The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c6.s1.16

c6.s1.16

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.