Gautami Balashri
Topic: Post-Mauryan India: Shungas to Kushanas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"
Meaning
Gautami Balashri was a powerful Satavahana queen in the Deccan, around the 2nd century CE. She was the mother of King Gautamiputra Satakarni. His name means "son of Gautami", because Satavahana princes were named after their mothers. She gave land to Buddhist monks. She also had an inscription carved at Nashik. Her story shows that royal women in this period could be important patrons and powerful public figures.
Example
Her inscription at the Nashik caves in Maharashtra praises her son as the one who destroyed the Shakas, Yavanas (Greeks) and Pahlavas (Parthians). It also records her gift of a cave to Buddhist monks.
Don't confuse with
- Naneghat widow queen: another Satavahana queen. Her Naneghat inscription near Pune records Vedic rituals like the ashvamedha. Gautami Balashri's inscription is at Nashik.
Related concepts
- Satavahana dynasty
- Simuka
- Pratishthana
- Satavahana coins
- Yajna Sri Satakarni
- Nanaghat inscription
- Satavahana metronymics
- Gautamiputra Satakarni
- Nashik prashasti
- Vasishthiputra Pulumavi