Satavahana Dynasty

Central Indian dynasty whose core area
was in the Deccan plateau in the western state of Maharashtra, and whose
capital was in the city of Paithan. The
Satavahana dynasty was at its peak from
the first to the third centuries, when it
ruled an area spanning the modern
604
Sarvadarshanasangraha
states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra
Pradesh. It was in the Satavahana
domains that the first cave temples were
constructed in the chaitya and vihara
architectural styles, which paved the
way for later architectural forms.