Gautamiputra Satakarni is called ‘Ekabrahmana”which means either
‘unrivalled Brahmin’ or ‘the only protector of the Brahmins’.
Early Satavahanas
The First ruler of the Satavahana dynasty, Simuka, was the immediate
successor of Asoka. He built many Buddhist and Jaina temples apparently to
ingratiate these powerful communities.
    Simuka’s successor was his younger brother Kanha (Krishna) who
extended the kingdom up to Nasik in the west. The third king Sri Satakarni I
was Simuka’s son. He conquered western Malwa, Anupa (the Narmada
Valley) and Vidarbha (Berar). He performed some Vedic sacrifices including
asvamedha and rajasuya and gave away to officiating priests large sums and
thousands of cows and horses.
    The sixth king of the line was Satakarni II who wrested eastern Malwa
from the Sungas. Madhya Pradesh might have felt the might of his power as a
coin of one of his successors Apilaka has been found in the eastern half of
that state. Satakarni II’s successor was Lambodara who was followed by his
son Apilaka, the eighth king of the line. From Apilaka to Hala, the
seventeenth king of the line, is a period of unrelieved darkness with only
cryptic references to Kuntala-Satakarni. Hala’s reign of five years was a
period of great prosperity. Hala himself composed Gathasaptasati (also
called the Sattasi), an anthology of 700 erotic verses in Maharashtri or
Paisachi Prakrit.
    The Satavahanas suffered a temporary eclipse when the foreigners
(western Saka satraps) invaded the empire from all directions. This was also
the period of Kushana advance in northern India. The four immediate
successors of Hala ruled in quick succession for a brief period of 12 years, an
indication that presaged the troubled times. Nahapana, the greatest ruler of
the western satraps was in possession of Gujarat, Kathiawar. northern
Maharashtra, as well as some portions of southern Maharashtra.
Later Satavahanas
After half a century of political eclipse the Satavahana power suddenly leapt
into prominence under the reign     of Gautamiputra Satakarni, the greatest of