Friday, September 11, 2009

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.
1Sindhuka or Sisuka or


Srimukha23 2269-2292 833-810
2 Sri Krishna Satakarni182292-2310810-792
3 Sri Malla Satakarni10 2310-2320 792-782
4 Purnothsanga 18 2320-2338 782-764
5 Sri Satakarni 562338-2394 764-708
6 Skandhasatambhin182394-2412708-690
7 Lambodara182412-2430690-672
8Apitaka 122430-2442672-660
9 Meghaswati18 2442-2460 660-642
10 Sataswati 182460-2478 642-624
11 Skanda Satakarni 7 2478-2485 624-617
12 Mrugendra Satakarni3 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-I36 2509-2545 593-557
17 Megha Satakarni 38 2545-2583 557-519
18Arishta Satakarni 25 2583-2608 519-494
In this king’s reign in 509 B.C. Sree Sankara was born.
19Hala Satavahana52608-2613494-489
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


22Sundara Satakari1 2639-2640 463-462
23 Chakora Satakarni ½ 2640-2640½ 462-461½
23a Mahendra Satakarni ½ 2640½-2641461½-461
24 Siva Satakarni 28 2641-2669 461-433
25 Goutami Putra Sri Satakarni25 2669-2694 433-408
26 Puloma II 322694-2726 408-376
27Siva Sri Satakarni72726-2733376-369
28Sivaskanda Satakarni72733-2740369-362
29Yajna Sri Satakarni192740-2759362-343
30Vijaya Sri Satakarni62759-2765343-337
31Chandra Sri Satakarni32765-2768337-334
32Puloma III (minor)72768-2775334-327

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.

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