Satavahana State, Society and Economy

SATAVAHANAS OF ANDHRA
They were the most important post-Mauryan kingdom in the Deccan region of India. In ancient Indian literature like Mahabharata and Manusmrti, this region was known as barbaric or a region where there existed many tribal people. In this region, we have discovered several megaliths which were the burial monuments.

The people in this region, before the emergence of the state, were the primitive people who lived by hunting and slash and burn cultivation; they were nomadic and hence moved from place to place. It is said that there was transformation from tribe to caste, from pre state society to state society.

Among the Satavahanas the great rulers were Gautamiputra Satakarni and Vasistiputra Pulamavi. The Satavahanas claimed that they supported the cause of the brahmanas and protected them from their enemies.

The Satavahana kings supported both the brahmanas and Buddhist institutions. Several land grants were made in the different regions of Deccan particularly in those regions where agriculture was at its primitive stage and where the Satavahanas did not have real control.

ECONOMY
In the economic field there existed trade with the Greco-Roman world. They exported spices, textiles and various other items to the foreign trade centres. They controlled the ports on the western coast. The Roman coins belonging to Augustus and Tiberius have been discovered in the Deccan. As a result of this trade the traders must have become quite prosperous and this allowed them to make huge grants to the Buddhist sanghas.

BUDDHISM
Many Buddhist buildings were constructed in places like Nasik, Amaravati, Karle and other regions in the Deccan. We also find certain changes in Buddhism. Now the Buddhist monks took more interest in the material world although they were forbidden according to their religious rules from indulging in material pursuits. Now the traders demanded better social status and they supported Buddhism to claim this social status. The Satavahan kings were also forced to support Buddhism as they needed the co-operation from the trading class. The traders and craftsmen established their guilds which protected their interest.

ROLE OF WOMEN
Women played an important role in the administration. We find certain inscriptions which were issued by the women members of royal family like Gautami Balasri and Queen Nayanika. They gave donations to temples and Buddhist viharas. The use of the mother’s name in the name of certain rulers like Gautamiputra Satakarni indicates the tribal customs which was remembered by the kings.

ADMINISTRATION
In the field of administration, the Satavahanas followed more or less the style of the Mauryans, but it was not as elaborate as that of the Mauryans. The king was assisted by the ministers and group of officials and clerks in both the imperial and provincial administration. The state collected tax and custom duties from the peasants and the traders.

The arrival of the brahmanas led to standardization of social stratification. The different social groups were co-opted in the system of varna and jati. The brahmanas performed vedic sacrifices and tried to legitimize the position of the Satavahana kings. It is stated that there was social acculturation wherein there was assimilation of different social groups which had emerged in the Satavahana society. Thus, there was the transformation of the tribe into caste during this period.

Reference:

1.R.S. Sharma, Ancient India, New Delhi, 1996.
2.D.N. Jha, Ancient India: Introductory Outline, New Delhi, 1977.
  3.Himanshu Prabha Ray, Monastery and Guild- Commerce Under the Satavahanas, OUP, Delhi, 1986.