Saintly Successors of Andhra Pradesh

After the fall of the Satavahana empire, the Ikshvakus succeeded them in the coastal areas with their capital at Vijayapuri, a valley beside Sriparvata that later came to be called Nagarjunakonda. It was at Sriparvata that Acharya Nagarjuna established a center of learning and preached the Mahayana from of Buddhism based on the Madhyamika philosophy during the 2^nd century AD.

Subsequently came the Vishnukundins and during their region Telugu became the court language and the area was referred as Telangana or the Telugu land. During the Ikshvaku rule, Prakrit was replaced by Sanskrit. By the sixth century, Telugu as a language adopted a number of Sanskrit words.

Then came the Chalukyas, the Pallavas and the Kakatiyas. The Kakatiyas established themselves as rulers of a Telugu – Speaking people and set up their capital at Hanumakonda. The Chalukyas and Kakatiyas proved themselves to be excellent architects and their contribution to temple architecture is a feast for the eyes even today.