As a Conqueror:
Gautamiputra Satakarni, who ascended the throne in 106 AD, was the greatest of the Satavahana kings. He restored the fallen prestige of the Satavahana Empire.
Not only had that, he, by defeating Nahapana, the Saka king, further extended the territorial boundary of the Satavahana Empire.
The inscriptions describe Gautamiputra as the slayer of the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas, obviously meaning that the foreign aggressors had to suffer defeat at his hands.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
As a result of his conquests Satavahana Empire under him had extended from Malwa in the north to the river Krishna in the south, and from Berar in the east to Konkan in the west.
b. As an Administrator:
The Satavahanas generally followed the system of administration that the Mauryas had adopted’ Gautamiputra Satakarni was no exception to this.
He maintains strict military control over the areas that he had conquered. This was necessary as the local population was not reconciled to the new Satavahana rule.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
For efficient administration the empire was divide into small administrative units.
c. As a Social Reformer:
Gautamiputra Satakarni is al remembered as a social reformer. The traditional Indian social order based on varna, that had been threatened by the influx of foreign peoples, was reestablished by Gautamiputra Satakarni.
Prohibit orders were issued on the intermixing of people of different social orders. Despite this conservative attitude of Gautamiputra Satakai the free mixing between the Sakas and the Satavahanas could hard be checked.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
However, Gautamiputra Satakarni was a man of great virtues. He levied taxes following a uniform policy based on the abilities of the peasants.
d. The Decline of the Satavahanas:
After the death of Gautamiputra Satakarni in 130 AD., his son and successor Vasistiputra Pulamayi came upon the Satavahana throne.
He maintained the territories inherited from his father intact. But towards the end of his reign an intense struggle for power between the Sakas and the Satavahanas weakened the latter.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The decline that had set in ultimately ended with the collapse of the Satavahanas in the 3rd century AD.