A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c11.6

c11.6

IN the Deccan, the Mauryan empire was followed by the rule of the Sātavāhanas, which lasted for four and a half centuries from about 230 B.C. At its greatest extent the Sātavāhana empire covered the whole of the Deccan and spread far into Northern India, perhaps even as far as Magadha. Its collapse followed ultimately upon long wars against the Śakas of Gujarat in the first and second centuries A.D. By the beginning of the third century the empire had virtually disappeared, giving place to a number of minor independent dynasties.