Introduction

The Satavahanas Dynasty rose to authority from deccan roughly 200 B.C. They stayed in power, for about 400 years. Almost the entire of present day Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and South India were under Satavahana law. Paithan formerly called Pratishthan, was the capital of the Satavahanas. The founder of the Satvahanas was Simuka. But the king who raised it to fame was Satakarni I. Sri Yajna Satakarni was the final great king in this dynasty. After him, the kingdom began to decline. Gautamiputra Satakarni was most famous king of the Satvahana dynasty. He had beaten the Sakas, Greeks and Pahlavas. His kingdom extended up to Banavasi in the south, and included Maharashtra, Konkan, Saurashtra, Malwa, west Rajasthan and Vidharbha.

SATAVAHANA DYNASTY - A GRAND OLD DYNASTY FROM DECCAN

1.Satavahana dynasty,Indian family that, according to some interpretations based on the Puranas (ancient religious and legendary writings), belonged to the Andhra jati (“tribe”) and was the first Deccanese dynasty to build an empire in daksinapatha—i.e., the southern region. At the height of their power, the Satavahanas held distant areas of western and central India.
2.They remained in power, for about 400 years. Almost the whole of present day Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and South India were under Satavahana rule. Paithan in Maharashtra, formerly called Pratishthan, was the capital of the Satavahanas. The founder of the Satvahanas was Simuka. A reference to the Sātavāhanas by the Greek traveler Megasthenes indicates that they possessed 100,000 infantry, 1,000 elephants, and had more than 30 well built fortified towns.Under the Satavahanas great progress was made in the field of agriculture,architecture as well as trade.
3.The great rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri Yajna Sātakarni were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the Western Kshatrapas and stop their expansion. According to ancient Sangam literature the Satavahana rulers were allied with the Tamil rulers of the Chera dynasty, Chola dynasty and Pandyan Dynasty to defeat the foreign invaders like the Scythians.
4.Gautamiputra Satakarni was the famous king during the Satvahana dynasty. He defeated the Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parithans). His empire extended upto Banavasi in the south, and included Maharashtra, Konkan, Saurashtra, Malwa, west Rajasthan and Vidharbha.
According to the Nasik inscription made by his mother Gautami Balasri, he is the one...
"who crushed down the pride and conceit of the Kshatriyas; who destroyed the Sakas (Western Kshatrapas), Yavanas (Indo-Greeks) and Pahlavas (Indo-Parthians),... who rooted out the Khakharata family (the Kshaharata family of Nahapana); who restored the glory of the Satavahana race"
5.They were the first Native Indians who had issued the coins with portraits of their kings. All the coins of Satavahanas used Prakrit dialect and also on backside the southern language (Telugu or Kannada). Prakrat seems to be the official language of Satavahanas. The Satavahanas worshipped the Hindu Deities such as Rama, Krishna, Vasudeva etc. but they also patronized the Buddhism. The Nagarjunkonda and Amaravati became the important centers of Buddhism during the reign of Satavahanas and their successors. Saatavahana Built many Chaitya and Viharas. Most of them were rock cut from the solid rock in North Western Deccan and Maharashtra. The Karle Chaitya of 1st century BC is one of the most important Chaitya. The Viharas of the 1 century AD at Nasik bear the inscription of the Gautami Putra Satkarni and Nahapana. The Amaravati Stupa was built in their reign.
6.Gautamiputra Satakarni started the calendar known as Shalivahana era or Shaka era, which is followed by the Telugu people, Gujarati, Marathi and Kannadiga is the Indian national calendar. Earlier in 56 BCE, Vikramaditya king of Ujjain defeated Sakas and started Vikram Samvat era. His mother mentioned his title to be "Satavahana-kula-yasa-pratisthapanakara".
7.Kings succeeding Gautamiputra lost many of their territories. But the power of Satvahanas revived under Sri Yajna Satakarni, who was the last great king. After him, the empire began to decline.There isn't proper records for reasons behind the dynasty downfall.

Rulers of Satavahana Dynasty

Simuka was the first ruler of Satavahana Dynasty and ruled for 23 years. He occupied Maharashtra, Malwa and part of Madhya Pradesh.
His brother Kanha (or Krishna) succeeded him and ruled the kingdom from 207 to 189 BC. He expanded his kingdom further to Nasik.
Later Satakarni-I became the king of Satavahana. He ruled from 180 BC to 124 BC, about 56 years. Satakarni-I overpowered the Sunga dynasty and expanded his territory towards north. To demonstrate the power and glory, Satkarni performed the Ashwamedha yagna, the royal rituals of Vedic religion.
Later Gautamiputra Satakarni became the king of Satavahana Dynasty and ruled from 25 AD to 78 AD. He is often considered as the greatest rulers of the Satavahana by historians. He reformed the society and upheld the interests of the subjects. He adopted the title Tri-samudra-toya-pita-vahana . He was popularly known as Shalivahan. Gautamiputra conquered the Yavanas, Sakas, and Pahlavas. He stretched his kingdom to Konkan, Saurashtra and west Rajasthan. Sri Yajna Satakarni, who was the last great king of Satavahanas. After his reign, the empire became weak and failed to retain its past glory.

The Glorious Days of Satavahana Dynasty

King Gautamiputra Satakarni issued coins embossed with his portrait which is considered one of the first of its kind by any Indian Emperor. The Karle caves in Maharashtra and some of the Ajanta caves were built during the Satavahana Dynasty. The great stupa at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh were built during the reign of Satavahana Dynasty. Satavahana rulers built the Buddhist temples called as 'Chaitya' and the monasteries called 'Vihara'. The official language of Satavahana was Prakrit. The Satavahana Empire is said to be divided into five provinces.

Importance from Karnataka point of view

The Satavahanas were the first empire to rule Karnataka.
They were initially affiliated with Mauryan emperors
After the fall of Maurya, independently founded the empire of Shatavahana
simukha was the founder of the Satavahan dynasty
Python was their capital.
They ruled Karnataka for about 460 years.
Haala, 1st Shatakarni, Gautamiputra, Vasishtha Puthra, Pulamavi and Yagnashree Shatakarni are the main/famous rulers of the dynasty.

Sources

The Papyrusus scripture
Kannery, Nanaghat, Girnar inscriptions

Satavahana origin

There are several arguments about their origin
Some scholars say that Sataa means horse and that the Satavahans use the horse as a vehicle
Some have argued that Satya means matsya (fish), and they are people who live fishing.
karni means that they are maritime trade because of the ship's owner.
The original base of the Satavahan was Paithana in Aurangabad district's on the banks of river Godavari

Political history

Simukha was the founder of the Satavahana dynasty
Pythana of Aurangabad district was the capital
Simukha killed The last ruler of the Kanava dynasty Susharma and independently ruled for 23 years.
He ended the Mauryan empire in Dakhana, defeated Shungas and Kanvas.
*Naanhata * describes the legislator as the Raisimukka
Jaina granth is named after Shilivahan *.
describes the nasal legislation as unique.

Shatakarni-I

most powerful ruler of the Satavahanas
His queen carved nanaghata cave inscriptions mentions his accomplishments
According to the Nana Ghat cave inscriptions- Shatakarni conquered Nasik, East Malwa, Birara, Vidarbha, Hyderabad and the Central Government and expanded the empire from Vindhya mountains to Konkan.
In his memory of these victory 2 Ashwamedhaga and Rajasūyas were performed.

Haala

A peaceful / peace loving king
He was a scholar
In the Prakrit language, he created a gorgeous poem named Gathasapatthi (which contains 700 poems)
His other book * sattheshai*
Haunted contemporary Gunnadiah wrote a "Bhruthakatha".
Won war with Ceylon king and married the princess Leelavathi

Gautamiputra Satakarni

Gautamiputra Satakarni is the most famous ruler of the Satavahanas.
Increased the prestige of the lost Shatavahans, bringing their glory to the summit.
After coming to power, Shakaraja's "Nahapana" and his son-in-law "usavadatta" and abolished the Kshatrapara empire
Saurashtra, Konkan, Maharashtra, Malwa takenover
Printed his logo on the coins and celebrated his victory.
Gautamiputra's mother Balasree carved * Nasika * inscription describes his accomplishments.
His kingdom came from Saurashtra in the north, from Malwa to southern Krishna or Banavasi, from Birar to the western Konkan in the east.
came from the northern Vindhya Mountains to the southern Arabian Sea and the eastern western seas, so he came to be known as * Tri Sea Sea Toya Pythavana *.
* Tri samudra Toya Pythavana * means the horse who drank the water of the three seas
* dakshina Prabhu *, * Vindhya vasadu *, * Pratishthana Prabhu *, * Shatavahana kulapratishtapaka". Were his titles
Gautamiputra Satakarni has called himself the only protector of Brahmins.

Vasishthaputra Pulamavi

After Gautamiputra Shatakarni, his son came to power in Pulamavi (2nd Palamavi)
He won Andhra Pradesh and called the Andhra Raj *
He came to the title of dakshina Petheshwar
He built a Buddhist pillar of Amravati * and constructed the city of Nawanagar * with the title of Navnagar Swami *.
Navanagar was his capital
According to Girnar's inscriptions he lost twice from Shakaraja Rudrama of Ujjain.

Coins

Gold Coins - dinar, suvarna
Silver coins- kushana and karshapan
Dramya, Gadyana, Panaganya, copper and lead coins were circulated

Agriculture

Agriculture was the main profession
Land Revenue was the source of the state's main source of income
1/6 of the revenue was collected as taxes
Paddy and wheat were then the main crops
The Krishna and Godavari rivers provide water for agriculture

Religious status

They were seculars
Provided Shelter for Brahmin, the Shaiva, the Vaishnava and the Buddhist religions - Chatutsmaya samuddharana
The Nasika inscriptions is called the Gautamiputra Shatakarni * Ekabrahmana *.
Nanaghatta inscriptions talks about godhana to Brahmins and 20 yajas
Mahasankhika Buddhist schools are become popular

Literature

Prakrit and Sanskrit languages ​​popular in Satavahanas era
Prakrit was his official state language
Jain scholar kundcharya wrote - prabhutasaara, rayanasara, pravanasaara, samayasaara, dwadashanupeksha
Haala wrote in the Prakrit language * Gathasaptasati * Erotic poetry.
Leavilai script reveal the expedition of the defeat
gunadya's "Bruhatakatha" is writen in paishachi lang
Nagarjuna composed in Sanskrit "Shatasahasrika & madhyamika sutra.