 The construction of the dam submerged an ancient Buddhist settlement, Nagarjunakonda, which was the capital of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the successors of the Satavahanas in the Eastern Deccan.Excavations here had yielded 30 Buddhist monasteries, as well as artworks and inscriptions of great historical importance.In advance of the reservoir's flooding, monuments were dug up and relocated.