ray, archeology of sea faring in ancient south asia

7/27/2019 Ray, Archeology of Sea Faring in Ancient South Asia

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Cambridge World Archaeology

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFARINGIN ANCIENT SOUTH ASIA

HIMANSHU P RAB H A RA Y


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PUBL IS HED BY THE PRE SS SY NDI CAT E OF TH E UNIVERSITY OF CAMBR I DGEThe Pitt Building. Trw:npingron Srrcet, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United KingdomC AMBRID GE UNI V ER SI TY PRESSThe Edinburgh Building. Olmbridge, CB2 2RU, UK40 West 20th Street, New Yo rk, NY 10011-4211 , USA477 Williamsto"'-n Road, Port Melbourne, VlC 3207, AustraliaRuiz de Alarc6n 13, 28014 Madrid, SpainDock House, The Waterlront, Cape Town 8001, South Africahttp:/ w\\'W.eambridge.org0 Hilll3nshu Prabha Ray 2003This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exceptionand to the provisions of relevant coUective licensing agreementS,no reproduction of any part lll3Y take place withoutthe written permission of Cambridge Universiry Press.First published 2003Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, CambridgeType/ace Trump Medieval 10/ 13 pt. System 0TEX2 (TB IA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN 0 52 1 80455 8 hardbackISBN 0 521 01109 4 paperback

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136 CONSOLIDATION OF THE POLITICAL STRUCTURESatavahanas were contemporaries of both Kharavela and Rudradaman in thewestern Deccan and ruled between the first century BCE and third century CEover a diverse region marked by the presence of localised political groups inAndhra and Kamataka.9

6.3 Sa tavahanas and their successorsA primary difference that sets a majority of the inscriptions of the Satavahanasapart from those of the Mauryas is their location inside Buddhist monasticcomplexes, rather than in their vicinity (Ray 1986: Appendix ll). Secondly, theobjective of these inscriptions was no longer the propagation of dhamma butthe recording of donations of money, land and villages to the Sangha. Thusonly rarely do these present the ruler's notions of kingship. A significant shif tis in the find-spots of the inscriptions themselves. They are no longer dispersedacross the subcontinent but are instead localised in specific regions. The inscriptions of the early Satavahanas, for inst.ance, are located at the head ofthree contiguous passes in the Sahyadris, the Thalghat, Nanaghat and Bhorghat(figure 6.2), while those of the Iksvakus are found in Andhra at Nagarjunakondaand Jaggayyapeta.Andhra continues as the locus of subsequent inscriptions, e.g.those of the Visnukundins and the early Pallavas. But perhaps the most significant difference between the Mauryas and the Satavahanas is in the varied formsthat their legacy took. While Asoka was elevated as a dharnma-raja in the Palitradition and his role emulatedby several Sri Lankan rulers, the Satavahanas figure prominently in Prakrit writings of the Jainas. In fact, the Giitbiisattasai, acollection of verses in Prakrit, is traditionally attributed to King Hala of theSatavahana (Salahana) dynasty, though the date of the text is known to varyfrom the first to the sixth century CE. Not only that, seventh to eighth-centuryJaina texts, both canonical and non-canonical, refer tO the influence of Jainaacaryas on the Satavahana rulers of Paithan (Deo 1999: 88-91).

In contrast, the earliest record of the ruler Kanha of the Satavahana-kulais inscribed on the upper part of the right window of Buddhist vihara XIX atNasik (figure 6.3; Epigrapbia lndica Vlll: no. 22). The vihara appears to be theearliest excavation at the site that came into existence because of the generosity9 Based on lead coins with legc.nds, Gupta has identified several local politics: Kuras in th ePancbaganga bas.n (Kolbapur); Sadakanas around Chitaldurg distriCt; Hastin in the Krishnavalley; and Sadas in the Mabisaka country (Gupta 1990). This is further substantiated by numismatic evidence and the finds of coins of Samagopa, Gobhadra, Sacyabbadra and Drunabhadrafrom Karimnagar district (Parabrabma Sasuy 1978), while nruncs such as Kamvaya and Naranahave been read on some copper coins from Kotalingala (Sasrri 1982: 4). Other groups of chieftainsin the region were perhaps th e mal!dtatbisand the mahatalavaras.ln the pre-SatavabaMievelsat Polakonda, a potin coin was found with the legend 'mahatalavarasa Vijasamikasa Seva Sabba'and th e same legend also occurs on a terracotta seal from Peddabankur(Sastcy 1983: 129). In con

traSt, inscriptional and numismatic data from the western Deccan would suggest the emergenceof market centres along trade routes and that power was held by some form of an urban corporatebody also referred to by th e term nigama (Gupta 1971: 37-40).


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Figure 6.2 Sites of in scriptions in the Dcccan


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138 CONSOLIDATION OF THE POLITICAL STRUCTURE

Figwe 6.3 Fac;:ade of the cave at Nasik (courtesy ASI)of the king. Viharas X and m are two of the other caves at Nasik that bearroyal inscriptions - the former records those of Nahapana, while the latterbears testimony to the re-emergence of the Satavahanas under GautamiputraSatakami. Other monastic establishments which bear records of the rulers arethose of Karle, the inscriptions of Nahapana and also the Satavahanas beinginscribed in the veranda of the caitya at the site (Dehejia 1972: 177-8), Junnar(179-82) and Kanheri (183-4).

It was in the second century CE under the later Satavabanas that inscriptionswere found at Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda in Andhra, outside the confinesof the western Deccan. Perhaps an exception to the association of the epigraphsof the early Satavahanas with monast ic centres is the cave at the head of theNanagbat pass. The cave is roughly hewn and contains no architectural embellishments and hence its affiliation is not evident. At one time, though, itdid contain full-length portrait figures of the Satavabana royal family, now no


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140 CONSOLIDATION OF TH.E POLITICAL STRUCTUR EGotamiputa's honorific titles indicate his sovereignty over a vast territory stretching to the three oceans (savariijaloka-madala -pa tigahita-siisanaiti-samuda-toya-pftaviihana). Of noble appearance (piyadassanaJ, he implemented righteous policies (dhamopiiiita-kara-viniyoga-karaJ, was obedient tohis mother and pursued the three objectives of life (tivaga, ie. dharma, arthaand kama). Though described as the destroyer of the pride of the ksatriyas, hiscommitment to non-violence was total, and hurting life was alien to him, eventowards that of an offending army. In this abjuring of d01;u;Ja or punishment andcommitment to rule of dhamma, Gotaroiputa aligns himself to the Buddhist notion of kingship and against the precepts of the Dharma.Siistras. Also, the kingis not averse to Dharmasastric precepts, since he is described as preventing themixing of varnas or i n i v a t i t a - c a t u v ~ a s a n k a r a and as a unique brahrnana andthe restorer of the glory of the Sa tavahana kula (Epigraphia Indica Vlll: 60-5).

This trend of recording donations at monastic sites to both the brahmanas andthe Buddhists is continued under the Iksvakus in Andhra in the third-fourthcenturies CE.12 The caitya at Nagarjunakonda received grants from the royalfamily and seventeen records are found inscribed on stone ayaka pillars, a rowof five ayaka pillars being located in the cardinal directions around the Buddhistcaitya. Several epigraphs of Virapurusadatta and mahatalavari Camtisiri extolthe founder of the dynasty, Vasisthiputra Iksvaku Camtamula, as the performerof sacrifices such as the agoihotra, a g n i ~ ! o m a , viiiapeya and asvamedha andone who donated generously at them (Sircar 1965/1993: 228-37i EpigraphiaIndica XX: 18). In a significant departure, for the first time in peninsularIndia, inscriptions are found on free-standing memorial pillars in Hindu temples, in what can be best described as an amalgamation of the earlier traditionof worship of the hero with Hindu religious precepts.

The earliest evidence for memorial pillars comes from two separate regionsof the subcontinent, i.e. Kutch and Andhra, dated around the second centuryCE.13 In Andhra, the memorial pillars are referred to as chhiiyii-stambhas andseveral of these free-standing greenish white limestone pillars were found atthe site of Nagarjunakonda in the Krishna valley and are associated with theruling dynasty of the lksvakus.14 They bear inscriptions honouring the kingsand queens, chieftains and generals, religious personages, foreman of artisans1512 lksvaku inscriptions have been found from Nagarjunakonda (EpigTophia lndica XX, XXI, XXIX,XXX111, XXXIV, XXXV), Jaggayyapeta, Kottampalugu, Gurzala, Rentala (Epigropbia lndicaXXXVII) and Uppugundu (Epigraphia lndica XXXllll.13 Of the contemporary Sanskrit sources, one that is imponant is the Procimanoraka ofBh353. Thisplay refers to images in the likeness of dead kings being enshrined in a temple-like structure(Krisbnamoorthy 1982:9-16). Five long and narrow slabs ofstoneor pillars standing prominentlyon a billock were removed to Bbuj in 1906. Each of these bad an inscription and referred to thereign of the Saka ruler Rudradaman (Epigrapbio lndica XVI: 19).14 The earliest recorded evidence of a chiiyyii-stombha from Andbra is &om Gangaperuru inCuddapah district (Epigraphia lndica XXXVI: 207).13 The foreman of anisans lavesani), MuJabhuta by name; hailed from a place talled Pavayata Anarrow-necked vase, perhaps a guild mark, bas been incised over the inscription (Epigropbia

Indica XXXV: 16).

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142 CONSOLIDATION OF THE POLITICAL STRUCTUREof recording donations on portable material goes back to the first century CEunder the Satavahanas when these grants were first proclaimed in a nigamasabbii, then wrirten on cloth and finally delivered to the grantee, these earlyspecimens on perishable material have not survived. We do, however, havethe engraved versions on Buddhist monuments. There was a change not onlyin the material used for the inscriptions but also in the nature of the recordsthemselves, though the language used continued to be Prakrit. Thus the sealon the Kondamudi copper plates refers to the king as maharaja Jayavarman ofthe gotra of the Brhatpalayanas, who was a worshipper of Siva (maheivara-piida-parigahitoJ. The record was issued from the vijaya-khandiiviira (victorycamp), the nagara (town) of Kudura and conferred the village Pantura as a brahmadeya in which several brahmanas were granted shares (Epigrapbia IndicaVI:31 ).

This is a pattern followed by a majority of the charters issued between400 and 700 CE, which record donations of villages to both brahmanas andBuddhist monastic centres. The Tummalagudem plate I of Govindavarman I(459 CE) recovered from Nalgonda district of Andhra records grants of villagesto the iiryavara-bhik$u-sangha located at Indrapalanagara in the same district by the chief queen. Govindavarman I is commended for the construction of several temples !deviiyatana), vihara, halls, water-houses, ponds andso on and for generous donations to monks ( b b i k ~ ) brahmanas (dvija), etc.He is described as paramadbiirmil

ray, archeology of sea faring in ancient south asia

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