History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.25

v1.c19.25

A fourth dynasty, already mentioned, appears at an early date in the history of the Dekhan; the Pallavas³ possibly rose to power on the decay of the Andhra power in the third century, and they seem to have secured much of the Chola country, probably before the 5th. About A.D. 400 Samudragupta, among other princes, claimed to have overthrown Vishnugopa of Kânchî, who was doubtless a Pallava king, and recent epigraphical research has now brought to light details respecting this dynasty which ruled the country called Drâvida from their capital at Kânchî, now Conjivaram. In the 7th century they were at war with the Chalukyas of Bâdâmi, and Narasimhavarman I. claimed to have destroyed Bâdâmi during the reign of the Chalukya king Pulikesin II. (A.D. 609-642), whilst his father Mahendravarman had, at an earlier date, defeated the same king near Kânchî when he invaded Drâvida.¹ Probably about this period the Pallavas extended their rule over the Bellâri district and parts of Mysore; but in the following century we learn that Vikramâditya II., the Chalukya king, about 740, defeated Nandivarman Pallava and entered Kânchî, bestowing gifts on the shrine of Râjasimhesvara—now the Kailâsanâtha temple—built by Narasimhavarman II. A century later they were attacked by the Râshtrakûtas, and their power seems to have been broken, and they gradually succumbed to the Cholas, who re-asserted their power in the 10th century.