A reference to the S%u0101tav%u0101hanas by the Greek traveller Megasthenes:
"Next come the Andarae(today's Andhra), a still more powerful race, which possesses numerous villages, and thirty towns defended by walls and towers, and which supplies its king with an army of 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 elephants."
RE:A friend here says satavahanas are marathi people
by Aditya Phadnis on Jan 05, 2008 09:24 PM Permalink
I think I am in with the majority of people who read your post and hardly understood anything.!!!!!!
RE:A friend here says satavahanas are marathi people
by Dakshin on Jan 05, 2008 09:26 PM Permalink
Ok, i will make you understand,
The Satavahanas are the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni, a practice derived from that of the Western Satraps he defeated, itself originating with the Indo-Greek kings to the northwest.
Satavahana coins give unique indications as to their chronology, language, and even facial features (curly hair, long ears and strong lips). They issued mainly lead and copper coins; their portrait-style silver coins were usually struck over coins of the Western Kshatrapa kings.
The coin legends of the Satavahanas, in all areas and all periods, used a Prakrit dialect without exception. Some reverse coin legends are in a Dravidian language/Proto-Telugu, which seems to have been in use in their heartland abutting the Kistna, probably Amaravati, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh.[13]
Their coins also display various traditional symbols, such as elephants, lions, horses and chaityas (stupas), as well as the "Ujjain symbol", a cross with four circles at the end. The legendary Ujjayini emperor Vikramditiya on whose name the Vikram Samvat is initiated might be Satakarni II a Satavahana emperor as the Ujjayini symbol also appeared on the Satavahana coins.
