 The islands were incorporated into the Maurya Empire under Emperor Ashoka of Magadha in the third century BCE. The empire's patronage made the islands a centre of Hindu and Buddhist religion and culture. Buddhist monks, scholars, and artists created the artwork, inscriptions, and sculpture of the Kanheri Caves in the mid third century BCE and Mahakali Caves. After the decline of the Maurya Empire around 185 BCE, these islands fell to the Satavahanas. The port of Sopara (present-day Nala Sopara) was an important trading centre during the first century BCE, with trade contacts with Rome. The islands were known as Heptanesia (Ancient Greek: A Cluster of Seven Islands) to the Greek geographer Ptolemy in 150 CE. After the end of the Satvahana rule in 250 CE, the Abhiras of Western Maharashtra and Vakatakas of Vidarbha held dominion over the islands. The Abhiras ruled for 167 years, till around 417 CE. The Kalachuris of Central India ruled the islands during the fifth century, which were then acquired by the Mauryas of Konkan in the sixth and early part of the seventh century. The Mauryas were feudatories of Kalachuris, and the Jogeshwari Caves were constructed during their regime between 520 and 525. The Greek merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes visited Kalyan (near Mumbai) during 530 – 550. The Elephanta Caves also dates back to the sixth century. Christianity arrived in the islands during the sixth century, when the Nestorian Church made its presence in India. The Mauryan presence ended when the Chalukyas of Badami in Karnataka under Pulakeshin II invaded the islands in 610. Dantidurga of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Karnataka conquered the islands during 749 – 750.
