The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s2.33

v1.c7.s2.33

As regards their capitals, the suggestion of Śrīkākulam cannot stand scrutiny, since it is based upon unreliable and much later legend.² Dhānyakaṭaka (Dharaṇikoṭa in Guṇtūr District) appears to have been one of the early strongholds of Andhra power. It may indeed have been one of the ‘thirty walled towns’. When Mahārāṣṭra also became part of the Andhra empire, Paiṭhan became the seat of Sātavāhana government in the west. It is significant that in one of the inscriptions Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi is called ‘Lord of Dhanakaṭa’³—a reminiscence of his early position before his victory over the Khakharāṭas—and his son Puḷumāvi,¹ who had inherited the conquests of his father, resumed the title of ‘the lord of the Deccan’.