Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘rule of the Sadas’ of the study on Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology, including museum exhibitions of the major archeological antiquities. These pages show how the Buddhist establishment of Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) survived from 4th century BCE to 14th century CE. It includes references and translations of episodes of Buddha’s life drawn from the Avadanas and Jatakas which are illustrated in Amaravati art.
The rule of the Sadas
We do not get information of any ruling house after the fall of the Mauryas in the region and before the advent of the Sadas in the late 1st century B.C.E. However, some inscriptions and coins of the region provide the names of few local rulers reigning during 2nd-1st Century B.C.E. A granite upright contains an inscription of Kumāra Avatakama and another inscription on a limestone coping to Rājā Kumāriya Sammaliya in early Brāhmī characters of 2nd-1st Century B.C.E[1]. They probably ruled the area when the central administration collapsed[2].
The inscription of Rājā Kumāriya Sammaliya is as follows:-
Text:-
Rājā Kumāriya Samaliya parivesakānam unhisam[3].
Translation:-
Donation of a coping stone along with decoration by Rājā Kumāriya Samaliya.
Amarāvatī (Dharaṇikoṭa) identified with the ancient city of Śrī Dhānyakaṭaka retained its primal position during the time of the Sadas. The uninscribed and inscribed copper and lead coins of Sadas in late 1st Century B.C.E are found in the region. The Sadas shifted their capital from Kaliṅganagara to Dhānyakaṭaka[4]. Coins of Aśoka Sada are found from Dharaṇikoṭa. Śivamaka Sada, the son and successor of Aśoka Sada held his control over Amarāvatī -Dharaṇikoṭa.
An inscription from Amarāvatī makes reference of Śivamaka Sada.
Text:-
rāno Siri Sivamaka Sadasa Pāniya gharika sa pa[5] …..
Translation:-
……of the superintendent of water house of king Siri Śivamaka Sada. (Pl 31a)
However, the paleographic character of the record reveals close resemblance to those of Vāsishṭhīputra Pulumāvi. Hence some scholars consider Śivamaka Sada as Śiva Skaṇḍa Sātakarṇi[6]. His name is inscribed on a coping carved with the story of Kavikumāra donated by superintendent of water houses.
During the rule of the Sadas, Dhānyakaṭaka enjoyed a superior status in political, economic and religious sphere and this pre-eminence continued during the time of the later Sātavāhanas.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Prasad P.R.K, 1991, ‘Pre -Sātavāhana Phase at Amarāvatī-Dharaṇikoṭa’, Op.cit, p 331.
[2]:
Subrahmanyam B, 2005, Jatakas in South Indian Art, Delhi, p 7.
[4]:
Prasad P.R.K, 1991, ‘Pre-Sātavāhana Phase at Amarāvatī-Dharaṇikoṭa’, Op.cit, p 333.
[5]:
Sivaramamurti C, 1956, Amarāvatī Sculpture in the Madras Government Museum, Madras, No. 72, p 291. Luders H, 1912, Op.cit, No. 1279, p 152.
[6]:
Dehejia Vidya, 1997, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art Visual Narratives of India, New Delhi, p 171.