Chapter 3 the Successors of the Satavahanas in Maharashtra*
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CHAPTER 3 THE SUCCESSORS OF THE SATAVAHANAS IN MAHARASHTRA* AFTER THE BREAK-UP OF THE SATAVAHANA EMPIRE ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THIRD CENTURY A. D. several small kingdoms arose in the different parts of Maharashtra. The Puranas mention the Andhras, Abhiras, Gardabhins, Yavanas, Tusaras, Sakas, Murundas, Maunas and Kilakilas as the successors of the Andhras (i.e. the Satavahanas)1. This statement has not been fully borne out by the records discovered so far; but there is no doubt that some of these families were ruling in the Deccan after the downfall of the Satavahanas. That the Abhiras rose to power in Northern Maharashtra is shown by the inscription of the Abhlra Rajan Isvarasena in a cave at Nasik2. The names of some other Abhira kings are known from inscriptional and literary records. The Andhras were evidently identical with the Sriparvatiyas mentioned by the Puranas in the same contest later on. They were undoubtedly the kings of the Iksvaku family whose records have been found in the lower Krsna valley at Nagarjunikonda and neighbouring places3. The Sakas were probably the descendants of the Mahasenapati Mana, who declared his independence in the country of Mahisaka4. No records of the remaining dynasties such as the Gardabhins, Yavanas, Tusaras, Murundas, Maunas and Kilakilas have yet been discovered. We have indeed some references to the king Vikramaditya of the Gardabhilla family in late literary works, but he belongs to a much earlier age, viz., the first century B.C., in which, however, his existence is rendered doubtful on account of the far-spread Empire of the Satavahanas. One other family, on the other hand, which the Puranas mention as having risen to power after the Kilakilas is known from inscriptions and Sanskrt and Prakrt literature. This is the illustrious family of the Vakatakas, whose founder Vindhya- sakti, the Puranas tell us, succeeded the Kilakilas or Kolikilas5. The Puranic account of the successors of the Satavahanas cannot therefore be accepted in toto, but to a certain extent it is corroborated by the * This chapter is contributed by Mahamahopadkyaya Dr. V. V. Mirashi, M. A D. Litt., University of Nagpur. 1 D.K.A., p. 45 f. 2 Inscr. No. 1, C.I.I, Vol. IV. 3 Ep. Ind„ Vol. XX, p 1 f. 4 Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. II, pp. 98 f. 5 D.K.A., p. 48. 102 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER existing sources. We are here concerned only with the dynasties that were ruling in Maharashtra. ABHIRAS. The Abhiras were an ancient race whose original habitat lay in the north-western parts of India. The Mahabharata mentions three divisions of the Abhiras, viz., those who lived on the bank of the Sarasvati, fishermen and mountaineers1.In this part of the country lay the holy place called vinasana, where the sacred river Sarasvati is said to have gone underground through hatred of the Sudras and Abhiras living there. Elsewhere, the Punjab is stated to be the strong-hold of the Abhiras. It was in that part of the country that Arjuna was attacked by the Abhiras as he was escorting the wives of the Yadavas after the death of Krsna. These and other references indicate that the part of the Punjab between the Satlaj and the Yamuna was their home-land. Like some other tribes of the Punjab, they appear to have spread from there to the east and the south. Ptolemy places their country Abiria in Central Sindh. The Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira mentions the Abhira and Konkan countries among the Janapadas of the South. Some Abhiras occupied influential positions in Saurastra in the early centuries of the Christian era. In some Puranas they are classed with the people of the southern countries like Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Asmaka and Kuntala. Gradually Khandes became their stronghold. Even now the Abhiras or Ahirs predominate in that part of Maharashtra. The Abhiras generally followed the profession of cowherds. They were consequently associated with the Sudras. Patanjali discusses in his Mahabhasya whether Abhira was a sub-caste of the Sudras and concludes that it is a different caste. In the Kasika, a commentary on Panini’s Astadhyayi, the Abhiras are called Mahasudras or superior Sudras. A Mahasudra was one of the functionaries at the coronation ceremony of kings. Commentators explain the term Mahasudra as a Commander of the Sudra army’. This shows that the Abhiras from very early times occupied positions of power and vantage at the royal courts. Like other tribes of the Punjab, the Abhiras had a republican form of government. In the Allahabad stone pillar inscription of the Gupta Emperor Samudragupta they are mentioned together with such other well-known republican tribes of the North as the Malavas and the Arjunayanas. Unlike these latter tribes, however, they are not known to have struck any coins in the name of their gana or republic. Some Abhiras are known to have occupied high political position under the Western Ksatrapas. An inscription found in Saurastra mentions an Abhira General named Rudrabhuti who was serving under the Western Ksatrapa Rudrasimha. According to the Puranas, the Abhiras who rose to power after the Andhras (i.e. the Satavahanas) were Andhrabhrtyas, i.e., servants of the Andhras. They were therefore occupying influential positions in the State:. One of them, lsvarasena, usurped power after the downfall of the last Satavahana king Pulumavi IV. 1 For this and other references see C.I.I., Vol. IV, p. xxxi f. HISTORY – ANCIENT PERIOD 103 THE ABHIRAS.C.& SC. Very few inscriptions of the Abhiras have been discovered so far. The earliest of them is in a cave at Nasik1. It is dated in the ninth regnal year of the Abhira king Isvarasena, the son of the Abhira Sivadatta. Isvarasena, following the custom of the Satavahanas, called himself Madhariputra, i.e., son of a lady who belonged to the Madhara gotra. Like the earlier Ksatrapas and the Satavahanas, he bore the simple title Rajan, but there is no doubt that he was independent as he mentions no suzerain. His father Sivadatta bears no royal title, which shows that Isvarasena himself was the founder of the Abhira dynasty. Isvarasena founded an era which continued in use for nearly a thousand years and became known in later times as the Kalacuri or Cedi Samvat2 ; for it was then used by the Kalacuri kings of Tripuri, who were ruling over the Cedi country. It was started in A.D. 249-50. So its epoch for a current year is A.D. 248-49 and that for an expired year is A.D. 249-50. Its year began on Karttika sukla pratipada. Its months were amanta in Maharashtra and Gujarat and puntimanta in Madhya Pradesa including Chattisgadh. The Nasik cave inscription is the only known record of the reign of the Abhira king Isvarasena. He did not strike any coins. At least none have been discovered so far. So it is not possible to say how far his rule extended. But judging by the spread of his era which must have been consequent on his conquests, his kingdom probably comprised Gujarat, Konkan and Western Maharashtra3. According to the Puranas, ten Abhlra kings ruled for sixty-seven years. The Puranas do not, however, mention any royal names. Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra mentions one Abhlra Kottaraja, who was murdered in another’s house by a washerman at the instigation of his brother4. Yasodhara, a commentator of the Kamasutra, states that he was ruling at Kotta, but Kottaraja was probably his personal name. He may have been one of the successors of Isvarasena. Recently another Abhira king named Vasusena has become known from an inscription discovered at Nagarjunakonda. It is dated in the year 30, which is referred to the Abhira era founded by Isvarasena5. The date, therefore, corresponds to A.D. 279-80. It records the installation of the image of Astabhujasvamin on Svetagiri. 1 Inscr. No. 1, G.I. , Vol. IV, 2 G.I.I., Vol. IV, p. xxii. 3 Ibid., Vol. IV, p. xxxiv. 4 Kamasutra (Kashiram Series), p. 260, C. I. I., Vol. IV, p. xxxiv, n. I. 5 Ep. Ind. Vol. XXXIV pp. 197 f. This is, however, very doubtful. 104 MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTEER The period of sixty-seven years assigned by the Puranas to the rule of ten Abhira kings appears to be too short. Perhaps the expression sapta-sasti-satan-iha stating the period of Abhira rule, which occurs in a manuscript of the Vayupurana1, is a mistake for sapta-sastim satan-ch-eha. In that case Abhlra rule may have lasted for 167 years, i.e. till A.D. 416. The Feudatories of the Abhiras. Though the names of Abhira kings have passed into oblivion, those of some of their feudatories have become known from inscriptions discovered in Central India, Gujarat and Khandesa. One of these was Isvararata, whose fragmentary copper-plate inscription was discovered some years ago at Kalachala near Chota Udaipur in Gujarat 2. Only the first plate of the- grant has been found. It mentions Isvararata as meditating on the feet of a lord paramount (paramabhattaraka-padanudhyata). The plates were issued from Pracakasa, which seems to be identical with Prakasa on the Tapi in North Khandesa. They record the grant of the village Kupika, situated in the patta of Vankika. The donated village cannot now be traced, but Vankika, the head- quarters of the territorial division in which it was situated, may be identical with Vankad. about 20 miles from Chota Udaipur. Isvararata seems, therefore, to have been ruling over Central Gujarat and some portion of North Khandesa. The names of three other feudatories, viz., Maharaja Svamidasa (Year 67), Maharaja Bhulunda (Year 107) and Maharaja Rudradasa (Year 117), have become known from their copper- plate grants3.