Satavahana Empire

  General Description   The Satavahanas were the first Deccan-based dynasty to rule over an empire encompassing both southern and northern India, stretching from the Deccan Plateau in the south to Madhya Pradesh in the north, and touching both the western and eastern coasts. ^[1] According to the most widely accepted hypothesis, based on numismatic, archaeological and textual evidence, this polity existed between the beginning of the 1st century BCE and the end of the 2nd century CE, though many scholars are reluctant to assign absolute dates to specific kings. ^[2]
Notable rulers include Gautamiputra Satakarani, Vasistiputra, Pulamavi, and Yajnasri. Under their governance, Indian commerce with the Western world intensified and there was a florescence of the arts, particularly in the field of Buddhist iconography. ^[1] However, records are scanty when it comes to the empire’s middle century, which suggests that the Satavahana polity went through two phases of power and prosperity, with an intervening period of regionalization, and perhaps even collapse. ^[2]
Population and political organization
The Satavahana polity was ruled by an emperor. ^[3] He was aided, at court, by a number of officials, including attendants and advisors, the mahasenapati (army commander), the superintendent of stores, the treasurer, officials tasked with drafting and registering his documents, and officials tasked with supervising feudal lords. ^{[3] [4]} The provinces were governed by feudal lords who were related by blood to the royal family, by lords who struck coins in their own name (perhaps indicating some degree of autonomy from the Satavahanas themselves), and by military commanders in charge of outlying centres. ^[3] The fact that the empire likely suffered some sort of collapse in its middle period suggests that it may have been overly dependent on the abilities of individual rulers rather than a well-designed administrative structure. ^[2]
No population estimates for this period could be found in the specialist literature.

[1]: (Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1978, 25-26) H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan. 1978. A History of Karnataka. New Delhi: S. Chand.

[2]: (Sinopoli 2001, 166) Carla Sinopoli. 2001. ’On the Edge of Empire: Form and Substance in the Satavahana Dynasty’, in Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History, edited by Susan Alcock, Terence D’Altroy, Kathleen D. Morrison and Carla Sinopoli, 155-78. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[3]: (Kamath 1980, 25) Suryanatha Kamath. 1980. A Concise History of Karnataka. Bangalore: Archana Prakashana.

[4]: (Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1978, 32-33) H. V. Sreenivasa Murthy and R. Ramakrishnan. 1978. A History of Karnataka. New Delhi: S. Chand.