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498 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
than 35 years after the close of the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni, i.e., after A. D. 165 and ended after A. D. 194. Yajna Śri's inscriptions, which prove that he reigned for at least 27 years, are found at the following places, viz., Nasik in Mahārāshṭra, Kanheri in Aparanta, and China in the Krishna district. His coins are found in Gujrat, Kathiawar, Aparanta, the Chanda District in the Central Provinces, and the Krishna district of the Madras Presidency. There can be no doubt that he ruled over both Maharashtra and the Andhra country and recovered Aparanta (N. Konkan) from the successors of Rudradaman I. Smith says that his silver coins imitating the coinage of the Saka rulers of Ujjain probably point to victories over the latter, and that the coins bearing the figure of a ship suggest the inference that the king's power extended over the sea. He thus anticipated the naval ventures of the Kadambas of Goa, of Sivaji and of the Angrias.1
Yajñaśri was the last great king of his dynasty. After his death the Satavahanas probably lost North-Western Maharashtra to the Abhira king Isvarasena. The later
and it is frequently used as a suffix in the names of members of the Satavahana royal house (cf. Veda or Skanda-Siri, Haku-Siri, Bala-Śri, Śiva-Śri, etc.; Rapson, Andhra Coins pp. xlvi, 1, lii). The mere fact that in certain documents Śri precedes the name of a king does not prove conclusively that it was never used as a suffix. In the famous inscription of Khäravela the king is called both Siri Khāravela and Kharavela-Siri. In the Mudrarakshasa Śrimat Chandragupta is also styled Chanda-Siri. Cf. Aśoka Śrī in Pariśishta-parvan, IX. 14.
1 Rapson, however, says (Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, p. 22) in reference to certain lead coins (of the Coromandel coast): "obv. Ship with two masts. Inscr. not completely read, but apparently Siri-Pu (lumā) visa."
2 The earliest reference to the Abhiras to which an approximate date can be assigned is that contained in the Mahabhashya of Patanjali. The Mahabhashya as well as the Mahabharata connects them with the Sudras-the Sodrai of Alexander's historians. Their country-Abiria-finds mention in the Periplus and the geography of Ptolemy. In the third quarter of the second century A. D., Abhira chieftains figured as generals of the Saka rulers of Western India. Shortly afterwards a chief named Isvaradatta, probably an Abhira, became
