The Aandhra(Saatavahana or Saatakarni) Dynasty of Magadha-The eighth dynasty

Kali 2269-2775 Kali, B.C. 833-327 B. C,
Total nouber of kings - 32 :: Period of reign - 506 years.

S.No.	Name of the King	Years reigned	Kali Era	B.C.
1	Sindhuka or Sisuka or
	Srimukha	23	2269-2292	833-810
2	Sri Krishna Satakarni	18	2292-2310	810-792
3	Sri Malla Satakarni	10	2310-2320	792-782
4	Purnothsanga	18	2320-2338	782-764
5	Sri Satakarni	56	2338-2394	764-708
6	Skandhasatambhin	18	2394-2412	708-690
7	Lambodara	18	2412-2430	690-672
8	Apitaka	12	2430-2442	672-660
9	Meghaswati	18	2442-2460	660-642
10	Sataswati	18	2460-2478	642-624
11	Skanda Satakarni	7	2478-2485	624-617
12	Mrugendra Satakarni	3	2485-2488	617-614
13	Kuntala Satakarni	8	2488-2496	614-606
14	Soumya Satakarni	12	2496-2508	606-594
15	Satasatakarni	1	2508-2509	594-593
16	Puloma Satakarni or Puloma-I	36	2509-2545	593-557
17	Megha Satakarni	38	2545-2583	557-519
18	Arishta Satakarni	25	2583-2608	519-494
	In this king’s reign in 509 B.C. Sree Sankara was born.
19	Hala Satavahana	5	2608-2613	494-489
20	Mandalaka	5	2613-2618	489-484
21	Purindrasena	21	2618-2639	484-463
.	In this king's reign in 477 B.C. Sri Sankara attained Nirvana
22	Sundara Satakari	1	2639-2640	463-462
23	Chakora Satakarni	½	2640-2640½	462-461½
23a	Mahendra Satakarni	½	2640½-2641	461½-461
24	Siva Satakarni	28	2641-2669	461-433
25	Goutami Putra Sri Satakarni	25	2669-2694	433-408
26	Puloma II	32	2694-2726	408-376
27	Siva Sri Satakarni	7	2726-2733	376-369
28	Sivaskanda Satakarni	7	2733-2740	369-362
29	Yajna Sri Satakarni	19	2740-2759	362-343
30	Vijaya Sri Satakarni	6	2759-2765	343-337
31	Chandra Sri Satakarni	3	2765-2768	337-334
32	Puloma III (minor)	7	2768-2775	334-327

The eighth of the dynasties that ruled over Magadha is the 'Aandhra Dynasty'. From the time of the king Aandhra who gave his name to the Aandhra country and the people, the Aandhra Kingdom was ruled by Aandhra kings seperately. The Known history of Aandhra kings dates from Kali 2269 or B.C. 833.

1. Simhaka Sri Satakarni or Srimukha, or Sindhuka, an Aandhra in the service of Susarma, the last prince of the Kanwa dynasty of the Emperors of Magadha, rose gradually to be minister of state and commander of the armed forces and enlisted an Aandhra army in the service of the Magadha king and finally, perhaps with the help of his Aandhra army, killed Susarma, the king, and usurping his place, became the ruler of the Magadha Empire, which extended at that time all over Bharat from the Himalayas to Cape Comerin.

He traced his origin to the pure Aandhra Dynasty of kings founded by Saatavahana at Deccan with Pratishstana as his capital. His family name is Balin (K.R.V.), Balika (B.P)or Balipuchchaka (Vi.P). He is said to have been employed as minister under the last two kings of the Kanva Dynasty, who appear to have been puppets in his hands. With the aid of the Aandhra forces in his service, he slew Susarman, the last king of the Kanva Dynasty and made himself master of the whole of the kingdom of Magadha not only by usurping the throne of the Kanvas, but also all that remained of the later Sungas who were ruling a small portion of the kingdom of Magadha simultaneously with the Kanvas with Vidisa as their capital.

The Satavahanas (Aandhra Emperors) The Aandhra emperors that ruled over Magadha are described with the patronyms of Saatavahana and Saatakarna in our Puranas. The same titles are found in their inscriptions also. The Aandhra dynasty of, Magadha is known as the Aandhra Satavahana dynasty. Saata means a lion. Saatavahana therefore means one with the lion for his conveyance. The kings with the image of a Saatavahana as their emblem on their flag are Saatavahana kings. The Aandhras as a race show special, regard and love for the lion. A woman riding on the lion, ‘Simhastha’ is a popular deity in their religious literature and in the images of goddesses carved on the walls in their religious institutions.

In the Devi Bhagavata, goddess Katyayani is described as mounted on a lion while proceeding against the demons to destroy them. Everywhere in Aandhra on the walls of temples, the compound walls of private premises, by the side of the main gate of a building we find frequently the image of a lion. The Aandh· ras as the race be said to have imbibed, by admiration leading to imitation, the qualities of the lion among the animals such as strength, valour, grandeur and magnanimity. They show· an affinity to the lion in every way.

On page 129 of the ‘Goshti’ of March 1941, we find "Ever since the time of the Amaraavati Sculptures down to the recent time of ‘Sata silpi’ the lion seems to be emblem and the ideal of the Aandhra race. The god Narasimha, half man half-lion, is the deity of several popular shrines in Aandhra. The Aandhras enjoy even to this day a reputation for impulsiveness, enthusiasm and zest for noble action, like the lion. The privilege of being seated on the lion, the throne or seat of power is the ambition of every Aandhra. Many of them are named after their popular deity ‘Narasimha’. The peacock is the national emblem of the Burmese. The fish is the emblem of the people of Bengal as well as of Oudh. The parrot of the Tamilians. King Rajaraja assumed a cow with iet calf as his emblem. The Vijayanagara rulers adopted the Adivaraha( An Avatara of Vishnu) as their emblem. The Kalingas favoured the elephant. In the same manner the Saatavahanas, Aandhra emperors of Magadha had the warrior seated on the lion for their emblem" (Ghosti paper).

2. Krishna Satakarni, Krishna, Sri Saantakarni(Vi.P.,B.P.) or Sri Saatakarni(Va.P.,Br.P) , the younger brother of Srimukha, ruled for 18 years.
This king, vulgarly known as Kanha, is said to have extended his kingdom as far as the town of Nasik, near the source of Godavary in the Western Ghats.

3. Sri Malla Satakarni, son of Krishna reigned for ten years

19. Haala, son of Arishta Saatakarni reigned for 5 years, from 2644 to 2649 A.Y, or 494 to 489 B.C. We learn from Chitsukha's Brihat Sankaravijaya and Sadasivendra's Jagadguru Ratnamala that Sri Adi Sankaracharya, the author of the famous Bhashyas on the Prasthanatraya, was a contemporary of this king.King Hala's association with literary tradition possesses special interest, as marking a stage in the Hindu Literature. He is said to have bestowed special attention to the development of the Prakrit or Vernacular literature of the country. The Katantra grammer, arranged with special reference to the needs of students more familiar with the Vernacular speech than with the so-called classical language is attributed to one of the ministers of this king. Haala himself is credited with the composition of the Anthology of erotic verses, called the 'Sapta-Sataka' or 'The Seven centuries written in the ancient Maharashtri dialect.

21. Purindrasena (K.R.V. and M.P.), Purlishasena, Purikashena, Putrikashena(Va.P.) son of Mandalaka, grandson of Haala reigned for 21 years from 2654 to 2675 A.Y., or 484 to 463 B.C. In this king's time the Saptarshi Mandala (or the Great Bear) completed one cycle of 2700 years commencing from the entrance in Magha in 3176 B.C. and begins its 2nd cycle from Magha again in 476 B.C.

26. Puloman II (M.P), Vasishti-putra Sri Puloma Satakarni (K.R.V.), son of Gautamiputra Satakarni reigned for 32 years from 2730-2762 A.Y., or 408-376 B.C. With the end of this king , 376 B.C., the first cycle of the Saptarshi Era of 3076 B.C. came to a close.

27. Siva Sri Satakarni or Sivasri vaasishtiputra Saatakarni reigned for 7 years from 2762 to 2769 A.Y., or 376 to 369 B.C. It is said in all the Puranas that the 2nd cycle of the Saptarshi or the Loukika Era commenced with the reign of this 27th king of the Aandhra Dynasty.

The 32 kings of the Aandhra dynasty reigned for a period of 506 years; and while they are still on the throne their kingdom passed into the hands of the Guptas, who are known as Sri Parvatiya Andhra-Bhrutya kings. Chandragupta, son of Ghatotkcha Gupta and grandson of Sri Gupta, who appears to have come from Sri Parvata or Nepal, and originally entered the service of Vijayasri Satakarni as one of his generals and with whose help, he managed his tottering kingdom. The last two kings of the Aandhra Dynasty- Chandrasri and his son enjoyed little power, and were mere puppets in the hands of their generals, Ghatotkacha Gupat and his son Chandragupta, the latter of whom, under the guise of protecting the country on behalf of Puloman III, the minor son of Chandra Sri, murdered the prince and ascended the throne of Magadha under the title of Maharajadhiraja in the year 2811 of the Yudhistira Saka or 2775 Kali or 327 B.C., just when Alexander the Great was attempting to enter into the Great continent of India through the Hindukush Mountains.