Coins issued by the later
Satavahana kings (including
Gautamiputra Satakarni,
Pulumavi, and
Yajna Satakarni) have been discovered at Nagarjunakonda. An inscription of Gautamiputra Vijaya Satakarni, dated to his 6th regnal year, has also been discovered at the site, and proves that Buddhism had spread in the region by this time. The site rose to prominence after the decline of the Satavahanas, in the first quarter of the 3rd century, when the
Ikshvaku king Vashishthiputra Chamamula established his capital Vijayapuri here. The coins and inscriptions discovered at Nagarjunakonda name four kings of the Ikshavaku dynasty: Vashishthi-putra Chamtamula, Mathari-putra Vira-purusha-datta, Vashishthi-putra Ehuvala Chamtamula, and Vashishthi-putra Rudra-purusha-datta. An inscription dated to the 30th regnal year of the
Abhira king
Vashishthi-putra Vasusena has also been discovered at the ruined Ashtab-huja-svamin temple. This has led to speculation that the Abhiras, who ruled the region around
Nashik, invaded and occupied the Ikshavaku kingdom. However, this cannot be said with certainty. The Ikshavaku kings constructed several temples dedicated to the deities such as Sarva-deva, Pushpabhadra,
Karttikeya, and
Shiva. Their queens, as well as Buddhist
upasikas such as Bodhishri and Chandrashri, constructed several Buddhist monuments at the site. It is believed that Sadvaha authorised the first monastic construction at Nagarjunakonda. During the early centuries, the site housed more than 30 Buddhist
viharas; excavations have yielded art works and inscriptions of great significance for the scholarly study of the history of this early period. The last extant Ikshavaku inscription is dated to the 11th year (c. 309 CE) of Rudra-purusha: the subsequent fate of the dynasty is not known, but it is possible that the
Pallavas conquered their territory by the 4th century. The site declined after the fall of the Ikshavaku power. Some brick shrines were constructed in the Krishna River valley between 7th and 12th centuries, when the region was controlled by the
Chalukyas of Vengi. Later, the site formed the part of the
Kakatiya kingdom and the
Delhi Sultanate. During the 15th and the 16th centuries, Nagarjunakonda once again became an important site. The contemporary texts and inscriptions allude to a hill fortress at Nagarjunakonda, which was probably built by the
Reddi rulers as a frontier fortress protecting their main fort of
Kondaveedu. It later appears to have come under the control of the
Gajapatis: a 1491 CE inscription dated to the reign of the Gajapati king
Purushottama indicates that the Nagarjunakonda fortress was controlled by his subordinate Sriratharaja Shingarayya Mahapatra. In 1515, the
Vijayanagara king
Krishnadevaraya stormed the fortress during his invasion of the Gajapati kingdom. The region was later ruled by the
Qutb Shahi dynasty and the
Mughals. It was subsequently granted as an
agrahara to the pontiff of the
Pushpagiri Math.
Archaeological research In 1926, a local schoolteacher, Suraparaju Venkataramaih, saw an ancient pillar at the site, and reported his discovery to the
Madras Presidency government. Subsequently, Shri Sarasvati, the
Telugu language Assistant to the Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy of Madras, visited the site, and it was recognized as a potential archaeological site. The first discoveries were made in 1926 by French archaeologist
Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil (1885–1945). In 1938, T N Ramachandran led another excavation at the site, resulting in the discovery of some more monuments. In 1954, when the construction of the proposed
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam threatened the site with submergence, a large-scale excavation led by R Subrahmanyam was started to salvage the archaeological material. The excavation, conducted during 1954-1960, resulted in the discovery of a number of relics, dating from the
Early Stone Age to the 16th century. Later, around 14 large replicas of the excavated ruins and a museum were established on the Nagarjunakonda hill. Some of the sculptures excavated at Nagarjunakonda are now at other museums in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Paris and New York. An archaeological catastrophe struck in 1960, when an irrigation dam was constructed across the nearby
Krishna River, submerging the original site under the waters of a reservoir. In advance of the flooding, several monuments were dug up and relocated to the top of Nagarjuna's Hill, where a museum was built in 1966 Other monuments were relocated to the mainland, east of the flooded area. Dedicated archaeologists managed to recover almost all of the relics.
Excavated ruins Buddhist ruins , Nagarjunakonda Palace site. He has a light beard, is semi-nude and carries a drinking horn. There is a barrel of wine next to him. Archaeological inscriptions at the site show that the
Andhra Ikshvaku kings Virapurusadatta, Ehuvula and family members patronized Buddhism. The inscriptions also show state-sponsorship of construction of temples and monasteries, through the funding of the Ikshvaku queens. Camtisiri in particular, is recorded as having funded the building of the main stupa for ten consecutive years. The support also spread beyond the noble classes, many non-royal names being inscribed in the relics. At its peak, there were more than thirty monasteries and it was the largest Buddhist centre in
South India. Inscriptions showed that there were monasteries belonging to the
Bahuśrutīya and
Aparamahavinaseliya sub-schools of the
Mahāsāṃghika, the
Mahisasaka, and the
Mahaviharavasin, from
Sri Lanka. The architecture of the area reflects that of these traditions. There were other monasteries for Buddhist scholars originating from the
Tamil kingdoms,
Orissa,
Kalinga,
Gandhara,
Bengal,
Ceylon (the Culadhammagiri) and
China. There is also a footprint at the site of the Mahaviharavasin monastery, which is believed to be a reproduction of that of
Gautama Buddha. The great stupa at Nagarjunakonda belongs to the class of uncased stupas, its brickwork being plastered over and the stupa decorated by a large garland-ornament. The style of the
reliefs recovered is "all but indistinguishable" from those of the final phase of the
Amaravati Stupa not very far away, from the second quarter of the third century, slightly earlier than Nagarjunakonda. Though "lively and interesting", they show "a great decline since the mature phase at Amaravarti", with less complex groupings, various mannerisms in the figures, and a flatness to the surfaces.
Hindu ruins Most of the Hindu ruins at Nagarjunakonda can be identified as
Shaivite, wherever an identification is possible. One of the temples has an inscription naming the god as "Mahadeva Pushpabhadraswami" (Shiva). Stone images of
Kartikeya (Murugan) were found at two other shrines. An inscription found at another excavated shrine refers to yet another Shiva shrine. At least one temple, attested by a 278 CE inscription, can be identified as
Vaishnavite, based on the image of an eight-armed god. A large sculpture of
Devi has also been discovered at the site. A relief representing
Dionysus was also found in the Nagarjunakonda Palace site. He has a light beard, is semi-nude and carries a drinking horn, and there is a barrel of wine next to him. According to an inscription in Nagarjunakonda, a garrison of Scythian guards employed by the
Iksvakus Kings may also have been stationed there. ==Inscriptions==