Contribution of Coins to Satavahana History

D. Raja Reddy

Satavahana was one of the most illustrious dynasties of ancient

India but they have been the subject of controversies which have
not yet abated. Several questions have been raised concerning them.
Firstly who were the Satavahanas? Were they really Andhras as
represented by the Puranas but nowhere in their records were the
Satavahanas called Andhras. In fact, contemporary inscriptions like
Hathigumpa and coins referred to them as Satavahanas but not as
Andhras. Secondly when did their rule begin? Was it 230 B.C. or in
the third quarter of the first century B.C. However there is agree-
ment as to when their rule ended which was around 230 A.D. Thirdly
how long their rule lasted. Was it 456 to 460 years or for a much
shorter period? Lastly where did their rule begin? Was it coastal
Andhra, Vidarba, Western Maharashtra or in Telangana region.

The three major source materials available for the study of

Satavahana history are the literary works, inscriptions and coins of
that period. Considering the long duration of the Satavahana rule it
may be said that the source materials of all the three types which
are available are, indeed, meager. Literary works of Satavahana
era only help in gaining a glimpse of the social, religious and eco-
nomic aspects of life of people of those times but are not very help-
ful to historical documentation. There are 30 odd inscriptions of the
Satavahana period available. About a third of them are official, but
the majority of these have been issued by private individuals and
since they are mostly religious in nature their usefulness is limited.
The coin finds are of three types namely hoards, strays and site
finds. Obviously the coins found in excavations will be more useful
than the other finds, since stratigraphic evidence and dating of as-
sociated material help in dating the coins. Hence a careful study of
numismatic material already available and that which is going to be
found in future would be of great value and importance to the writ-
ing of Satavahana history. The discovery of Kotalingala coins in
1978 was a significant event in Andhra numismatics 1. The variety
of coins unearthed at this site was staggering and they included
punch marked, uninscribed and inscribed coins. The inscribed coins
belonged to Pre- Satavahana and early Satavahana rulers namely
Gobada, Narana, Kamvayasa, Sirivayasa, Samagopa, Chimuka,
Satasa and Satakarni. There were satrap coins of Mahatalarvara,
Mahasenapati and Sebaka at this site. No post Satavahana coins
were found at Kotalingala. Following is a description of the contri-
bution of coins to Satavahana history.

Satavahanas and Andhras are one and the same:

|The names and list of kings as provided in the Puranas is similar
to the names of Satavahana kings found in inscriptions and coins
and hence they are considered as one and the same.

Correct name of the first king of Satavahana dynasty:

Chimuka was the correct name of this king who was variously called
in the Puranas as Sisuka, Sindhuka, Chhismaka, Sudraka and
Balihita. Naneghat inscription mentions Simuka as Rano Simuka
Satavahana of Satavahana kula. This inscription was incised few
decades after his rule whereas coins were issued during kings rule
and hence the Chimuka name is correct one (Fig.1). Puranas were
written centuries after the events have taken place and hence many
inaccuracies crept into them.

Fig. 1: Two coins of chimuka satavahana. The legend in the left

sided coin (Rano) Chimuka Sata (Vahana). Legend on the right
side coin Rano Chimuka Siri Satavaha (na).
Who was king Satavahana of coins:
Five ‘puranas’ namely Matsya, Vayu, Visnu, Brahmanda and
Bhagavata mention genealogy and chronology of the Satavahana
kings. The names, number and the years of rule of kings listed in
these puranas, vary. Nevertheless, all are consistent that there was
no king by the name Satavahana or Sadavahana even though all
the kings are said to belong to ‘Satavahana ‘ kula’. Satavahana and
Chimuka of the coins are one and the same 2. There are three
kinds of Chimuka coins which are found at Kotalingala (Fig.2). There
are coins with the personal name of the king as ‘Siri Chimuka’.
Second type of coins names him as ‘Siri Chimuka Satavahana’.
Third types of coins simply call him as ‘Siri Satavahana’. All of these
coins are of elephant type and their reverses contain ‘Ujjain’ sym-
bol. It appears that Chimuka issued coins in his personal name in
the beginning of his rule and later called himself as Satavahana
and surprisingly no other king of this dynasty called himself as
Satavahana.

Fig. 2: Left sided coin legend Rano Chimuka. Right sided coin (Ra)
no Satavaha (na).
Kotalingala in Telangana was the beginning of the rule of
Satavahanas:
Though Satavahana coins were found from 1830 onwards the coins
of the first ruler Chimuka were only found only at Kotalingala in
Telangana. It may be worth recalling that in coastal Andhra region
no coins of early rulers of Satavahana dynasty were ever found.
Early ruler’s coins of Satavahana dynasty were found in Telangana
at various Satavahana sites such as Peddabunkur, Dhulikatta and
Kondapur besides Kotalingala thereby confirming that Satavahanas
were Andhras and their rule began in Telangana. Rama Rao stud-
ied 38512 Satavahana coins in Hyderabad museum and 6000 such
coins in Madras museum and opined that Satavahana rule com-
menced in Telangana 3. Rapson reported that the Satavahana coins
found in coastal Andhra belonged to those of later Satavahana kings
beginning with Gautamiputra Satakarni 4. It is well known that the
capital of later rulers of this dynasty was Amaravati or Dhanakataka
in Andhra region.

Fig. 3: Gobada coin on the left side and Samagopa coin on the
right side.

Coins of unknown pre-Satavahana kings from Kotalingala:

Coins of pre-Satavahana kings namely Gobada, Narana,
Kamvayasa, Sirivayasa and Samagopa have been found at
Kotalingala. There was literary odd inscriptional evidence of exist-
ence of these kings and coins unearthed these kings. Samagopa
coins were countermarked by ‘Ujjain’ symbol thereby proving that
Chimuka succeeded Samagopa at Kotalingala. Similarly coins of
many unknown kings of the Satavahana family such as those of
Rudra, Karna, kumba and Kausikaputra were found who were not
listed in literary sources.
Brahmi script of Satavahana silver coins:
Gautamiputra Satakarni and his successors issued Satavahana
silver portrait coins. The legends of these coins were written in
Brahmi script of those times. Obverse language was Prakrit and
the reverse was in Dravidian language though there is some con-
troversy whether the language is ancient Tamil or Telugu. Silver
portrait coins of Satavahanas were considered rare in earlier years
but they are being found in good numbers in recent times. A close
study of these bilingual coins reveals that some of the same words
on these coins are written differently on two sides. It is well known
that script of majority of Indian languages evolved from Brahmi slowly
over the centuries. The script noted on these Satavahana silver
portrait coins reveals that the changes in the alphabets for writing
Prakrit and Dravidian languages started already. Following is a de-
scription of two Satavahana portrait coins 6.

Description of the two coins:

Vasistiputra Pulumavi
Coin 1 (Fig .4): No details of the size and weight are possible since
the coin has been made into an ornament. Metal= Silver;
shape= Round. Obverse: Portrait of the king facing right with orna-
ments. Legend starting around 2’clock: Vasithaputasa Siri
Pudumavisa Rano.Reverse: six arched hill with a crescent at the
top to the right and an Ujjain symbol with crescent at the top. River
sign below. Sun symbol in the center at the top. Legend starts
roughly at 12’oclock: Arhanasha Vahitti Makanasha Tiru
Pudumavisha.

Fig: 4: Silver portrait coin of Vasistiputra Pulumavi

Vasistiputra Vijaya Satakarni

Coin.2 (Fig. 5): Metal= Silver; Shape= Round; Size= 1.5 x 1.75 cms;
Weight= 2.2 gms;
Obverse: Portrait of the king facing right with ornaments. Legend
starts at 3’o clock; Vasitaputa (sa) Vijaya Satakanisa Rano.
Reverse: six arched hill with crescent above it. Ujjain symbol with
sun mark in the center above. Legend starts at 12’o clock
Arahanasha Vahitaputashatiru Vijaya Hatakanisha.

Fig. 5: Silver Ported coin of Vijaya Satakarni

A perusal of the script reveals that similar words are written differ-
ently in two languages namely Prakrit on the obverse and Dravidian
on the reverse. It is well known that all native Indian scripts evolved
from Brahmi. These coins provide a proof that some of the alpha-
bets kept changing by 2nd century AD. It is obvious that the ‘Sha’ is
not used in Prakrit where as ‘sa’ is used.

Metals used for coinage by Satavahanas:

There was three tier system of coinage namely of silver, copper
and lead at Kotalingala. Silver coins were those of imperial variety
belonging to Mauryan and pre- Mauryan dynasties. Silver portrait
coins are known of later Satavahana rulers and lone exception is
Satakarni I. Punch marked were cut and circulated while coins of
baser metals were issued in various denominations. One of the
unique features of Andhra coinage was use of lead for coinage which
lasted for about 1000 years.
Lead is one of the oldest metals known to mankind but seldom has
been used for coinage except by ancient Andhra rulers. It started
with the use of lead for making uninscribed coins and continued till
the time of Vishnukundins. 21529 out of 38512 Satavahana coins
in the cabinets of state museum in Hyderabad are made of lead. All
the Satavahana coins Chennai museum are made of lead. One of
the unique features of ancient Andhra coins was that they used
lead for their coins from the earliest times, which raises two ques-
tions. Why did they prefer lead for coinage and what were the
sources of lead? The singular properties of lead, such as low melt-
ing point of 327* C, ease of casting and fabrication, high density,
acid resistance, chemical stability in air, water and earth probably
made Andhra rulers prefer this metal for coins. Lead has a silvery
appearance when newly cast but oxidizes to dull gray color later.
This and its softness make lead unattractive as a coinage metal.
Next question to be answered is the sources of lead ore."Periplus
of the Erythrean Sea' was the logbook of a Greek in Egypt who
steered his vessel to India stated that lead was imported from the
west in the 1st century AD. This knowledge made Pliny the elder
state that ' India has neither brass nor lead but exchanged precious
stones and pearls for them'. Pliny's statement is not completely
correct since lead artifacts were found in areas of Indus valley
civilization. Kautilya mentioned how to detect lead ores and ancient
Indians knew about lead. It is true that India never produced enough
lead for its needs and it is true of ancient times. Though lead ores
are found in different parts of India, high-grade ores of large depos-
its for commercial production are present in only three areas of our
country. Zawar-Rajpura- Rampura belt in Rajasthan with extension
into adjacent Gujarat, Agnigundala- Bandlamattu-Jangamarajapalli
belt in Kadapa basin and Sarigipalli- Dhumohali area in Orissa.
Some of these like Zawar and Agnigundala have been mined in
ancient times. Chemical analysis of coins and ores especially of
their content of rare earth elements and also their content of lead
isotopes will prove conclusively which ores were used for making
which coins. Lead has four stable isotopes namely 204 Pb, 206
Pb, 207 Pb and 208 Pb and lead isotope ratios of four known lead
ore sites are listed in table-I. The amount of each isotope that is
present in a particular ore is determined when it is formed which
gives its own isotopic signature. During environmental industrial
processes this isotopic ratio remains unchanged.
Table: I
Lead has Four Stable Isotopes
Pb - 204 = 1.48%
Pb - 206 = 23.6%
Pb - 207 = 22.6%
Pb - 208 = 52.3%
More than 25 radio active isotopes have been reported

This signature is preserved which helps in detecting ores from

which coins were made. Hence isotope structure is sort of a fin-
gerprint, which does not vary with the methods used for purifying
the ore and also processes involved in minting of coins. This is
evident from the lead isotope analysis of Agnigundala lead ore and
two samples of lead concentrate prepared over a long period
(Table-II). Same is true of the content of rare earth elements which
number fourteen and are not affected by contamination in ores and
Table: II
Lead Isotope Analysis of Agnigundala Lead Ore and Concentrate
A B C
204/207 0.077 0.0769 0.0773
208/207 2.185 2.197 2.204
206/207 1.065 1.065 1.069
Total 3.327 3.3389 3.3503
Mean 1.109 1.112967 1.116767
S.D 1.054689 1.060864 1.064154
A=Lead Ore B=Lead Concentrete C=Lead Concentrate

Table: III
coins and this study also confirmed that Anantpur find of uninscribed
coins were made from Jangamarajapalli ore. The chemical analy-
sis of Satavahana copper coins are listed in table-III. The coper
content of these coins varied greatly.

Naganika coin (Fig .6)

Naganika was the wife of Satakarni I who performed ‘asvameda’
twice and special coins were issued on that occasion. Naneghat
inscription reveals that Naganika was the wife of Satakarni. Such a
coin is described below. Only three other coins of Naganika are
known7.

Fig. 6

X-Ray diffraction studies of Satavahana coins:

Chemical analysis of the coins by atomic absorption spectrometry
or by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry which are
destructive and give the quantitative analysis of the different metals
in the coins. X-Ray diffraction study of coins is a qualitative test
which gives the chemical finger print of the coins. X-Ray diffraction
study of Satavahana copper and lead coins are presented in graphs
I-VI. It appears that 4 of the coper coins were made from different
ores where as the two lead coins have similar chemical composi-
tion and hence they could have been made similar ore. X-Ray
diffreaction study of two lead ores are presented both are galena
but there is diffence in their chemical composition. (Graph VII & VIII)
 Graph I: Samagopa Copper Coin

Graph II: Satakarni Copper Coin

Graph III: Satavahana Copper Coin

Graph IV: Satavahana Copper Coin

Graph V: Satavahana Lead Coin

Graph VI: Satavahana Lead Coin

 Graph VII: Jangamarajapalli Lead Ore

Graph VIII: Agnigundala Lead Ore

Conclusion:
Coins contributed a great deal to the study of Satavahana history
by ending some of the controversies raised by the testimony of the
puranas, literary works and inscriptions. They brought to light the
hitherto unknown rulers of the pre-Satavahana period, established
the identity of the founder of the Satavahana dynasty, his correct
name, whom he succeeded and the place where their rule began.
There is a need to study these ancient coins utilizing the latest
scientific tools that are available to find out the sources of ores and
the method of manufacture of those coins.
References:

1. Reddy, DR., Reddy, PSN.: Kotalingala coinage of

Satavahanas and other local rulers-A profile, The numis
matic society of Hyderabad, 1987.

2. Reddy, DR.: Who was king Satavahana of the coins?

Studies in south Indian coins.XIX, p.35-39, 2009.

3. Rama Rao, M.: Satavahana coins the Andhra Pradesh

Government Museum, Museum series No.2, Hyderabad, 1961.

4. Rapson, EJ.: Catalogue of the coins of the Andhra dynasty,

the Western Ksatrapas, the Trikutaka dynasty and the
Bodhi dynasty, Oriental Books reprint corporation,
Delhi, 1975.

5. Reddy, DR., Varma, LB.: Some observations on the Brahmi

script of the Satavahana silver portrait coins. Studies in
south Indian coins. XIX, p.48-53, 2009.

6. Reddy, DR.: An overview of Andhra region coins, Studies

in South Indian coins, XV, p.7-29, 2005.

7. Chinmulgund, PJ.: A unique silver coin of Satakarni and

Naganika. Journal of the numismatic society of India,
XXXVIII, p.6-11, 1976.