List of Satavahana kings


The Satavahanas were the rulers of the ancient Indian Satavahana Empire.
They ruled over regions of Deccan, central and southern India between c. mid 3rd century BCE to mid 3rd century CE. Gautamiputra Satakarni is considered the greatest ruler of the Satavahana dynasty. He is known as the "Lord of the West". His mother's Nashik Prashasti inscription praises him for his military victories. Originally the Satavahanas were the followers of Hindu religion.
The Satavahana Empire declined for a number of reasons, after Yajnashri Satakarni, the last powerful ruler, the Satavahanas were succeeded by weak rulers who were unable to manage the vast empire. The loss of centralized power led to the rise of feudatories, finally it led to the division of the empire. The Satavahanas' greatest competitors were the Sakas, who had established power in Western India.

List of rulers

Multiple Puranas contain chronology of Satavahana kings. However, there are inconsistencies among the various Puranas over the number of kings in the dynasty, the names of the kings, and the length of their rule. In addition, some of the kings listed in the Puranas are not attested via archaeological and numismatic evidence. Similarly, there are some kings known from coins and inscriptions, whose names are not found in the Puranic lists.
The reconstructions of the Satavahana kings by historians fall into two categories:
  • According to the first one, 30 Satavahana kings ruled for around 450 years, starting from Simuka's rule immediately after the fall of the Mauryan empire. This view relies heavily on the Puranas, and is now largely discredited.
  • According to the second category of reconstructions, the Satavahana rule started in around first century BCE. The chronologies in this category contain a smaller number of kings, and combine Puranic records with archaeological, numismatic and textual evidence.
Because of uncertainty regarding the establishment date of the Satavahana kingdom, it is difficult to give absolute dates for the reigns of the Satavahana kings. Therefore, many modern scholars do not assign absolute dates to the reigns of the historically attested Satavahana kings, and those who do vary greatly with each other.

List based on Archeology

Himanshu Prabha Ray provides the following chronology, based on archaeological and numismatic evidence:

List based on Puranas

The various Puranas give different lists of the Satavahana rulers. The Matsya Purana states that 30 Satavahana kings ruled for 460 years, but some of its manuscripts name only 19 kings whose reigns add up to 448.5 years. The Vayu Purana also mentions that there were 30 Satavahana kings, but its various manuscripts name only 17, 18, and 19 kings respectively; the reigns add up to 272.5, 300, and 411 years respectively. Many of these kings are not attested by historical evidence. On the other hand, some Satavahana kings attested by numismatic evidence are not mentioned in the Puranas at all.
Different scholars have explained these anomalies in different ways. Scholars such as R. G. Bhandarkar, D. C. Sircar and H. C. Raychaudhuri theorised that the Vayu Purana mentions only the main imperial branch of the dynasty, while the Matsya Purana puts together princes of all its branches.
The names of the Satavahana kings, as mentioned in the various Puranas, are given below. These names vary across different manuscripts of the same Puranas, and some names are missing in some of the manuscripts. The list given below for each Purana contains the most exhaustive version. In the Puranas, Krishna is described as brother of the first king, who overthrew the Kanva king Susharman.
#RulerCoinsEpigraphyBhagavataBrahmandaMatsyaVayuVishnuReign Alternative names and reigns
1Simuka✓✓✓✓✓✓✓23Śiśuka, Sindhuka, Śipraka, Chhismaka
2Kṛṣṇa ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓18
3Śatakarṇi I✓✓✓✓✓✓✓10Śantakarṇa, Mallakarni - 10 or 18 years, Śri Śatakarṇi
4Pūrṇotsanga✓✓✓✓18Paurṇamāsa
5Skandastambhi✓✓18Śrivasvani
6Śatakarṇi II✓✓✓✓✓✓✓56
7Lambodara✓✓✓✓18
8Āpīlaka✓✓✓✓✓✓12Apītaka, Ivīlaka, Hivilaka
9Meghasvāti✓✓✓✓✓18Saudāsa
10Svāti ✓✓✓✓12
11Skandasvāti✓✓7Skandasvati - 28 years
12Mṛgendra-Svātikarṇa✓✓3Mahendra Śatakarṇi
13Kuntala-Svātikarṇa✓✓8
14Svātikarṇa✓✓1
15Pulomavi I✓✓✓✓✓24Pulomavi - 36 years, Aṭamāna, Paṭimavi, Paṭumat, Ābhi - Brahmanda
16Gaurakṛṣṇa✓✓✓✓25Gorakśāśvaśri, Nemi Kṛṣṇa, Arishṭakarman
17Hāla✓✓✓✓5Hāleya ; 1 year in one manuscript
18Mandalaka✓✓✓✓✓5Talaka, Saptaka, Pattalaka, Bhavaka
19Purindrasena✓✓✓✓✓5Purīṣabhiru, Purikaṣena - 21 years, Pravillasena, Pravillasena - 12 years
20Sundara Śatakarṇi✓✓✓✓✓1Sundara Svatikarṇa, Sunandana
21Cakora Śatakarṇi ✓✓✓✓✓0.5
22Śivasvāti✓✓✓✓✓28Svātisena - 1 year, Śivasvāmi
23Gautamīputra✓✓✓✓✓✓✓21Yantramati - 34 years, Gotamīputra ; 24 years according to inscriptions
24Pulomavi II ✓✓✓✓✓28Purīmān, Pulomat, Pulimat. See also: Vashishtiputra Satakarni.
25Śivaśri✓✓✓✓✓✓7Madaśirā
26Śivaskanda Śatakarṇi✓✓✓✓✓✓7
27Yajñaśri✓✓✓✓✓✓✓29Yajñaśri Śatakarṇi - 19 years, Yajñaśri - 9, 20 or 29 years
28Vijaya✓✓✓✓✓✓6
29Candraśri ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓3Candravijaya, Daṇḍaśri, Vada-Śri or Candra-Śri-Śatakarṇi - 10 years
30Pulomavi III✓✓✓✓✓✓✓7Sulomadhi, Pulomavit, Pulomarchis

List of rulers

S. Nagaraju relies on the Puranic lists of 30 kings, and gives the following regnal dates:
S. NoRulerReign
1Simuka
2Krishna
3Satakarni I
4Purnotsanga
5Skandhastambhi
6Satakarni II
7Lambodara
8Apilaka
9Meghasvati
10Svati
11Skandasvati
12Mrigendra Satakarni
13Kunatala Satakarni
14Satakarni III
15Pulumavi I
16Gaura Krishna
17Hāla
18Mandalaka aka Puttalaka or Pulumavi II
19Purindrasena
20Sundara Satakarni
21Chakora Satakarni
22Shivasvati
23Gautamiputra Satkarni
24Vasisthiputra aka Pulumavi III
25Shiva Sri Satakarni
26Shivaskanda Satakarni
27Sri Yajna Satakarni
28Vijaya Satakarni
29Chandra Sri Satakarni
30Pulumavi IV

Mid-Chronology of Satavahana rulers

Apart from the two traditional views there is another kind of analysis pointing out to a "Mid-Chronology", as it was already proposed by Dr. Dehejia and others, and particularly most recently by Shailendra Bhandare, who regards Satavahana's rule extended more than three centuries with the flourish of trans-national trade, urbanism and monumental architecture in South India.
Bhandare regards Simuka to have ruled since around 160–150 BCE and that this date would still fit in well with Pargiter's 460 years to the Satavahanas, as it would fix the end of the dynasty around 300 CE, not too far from the mid-3rd century as consensus approximately lies. Regarding Siri Satakani and his wife Naganika, Bhandhare considers their rule to have been somewhere around 110 +/- 20 BCE.

List by Shailendra Bhandare

Bhandare also suggests the following sequence of reigns, based on his analysis of Satavahana coinage:
  • Gautamiputa Satakani
  • Vasithiputa Siri Pulumayi
  • Vasithiputa Siri Satakani
  • Vasithiputa Siva Siri Pulumayi
  • Vasithiputa Siri Khada Satakani
  • Vasithiputa Vijaya Satakani
  • Siri Yaña Satakani
  • Gotamiputa Siri Cada
  • Gotamiputa Siri Vijaya Satakani

Shailendra Bhandare's edited list by Andrew Ollett

On the other hand, based to a large degree on Shailendra Bhandare's work, with slight corrections, Andrew Ollett mentions the following reigns for the whole Satavahana dynasty:
  • Vasisthiputra Sri Chimuka Satavahana
  • Krsna
  • Sri Satakarni
  • Sakti
  • Mantalaka
  • Sundara
  • Gautamiputra Siva Satakarni
  • Gautamiputra Sri Satakarni
  • Vasisthiputra Sri Pulumavi
  • Vasisthiputra Sri Satakarni
  • Vasisthiputra Sivasri Pulumavi
  • Vasisthiputra Sriskanda Satakarni
  • Gautamiputra Sriyajña Satakarni
  • Gautamiputra Srivijaya Satakarni
  • Vasisthiputra Sricanda Satakarni
  • Mathariputra Sri Pulumavi