The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c6: Historical Outline

The Chālukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c6

Language: English

c6.s1 The Early Chālukyas — 21 parts
c6.s2 List of Rulers over the Chālukyan Territories — 17 parts
c6.s3 The Rāṣṭrakūṭas — 11 parts
c6.s4 The Western Chālukyas — 17 parts
c6.s5 The Kalachuris — 4 parts
c6.s6 The Hoysaḷas — 4 parts
c6.s7 The Yādavas of Dēvagiri — 2 parts
c6.s8 The Great Feudatory Families — 7 parts

Historical Outline

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OF THE DYNASTIES OF THE KANARESE DISTRICTS FROM THE SIXTH TO THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, A.D.

The Early Chālukyas

TO describe the monuments of a country without giving some account of the people who raised them would be to deprive our study of a great deal of its interest. It is, therefore, necessary to give a very brief outline of the Chālukyan dynasty, with its subordinate chiefs, under whose auspices the buildings we are about to examine were erected. Until its numerous lithic records and copper-plate charters were taken in hand¹ and systematically translated, little, indeed, was known of this dynasty; and it is to these translations and Dr. Fleet’s historical account, in the first volume of the Bombay Gazetteer, that I am indebted for the short abstract given below.

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¹ Mainly by Dr J F. Fleet, C.I.E late of the Bombay Civil Service in the *Indian Antiquary* and the *Epigraphia Indica*.

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The country, over which these remains are found, embraces the southern portion of the Bombay Presidency, the northern part of Maisur, and the districts of the Madras Presidency and Nizām’s territory immediately adjoining the former upon the south-east. Over this area, more or less, as the fortunes of war ordained, the Chālukyan kings held sway from the fifth to the end of the twelfth century A.D., save for an interregnum of about two hundred years, when the family was, for a time, dispossessed of the bulk of their territory by the Rāshṭrakūṭas from the north.

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Of these records, by far the greatest number consists of inscriptions upon stone tablets, pillars and temples, and are found scattered about all over the Kanarese country, most of them uncared for and unappreciated by the people.² There is hardly a village without a tablet or a memorial stone, many containing considerable numbers. They are, as a rule, neglected, except where they serve some useful purpose, such as convenient slabs for culverts or for village cattle to rub themselves against.

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² A short description of these will be found in the chapter on Miscellaneous Objects

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Old copper-plate grants and charters are found in the possession of individuals, whose ignorance and superstitious ideas induce them to keep the fact secret, thinking they record the whereabouts of buried treasure which the decipherer of them might get hold of and appropriate. Often they are recovered from the bottom of wells and tanks, where they had been thrown for safety during some local disturbance or in times of public danger. These deeds are engraved upon thick plates of copper, which are strung together on heavy copper rings or loops whose ends are embedded in great lumps of metal bearing the seal of the grantor. They are, thus, much more lasting than they would be written upon paper or parchment, palm-leaf or birch-bark.¹

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¹ For a full description of epigraphical records generally, see Dr. Fleet's article in the Imperial Gazetteer of India ‘The Indian Empire,’ Vol II, pp. 1 to 88

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These records give us a history, more or less in outline, of the dynasties that reigned over the land, interlarded with very eulogistic accounts of the virtues of the rulers, and mention the terrible wars they waged with their neighbours. But they do not give us much insight into the internal administration of the country, its trade, social and domestic affairs, or religious changes or feuds. From them, however, checking one by another, lines of succession, with their dates, have been reconstructed and recovered from the limbo of oblivion.

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One of the earliest inscriptions giving an account of the Chālukya family is engraved upon a large slab built into the eastern wall of the old temple of Meguṭi on the hill above the village of Aihoḷe, which is situated in the south-eastern portion of the Bijāpūr District. It is the time of the Western Chālukya king Pulikēśin II., and is dated in the Śaka year 556 (A.D. 634-5).² It gives us no information respecting the Chālukyas, but shows that they had, as neighbours and enemies, the Naḷas, the the Kadambas, the Mātaṅgas and the Kaṭachchuris whom they subjugated. It is, however, that they came originally from Ayodhyā. Further afield they came into contact with the Gaṅgas, the Āḷupas, and the Pallavas of Kāñchi or Conjeveram. They lived under the guardianship of the Saptamātṛi or ‘Seven Mothers,’ and their favourite deity is said to have been Kārtikeya, while the god Nārāyaṇa presented them with the boar standard.

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² Indian Antiquary, Vol. VIII, p 237.

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The earliest historical name that we have for this dynasty is that of Jayasimha I. The name is given in genealogical records of subsequent kings, no inscriptions of his own being known; and it is likely that he, or some predecessor not far removed from him, was the founder of the family in the early centuries of the Christian era. Aihoḷe may possibly have been their first domicile in the south when Pulikēśin I. moved down from the north, and it may have been in his time, or in that of his son Kirtivarman I., that the oldest temples at that place were erected. Pulikēśin I., under his full title of Satyāśraya Śrī Pulakēśin Vallabha Mahārāja, is said to have performed the great aśvamēdha or horse sacrifice. Whether Aihoḷe was the place of their first settlement or not, it is recorded that Pulikēśin eventually took up his headquarters at Vātāpi, the modern Bādāmi, which he appears to have wrested from the Kadambas of Banavāsi, and established himself as the first king of the dynasty somewhere about A.D. 550.

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Pulikeśin I. was succeeded by his son Kīrtivarman I. in A.D. 566 or 567.¹ He subdued the Naḷas, the Mauryas and the Kadambas of Banavāsi in north Kanara. There is one record of his time, namely, an inscription on a pilaster in the verandah of the Vaiṣṇava cave at Bādāmi of A.D. 578, which records that, having, under his orders, finished the construction of the cave-temple, his younger brother, Maṅgalēśa, on the occasion of the installation of the image of Viṣṇu, made certain gifts to the temple and to some Brāhmaṇs.² Leaving two, if not three, young sons, he was succeeded in the government by his brother Maṅgalēśa, who is described as a *paramabhāgavata*, or most devout worshipper of the Divine One (Viṣṇu). These early Chālukyas were mostly, if not all, followers of the Vaiṣṇava cult. Maṅgalēśa's warlike expeditions extended across India from coast to coast. His death is placed in A.D. 608. Of his time there are three records—an undated inscription on the rock outside the Vaiṣṇava cave at Bādāmi; an undated copper-plate grant from Nerūr, and the important inscription upon a great sandstone pillar which was found lying near the old temple of Mahākūṭēśvara.³ The last inscription calls the column a *dharmā-jaya-stambha* or 'pillar of the victory of religion' and tells of an additional grant, made in continuation of a previous one, to the god Mahākūṭēśvaranātha.

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¹ I shall follow Dr. Fleet's order of the Chālukya rulers.

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² For a full translation of this inscription, and an account of the Bādāmi caves, see the *Indian Antiquary*, III 305; VI. 354 and 363; and X. p 57, also the *Cave-temples of India*, 405

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³ Removed to the Museum at Bijapur.

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Pulikeśin II., son of Kīrtivarman I., followed his uncle upon the throne, and it was during his reign that the stone inscription was set up on the temple of Mēguṭi at Aihoḷe. He was, without doubt, the greatest of the early Chālukya kings. He carried his arms from the Malabar to the Coromandel coast, and as far north as the Narmadā river which he fixed on his northern boundary. In the south he laid siege to Kāñchīpūra (Conjeveram), the capital of the Pallavas, and invaded the country of the southern chiefs of the Chōḷas, Pāṇḍyas, and Kēraḷas. During his reign the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Thsang, toured through India, and, if we are correct in identifying the places he visited, he spent some time, about A.D. 639, in the territories of Pulikeśin. Pulikeśin is said to have sent an embassy to Khosru II., king of Persia, and to have received one from him in return. About this time the family split up, one branch establishing itself over the province of Veṅgī, between the lower reaches of the Kṛṣhṇa and Gōdāvari rivers, where we shall leave them as they do not concern us any further. They are called, for convenience, the Eastern Chālukyas.

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The end of Pulikeśin's reign saw the temporary obscuration of the Chālukyan power, when the Pallavas invaded the country and reduced Bādāmi. But this state of affairs did not last for long, as Pulikeśin's son, Vikramāditya I., re-established the supremacy of the family, led his troops to the gates of Kāñchī itself and took the city. He is described as a devout worshipper of Śiva.

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Of Vijayāditya's reign we have an inscription upon the temple of "Kaḷḷamaṭha" at Bādāmi of A.D. 699, in the third year of his reign, while he was at the capital of Vātāpi; another on the wall of the temple of Huchchimalliguḍi at Aihoḷe, dated in the thirteenth year of his reign (A.D. 708-9); and one on a pillar in the porch of the temple of Mahākūṭēśvara near Bādāmi. He built the great stone temple of Vijayēśvara at Paṭṭadakal, now known as that of Saṅgamēśvara, as we learn from an inscription of the time of Kīrtivarman II. He also installed images of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Mahēśvara at Bādāmi in A.D. 699. His name is coupled with that of his son Vikramāditya II. in a Paṭṭadakal inscription recording gifts made by them to the temple of Lōkapālēśvara. He also made grants to certain Jaina temples at Lakshmēśwar.

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Vikramāditya II. left inscriptions upon the Durga temple at Aihoḷe and the temple of Lōkēśvara (Virūpāksha) at Paṭṭadakal. Those upon the latter are important, for, the temple itself being the largest and finest of its class in these districts, they give us an excellent landmark in the chronology of these buildings and the history of their architecture. We are told in these inscriptions that the great temple of Lōkēśvara was built for his chief queen, Lōkamahādēvī, in commemoration of his having thrice conquered the Pallavas of Kāñchī. At the same time we learn that his second queen, a sister of the first, also had a temple built in close proximity to the other, which was named, after her, Trailokyēśvara. In studying the former building we shall find it very interesting to compare it with one of about the same age at Conjeveram and the great monolithic temple of Kailāsa at Ēlūrā. Vikramāditya is said to have carried his warlike expeditions far to the south, and, after leaving an inscribed record in the temple of Rājasimhēśvara at Kāñchī, to have set up a pillar of victory on the shores of the southern ocean. He made grants for Jaina worship at Lakshmēśvara, the old Raktapura, which place seems to have been a great centre of the Jainas at that period.

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Vikramāditya was succeeded in A.D. 746 by his son Kirtivarman II., of whose time we have but two inscriptions, in A.D. 754 and 757 respectively. The second is on a column at Paṭṭadakal, between the temples of Vijayēśvara, Lōkēśvara and Trailokyēśvara, and records their erection. He made grants to Jaina temples. From this time forward there is a break in the records of the family, but from other sources it may be gathered that their neighbours, the Rāshṭrakūṭas, swept down upon them from the north and dispossessed them of their kingdom. For the next two hundred years the family, driven into the southernmost corner of their former territory, within the confines of the present Maisur province, probably lived on, in genteel poverty, in possession of a very small estate—too small, in fact, to cause the Rāshṭrakūṭas any uneasiness for many years to come.

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It would be to no purpose in this place to give, in detail, a long string of names of rulers with their bombastic accounts of their petty wars. The accompanying table, eliminating all extraneous matter, will be sufficient, with a few remarks about those who have been connected, more or less directly, with the monuments we are studying.

List of Rulers over the Chālukyan Territories

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(After Pulikēśin's death the country was invaded and occupied for some thirteen years by the Pallavas)

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| 655-680 | ... Vikramāditya I. | ... Defeated the Pallavas and seized Kāñchi. Southern Gujarāt branch of the Chālukyas established. | |
| 680-696 | ... Vinayāditya | ... ... | |
| 696-733 | ... Vijayāditya | Inscriptions on Kaḷḷamaṭha at Bādāmi, on Huṛchchimalliguḍi at Aihole; on Mahākūṭēśvara, and on Vijayēśvara at Paṭṭadakal Capital at Bādāmi. | Sangamēśvara, Vijayēśvara at Paṭṭadakal, Anesejjeya-Basaḍi at Lakshmēśvara Images of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva set up. |
| 733-746 | ... Vikramāditya II. | Inscriptions on the Durga temple, Aihole, on Virūpāksha gateway, and on pillar in pūjāri's house, Paṭṭadakal. | Virūpāksha, Lōkēśvara and Mallikārjuna Trailōkyēśvara at Paṭṭadakal. |
| 746-757 | ... Kīrtivarman II | ... | ... |

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Probable extinction of the reigning family, in the direct line, during Rāshṭrakūṭa supremacy.

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From the 5th to the 14th Century, A.D

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Kakka II. was ousted by Taila II. who was, probably, a descendant of a side branch of the Chālukya family, and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas ceased to exist. The Silāhāras of Kolhāpur established themselves about this time, while the Rāṣṭrakūṭas left representatives of their family in the feudatory chiefs, the Raṭṭas of Saundatti and Belgaum, who carried the banner with the golden Garuḍa.

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LIST OF RULERS OVER THE CĀLUKYAN TERRITORIES.

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The country temporarily occupied by the Kaḷachuris, who usurped the sovereignty

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End of the Chālukya dynasty. Their territory was now invaded by the Hoysaḷas, for some time feudatories of the Chālukyas on the south, and the Yādavas of Dēvagiri on the north

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The Yādavas forced the Hoyśaḷas south again, and took possession of the whole country.

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| | | **YĀDAVAS OF DEVAGIRI.** | |
| 1187-1191 | ... | Bhillama | B. was the first to come into hostile contact with the Chālukyas. |
| 1191-1210 | .. | Jaitugi I. | |
| 1210-1247 | ... | Siṅghaṇa | ... | Capital, Dēvagiri. The Kaḷachuris still appear to have possessed some power, but were finally wiped out by Siṅghaṇa. |
| 1247-1260 | ... | Kṛishṇa. | |
| 1260-1271 | .. | Mahādēva. | |
| 1271-1309 | ... | Rāmachandra. | |
| 1309-1312 | ... | Saṅkara. | |

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1310 A.D. The country was overrun by the Muḥammadans under Malik Kafur.

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*Note*—Dynastic names, as above, were family names or titles, and were not the names of different nationalities. Though the government changed hands there was no general inroad of an alien population at these crises before the Muḥammadan times. The people remained very much the same under the different dynasties. And so, except in special cases, where a ruler may have imported skilled artizans from other parts of India, the families of *sūtradāris* or *salāts* architectural builders probably lived and worked from generation to generation, within the confines of the kingdom.

The Rāṣṭrakūṭas

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The Rāṣṭrakūṭas, as we have seen, were a formidable power in the fifth century A.D., for they had come into hostile contact with the Chālukyas during the time of Jayasiṃha I. whose fortunes, it would appear, emerged from some temporary eclipse caused by them; and, again, in the time of Pulikēśin II., do we hear of another Rāṣṭrakūṭa attack. The latter had thus been neighbours and rivals of the Chālukyas for some three hundred years or so.

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Especially interesting, in the study of the remains of this period, is the fact that, when the Rāṣṭrakūṭas dispossessed the Chālukyas, they were engaged in excavating some of those wonderful cave-temples in the rock at Ēlūrā, the execution of which must have been temporarily delayed by their expeditions to the south.

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It was Dantidurga who, by some crushing defeat of the Chālukyas, established Rāṣṭrakūṭa sway over the Kanarese districts; but their complete subjugation was effected by Kṛṣṇa I., his uncle and successor. Dantidurga's triumphs are recorded in the inscription upon the Daś Avatāra cave at Ēlūrā.¹ The Rāṣṭrakūṭa capital may, at this time, have been located in the vicinity of the Ēlūrā caves. There was, already, a series of Buddhist cave-temples excavated here, in the hill side, facing the west, and there appears to have been a settlement in the plain in front of them. Sundry remains may still be seen, especially old brick wells. These, which are more immediately in front of the Buddhist caves, are probably of the Buddhist period; and there was possibly a considerable colony here when Dantidurga called off their workmen to construct for him similar works to the glory of his Hindu gods. The Rāṣṭrakūṭa capital may have occupied a position on the plateau above, where, at a spot marked on the Indian Atlas sheets as 'Sooloobunjun,' are remains which might well be those of a town or city. Amongst other ruins are those of a very large tank or reservoir (not the later Muḥammadan one amongst the hills) which was surrounded on all sides with tiers of cut-stone masonry steps leading down into it, which make it look not unlike the remains of some large amphitheatre.²

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¹ See separate pamphlets of the Archaeological Survey of Western India, No. 10, *Inscriptions of the Cave-temples*, p 92

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² This spot is a mile south of the present town of Roza, above the caves, and four miles north-west of the celebrated hill fort of Dēvagiri or Daulatābād, which was subsequently made the citadel and site of the Yādava capital. The present village of Ēlūrā which name Sir R. G Bhandarkar identifies with Elāpura where there was a famous temple of the god Svayambhū-Śiva spoken of in one of Krishna's grants, lies to the north of the old site before the Buddhist caves, and in front of the Hindu excavations. *Indian Antiquary*, XII, 228, and *Bombay Gazetteer*, I, part II, 195 and 391. It is not a healthy spot, as we found to our cost, and does not look like the site of an older city. The old site, above, at 'Sooloobunjun' may have extended northwards and have embraced the site of the present Muhammadan town of Roza which is full of Muhammadan shrines and mosques, and is considered a sacred spot by that community. Aurangzib had his bones carried there and interred. What is quite probable is that the Muhammadans, when they first marched against Dēvagiri, found remains of the older city still there, with, perhaps, some ancient shrines to the Hindu gods which, as was their wont, they demolished and used their material in building their own mosques and tombs when they eventually settled in that locality. At the village of Ēlūrā is a temple, built by queen Ahalyābāi of Indor, to hold one of the most sacred *jyotirliṅgas* of India. Dr. Burgess says "Doubtless the *tīrtha* or *jyotirliṅga* was originally at the caves, but after their desecration by Aurangzib it lost its repute and was transferred to the village." *Ēlūrā Cave-Temples*, p 4. The Yādavas gravitated to the same spot, when, in the reign of Siṅghaṇa II., they converted the isolated conical hill, four miles to the south-east of 'Sooloobunjun,' into an impregnable fortress which they named Dēvagiri or 'the hill of the gods.' Its sugar-loaf shape, begirt with natural unclimbable cliffs, lent itself well to the work of the rock-cutters to improve these where necessary and to scarp its undefended sides. Beyond a complete survey of the caves, this locality has not been thoroughly examined and would well repay further exploration.

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There is an inscription of Dhruva, the younger son and successor of Kṛṣṇa I., on a pillar in the north porch of the temple of the god Lokēśvara at Paṭṭadakal which tells us that he humbled the pride of the Pallavas. It is likely that they took advantage of the disruption of the Chālukyan kingdom to extend their borders in that direction.

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During the reign of Amōghavarsha I. special activity was displayed in temple building, particularly Jaina ones, as he was a great patron of that sect, if, indeed, he was not a convert to that religion. Jainism was at the zenith of its prosperity during his long reign. He became so religiously inclined that he is said to have eventually abdicated the throne " in consequence of the growth of the ascetic spirit in him "; and several religious works are attributed to him.¹ He made Mānyakhēṭa his capital, which put the city of the gods (Ēlāpura?) to shame. Mānyakhēṭa has been satisfactorily identified with Mālk hēḍ in the Niẓām's territory (see map).

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¹ Bombay Gazetteer, Vol I part II, p 201

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His son, who succeeded him, was Akālavarsha or Kṛishṇa II., during whose reign there is mention of Jaina temples being built and grants being allotted to them. He was a warlike prince who carried out several expeditions against his neighbours. Jagaṭuṅga II. was possessed of very big ideas, for he is said to have set out on a campaign with the object of bringing the whole world into subjection to himself. There is nothing of special interest to record, bearing upon our subject, of the remaining kings of this family. Mānyakhēṭa continued to be their capital.

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Some surviving branch of the Chālukya dynasty seems to have been gathering strength towards the middle of the tenth century, which culminated in one of the family, Taila by name, upsetting the Rāshṭrakūṭa supremacy.² By him were " easily cut asunder, in the field of battle, the two pillars of victory in war of Karkara, connected with the sovereignty of the family of the Rāshṭrakūṭas . . . now at length cut down after the lapse of a long time ". This occurred about A.D. 973.

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² Dr. Fleet points out that, after the restoration of the family, the name was invariably written Chālukya with the long 'ā'

The Western Chālukyas

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Taila II. very soon recovered all the territory originally held by the family within the Kanarese districts, and even carried his arms beyond its borders into central India where he slew Muñja the king of Mālwa. He is also said to have taken in war the leader of the Panchalas, and to have invaded the Chōḷa and Chēdi dominions. He reigned " over the whole earth " for twenty-four years.

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From the time of the restoration under Taila up to the reign of Sōmēśvara I. there is no definite mention of a Chālukya capital, except that certain Baḷagāṃve inscriptions speak of that place as a minor capital of Jayasiṃha II. If this were so, it must have been a very inconvenient spot so far away in the southern corner of his dominions. It is definitely stated, however, in the records of his son, Sōmēśvara I., that he founded the city of Kaḷyāṇa,³ made it his capital and " beautified it so that it surpassed all the other cities of the earth." This place remained the headquarters of the Chālukyas down to the time of Taila III., who changed his capital to Aṇṇigeri. During the reign of Sōmēśvara I., the Chōḷa king penetrated into the Beḷvola district and burnt the Jaina temples which Gaṅga-Permāḍi had built in the Aṇṇigeri nāḍ. But his successes did not last for long, for Sōmēśvara immediately proceeded against him, and defeated and slew him at a spot near Harihar. The end of Sōmēśvara was tragic. He was seized with a strong fever, and feeling his end approaching, " he caused himself to be taken to the banks of the Tuṅgabhadrā.

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³ Lat. 17° 51', Long 77°.

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He bathed in the waters of the river and gave away a great deal of charity. Then entering the river again, he proceeded until the waters reached his neck, and, in the din caused by the waves and a number of musical instruments, drowned himself¹. This was about A.D. 1068.

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¹ Bombay Gazetteer, Vol I, part II, p. 215.

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The reigns of these kings seem to have been pretty well filled up with wars with their neighbours, and, if we believe the records left us, their expeditions took them as far afield as Nepāl, Assam and Ceylon, where they are said to have performed great deeds, but it is likely that most of this is extravagant myth, born in the brain of the sycophantic composers of these panegyrics. The excessive exaggeration in these accounts is apparent on the face of them, for, in the case of nearly every ruler, we read of wars of extermination of his enemies, only to read again of the same thing being necessary at the hands of his successor. Their enemies must have possessed amazing vitality to have recovered so rapidly.

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It is somewhat of a relief, therefore, to read of the long and more peaceful reign of Vikramāditya VI. (A.D. 1073—1126). One of the first things he did, on his accession, was to abolish the use of the original Śaka era and to establish a new era in his own name in its stead. An inscription tells us that "By his amplitude, and unaided, Tribhuvanamalla, the king Cālukya-Vikramāditya, caused all the hostile kings to bow down, and became the lord of the world. Having rubbed out the brilliant Śaka-varsha, he, the impetuous one, the most liberal man in the world, who delighted in religion, published his own name throughout the world, under the form of the Vikrama-varsha"². Nearly all the inscriptions, therefore, of his own time, and of some of his successors, are dated in this new era, which starts from the date of his coronation. Of his reign some two hundred inscriptions have been gathered, forming the greatest bulk of records left by any one of these kings, which, from their distribution, being found over the northern parts of Maisur, the eastern parts of North Kanara, the whole of the Dhārwār, Beḷgāum and Bijāpūr districts, and the western and north-western parts of the Nizām's dominions, show the great extent of country he was ruling over. One of his inscriptions has been found as far away as Nāgpūr in the Central Provinces. Among these inscriptions is an interesting one found at Ḍambaḷ which records grants made to a vihāra of Buddha and a vihāra of Ārya-Tārādevī at that town in A.D. 1095, which shows that the Buddhist religion, such as it was, was still a living force in those parts at that period.

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² Bombay Gazetteer, Vol I, part II, p. 447.

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Retaining Kalyāṇa as his principal capital, he established other local headquarters at a place called Eṭagiri,³ and built or improved Arasibīḍi, in the Bijāpūr district, thirteen miles east of Bādāmi, which he called Vikramāpūra. At another place he constructed a large temple of Viṣṇu, and had a tank built in front of it. During his reign the Hoysaḷas of the south, who were growing more formidable under Viṣṇuvardhana, made an incursion into his districts but were repulsed by his Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Āchugi II. of the Sinda family of Erambarage. The country became so settled, and his subjects were so secure, that "they did not care to close the doors of their houses at night, and instead of thieves the rays of the moon entered through the window openings"⁴. His people were happy under his rule, and he was always mindful of the poor whom he treated with a generous hand. “That he was a great patron of learning is shown by the fact of a Kāśmirian Paṇḍit, like Bilhaṇa, who travelled over the whole of India in quest of support, having been raised by him to the dignity of Vidyāpati or chief Paṇḍit. Vijñāneśvara, the author of the *Mitāksharā*, which is at present acknowledged over a large part of India, and especially in the Marāṭha country, as the chief authority on matters of civil and religious law, flourished in the reign of Vikramāditya and lived at Kalyāṇa. At the end of most manuscripts of that work there occur three stanzas, which may be translated as follows :

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³ Identified with Yātagiri, 30 miles south of Mālkheḍ in the Nizām's dominions.

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⁴ Bombay Gazetteer, Vol I, part II, p. 219.

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“On the surface of the earth there was not, there is not, and there will be not, a town like Kalyāṇa; never was a monarch like the prosperous Vikramārka seen or heard of; and—what more?—Vijñāneśvara, the Paṇḍit, does not bear comparison with any other (person). May this triad which is like a celestial creeper exist to the end of the Kalpa !

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“May the Lord of wisdom live as long as the sun and moon endure,—he who produces words which distill honey, and than which nothing is more wonderful to be learned, gives wealth exceeding their wishes to a multitude of supplicants, contemplates the form of the subjugator of Mura, and has conquered the enemies that are born with the body.

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“May the Lord Vikramāditya protect this whole earth as long as the moon and the stars endure,—he whose feet are refulgent with the lustre of the crest jewels of prostrate kings from the bridge, which is the heap of the glory of the best scion of the Raghu race, to the lord of mountains, and from the Western Ocean, the waves of which surge heavily with the nimble shoals of fishes, to the Eastern Ocean.” ¹

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¹ *Bombay Gazetteer*, Vol. I, part II, p. 219.

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Vikramāditya ceased to reign in A.D. 1126.

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The reign of his second son and successor, Someśvara III., which lasted from A.D. 1126 to 1138, was also a peaceful one. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Jagadekamalla II., during whose reign the Hoysalas again invaded Chālukyan territory, but they were defeated and pursued to their capital, Dvārasamudra (Halebid). Taila III., the younger brother of Jagadekamalla, followed him on the throne in A.D. 1150. his commander-in-chief was the *Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* Bijjala, of the Kalachurya family, who abused his trust by using his troops against his own master, and usurped the throne of the Chālukyas. This happened between A.D. 1156 and 1162, when Bijjala established himself at Aṇṇigeri as his capital. He probably took advantage of a disaster which seems to have overtaken Taila who was defeated and made prisoner for a time by Prolarāja, king of Waraṅgal.

The Kalachuris

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The Kalachuris, or Kalachuryas, did not hold the country for long; but the short period during which they did occupy it, about twenty-one years, was a time of great unrest, due, chiefly, to the rebellion of Basava and the establishment of the new Liṅgāyat creed. We are told that the Kalachuris were Jains, but that Bijjala showed considerable favour and partiality towards the Śaivas. Basava was born of Brāhman parents of the Śaiva cult, who, by his peculiar ideas regarding the worship of Śiva, and his remarkable abilities, attracted considerable attention. He had a beautiful sister whom Bijjala married, and this led to Basava being eventually appointed minister and general, into whose hands Bijjala entrusted all the affairs of the state. The powers and honours thus thrust upon him soon turned his mind from allegiance to his master to thoughts of self-aggrandizement and a desire to usurp full sovereign power. At the same time he arrogated to himself divine authority, believing, or, at least, asserting himself to be an incarnation of Nandi, the sacred bull of Śiva. He abolished the distinction of caste among his followers. The principal, if not sole, object of worship, was the *liṅga*, and the followers of this new form of religion wore miniature *liṅgas* in silver boxes suspended from their necks. "The chief characteristics of their faith and practices are adoration of the *liṅga* and of Śiva's bull Nandi, hostility to Brāhmans, disbelief in the transmigration of the soul, contempt for child marriage, and approval and habitual practice of the remarriage of widows. They are found chiefly in the Kanarese country; their vernacular is Kanarese; and it is due almost to them that this beautiful, highly polished, and powerful language has been preserved, in later times, amidst the constant inroads of the Marāṭhās from the north. They now constitute about thirty-five per cent. of the total Hindu population in the Belgaum, Bijāpūr and Dhārwār Districts."¹ The Liṅgāyats were particularly hostile towards the Jains, and, wherever they could, they appropriated their temples as well as those of the orthodox Hindus.

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¹ Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I part II. p 477.

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Bijjala, becoming alarmed, attempted to arrest Basava, who, however, escaped, and, gathering adherents, completely defeated the king who had advanced against him. The death of the latter was brought about either by poison or open assassination. Basava's triumph was short-lived, for, dreading the punishment of the young king, he fled pursued by the latter, and, in despair, threw himself into a well and perished. Such is the Jaina account. The Liṅgāyats, however, assert that he was absorbed into the *liṅga* at the temple of Sanga-mēśvara at the junction of the Kṛiṣhṇa and Malaprabhā rivers. The new sect found a new and, perhaps, more capable leader in the person of Channabasava, the son of a sister of Basava.

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Bijjala, who had removed his capital from Aṇṇigeri to Kalyāṇa, was succeeded by his son Sōmēśvara, who was, in turn, followed by Saṅkama, his younger brother, with whom the other brothers were associated in the government. But the Chālukya family was not yet extinct, for we find that Sōmēśvara IV., son of Taila III., had gathered sufficient support in the southern districts, during the dissensions at Kalyāṇa, to re-establish Chālukya control for a short period longer. His last date, as given in the inscriptions, is A.D. 1189, and nothing is known of him after that. The next inscriptions, in chronological order, are those of Ballala of the Hoysaḷa family, which range between A.D. 1192 and 1211, which are found, not only in Maisur, but at many places in the Dhārwār district as far north as Gadag and Aṇṇigeri. About the time the Hoysaḷas were encroaching upon the southern districts, the Yādavas of Dēvagiri, on the north, were extending their borders southwards.

The Hoysaḷas

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The first of this family of whom we have any authentic information is Vinayāditya who was a *Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* subordinate to the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya VI. They appear to have been originally followers of the Jaina faith, but subsequently went over to Vaishṇavism. The family took advantage of the weakened state of the Chālukya kingdom to throw off their allegiance and assert their own independence. Vinayāditya's descendant, Vishṇuvardana, fixed the boundaries of his new kingdom, and, although he attempted an invasion of the Chālukya territories, he was repulsed by the Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Āchugi II., who pursued him into his own territories, besieged Dvārasamudra, his capital, and captured the city of Bēlupūra.

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It was Ballāḷa II., however, who, after defeating Barma or Brahma, the general of the Western Chālukya king Sōmēśvara IV., overran the southern and central districts of the Kanarese territory and established himself at Lokkiguṇḍi (Lakkuṇḍi) as his northern capital in A.D. 1191. He also had another seat of government at Aṇṇigeri. The threatening attitude of the Yādavas, with whom he appears to have already come into contact, rendered it necessary for him to establish his headquarters as near his northern boundaries as possible; and, perhaps, after all, Lakkuṇḍi and Aṇṇigeri were rather chief military outposts than civic centres.

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Ballāḷa was succeeded by his son Narasimha II., who appears to have lost ground before the advancing troops of the Yādavas, and to have retired to the old capital of Dvārasamudra, contenting himself with a much more restricted territory. There are only three inscriptions of his reign known, one of which, at Harihar, records the construction of the temple of Harihara by his lieutenant Polāḷva in A.D. 1223. There is no need to follow the fortunes of the Hoysaḷas any further, as they concern us no more.

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It is to the Yādavas of Dēvagiri that we must now turn, who had, by this time, possessed themselves of the whole of the Kanarese districts to the north of the present Maisur border.

The Yādavas of Dēvagiri

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As already mentioned the Yādavas had crossed swords with the Hoysaḷas during the reign of Bhillama whose son was defeated in battle by Ballāḷa. But, in spite of this reverse, Bhillama held the northern districts, and established himself, for the time being, at Aṇṇigeri, while Jaitugi I., his son, made his headquarters at Vijayāpura (Bijāpūr). It was Siṅghaṇa II., Jaitugi's son, who completed the discomfiture of both the Kaḷachuris and the Hoysaḷas, and added to his kingly titles those of "Uprooter of the water-lily which was the head of the king of Telunga," and "The conqueror of the Kaḷachuri king". He fixed on Dēvagiri as his capital. His inscriptions are found all over the country previously occupied by the Western Chālukyas.

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We have, now, pretty well passed the limits of time within which our subject is confined, and it is sufficient to say that, within fifty years of Siṅghaṇa's death, during the reign of Rāmchandra, the Muḥammadans, from the north, swept upon the country and began the conquest of the Dakhan, which they completed in A.D. 1318. Under this inroad of iconoclasts the Hindu and Jaina temples suffered terribly, and their desecration still continued, from time to time, during the next three hundred years, more especially whilst the Dakhan was under the power of Islām.

The Great Feudatory Families

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Under the supreme government of the reigning family of the Chālukyas and their supplanters were minor hereditary chiefs of provinces, who, though governing their own particular districts with all the authority of petty rulers, were subordinate and answerable to the former. For the purposes of Government the kingdom was divided up into areas, each containing a definite number of towns and villages such as the Banavasi Twelve-Thousand, the Panuṅgal Five-Hundred, and the Belvola Three-Hundred, over each, or groups of which, a *Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* or other officer had charge. These petty chiefs not only came to the assistance of their feudal lord with troops when required, but occasionally fought out their own little neighbourly quarrels among themselves. These families seldom, if ever, held their posts for more than a couple of generations. Sometimes they were in rebellion against their masters, when, as in the case of the Kaḷachuris, Hoysaḷas and Yādavas, they grew powerful enough, for the time being, to dispossess them and usurp full sovereign authority. They issued their land grants in their own names.

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The oldest of these families was that of the Śilāhāras of which there were three leading branches—two in the Koṅkaṇ and one above the Ghāts. The southern Koṅkaṇ branch appears to have occupied the seaboard south of Bombay as far as Goa at least, while the northern branch had their headquarters at Puri, a place not yet satisfactorily located but possibly in the centre of Sālsette island, where, around and north of Marol village, there are still indications of an ancient settlement.¹ The family above the Ghāts occupied the districts surrounding Karāḍ and Kolhāpur.

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¹ See Progress Report of the Archæological Survey of India, Western Circle, 1907-8, p. 30.

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The Raṭṭas of Saundatti possessed that part of the country immediately around Saundatti and Belgāum, these two places having been, in turn, their capitals. They were first vassals of the Rāshṭrakūṭas and then of the Western Chālukyas, when, after, perhaps, a short period of independence, they were subdued by the Yādavas of Dēvagiri.

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During the early years of the Chālukyan occupation of the Kanarese districts there was a short line of Kādamba kings who ruled at Banavāsi (Vaijayantī), and who came into conflict with Kīrtivarman I. They were followed up, in later times, by two families calling themselves Kādambas, one of which was the Kādambas of Hāngal, with that place as their capital. Although they styled themselves “supreme lords of Banavāsi,” that district was not always under their jurisdiction. The second family of Kādambas ruled at Goa in the Koṅkaṇ.

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Another family of feudatory nobles was the Sindas of Yelburga, of which there apperas to have been more than one branch. That which came into more immediate contact with the Chālukyas, and was subordinate to them, governed the district from Bāgalkot to Yelburga.

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Finally there were the Guttas of Guttal, who, for a time, were governing a small district around Guttal and Chauḍadampur in the Dhārwār district.