An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s18.t3.35

v1.c9.s18.t3.35

Large tracts of the upper Deccan were occupied by 3rd-2nd centuries B.C. when the Sātavāhana rule was established over this region. Although the initial year of the beginning of the Sātavāhana rule is controversial, culturally the period from the 2nd century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. may be labelled as the Sātavāhana period in the archaeology of the Deccan. The Sātavāhana rule is attested by the finds of their coins at most of the sites in the upper Deccan. The period is characterized by permanent structures of baked brick with stone foundations and roofed with tiles [14.6.4] having a longitudinal groove and two holes for fixing them to the roof by means of iron nails. The houses at NEVASA had large rectangular rooms (4·50×3·50 m); the bricks used in their construction measured 52·5×27·5×7·5 cm, but they were not laid in the header-and-stretcher fashion. The floor was made of clay sometimes with a basal layer of sand as at NASIK. Water was drained off from the house through soakage jars buried in a pit or through a ring-well situated at some distance from the house, and the approach to it was rammed with pebbles and broken tiles. At NASIK wooden planks were fitted over the soakage pit and at NEVASA the planks were secured by means of a wooden rod. At PAITHAN there was a bricklined drain joining the soakage pit. Structural *stūpas* built during this period have been laid bare at PAUNI, Dt Bhandara, TER, Dt Osmanabad, and Sopara near Bombay. But no fortified cities have come to light although Pliny records that there were 30 walled towns in the Sātavāhana empire.