Roman merchants who sailed south from Gujurat entered the Satavahana Kingdom. The heartland of the regime was in central India and the realm covered most of the Deccan Plateau including the eastern seaboard of the subcontinent. But the Satavahana also had a political presence on the Konkan Coast of western India.102
The Konkan Coast was flanked by the Western Ghats and inland communication was restricted to valleys that breached this mountain chain. The Periplus describes how journeys inland led travellers through a ‘hinterland that contains many barren areas, great mountains and all kinds of wild animals’. There were said to be ‘a great many populous nations between this region and the Ganges’.103
There were ten trade ports on the Konkan coast, but most of these centres dealt with regional exchanges. The only city-port on this coast was Kalliena on the Ulhas River, which served the Satavahana Kingdom as an emporion enthesmon (state-nominated trade centre). Goods from across the Satavahana Kingdom were directed to this trade outlet to engage with visiting merchants involved in Arabian Sea commerce.
Trade was important to the Satavahana regime and lead coins issued by King Vasisthiputra (AD 78-114) depict large, two-masted Indian ships. Sixth century paintings from the Buddhist caves at Ajanta in western India depict similar vessels with their unique rounded hulls and multiple masts.104 The image of a twin-masted ship was also found during excavations at the fortified southern Arabian port of Moscha Harbour. The distinctive shape was scratched into plaster on an ancient wall.105
Roman merchants visiting the Satavahana city-port of Kalliena offered local traders Italian wine, lead ingots and antique bronze objects. Excavations of an ancient residential building near Kolhapur city uncovered a cache of more than ten classical bronzes, including mirrors, tableware and a statuette depicting the sea god Poseidon dating to the third century BC. These items were manufactured in Campania and were probably considered to be ‘antique junk’ in most Roman markets where consumers were seeking newer styles.106
In AD 50 the Saka King Nahaphana seized and occupied the Satavahana possessions on the west coast of India, including the rich city-port of Kalliena. The Satavahana opposed the conquest and by way of retaliation began to attack foreign shipping associated with the Sakas. This included Roman ships attempting to sail down the Konkan Coast.107
When Nahaphana conquered Kalliena he placed a Saka governor named Sandanes in charge of the city and gave him command of warships. It became unwise to land at Kalliena while the war continued and most of the international business that had been conducted at the port was redirected north to Barygaza in Gujurat. Roman ships that strayed into the conflict, or sought protection in Kalliena, were given a guard of Saka warships to take them safely back to Barygaza. The Periplus reports that Kalliena ‘was a designated emporium where everything used to go, but since Sandanes has occupied it there is great hindrance; for Greek ships that by chance come into these places are brought under guard to Barygaza’.108 Inscriptions from the region indicate that Kalliena remained under Saka rule for more than a decade.
During the AD 60s, the Satavahana were able to reclaim their former west coast territories including Kalliena.109 The timing was fortunate because Kalliena was a major exporter of exotic animals and the Emperor Vespasian had only recently come to power in the Roman Empire (AD 69-79). Vespasian ordered the construction of an enormous new arena in Rome called the Flavian Amphitheatre, now known as the Colosseum. Many displays in this stadium involved exotic eastern animals in mock hunts and fights between closely matched beasts. The shows also involved public executions where the condemned person was torn apart by predators, or forced to combat other unusual animals, including rhinos. Dealers at Kalliena could provide Roman merchants with leopards, tigers, large snakes, hyenas and monkeys.110
Kalliena probably remained vulnerable to Saka raids, so the Satavahanas designated one of the more southerly ports as their main west coast trade centre. When Ptolemy wrote his geography, Kalliena was no longer marked as an emporium, but Semylla had already attained this status.111 Roman ships docked at Semylla would have received cotton fabrics, spices and onyx coming from inland sources.112 Roman merchants began to reside long-term in the Satavahana ports and established business communities in the nearby towns. Some of these men converted to Indian religions and were recorded as being generous benefactors to the local Buddhist monasteries.
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