The Satavahana Dynasty ruled over large parts of southern India between the 2nd century BCE to the early 3rd century AD.
They were the most important native successors of the Mauryas in Deccan India.
Read this post to learn more about the Satavahana dynasty, society, and culture.
Origin of Satavahana Dynasty
As per historians, the Satavahana rulers had a humble tribal origin.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire, they rose to imperial heights in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
Even though mythologies state otherwise, historians are consistent that Satavahanas came from some obscure Deccan tribe based on matrilineal social structure.
Founder of Satavahana Kingdom
A Satavahana inscription at Naneghat near Pune mentions Simuka as the first king of the Satavahana dynasty. In Puranas, they are mentioned as Andhras.
Matsya Purana states that this dynasty ruled Andhra nation for over 450 years. However, the early Satavahana kings ruled in north Maharashtra and not in Andhra.
Regardless of their roots and origins, over a period of time, the Satavahana rulers became so Brahmanised that they claimed themselves to be the best breed of Brahmins.
Gautamiputra Satakarni
One of the greatest Satavahana rulers, Gautamiputra Satakarni ruled from 106 to 130 AD. He called himself the “only Brahmana” and modeling himself on Parashuram, he destroyed many Kshatriya rulers and their lineages.
Further, he claimed to have re-established the four-fold varna system that had fallen into disarray due to intermixing of castes.
He even boasted to have stopped this “intermixture between the people of different social orders” to protect Dharma and to ensure social stability, writes RS Sharma in India’s ancient past.
Satavahana Dynasty Administration
Satavahana administration was largely modeled on the remnants of the preceding Mauryan Empire. Like Mauryas, their official language was also Prakrit written in Brahmi script.
The Satavahana empire was divided into a number of administrative divisions called Rashtra. The highest officers of these divisions were styled Maharashtrikas.
A district in the Satavahana period was called Ahara and its officials were known as Amatyas and Mahamatras.
One can discern a high level of administrative militarization in the Satavahana dynasty given provincial governors were generally military commanders called Senapati.
According to RS Sharma, as the tribal people in the Deccan were not thoroughly brahmanized and reconciled to the new rule, it was necessary to keep them under strong military control.
“The military character of Satavahana rule is also evident from the common use of such terms as kataka and skandhavara in their inscriptions. These were military camps and settlements which served as administrative centers when the king was there. Thus, coercion played a key role in the Satavahana administration”, says Sharma.
The head of administration in the rural areas was called Gaulmika.
Excessive land grants to Brahmins
Satavahana dynasty made excessive land grants to Brahmins and also exempted them from all sorts of taxes.
They were probably the first ones to do this after the prevalence of Buddhism in India in the latter phase of the Magadha/Mauryan Empire.
According to RS Sharma, Brahmins were not only absolved from paying taxes but were also granted tax-free villages that were protected from state intrusion.
Even royal authorities could not enter these autonomous sanctuaries without the due permission of the concerned Brahmin landlord.
Despite this, the Brahmins of the North continued to view Satavahanas as mixed-blooded and thus inferior, writes RS Sharma in his book India’s ancient past.
This extreme form of racism and casteism reminds us of the Nazis of Germany who also graded people based on the purity of races.
A Rule of Manusmiriti and Dharmashastras
According to RS Sharma, Satavahana Kings strived to rule according to Dharmashastras.
For the unversed, Dharmashastras are Brahminical scriptures that uphold racial segregation and caste-based discrimination.
They lay down the duties of each varna and strictly prohibit the intermixing of people from different Varnas.
They also enjoin upon Kshatriyas (the ruling class) to protect this Dharma i.e. to ensure by the force that there is no intermixing between people of different social orders.
RS Sharma writes that Satavahana rulers not only tried hard to abide by the “royal ideals set forth in the Dharmashastras” but also claimed to be the “resurrector of Dharma that had fallen into disorder due to intermixing of different castes”.
Perhaps, they were perplexed and infuriated by the infiltration caused by some foreign tribes like Huns, Shakas, and Kushans who projected themselves as Kshatriyas in India.
Puritanical Racial Instincts
Satavahana rulers strived to ensure racial supremacy and caste purity of Dwijas i.e. the top varnas of Hindu-Brahmanism. In their racial purification drive, they didn’t spare even Kshatriyas.
As discussed earlier, Satavahana ruler Gautamiputra Satakarni destroyed several Kshatriya lineages.
He waged war against several ruling dynasties of those times including the Shakas who pretended to be Kshatriyas.
He emerged victorious in most of these wars and claimed to have annihilated several Kshatriya lineages. He uprooted Shakas from Kathiawar and Malwa plateau.
Notwithstanding this massive defeat, Shakas regrouped themselves a few decades later under Rudradaman I (130-154 AD) and inflicted a crushing defeat on Satavahanas not once but twice.
Rudradaman, however, did not cause much devastation to Satavahanas keeping in mind the shared matrimonial relations between them.
According to RS Sharma, the Satavahana rulers were Brahmanas, and they represented the march of triumphant Brahmanism.
From the very outset, Satavahana kings and queens performed such Vedic sacrifices as Ashvamedha and Vajapeya and paid handsome sacrificial fees to the Brahmanas, he writes further.
Further, they were the first to start the practice of granting tax-free villages to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks.
The cultivated fields and villages granted to Brahmins were declared free from intrusion by royal policemen, soldiers, and other royal officers. These areas, therefore, became small independent islands within the Satavahana kingdom, says Sharma.
Satavahanas also worshipped a large number of Vaishnava gods such as Krishna and Vasudeva.
Credits
Sharma, R. S. India’s Ancient Past. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Singh, Upinder. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: from the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson, 2019.
