Polity, Economy and Social Conditions

Polity, Economy and Social Conditions
Unlike the t, heavy government of the Mauryas, the Satavahana admi istration was simple. Monarchy was hereditary. Withe asserting their divine right, the Satavahanas were content with the simple title of rajan. Wielding unlimited power theory, the administration of the Satavahana kings, practice, was checked by custom and the Shastric injunction They began the practice of land grants to Brahmans and Buddhist monks.
The empire was divided into janapadas and aharas. Gama was the division below that of ahara. The taxes of the state were neither burdensome nor many. The sources of income were proceeds from the royal domain, the salt monopoly, taxes on land and income from court fees and fines. The Satavahanas acted as a link between north and south India, especially in trade and exchange of ideas.
The material culture in the Satavahana kingdom was a combination of local elements and northern ingredients. There is not much change in the form of iron hoes from the megalithic to the Satavahana phase;they were now fully and properly socketed. In Karimnagar district, a blacksmith's shop has been discovered. Gold may have been used as bullion; the Satavahanas did not issue gold coins. They issued coins of lead, besides potin, copper and bronze money.
The kingdom was famous for the production of rice and cotton. According to Pliny, the Andhra kingdom maintained an army of 100,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry and 1000 elephants. Through contacts with the north the people
of the Deccan learnt the use of coins,' burnt bricks, ring wells, etc. In Peddabankur (200 Be-AD 200) in Karimnagar district we find regular use of fire-baked bricks and use of flat, perforated roof tiles; besides, 22 brick wells have been discovered. Towns appeared in Maharashtra by the first century Be and they emerged in the eastern Deccan a century later. Increasing trade is indicated by numerous Roman and Satavahana coins.

Gautamiputra Satakarni claims to have re-established the four-fold varna system which had fallen into disorder. He boasts that he put an end to the intermixture between the people of different social orders. Such a confusion was obviously caused by the Shaka infiltration and the super­ficial brahmanisation of the tribes living in the Deccan. The absorption of the Shakas in Hindu society as kshatriyas was facilitated by intermarriage between the Shakas and the Satavahanas. Similarly the indigenous people were more and more acculturated by the Buddhist monks who were induced by land grants to settle in the western Deccan.

Traders also supported the Buddhist monks, for the earliest caves seem to have been located on the trade routes. In social hierarchy there were at least four classes. The mahabhojas, the maharathis and the mahasenapatis were the cream of the society. The officials like the amatyas, mahamatras, bhandagarikas, and non-officials comprised the second class. The third class consisted of vaidya, lakhaka, suvarnakara, etc. and the fourth class comprised the malakara, vardhaki, dasaka, etc.

It was customary for their king to be named after his mother e.g., Gautamiputra, Vashishthiputra, etc. It probably indicates that in the Satavahana society the mother enjoyed a good deal of importance. But basically the Satavahana ruling family was patriarchal because succession to the throne passed to the male member.

There were certain military and feudal traits in the administration. The senapati was appointed provincial gov­ernor. The administration in the rural areas was placed in the hands of gaulmika, who was the head of a military regiment consisting of 9 chaQots, 9 elephants, 25 hQrses. and 45 foot-soldiers. The military character of the Satavahana rule is also evident from the common use of such terms as kataka and skandhavaras in their inscriptions. These were military camps and settlements which served as adminis­trative centres so long as the king was there. Thus Satavahana administration seems to have been rather coercive.

The Satavahanas worshipped a large number of Vaishnava gods such as Krishna, Vasudeva and others. Vedic sacrifices were performed, and brahmanas were paid sacrificial fees liberally. But the kings also promoted Bud­dhism. Mahayana Buddhism commanded considerable following, especially among. the artisan class. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh became important Buddhist centres under the Satavahanas and more so under their successors, the Ikshvakus. Similarly, Buddhism flourished in the Nasik and Junnar areas in the western Deccan, supported by the traders.

Many Buddhist chaityas and viharas were cut out of the solid rock in the north-western Deccan or Maharashtra, though the process had started about 200 Be. (The chaitya or sacred shrine was a large hall with a number of columns, and the vihara consisted of a central hall entered by a doorway from a verandah in front.) The most famous chaitya is that of Karle (1st century Be) in the western Deccan. The viharas were excavated near the chaityas for the residence of monks in the rainy season. Three viharas of first-second centuries AD at Nasik carry the inscriptions of Nahapana and Gautamiputra.

While rock-cut architecture is also to be found in Andhra, the region is more famous for independent Bud­dhist structures, mostly stupas. The Amaravati stupa began in about 200 Be but was completed in second century AD. The stupa is full of sculptures based on scenes from the life of the Buddha. Nagarjunakonda prospered most in the second-third centuries under the patronage of the Ikshvakus. It contains not only Buddhist monuments but also the earliest brahmanical brick temples. There are several viharas here. The richest architecture in the early centuries of the Christian era is represented here.

The official language of the Satavahanas was Prakrit. All inscriptionS were written in Prakrit and in the Brahmi script. One Prakrit text called Gathasaptasati is attributed to a Satavahana king Rala.