Satavahana Society, Administration, Religion and Architecture

At a Glance

• Social claim Rulers called themselves brahmanas
• Naming After mothers, e.g. Gautamiputra
• Administrative unit Ahara
• Famous chaitya Karle
• Language Prakrit in Brahmi
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Post-Mauryan Period and Early South India

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventh topic of the category on the post-Mauryan period. The previous topic covered Satavahana political history, and this one covers society, administration, religion and monuments. The next topic covers the Sangam age. Previous topic: Satavahanas – Political History.

What Was Satavahana Society Like?

In short: a brahmanised tribal dynasty ruled a society with traces of matrilineal naming and a growing merchant class.

The Satavahanas seem to have been a Deccan tribe, but they were so brahmanised that they claimed to be brahmanas. Their most famous king, Gautamiputra Satakarni, described himself as a brahmana and claimed to have restored the fourfold varna system, which had fallen into disorder, and to have ended intermixture between social orders. This confusion probably arose from Shaka infiltration and the superficial brahmanisation of Deccan tribes. Shakas were absorbed into brahmanical society as kshatriyas through intermarriage with the Satavahanas. Tribal peoples were acculturated by Buddhist monks who were settled by land grants in the western Deccan, and the earliest caves were located on trade routes, suggesting merchant support. The orthodox brahmanas of the north viewed the Andhras as a mixed caste. Merchants named themselves after their towns, and artisans and merchants gave generously to the Buddhist cause. Among artisans the gandhikas or perfumers appear repeatedly as donors, and the term gandhika later came to cover all shopkeepers, from which the modern title Gandhi derives. The family structure shows traces of a matrilineal pattern: it was customary for the king to be named after his mother, as in Gautamiputra and Vashishthiputra, and an inscription is sometimes issued under the authority of both king and mother. Queens made religious gifts and some acted as regents, but the family was basically patriarchal, as succession went to the male member. The political events are in Satavahanas – Political History.

How Were the Satavahanas Governed and Where Did Their Economy Stand?

The Satavahana rulers strove for the royal ideal in the Dharmashastras and were represented as upholders of dharma with divine attributes comparable to Rama, Bhima, Keshava and Arjuna. They retained administrative features of Ashoka’s time: the district was called ahara, and officials were amatyas and mahamatras. Divisions were also called rashtra, and high officials maharashtrikas. Military and feudal traits were visible: the senapati was appointed provincial governor, and in rural areas a gaulmika, head of a regiment of nine chariots, nine elephants, 25 horses and 45 foot soldiers, kept order. Terms such as kataka and skandhavara denote military camps that served as administrative centres. They began the practice of granting tax-free villages to brahmanas and Buddhist monks, protected from entry by royal police, soldiers and officers, though grants to monks were more frequent. The kingdom had three grades of feudatories: raja with the right to strike coins, mahabhoja and senapati.

The economy fused local and northern elements. Iron tools such as socketed hoes, sickles, ploughshares and axes increased in the first two or three centuries of the Christian era, and the Deccan used coins, burnt bricks, ring wells and writing learned from the north. The Satavahanas issued lead coins, along with potin, copper and bronze money, but not gold coins. The region between the Krishna and Godavari was a rice bowl, and Andhra was famous for cotton. Pliny says the Andhra kingdom kept an army of 100,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry and 1000 elephants and had thirty walled towns. The crafts and trade are in Milinda Panho Guilds Shrenis; at least two…">Crafts, Commerce and Urban Growth (200 BC to AD 250).

What Did They Do in Religion, Architecture and Language?

The Satavahana rulers were brahmanas and represented triumphant Brahmanism. Kings and queens performed Vedic sacrifices such as the ashvamedha and vajapeya with liberal fees to brahmanas and worshipped Vaishnava gods such as Krishna and Vasudeva. They also promoted Buddhism by granting land to monks. Mahayana had a large following among artisans, and Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati became important seats of Buddhist culture, more so under the Ikshvakus. Chaityas and viharas cut from rock in the north-western Deccan began about 200 BC. The chaitya was a large pillared hall and the vihara a central hall with a doorway from a front verandah. The most famous chaitya is at Karle, about 40 m long, 15 m wide and 15 m high. At Nasik there are three viharas, with inscriptions of Nahapana and Gautamiputra, dating to the first and second centuries AD. In Andhra independent stupas are famous: the Amaravati stupa, begun about 200 BC and rebuilt in the second half of the second century AD, had a dome 53 m across its base and about 33 m high, with sculptures on the Buddha’s life. Nagarjunakonda prospered most in the second and third centuries under the Ikshvakus and has Buddhist monuments and the earliest brahmanical brick temples.

The official language was Prakrit, and all inscriptions were in Prakrit in Brahmi script, as under Ashoka. The Prakrit text Gathasattasai, with 700 verses, is attributed to the Satavahana king Hala, though it was retouched much later, possibly after the sixth century. As an analytical point, the Satavahanas combined brahmanical legitimation with Buddhist patronage and so linked two religious communities to the state. The art that followed is in Kanishka Gandhara Graeco-Roman style Buddha Mathura Indigenous, red sandstone South Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati…">Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Art and Brahmanisation, Land Grants and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Terms Ahara, gaulmika
• Land grants Origin of the practice
• Monuments Karle, Amaravati

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the Sangam age and the three early kingdoms of the deep south. Next topic: Sangam Age – The Three Early Kingdoms of the Deep South.

Key People and Terms

• Ahara District
• Gaulmika Head of a military regiment
• Chaitya Rock-cut prayer hall
• Vihara Monastery
• Gandhika Perfumer, later shopkeeper
• Gathasattasai Prakrit anthology attributed to Hala

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for features of Satavahana state and society. These points add depth.

• Society Brahmanisation, women
• State Military traits, grants
• Culture Religion and monuments