Satavahana Dynasty

The article discusses coins of the Sada dynasty, the precursors to the Satavahanas and early patrons of the Buddhist monuments of the 'Amaravati' School. It focuses on re-attribution of a number of Sada coins, giving an historical overview of their finds and reportage, and outlines their role in the monetary environs that sustained the building of the monuments.

Bi-lingual coins issued in the Indian Sub-continent may be classified in two groups. They are: 1] Issued by the alien (Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, Indo-Parthian, Kushans and Shakas or Western Kshatrapas) governors / rulers who controlled the North-west part of India; 2] the Indian kings who either governed or had trade contact with two different linguistic provinces or groups.

The bi-lingual silver coins of the Satavahanas fall in to the second category i.e., either governed or had trade relation with different linguistic groups. This paper discusses the bi-lingual silver coins of the Satavahanas and attributes the reverse legend to Tamil language

Elephant (Airāvata - Vāhana of Indra Dev), has been found on the ancient Indus valley seals, punch marked coins and tribal coins and much later on Satavahana Coins. Their First appearance of an Elephant on a Satavahana coins arose out of fierce expansionist policies of Satavahana King Satkarni I and that of Kalinga King Kharavela.

Most Motif's on Satvahana Coinage remain same, however the Elephant undergoes a peculiar change. Disappearance & Re- Appearance of Tusker Elephants on coins of Satavahana Kings is not in any form a missed out motif forgotten by the mint masters. There is extensive transition ranging from, Geo-Concentric distribution, polarity change, Extensive losses in war-fare, trade, & then return of a long forgotten royal tradition, occurrence of a insignia on late satavahan coins, all is reflected upon the Satavahana coinage.

This paper highlights discussions by scholars going alongside with the evident changing culture during the entire Satavahana Empire.

Satavahanas who ruled in the Deccan during the first few centuries BCE - CE, encouraged active trade with far off regions.  There were several sea ports on the East and West coast of India.  The paper encompasses information about , some of  the recently discovered ports, apart from the already known ports.  Evidence suggests active trade with Mediterranean as well as Chinese and other east Asian regions. Both archaeological and literary evidence is analysed in the paper.

The fierce expansionist policies of Satavahana King Satkarni I (doubtful attribution or a later Satakarni) and that of Kalinga King Kharavela are well known, this along with the thriving roman trade along the Indian peninsular region paints a different picture altogether. This assignment / paper tries not only to portray an enterprising kingdoms / chiefdoms (Cheras-Cholas), trying to gain more trade under its own control, but also offer multiple ways in which West-East peninsular trade (Roman & Indian) could be achieved with the view of trade relations with South East Asia. This paper also puts new light on ports of the Eastern sea face, like Arikamedu.

The Kuras were one of the regional powers in the Deccan that sprang up at the start of the first millennium CE. They were late contemporaries of the Satavahanas, and issued coins in lead and potin. This paper presents the first ever gold seal of the Kuras, issued by a female ruler Baduka who took the male title of Maharathi.

The length of reign of the individual Sātavāhana kings is often defined on the basis of the records of the Purānas. Contradictory as these records are, more reliable evidence is provided by dated documents of their time, which are, unfortunately, rare. A sealing re-interpreted here, shows that Sātakanni, starting the dynasty, lived for at least 30 years, in line with the Purānas who allot him 56 years. A dedicatory plaque from Kanganhalli is dated to the 35th year of Śrī-Pulumāvi, a date supported by a single line in the Matsyapurāna, which, however, has mixed several accounts into one, so that up to now a much shorter life-span for Vāsisthīputra Pulimāvi was expected. In addition, this epigraph presents evidence for a place otherwise only known through Ptolemy's list of Indian cities, and for the habit of buying in favour of the sangha by spreading out coins, as known from the much older story of Anāthapindada.

Whilst many rock-cut Buddhist monasteries in Maharashtra have been documented in detail, those located in the southern Konkan have not been published. Between the second century BCE and the fourth century CE several monasteries were cut close to the western edge of the Western Ghats mountains to the south of the better known rock-cut monasteries at Kuda and Mahad. This article documents the locations, dates and landscape contexts of the monasteries at Chiplun and Khed alongside detailed descriptions of individual caves. The article finishes with a reassessment of the dates of the early phase of cave cutting at Panhale Kaji. The region of the southern Konkan, and the town of Chiplun in particular, is significant to the present volume as Professor V. Shinde grew up in this area. By documenting the caves in full it is hoped that the archaeology of the area will feature in art-historical and historical debates about the ancient Deccan.

The above work deals with a regional study based on ivory as a product as well as marker of the socio-economic behaviour of a culture. It explores the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of early-historic Maharashtra based on the occurrence and absence of ivory in archaeological strata. For the said purpose, ivory artefacts were classified typologically, site-wise and period-wise. They were studied in the context of their contemporary material culture and also in iconographic terms wherever necessary. The study revealed a wide range of ivory objects belonging to early-historic Maharashtra and indicated the nascence and development of the ivory industry within the research period indicating a specialised craft with developed technical skills. It also highlighted ivory as a medium reflecting the religious spirit of the time and one responsive to contemporary economic trends.

Paper presented at the International Workshop "“Art, Space and Mobility”
(September 8 - 10, 2011) held at the Kunsthistorisches Institut - Max-Planck-Institut, Florence, Italy.

The study of the Indian Ocean Trade in the immediately Pre-Islamic period will enhance our knowledge of the international interaction at that time and also in the subsequent period. From a methodological point of view this work can provide an interpretative model for early globalization. Yet nowadays has not totally been filled the hiatus of documentation referring to the period between the decline of the so-called Indo-Roman trade in the 4th cent. CE and the Islamic expansion. A good amount of archaeological data is being unearthed and a number of artworks concur in displaying a new picture of interaction and reciprocal influence in the Indian Ocean at that time. Artworks and archaeological remains are the most visible forms of cultural interaction in this network.