deccan and south India for CGPSC: Satavahanas, Gautamiputra Satakarni, Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription, Sangam kingdoms and Roman trade.
Prerequisites
- Shungas, Kanvas and the Invaders from the North-West: the Shakas, especially Nahapana and Rudradaman, were the Satavahanas’ great rivals
- Magadha and the Mauryan Empire: Ashoka’s Kalinga war and the southern kingdoms named in his edicts
- Mauryan and Satavahana Period in Chhattisgarh: Satavahana coins and seals from Malhar
The Hook: A Satavahana Coin at Malhar
At Malhar (मल्हार) in Bilaspur district, excavators found a silver portrait coin of the Satavahana king Vashishthiputra Pulumavi. Hundreds of kilometres away, in the Nashik caves, his grandmother Gautami Balashri had recorded the victories of her son Gautamiputra Satakarni. A Deccan dynasty, ruling from Paithan on the Godavari, left its money in the Chhattisgarh plain.
Who were the Satavahanas, who were their rivals, and what was happening further south and east in the same centuries?
Why it matters: Prelims tests the Satavahanas (matronymics, land grants, the Nasik inscription), Kharavela’s Hathigumpha inscription and Sangam capitals and ports. Mains asks about Deccan state formation, Indo-Roman trade and Sangam society.
The Satavahanas (सातवाहन), c. 1st century BCE – early 3rd century CE
The Puranas call them the Andhras or Andhra-bhrityas. Their beginnings are dated variously, from the late 3rd to the 1st century BCE. Their core lay in western Deccan (Maharashtra) at first, and later in the Krishna–Godavari delta (Andhra).
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founder | Simuka (सिमुक) |
| Capital | Pratishthana (प्रतिष्ठान), modern Paithan on the Godavari (Aurangabad region); later centres in Andhra (Amaravati / Dhanyakataka) |
| Early great king | Satakarni I, who performed Ashvamedha and other Vedic sacrifices (Naneghat inscription of his queen Naganika) |
| Greatest king | Gautamiputra Satakarni (गौतमीपुत्र सातकर्णी), usually placed in the early 2nd century CE |
| Later kings | Vashishthiputra Pulumavi; Yajna Sri Satakarni, whose coins carry a ship |
| Poet-king | Hala, to whom the Prakrit anthology Gathasaptashati (Gaha Sattasai) is attributed |
| Successors | Ikshvakus (Krishna valley), Abhiras, and later the Vakatakas in Vidarbha |
Gautamiputra Satakarni and the Nasik Inscription
- Our main source is the Nasik (Nashik) prashasti set up by his mother Gautami Balashri (गौतमी बलश्री) in the reign of her grandson, Vashishthiputra Pulumavi.
- It calls him the destroyer of the Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas, and the one who “uprooted the Kshaharata family”, that is, the line of Nahapana.
- Physical proof: the Jogalthembi hoard (Nashik district) held thousands of Nahapana’s silver coins overstruck with Gautamiputra’s name.
- The inscription also calls him ekabrahmana and says he stopped the mixing of varnas, so he presented himself as a protector of the varna order.
- After him, the Western Kshatrapa Rudradaman I claims (Junagadh, 150 CE) to have defeated a Satakarni twice, so the Shaka–Satavahana struggle swung both ways.
Administration, Economy and Society
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Matronymics | Kings carry their mother’s names: Gautamiputra (son of Gautami), Vashishthiputra (son of Vashishthi). The succession, however, was in the male line, so the society was not matrilineal |
| Land grants | Standard texts (R. S. Sharma) say the Satavahanas began the practice of giving tax-free land to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks, which later spread widely |
| Officials | Amatya and mahamatra; feudatory titles maharathi and mahabhoja |
| Administrative units | Ahara (district), under an amatya |
| Military camps | Kataka and skandhavara |
| Coins | Mostly lead (also potin, copper and silver portrait coins); ship-type coins of Yajna Sri |
| Language | Prakrit in Brahmi script for inscriptions |
| Trade | Ports on both coasts; western ports such as Sopara and Kalyan; guilds (shreni) gave gifts to Buddhist caves |
| Religion | Kings were Brahmanical (Vedic sacrifices) but generous to Buddhism: rock-cut chaityas and viharas at Karle, Nasik, Bhaja and Kanheri |
Kharavela of Kalinga (खारवेल)
After Ashoka’s conquest, Kalinga (coastal Odisha) rose again under the Chedi (Mahameghavahana) dynasty. Its best-known king is Kharavela.
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Source | Hathigumpha (हाथीगुम्फा) inscription (“elephant cave”) in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar |
| Language and script | Prakrit, in Brahmi |
| Date | Usually placed in the 1st century BCE; the date is debated |
| Religion | Jain. He built caves for Jain monks on Udayagiri–Khandagiri |
| Achievements claimed | Year-by-year account of his reign: campaigns to the west (in defiance of a Satakarni), to the north up to Magadha, and to the south against the Tamil states; he brought back a Jina image that a Nanda king had taken from Kalinga |
| Public works | Repaired the capital Kalinganagari; extended a canal first dug by a Nanda king |
The Hathigumpha inscription is unusual: it is a biography arranged by regnal years, and it is one of the earliest inscriptions to mention the Nandas.
The Sangam Kingdoms (संगम युग)
South of the Krishna, three Tamil ruling houses appear in Ashoka’s edicts and dominate Tamil poetry of the early centuries CE. The poems are called Sangam literature after the tradition of three literary assemblies (sangams) at Madurai under Pandya patronage.
| Kingdom | Emblem | Capital | Port | Notable ruler or fact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chera (चेर) | Bow | Vanji (Karur, by one view) | Muziris, Tondi | Senguttuvan, linked in tradition with the Pattini (Kannagi) cult |
| Chola (चोल) | Tiger | Uraiyur | Puhar (Kaveripattinam) | Karikala; tradition credits him with an embankment on the Kaveri (the Kallanai / Grand Anicut) |
| Pandya (पाण्ड्य) | Fish (carp) | Madurai | Korkai | Patrons of the Sangams; pearl fisheries |
Key texts:
- Tolkappiyam: the earliest surviving Tamil grammar.
- Tirukkural: ethical couplets by Tiruvalluvar.
- Twin epics: Silappadikaram (Ilango Adigal, the story of Kannagi and Kovalan) and Manimekalai (Sittalai Sattanar, Buddhist). Both are usually dated after the main Sangam anthologies.
Society and polity: chiefs and kings ruled through assemblies and warrior bands; land was described in five ecological zones (tinai: hills, forest, farmland, coast, dry land); hero stones (nadukal) honoured warriors.
Indo-Roman Trade
| Evidence | Detail |
|---|---|
| Periplus of the Erythraean Sea | A 1st-century CE Greek guide to the Indian Ocean trade; names Indian ports such as Barygaza (Bharuch) and Muziris |
| Pliny the Elder | Complained that Rome was losing large amounts of gold to India each year for luxuries |
| Arikamedu | Near Puducherry; Roman pottery (amphorae, Arretine ware) shows a trading station |
| Roman coins | Hoards of Roman gold and silver coins in south India |
| Exports | Pepper and spices, pearls, fine cotton, precious stones, ivory |
| Imports | Gold and silver coins, wine, glass, metals |
Analysis for Mains: Why the Deccan Matters
- Second state formation: the Satavahanas turned the Deccan’s chiefdoms into a kingdom, spreading farming, writing (Brahmi, Prakrit) and coinage.
- Brahmana–Buddhist balance: Vedic sacrifices at court sat alongside rich gifts to Buddhist monasteries; that coexistence is visible at Karle and Nasik.
- Seeds of feudalism: tax-free land grants began here and became the hallmark of the Gupta and post-Gupta economy.
- Trade: both coasts were linked to the Roman world and Southeast Asia, which funded cities, guilds and art.
- Regional diversity: Kalinga under Kharavela and the Tamil kingdoms show that post-Mauryan India was many-centred.
Memory Tricks
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Nasik inscription: Gautami Balashri, Prakrit | Junagadh inscription: Rudradaman I, Sanskrit | |
| Naneghat: Queen Naganika, Satakarni I’s sacrifices | Nasik: Gautamiputra Satakarni’s victories | |
| Hathigumpha: Kharavela, Udayagiri near Bhubaneswar | Udayagiri caves near Vidisha: Gupta, Varaha relief | |
| Puhar: Chola port | Korkai: Pandya port; Muziris: Chera port | |
| Amaravati: limestone narrative reliefs | Mathura: red sandstone; Gandhara: schist | |
| Matronymic titles | Matrilineal succession (Satavahanas were not matrilineal) |
Common Mistakes
Practice
These are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- The Satavahana capital Pratishthana is the modern town of ________ on the river ________.
- The Nasik prashasti of Gautamiputra Satakarni was set up by his mother ________.
- Kharavela of Kalinga followed the ________ religion; his record is the ________ inscription.
Answers
- Paithan; Godavari
- Gautami Balashri
- Jain; Hathigumpha
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about the Satavahanas:
- Their kings used matronymic titles such as Gautamiputra.
- They are credited with starting tax-free land grants to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.
- Their royal inscriptions were mainly in Sanskrit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
Q2. Match List-I (Kingdom) with List-II (Port):
| List-I | List-II |
|---|---|
| A. Chera | 1. Korkai |
| B. Chola | 2. Muziris |
| C. Pandya | 3. Puhar |
(a) A-2, B-3, C-1 (b) A-1, B-3, C-2 (c) A-3, B-2, C-1 (d) A-2, B-1, C-3
Answer and explanation
Q3. The Hathigumpha inscription is important because it:
(a) records Ashoka’s remorse after the Kalinga war (b) gives a year-by-year account of Kharavela’s reign and refers to a Nanda king (c) is the earliest Sanskrit inscription of Odisha (d) records Samudragupta’s southern campaign
Answer and explanation
Q4. Arikamedu, near Puducherry, is known for:
(a) Satavahana rock-cut caves (b) evidence of trade with the Roman world (c) the earliest Tamil grammar (d) the Kallanai on the Kaveri
Answer and explanation
Q5. Which Satavahana king’s coins carry the image of a ship?
(a) Simuka (b) Gautamiputra Satakarni (c) Hala (d) Yajna Sri Satakarni
Answer and explanation
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. Assess the contribution of the Satavahanas to the polity, economy and culture of the Deccan. (150–200 words)
Intro: The Satavahanas (c. 1st century BCE – early 3rd century CE), ruling from Pratishthana, were the first major Deccan kingdom after the Mauryas.
Body:
- Polity: resisted the Shakas (Gautamiputra’s defeat of Nahapana, Nasik inscription); a mix of royal officials (amatya) and feudatories (maharathi).
- Land grants: tax-free grants to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks began a long trend towards decentralised, feudal polity.
- Economy: lead and silver coins, ship-type coins, ports on both coasts, guilds that endowed caves.
- Religion: Vedic sacrifices with patronage of Buddhism; Karle, Nasik, Bhaja and Kanheri caves.
- Art and literature: Amaravati school; Prakrit literature (Hala’s Gathasaptashati).
- Chhattisgarh angle: Satavahana coins and seals at Malhar show their reach into Dakshin Kosala.
Conclusion: The Satavahanas bridged north and south, and their land-grant and Brahmana–Buddhist pattern shaped the Deccan for centuries.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Satavahana founder | Simuka |
| Capital | Pratishthana (Paithan), Godavari |
| Greatest king | Gautamiputra Satakarni; Nasik inscription by Gautami Balashri |
| His victory | Over Nahapana (Kshaharata); Jogalthembi hoard of restruck coins |
| Naneghat inscription | Queen Naganika; Satakarni I’s Vedic sacrifices |
| Coins | Mostly lead; ship coins of Yajna Sri Satakarni |
| Literature | Hala, Gathasaptashati (Prakrit) |
| Caves | Karle, Nasik, Bhaja, Kanheri |
| Kharavela | Chedi (Mahameghavahana), Jain, Hathigumpha, Udayagiri (Odisha) |
| Sangam emblems | Chera bow, Chola tiger, Pandya fish |
| Sangam ports | Muziris (Chera), Puhar (Chola), Korkai (Pandya) |
| Roman trade | Periplus, Pliny, Arikamedu |
Key Takeaways
- The Satavahanas ruled from Pratishthana; Gautamiputra Satakarni defeated Nahapana, as the Nasik inscription and the Jogalthembi hoard show.
- Matronymic titles, tax-free land grants, lead coins and Prakrit inscriptions mark the dynasty.
- Kharavela’s Hathigumpha inscription (Prakrit, Jain) is a year-by-year royal biography.
- The Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas of the Sangam age traded with Rome through ports like Muziris, Puhar and Korkai.
- Satavahana coins at Malhar link this story to Chhattisgarh.
What’s Next
- Gupta Empire: Rulers, Polity and Society: the next great empire of north India
- The Vakatakas: the Deccan power that followed the Satavahanas in Vidarbha
- Ancient Chhattisgarh: Gunji, Kirari and Malhar in this period
- Art and Culture: rock-cut caves and stupas across periods