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Satavahana Dynasty
The Satavahana rulers were working as feudatories in the Mauryan Empire. When the Mauryan empire started to decline around 230BC, chaos started spreading in the country due to fear of attacks from foreign kings. This was when the Satavahana kingdom took over, establishing calmness in the country and fighting against all the foreign kingdoms. The exact date of when this rule came to an end is not known, however historians estimate that the Satavahana kingdom ruled for about 450 years before declining during 220CE. In order to establish their rule strongly, they had to fend off serious competition from the Sunga and the Kanva dynasties. History knows the Satavahana rulers for their successful fights against foreign kingdoms like Western Kshatrapas. Two famous kings of this successful dynasty were Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri Yajna Satakarni. Some of the other rulers of this kingdom were Simuka, Satakarni, Lambodara, Apilaka, Meghasvati and Kuntala Satakarni.
Origins
The Satavahana Dynasty was the first kingdom to release coins with the face of Emperors on it. Some of the earliest inscriptions and the Puranas denote the Satavahana rulers as Satakarnis, Andhras and Andhrabrityas. One of the famous Greek traveller, Megasthenes, while explaining about the bravery of the Satavahana dynasty, stated that there were around 1000 elephants and 1lakh infantry in the 30 well-developed forts in their empire. During the early days, the Satavahana kings were the feudatories of the Mauryan dynasty. They were under the able control of the Mauryan Empire, Asoka. It was Asoka who introduced the religion of Buddhism among the Satavahana rulers. The origin of Satavahana empire can be traced to around 232BCE when King Asoka passed away.
Contribution to Culture
Art
The Ajanta cave paintings and sculptures were developed during the rule of Satavahana rulers. They were also responsible for building many artistic and architectural marvels on the Krishna Valley. The Buddhist Stupas on Amravati in the state of Andhra Pradesh were also developed by them. A unique kind of architecture known as Amravati style was spread to parts of South East Asian countries by the Satavahana rulers.
Literature
One of the rulers of Satavahana kingdom, King Hala, was also the author of one of the Indian literatures, Gathasaptasati. He went on to rule for five years.
Religion
Buddhism was the main religion during the Satavahana rule. The religion of Mahayana Buddhism that started off in Andhra Pradesh during their rule was spread to many parts of the Asian continent by the Satavahana rulers who acted as mediators.