Satavahanas in Vidarbha: Trade, Inscriptions and Lost Power

Satavahanas in Vidarbha: Trade, Inscriptions and Lost Power

The eastern Deccan plateau witnessed a profound transformation under the Satavahana dynasty, a lineage that held sway over Vidarbha from the late 2nd century BCE through the early 3rd century CE. Nestled between the Wainganga and Wardha rivers, Vidarbha emerged as both a strategic crossroads and a vibrant cultural hub under Satavahana influence.

Its fertile valleys supported agrarian prosperity, while its riverine routes enabled trade that linked the subcontinent with distant Mediterranean markets.

The dynasty’s imprint in Vidarbha endures through inscriptions, coinage, urban settlements, and Buddhist monuments, illuminating a chapter of South Asian history marked by political consolidation, economic expansion, and religious patronage.

Regional Ascendancy and Political Consolidation

Following the decline of Mauryan authority in the Deccan, local powers, including the Mitras and Bhadras controlled Vidarbha’s river basins.

Around the late 2nd century BCE, Simuka inaugurated the Satavahana line, overthrowing the Kanva interlude and extending his rule northward into Vidarbha.

While early rulers maintained a nominal hold on the region, it was under Gautamiputra Satakarni that Satavahana authority in Vidarbha solidified. His victories over the Western Kshatrapas and local chieftains are commemorated in the Nashik prashasti, an inscription praising his campaigns that reclaimed territories including the Wainganga and Wardha valleys.

His mother, Queen Gautami Balashri, commissioned cave inscriptions and coinage at Pauni, signalling royal presence deep within Vidarbha.

After Gautamiputra’s reign, his successor Vasisthiputra Pulumavi continued to issue coins widely used in Vidarbha, bearing his royal title and dynastic symbols that affirmed continuity of governance.

Meanwhile, regional rulers such as Bhagadatta of the Bharasiva clan issued local inscriptions in Prakrit at Pauni, reflecting an accommodation between Satavahana suzerainty and indigenous elites.

Vidarbha thus became an integrated province within the Satavahana polity, governed through a network of local administrators who oversaw agrarian revenue and commercial tolls along Dakshinapatha, the great southern trade artery.

Urban Centres and Archaeological Evidence

Excavations at Pauni, Adam, Mansar, and nearby sites provide a vivid portrait of urban and religious life under Satavahana rule.

In 1969, Nagpur University's investigations at Jagannath Tekri in Pauni unearthed Buddhist stupa railings, votive tablets, and punch-marked coins alongside Roman denarii, underscoring Vidarbha’s role as a conduit for Indo-Roman trade.

The stupa’s brick core dates to the 1st century BCE, with later expansions reflecting ongoing patronage into the 2nd century CE.

Mansar, identified with ancient Pravarapura, served as a regional administrative centre. Here, masonry foundations, circular coin-dies stamped with Gautamiputra’s name, and terracotta and ivory artefacts attest to a thriving economy and state infrastructure. Excavations revealed fortified enclosures and residential quarters organised along planned street grids, illustrating urban planning unprecedented in earlier Vidarbha settlements.

Adam in the Yavatmal district preserves megalithic and early historic layers. The co-occurrence of black-and-red ware, iron implements, and Satavahana-era ceramics suggests a seamless transition from Iron Age societies to the urbanised milieu fostered by Satavahana rule.

Nearby Paunar stupa complex and the Chandala forest caves further bear Brahmi inscriptions of local donors and monks, indicating flourishing monastic communities supported by both royal and mercantile patrons.

Coinage, Economics and Culture

Coinage, Economics and Culture

Satavahana coinage provides indispensable data on political assertion and economic systems in Vidarbha.

Early coins were cast lead or potin units featuring iconography such as the ‘Ujjaini’ symbol, horses, and trees, signifying royal authority and regional identity.

Subsequent punched silver and copper coins bear the names of monarchs, Gautamiputra, Pulumavi, and Satakarni I, inscribed in Brahmi script alongside dynastic emblems.

These coins circulated across Vidarbha’s trade routes, which connected the region to ports on the western coast and to trans-Ganges markets.

The discovery of Roman gold aurei and denarii in Vidarbha hoards points to direct or intermediary trade links with the Mediterranean world. Such imports complemented local exports, cotton textiles, beads, and agricultural produce, transforming Vidarbha into a nexus of long-distance exchange. The presence of merchant guild seals and pottery assemblages bearing Graeco-Roman motifs at Adam and Pauni confirms the integration of foreign traders into the urban economy.

Buddhism flourished in Vidarbha during the Satavahana era, with stupas, viharas, and inscriptions attesting to royal and lay devotion. Pauni’s Jagannath Tekri stupa, the Pauni plateau caves, and the Mandhal rock-cut cave feature dedicatory inscriptions by local donors in Prakrit.

These monuments display decorative motifs, lotus medallions, chaitya-arch reliefs, and stupika railings, that blend indigenous styles with influences from western Indian and Andhra regions.

Meanwhile, Brahmanical faiths coexisted. The Kevala-Narasimha temple inscriptions at Ramtek, dated to the early 5th century CE, yet built upon Satavahana foundations, reveal a syncretic melding of local snake-deity worship with Vedic rituals introduced during Satavahana rule.

This cultural layering underscores Vidarbha’s dynamic religious landscape, shaped initially under Satavahana patronage and later transformed by successor dynasties.

By the early 3rd century CE, Satavahana unity waned as internal strife and external pressures from Saka satraps fractured their domain. In Vidarbha, coin hoards abruptly cease, and archaeological strata show signs of reduced imperial investment. Local chieftains and the rising Vakataka dynasty gradually assumed control, marking the end of four centuries of Satavahana influence in the region. Nevertheless, the infrastructural, economic, and cultural foundations they laid endured, shaping Vidarbha’s historical trajectory well into the medieval era.

References

• Deshpande, M. N. (1969). Excavations at Jagannath Tekri, Pauni. Nagpur University Archaeological Series.

• Deotare, B. (2005). Discovery of structural stupa at Bhon, District Buldhana, Maharashtra. Puratattva, (Pravarpur Special), 1–16.

• MintageWorld. (2019). Getting to know Satavahana coins – Symbols and motifs. Retrieved from https://www.mintageworld.com/blog/satavahana-coins-symbols-motifs/

• Mirashi, V. V. (1986). New light on Deotek inscriptions. In Studies in Indology I (pp. 125–134). Purva Prakashan.

• Moorti, R. (1994). Megalithic Culture in Vidarbha: Studies and Ideas. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 2, 720–741.

• Sawant, R. (2023). Visualising region in history: Analytical study of evolution of Vidarbha as a region. Athena: Journal of Cultural Studies, VII, 111–113.