The origin of our New Year

Lionel Wijesiri

April 14th this year marks the traditional New Year day for the Sinhala/Tamil people in Sri Lanka. This New Year is associated with the Saka Era, a reckoning which commenced in 78 A.D. Saka calendar is widely adopted by the astrologers for calculative purposes. It is held that the Saka Era was founded by King Shalivahana of Satavahana dynasty reigning in 78 -102 A.D. at Pratishthana, which is modern Paithan on the Godavari River.

This article attempts to analyze briefly the Satavahana dynasty and King Shalivahana.

Satavahana Dynasty

The Satavahanas were a dynasty which ruled from Pune over Southern and Central India starting from around 230 BC. Pune is a city located in Maharashtra and is widely considered the cultural capital of the state. Although there is some controversy about when the dynasty came to an end, the most liberal estimates suggest that it lasted about 450 years, until around 220 AD.

The Satavahanas are credited for establishing peace in the country from the onslaught of foreigners after the decline of the Mauryan empire. The first mention of the Satatvahana dates back to the 8th century BC.

In the Indian historical literature the dynasty is variously referred to as the Satavahanas, Satakarnas and Andhras. There is a reference about the Satavahanas by the Greek traveller Megasthenes, indicating that they possessed 100,000 infantry, 1,000 elephants, and had more than 30 well built fortified towns.

Aside from their military power, their commercialism and naval activity is evidenced by establishment of Indian colonies in Southeast Asia for the first time in history. The Satavahanas started out as feudatories to the Mauryan Empire, and seem to have been under the control of Emperor Ashoka.

According to Rock Edict 13: “Here in the king’s domain among the Yavanas (Greeks), the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods’ instructions in Dhamma.”

The Satavahanas declared independence sometime after the death of King Ashoka (232 BC), as the Maurya Empire started to weaken.

Rulers

Indian historical books list 30 Andhra rulers. Many are known from their coins and inscriptions as well. The historical literature lists suggest that Simukha (221-198 BC) was the first ruler of the dynasty, although on the basis of numismatic evidence some scholars have argued that he was preceded by Satavahana 1 (236-221 BC) after whom the dynasty was named.

After becoming independent from Maurya Empire, Simuka conquered Malwa and a major part of Madhya Pradesh. According to Jain traditions, he grew so wicked towards the end of his rein that he was dethroned and killed. He was succeeded by his younger brother Kanha or Krishna, after whom Simukha’s son Satakarni I (180-170 BC) came to the throne.

He was one of the successful rulers of the dynasty. He wrested western Malwa from the Sungas and clashed with the powerful Kalinga ruler Kharavela. His queen Naganika was a distinguished lady of the Maharathi family, and her Naneghat inscription describes him as “Lord of Dakshinapatha, wielder of the unchecked wheel of Sovereignty”.

The sixth ruler of the dynasty Satakarni II (152-96 BC) had a long and eventful rule. According to the Yuga-Purana he annexed Kalinga after the death of Kharavela. He is said to have extended the Satavahana power over Madhya Pradesh, drove the intruding invaders out of Pataliputra, which he held for ten years

He was succeeded by many small rulers. Hala (19-24 A.D) the seventeenth ruler is famous in literature as the compiler of Saptasati in Prakrit. He married a princess from Sri Lanka.

At this stage, the expansion of the Satavahana power received a setback. The Ksaharatas (Ksatrapas or Sakas) under Bhumaka and King Nahapana occupied Malwa, Gujarat, Kathiawar and Maharashtra.

The Satavahana power seemed to have been practically obliterated in the Western India. The eclipse of their power was further aided by the weakness of their rulers.

(Historians reveal that the Saka dynasties as far back as the 5th century BC had political control over Central Asia and the northern subcontinent up to the river Ganges. Later they extended their control to other tracts of the northern subcontinent.

The largest Saka imperial dynasties of Sakasthan include the Satraps (204 BC to 78 AD), Kushanas (50 AD - 380), Virkas (420 AD - 640) while others like the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan-Guptas (320 AD - 515) expanded their empires towards the east.

Gautamiputra

Gautamiputra Satakarni, 78-102 AD (also known as Shalivahana) was the twenty-third ruler of the Satavahana family. He won great fame as the retriever of the fallen fortunes of the dynasty. The Nasik inscription describes him as the destroyer of the Sakas, Yavanas and the Pahlavas.

He overthrew the Saka dynasty and wrested their Empire. Gautamiputra Satakarni also defeated Saka king Vikramaditya in 78 AD and started the calendar known as Shalivahana era or Saka era, which is followed by the Marathi people and South Indians today as well.

He also seems to have recovered the territories in Central Deccan, which had been lost to the Satavahanas during the inept rule of his predecessors. Under him, the Satavahana arms have reached as far south as Kanchi.

The manifold achievements and accomplishments of Gautamiputra Satakarni are recorded in glowing terms by his mother, Gautami Balasri in an inscription at Nasik.

The Satavahanas are usually thought to be the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni, a practice derived from that of the Western Satraps he defeated, itself originating with the Indo-Greek kings to the northwest

The Satavahana kings are also remarkable for their contributions to Buddhist art and architecture. The great stupas in the Krishna River Valley were built by them, including the stupa at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh.

Saka Calendar

In Sri Lanka, Saka calendar is used particularly for astrological purposes. In astrology, the sun is observed to travel along the ecliptic. The ecliptic is divided into twelve parts called rashis, starting from the point of Mesha moving eastwards. The names of the rashis correspond to those in the West, and may indicate a common Sumerian origin.

The day on which the sun transits into each rashi before sunset is taken to be the first day of the month. In case the sun transits into a rashi after a sunset but before the next sunrise, then the next day is the first day of the month. (Minor variations on this definition exist.) The days are then labelled 1, 2, 3.... till the first day of the next month.

Thus we get twelve months with varying lengths of 29 to 32 days. This variation in length occurs because the earth’s orbit around the sun is an ellipse, but also because of some variability in the transit point falling before or after sunrise. The months are named by the rashi in which the sun travels in that month.

The solar New Year commences on the first day of the month of Mesha. This year, it occurs around April 14 on the Gregorian calendar.