Nanaghat inscription

Also called: Naneghat inscription · Topic: Post-Mauryan India: Shungas to Kushanas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"

Meaning

The Naneghat (Nanaghat) inscription is a Brahmi record in a cave on the Naneghat pass near Pune. It is linked to a Satavahana widow queen, usually identified as Naganika (also spelt Nayanika). It records her Vedic sacrifices, including the ashvamedha, the gifts she gave to priests, and the names of early Satavahana kings. It matters because it shows how a new Deccan dynasty used Vedic ritual and trade wealth to claim high status. It also contains some of the earliest numerals in India whose shapes look like our modern digits.

Explanation

Background: a pass, a toll and a dynasty

• The Satavahanas (also called the "Andhras" in old texts) ruled large parts of the Deccan from the 2nd century BCE. They first rose in the north-western Deccan. [2]
• The Naneghat pass cuts through the Western Ghats near Pune. It was a major trade route between the coast and the Deccan plateau.
• The name means "coin pass". This points to its main use: collecting tolls from traders.
• The caves had two uses at once:
• a toll-collection point for the state

• a rest-house where traders and their goods could stop.

• Why trade mattered: Class 12 NCERT says kings such as the Satavahanas and the Shakas drew revenue from long-distance trade. Naneghat is a place where we can see this happening.

What the inscription says

• Vedic sacrifices. It records that the widow queen performed Vedic rituals, including the ashvamedha (horse sacrifice). Only a king claiming to be overlord of other rulers could perform the ashvamedha.

• Many historians read the list as sacrifices of the whole royal house, including those of her late husband, Satakarni I.

• Dana (religious gifts). It lists what was given to priests: land, cows, horses, elephants and silver coins.

• Vedic gods. It names Vedic gods, which shows the court's support for Brahmanical religion.
• Royal names. Early Satavahana kings such as Simuka, Krishna (Kanha) and Satakarni I are named in cave inscriptions at Naneghat, Nashik, Karli and Kanheri. [2]
• Script and numerals.
• The script is Brahmi, and the language is a Prakrit.
• The numerals have shapes that look like our modern digits. NCERT cites this as evidence that modern numerals began in India.
• These are an early form. They have no zero and no place value (the system where a digit's position gives its value) yet.

Why a queen made the record

• A widow acting for the dynasty. The queen issued the record in her own name. This shows that royal women could hold real public and religious authority.
• Mothers mattered in this dynasty. Satavahana princes used metronymics (names formed from the mother's name), as in Gautamiputra Satakarni, "son of Gautami".
• This does not prove that mothers ruled.
• It shows that the mother's family line raised a prince's status.

Results and meaning

• Rank made public. Rulers of unclear or low social origin claimed high status once they held power (Class 12 NCERT). The ashvamedha recorded at Naneghat is a clear example.
• Trade paid for the ritual. Tolls at passes like Naneghat brought in cash. That cash paid for costly sacrifices and gifts.
• A key source for early Satavahana history. It confirms the names of the first kings and the dynasty's early power in the western Deccan.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: early Satavahana rule, probably the 1st century BCE. The exact date is debated. The dynasty itself is dated c. 2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE (Class 12 NCERT).
• Dynasty and people: the Satavahanas. The key people are the widow queen (usually identified as Naganika) and the early kings Simuka, Krishna and Satakarni I. [2]
• Place: the Naneghat caves on the Naneghat pass in the Western Ghats, near Pune, Maharashtra.
• Evidence:
• the cave inscription itself, in Brahmi, with early numerals
• the use of the caves as a toll post and rest-house, which shows their link to trade

• other Satavahana cave inscriptions at Nashik, Karli and Kanheri, which name the same early kings. [2]

• NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12 Part 1, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns".

Don't confuse with

• Nashik (Pandulena) inscription of Gautami Balashri: this was issued by a later queen mother to praise her son Gautamiputra Satakarni. It goes with her gift of Cave 3 to Buddhist monks. [3] Naneghat is earlier, is linked to a widow queen, and records Vedic sacrifices and gifts to priests.
• Karla (Karli) chaitya: this is a Buddhist prayer hall about 30 miles north-west of Pune. It is apsidal (rounded at one end) and has teak ribs in its vault. [5] Naneghat is a toll-post cave, known for its inscription, not for a chaitya.
• Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela: this is a Jaina king's record from Kalinga (Odisha), in eastern India. Naneghat is a Satavahana record from the western Deccan.
• Gautamiputra Satakarni: he was the greatest Satavahana king (c. 106–130 CE). [4] He is not the king of the Naneghat record, which belongs to the early phase of the dynasty (Satakarni I).

Prelims Hooks

• Naneghat caves are near Pune (Maharashtra). They served as a toll post plus a traders' rest-house. "Naneghat" means "coin pass".
• The inscription records a Satavahana widow queen's ashvamedha and her dana of land, cows, horses, elephants and silver coins.
• Script: Brahmi. It carries early numerals that NCERT cites as evidence that modern numerals began in India. Trap: they do not yet have a zero.
• The early kings Simuka, Krishna and Satakarni I are named in inscriptions at Naneghat, Nashik, Karli and Kanheri. [2]
• Trap: the Nashik inscription belongs to Gautami Balashri, not to the Naneghat queen. Nashik Cave 3 was finished in year 19 of Vasishthiputra Pulumavi. [3]

Mains Points

• Trade and ritual worked together. Tolls at Naneghat brought in cash income. That wealth paid for the ashvamedha and the gifts to priests that announced royal rank. This supports the Class 12 NCERT point that rulers of unclear origin used trade wealth to claim high status.
• Legitimacy was performed, not inherited. The ashvamedha at Naneghat, the metronymics, and Gautami Balashri's Nashik inscription all did the same job: they turned power into recognised status.
• This contrasts with Mauryan rule, where Ashoka based his legitimacy on dhamma (a set of moral rules for everyone, whatever their religion).

• The inscription also shows that royal women in the Deccan could act publicly for the dynasty.

• Heritage of Indian science. The numerals at Naneghat are an early step towards the Indian number system, which later added place value and zero. They are useful evidence for any answer on India's contribution to mathematics.

Related concepts

• Satavahana dynasty
• Simuka
• Pratishthana
• Satavahana coins
• Yajna Sri Satakarni
• Satavahana metronymics
• Gautamiputra Satakarni
• Gautami Balashri
• Nashik prashasti
• Vasishthiputra Pulumavi

Read more

• The Satavahanas and the Deccan