Tamil population in the South Central and Central India in the first century CE:

Gautamiputra Satakarni (78-106 CE) Satavahana king
Tamil evidence from the
Coin of Gautamiputra Satakarni aftee his cconquest of Ujjain in 78 CE. The central Indian kingdom of Ujjain and the Satabahana kingdom of those times probably had a Tamil majority population as it finds place in the coinage (post-Ujjain conquest) in par with the inscriptions in Prakrit the language of the rulers.

Obv: King in profile. Prakrit legend "Rano Gotamiputasa Siri Yana Satakarnisa": "In the reign of Gautamiputra Sri Yana Satakarni"
Rev: Hill with Satavahana symbol, sun and moon. Tamil legend "Arasanaku gotami putaku Siru Yana Satakanako".

Eventually Gautamiputra (Sri Yagna) Sātakarni (also known as Shalivahan) (r. 78-106 CE) defeated the Western Satrap ruler Nahapana, restoring the prestige of his dynasty by reconquering a large part of the former dominions of the Sātavāhanas. He was an ardent supporter of Hinduism.

Gautamiputra Satakarni may also have defeated Shaka king Vikramaditya (the fabled one) in 78 AD and started the calendar known as Shalivahana era or Shaka era, which is followed by the currently Marathi and Telugu people of the region, and is the Indian National Calendar.

Gautamiputra Sātakarni's son, Vashishtiputra Pulumāyi (r. 106-130 CE), succeeded him. Gautamiputra was the first Sātavāhana king to issue the portrait-type coinage, in a style derived from the Western Satraps.



Silver coin of king Vashishtiputra Sātakarni (c. 160 CE).
Obv: Bust of king. Prakrit legend in the Brahmi script: "Siri Satakanisa Rano ... Vasithiputasa": "King Vasishtiputra Sri Satakarni"
Rev: Ujjain/Sātavāhana symbol left. Crescented six-arch chaitya hill right. River below. Tamil legend in the Brahmi script: "Arasanaku Vasitti makanaku Tiru Satakaniko" - rendered as classical Tamil to "The ruler, Vasitti's son, Highness Satakani" -ko being the royal name suffix

Gautamiputra's brother, Vashishtiputra Sātakarni, married the daughter of Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps dynasty.