Satavahanas: Deccan’s First Empire Builders (100 BCE – 3rd CE)

There is a legend that old texts refer to, centered on Paithan in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. It is the story of Shalivahana, a young man who lived in a potter’s settlement in the city, in the days of yore. It is said that he saved Paithan from the attack of a mighty king, Vikrama of Ujjaini. He managed to take on the king’s might with the help of a clay/terracotta toy army that he possessed.

The story goes that he sprinkled amrit or sweet nectar on them, and they came alive. Shalivahana was the son of a Naga king and a Brahmin woman, who had abandoned him in the village when he was born. It is this boy, the legend says, who went on to establish the Satavahana Empire.