Yajna Sri Satakarni, 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 (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...
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 , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin from the ...
(the
Western Satraps
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi: , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India (extending from Saurashtra in the south and Malwa in the east, covering moder ...
) under
Vashishtiputra Satakarni. 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, in cave No.81, and in the Chaitya cave No.3.
In
Nasik Caves
The Trirashmi Caves, or Nashik Caves or Pandavleni is a holy Buddhist and Jain site and is located about 8 km south of the centre of Nashik (or Nasik), Maharashtra, India. Most of the caves are Viharas except for Cave 18 which is a Chai ...
, 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, son of
Gotami, after having been started by the ascetic Bopaki.
[Epigraphia Indic]
p.93 Inscription No.22
/ref>Nasik
Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari River, Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai.
Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sit ...
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
In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...
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