Andhra sculpture, crystallized in its celebrated apogee at Amaravati in a refulgent national expression, was proliferated by the Satavahana monarchs who rose to power in a disintegrating Mauryan empire; at the height of their sway for some 450 years from 271 B.C., they ruled from sea to sea, girdling the Deccan, from imperial Magadha itself of  Cuddalore in the far south. In their extensive dominions they reared a resplendent are of Buddhist monuments.