In October 1938, Italian archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri made a remarkable discovery during excavations at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii — a small, intricately carved ivory statuette of a female figure, almost certainly of Indian origin. The artifact, known today as the Pompeii Lakshmi or Pompeii Yakshi, had been crafted thousands of miles away, yet found its way into the heart of the Roman world, buried beneath the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius. Scholars continue to debate whether the figure depicts Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of fortune, or a yakshi, a nature spirit associated with fertility and abundance. What is beyond dispute, however, is what the statuette represents: a vivid, tangible link between two of the ancient world's greatest civilizations, and compelling evidence of the far-reaching trade networks maintained by the Satavahana Dynasty — one of ancient India's most powerful yet least-known empires.
The artifact originated in India during the Satavahana era, but no scholar can identify the specific workshop or political patronage. Still this find is truly a great example of regular cultural exchanges between Rome and the Satavahana Kingdom. In 1945-46, archaeologist H. D. Sankalia found a Roman bronze statuette of Poseidon during an excavation at Kolhapur in Maharashtra in western India. While Poseidon was worshipped throughout the Roman world, there is no evidence that the Brahmapuri statuette served a religious function in India. Within India, the statue was simply a trade good, a possession of a merchant or decorative art for display in a wealthy home. There is no evidence of an organized Greek religious presence in the Deccan, rather, the two artifacts stand as a direct connection to the Indian Ocean trade that connected vast stretches of territory throughout Eurasia.
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Map of the Satavahana Empire. (Public Domain)
Culture and Religion
Between 200 BC and 300 AD, Buddhist monks and nuns had already used the numerous trade routes within and beyond South Asia to spread their traditions. Buddhist teachings that formed the Pali Canon were increasingly compiled and preserved in written form around this time, beginning in Sri Lanka around the 1st century BC. The document known as Pali Canon is principally a collection of Buddhist texts that contains foundational teachings of Buddhism, including the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
Both the Satavahanas in western India and the Kushans in the north financed several Buddhist communities among other religious groups that were part of the two civilizations. These diverse revenue streams allowed Buddhist monks and nuns to build pilgrimage sites, monasteries, and educational institutions throughout South Asia. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka's inscriptions were primarily composed in regional Prakrit languages, helping establish Prakrit as an important administrative and literary medium. The same Satavahana Dynasty was also the last large-scale kingdom to predominantly use the Prakrit language.
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Interior of the Great Chaitya Hall at Karla Caves, (Kevin Standage/CC-BY-SA 2.0.)
Administration Within the Satavahana Kingdom
Emperor Ashoka popularized the official use of Prakrit through his imperial inscriptions. This administrative measure aided in cementing a legacy that would last all the way down to the Satavahan Dynasty in a continuous oral tradition. But not long after the Emperor’s passing, the Mauryan Empire, which he ruled as a great South Asian power, collapsed in India. A power vacuum eventually emerged across the subcontinent, and several regional powers emerged in the region. By the first centuries AD, the Kushans dominated much of northern India while the Satavahanas controlled large portions of the Deccan. Most scholars identify Simuka as the founder of the Satavahana Dynasty. Throughout his reign, Simuka would transform a regional power into the ancient Deccan kingdom that shaped South Indian history for centuries to come.
This kingdom combined a centralized monarchy while granting local autonomy. While the king held the supreme authority throughout the reign of the dynasty, the empire was officially divided into administrative units called Ahara. Local officials were the crucial glue in holding up the kingdom while assisting the king in ensuring proper governance. Local officials played an instrumental role in this incredibly wealthy and vibrant Deccan kingdom. This same administration managed to maintain stability across a vast region and facilitated trade and cultural exchange. Land revenue was the main source of income for the kingdom.
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Amaravati School Relief Sculpture, (G41rn8/Creative Commons-BY-SA 4.0.)
Economic Condition in Sync with Trade
The Satavahana period also witnessed significant levels of economic prosperity. But as with many pre-industrial states, for hundreds of years, agriculture was the backbone of the economy. Trade and commerce flourished greatly in equal measure during the height of this dynasty. The kingdom was aided in part by its extensive inland and maritime trade networks, especially its trade relations with the Roman Empire. The Satavahana currency, which was made up of lead, copper, and silver coins, circulated widely throughout the Deccan and neighboring regions. Access to the western coast of India was developed for trade with numerous partners from the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz.
Though luxury items were prized, more mundane Indian goods touched people’s lives. For example, a great deal of Indian spices and rice were featured in Roman medicines. The Roman author and naturalist, Pliny the Elder, noted that Rome spent enormous sums importing luxury goods such as spices, aromatics, pearls, and textiles from India and the East. For example cinnamon was valued, as it could be used to help digestion, or as a sleep aid. It could even act as a potential solution for bad breath.
Overseas trade flowing from major powers like the Han China, the Roman Empire, and the Parthian Empire (later succeeded by the Sassanian Empire), would allow this state to grow incredibly rich. With wealth at hand, the governments financed several cultural initiatives throughout the kingdom, such as patronage towards Buddhism or incredible architecture, which boosted government power.
Top Image: Left; An ivory statuette of Lakshmi (1st century AD), discovered in the ruins of Pompeii. Right; Great Stupa at Sanchii. Source: Left; Sailko/CC BY-SA 3.0 Right;Tom Maloney/CC BY-SA 2.0.
By Ramsey Hardin
References
Truschke, Audrey. “South Asians Travelling, 200 BCE-300 CE.” Essay. In India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, 99–105. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2025.
“Sātavāhana Dynasty: History: Research Starters: EBSCO Research.” Sātavāhana Dynasty, 2022. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/satavahana-dynasty.
“Satavahana-Saka-Kushan Age [c. 1 CE – 300 CE].” A Timeline of South Asian History. Accessed June 4, 2026. https://timelinesouthasianhistory.hsites.harvard.edu/south-asia-satavahana-saka-kushan-age-c-1-%E2%80%93-300-ce.
