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c. 1st century BCE - 2nd century CEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Satavahanas Build a Naval Power in the Deccan

A dynasty centered on the Deccan plateau fights off invaders from the northwest and projects naval power along both coasts

On the timeline · around c. 1st century BCE - 2nd century CE · The Kushan and Satavahana AgeThe Maurya EmpireThe Kushan and Satavahana AgeThe Satavahanas Build a Naval Power in the Deccan200 BCE150 BCE100 BCE50 BCE1 CE50 CE100 CE

Quick facts

Dynasty span
c. 1st century BCE - 2nd century CE
Key ruler
Gautamiputra Shatakarni, defeated the Western Kshatrapas
Naval evidence
Lead ship coin of Vashishthiputra Sri Pulumavi, British Museum
Region
Deccan plateau, south-central India

What happened

The Satavahana dynasty controlled the Deccan plateau in south-central India from roughly the first century BCE to the second century CE, filling much of the political space left by the Mauryan collapse in the south. Under Gautamiputra Shatakarni, who reigned in the early second century CE, the Satavahanas defeated the Western Kshatrapas, a line of Shaka (Indo-Scythian) rulers, and in doing so gained direct access to the commercially valuable seaports of India's western coast. His successor Yajnashri Shatakarni extended Satavahana naval reach further, using the dynasty's navy to subdue seafaring peoples along the eastern coast as well. A lead coin issued under king Vashishthiputra Sri Pulumavi, held today in the British Museum, depicts a two-masted ship, direct numismatic evidence of the maritime power the Satavahanas built and used to connect Deccan trade networks to the wider Indian Ocean.

Why it matters

The Satavahanas kept the Deccan integrated into subcontinental and Indian Ocean trade networks during a period when northern India was fragmented among Shunga, Indo-Greek, and later Kushan rule, and their patronage helped fund the rock-cut Buddhist cave monasteries at sites like Ajanta. Their naval capability on both coasts is some of the earliest solid evidence of organized Indian sea power projected for military rather than purely commercial ends.

How we know

Satavahana military and naval activity is documented through inscriptions, including those commissioned by Gautamiputra Shatakarni's mother, and through surviving coinage, including the ship-motif lead coins that directly depict Satavahana maritime technology.

Sources

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