Yajna Sri Satakarni (

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...

: 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀬𑀜 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺 ''Siri Yaña Sātakaṇi''), also known as Gautamiputra Yajna Sri, was an Indian ruler of the

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...

dynasty. He was the brother of Vashishtiputra Satakarni. His reign is dated variously: c. 152-181 CE, c. 165-195 CE, c. 170-199 CE or c. 174-203. He is considered to be the last great king of the Satavahana dynasty. He regained some of the territory lost to

Shakas The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who histori ...

(the

Western Satraps The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ...

) under

Vashishtiputra Satakarni Vashishtiputra Sātakarni (Brahmi: 𑀯𑀸𑀲𑀺𑀣𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀁𑀁𑀡𑀺, ''Vāsiṭhiputa Sātakaṃṇi'') was a Satavahana king, who ruled the Deccan region in India, during the 2nd century CE. He was the broth ...

. He defeated the Western Satraps and reconquered their southern regions in western and central India. The Satavahana started to decline after Yajna Sri Satakarni, while the Western Satraps would continue to prosper for another two centuries.

Coinage

File:Gautamiputra Yajna Satakarni.jpg, Coin of Gautamiputra Yajna Satakarni File:Coin of Gautamiputra Sri Yajna Satakarni.jpg, Coin of Gautamiputra Yajna Satakarni

Inscriptions

There are two inscriptions of Yajna Sri Satakarni at

Kanheri The Kanheri Caves (''Kānherī-guhā'' aːnʱeɾiː ɡuɦaː are a group of caves and rock-cut monuments cut into a massive basalt outcrop in the forests of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, on the former island of Salsette in the western outs ...

, in cave No.81, and in the Chaitya cave No.3. In

Nasik Caves The Nasik Caves, or Trirashmi Leni (''Trirashmi'' being the name of the hills in which the caves are located, ''Leni'' being a Marathi word for caves), are a group of 23 caves carved between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, though a ...

, Cave No.20 has one large inscription, claiming that the unfinished cave was completed by the wife of a great general named Bhavagopa, during the 7th year of the rule of king

Sri Yajna Satakarni Yajna Sri Satakarni (Brahmi: 𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺 𑀬𑀜 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺 ''Siri Yaña Sātakaṇi''), also known as Gautamiputra Yajna Sri, was an Indian ruler of the Satavahana dynasty. He was the brother of Vashishtiputra Satakarni. Hi ...

, son of Gotami, after having been started by the ascetic Bopaki.Epigraphia Indic
p.93 Inscription No.22
/ref> These inscriptions show that the Satavahanas were in possession of the areas of

and

Nasik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...

during the reign of Sri Yajna Satakarni. He is also known from his coins, and from the mention of his name in the regnal lists of the

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...

, in which he is said to have ruled 29 years.

References

* "A Catalogue of Indian coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc..", Rapson 2nd-century Indian monarchs

Yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

Book sources

{{citation, title=History and Culture Of Andhra Pradesh: From the Earliest times to the present day, last=Rao, publisher=Sterling Publishers, year=1994, isbn=81-207-1719-8