The Satavahana dynasty controlled large parts of the Deccan and is associated with distinctive silver coinage. Emerging around the late second or first century BCE, the dynasty ruled areas of present-day Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh at different times. Its important centers included Pratishthana, generally identified with Paithan, and Amaravati.
Satavahana coins were made mainly of lead and copper, but silver issues are especially notable. Gautamiputra Satakarni, one of the dynasty’s most powerful rulers, defeated the Western Kshatrapa ruler Nahapana and overstruck some of Nahapana’s silver coins with Satavahana designs and legends. This practice explains why silver coinage is closely linked with the dynasty even though silver was not its most common medium.
The coin designs feature animals, ships, stupas, hills, and the Ujjain symbol, while many legends use Prakrit written in Brahmi. The dynasty also supported trade between the Deccan, western ports, and the Roman world. It eventually fragmented into smaller regional powers during the third century CE.