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The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c8: List of Inscriptions in Southern India, with Historical Notes

The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c8

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English

List of Inscriptions in Southern India, with Historical Notes

c8.1

*Remarks enclosed in square brackets [ ] are historical notes, additional to the Text which deals with the contents of inscriptions.*

c8.2

B.C. 250-237. [This is roughly the period of the inscriptions of Aśōka, the Maurya king of Magadha. They have been found engraved on rocks, in caves, and on pillars, in several places in India. Those that exist in the south are at Jaugada, 18 miles north of Ganjam, at Maski in Raichur District of the Nizam's Dominions, and in the neighbourhood of Siddhāpura in the Chitaldrug District of Mysore.¹ Aśōka's edicts were promulgated, and engraved on rocks and pillars after his complete conversion to the gentle teachings of Buddha in order that the principles therein inculcated might be instilled into the minds of generations yet to come. He revolted from the horrors of war and from the abominable system of government hitherto adopted and he fully recognized the duty of a sovereign to his people. Want of space prevents any insertion here of long extracts from his edicts, but a few may be given. In Rock Edict XIII he mentions the slaughter and captivity of the people of Kalinga caused by his war with that country and states that now this was ‘a matter of profound sorrow and regret to his sacred majesty . . . if now a thousandth part were to suffer the same fate it would be a matter of regret to [him].’ . . . ‘Even upon the forest folk in his dominions his majesty looks kindly.’ . . . ‘He desires that all persons should have security, and peace of mind.’ . . . ‘He exhorts his successors to take pleasure in patience and gentleness. He asserts, as a principle of good government by a sovereign that “all men are my children.”’ He declares himself “ready to do the people's business in all places”, the welfare of all folk is what I must work for’ and so on.

c8.3

¹ Early this year (1929) a complete set of edicts of Aśōka has come to light at or near Gooty in the Anantapur District of the Madras Presidency. The archaeological Department is at work on this new find.—Editor.

c8.4

The Jaugada Edict is addressed to his subordinate officials in that region. Here again he declares that every man in the country [conquered by him] is his child, and he wishes them all to enjoy prosperity and happiness. Hence he enjoins on his officers to act justly, to see that the king's orders in the matter of the welfare of his subjects are obeyed, to release any man who has been unjustly imprisoned or tortured, and generally to work hard in the interests of the population over whom they are placed.

c8.5

In the Siddhāpura Edicts the king states that more than two and a half years had elapsed since he became a lay-hearer of the Buddhist preachers, and more than six years since he entered the community of ascetics. He commands all men to obey their parents, to respect all living creatures, to be truthful, to follow the teachings of Buddha, to honour their teachers, and to give every man his due.

c8.7

*Remarks enclosed in square brackets [ ] are historical notes, additional to the Text which deals with the contents of inscriptions.*

c8.8

B.C. 250-237. [This is roughly the period of the inscriptions of Aśōka, the Maurya king of Magadha. They have been found engraved on rocks, in caves, and on pillars, in several places in India. Those that exist in the south are at Jaugada, 18 miles north of Ganjam, at Maski in Raichur District of the Nizam's Dominions, and in the neighbourhood of Siddhāpura in the Chitaldrug District of Mysore.¹ Aśōka's edicts were promulgated, and engraved on rocks and pillars after his complete conversion to the gentle teachings of Buddha in order that the principles therein inculcated might be instilled into the minds of generations yet to come. He revolted from the horrors of war and from the abominable system of government hitherto adopted and he fully recognized the duty of a sovereign to his people. Want of space prevents any insertion here of long extracts from his edicts, but a few may be given. In Rock Edict XIII he mentions the slaughter and captivity of the people of Kalinga caused by his war with that country and states that now this was ‘a matter of profound sorrow and regret to his sacred majesty . . . if now a thousandth part were to suffer the same fate it would be a matter of regret to [him].’ . . . ‘Even upon the forest folk in his dominions his majesty looks kindly.’ . . . ‘He desires that all persons should have security, and peace of mind.’ . . . ‘He exhorts his successors to take pleasure in patience and gentleness. He asserts, as a principle of good government by a sovereign that “all men are my children.”’ He declares himself “ready to do the people's business in all places”, the welfare of all folk is what I must work for’ and so on.

c8.9

¹ Early this year (1929) a complete set of edicts of Aśōka has come to light at or near Gooty in the Anantapur District of the Madras Presidency. The Archaeological Department is at work on this new find.—Editor.

c8.10

The Jaugada Edict is addressed to his subordinate officials in that region. Here again he declares that every man in the country [conquered by him] is his child, and he wishes them all to enjoy prosperity and happiness. Hence he enjoins on his officers to act justly, to see that the king's orders in the matter of the welfare of his subjects are obeyed, to release any man who has been unjustly imprisoned or tortured, and generally to work hard in the interests of the population over whom they are placed.

c8.11

In the Siddhāpura Edicts the king states that more than two and a half years had elapsed since he became a lay-hearer of the Buddhist preachers, and more than six years since he entered the community of ascetics. He commands all men to obey their parents, to respect all living creatures, to be truthful, to follow the teachings of Buddha, to honour their teachers, and to give every man his due.

c8.12

The Maski inscription is specially important in that it specifies the king's personal name Aśoka, while the rest only give him his royal titles.

c8.13

Aśoka recognized as independent sovereigns in his day the Chōla, Pāṇḍya, Chēra and Āndhra Kings in Southern India.

c8.14

(For further information see the introduction above.)

c8.15

[About this time the Āndhras of the Telugu country began to acquire power, consequent on Aśoka's conquest of their northern neighbours, the kings of Kalinga.]

c8.16

B.C. 220. [From about this date the Āndhras became dominant on the East Coast, and over large tracts in the interior.]

c8.17

B.C. 200. [Foundation about this time of the Buddhist stupa or tope at Amarāvati on the site of the ancient city of Dharaṇikōta on the Krishna river—renowned for the extreme beauty of its marble sculptures.]

c8.18

B.C. 180. [Northern India began to suffer seriously from the settlement in their midst of Śaka tribes, driven over the frontier down into India from the north by Mongolian hordes. The Mauryan Empire came to an end in B.C. 184, and Pushyamitra established the Sunga dynasty which with difficultly held its own for about a hundred years.]

c8.19

B.C. 179. [Accession of the Āndhra King Yajñaśrī Sātakarani.¹ He is said to have been defeated by Prince Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra of the Sunga dynasty of Magadha about B.C. 170, but Dr. Barnett holds that the Sātakarṇi got the best of it in the end.]

c8.20

¹ This entry of the late Mr. Sewell, under 179 B.C., makes his position clear as to the authority upon which he makes the note. This is probably from Professor Barnett's *Indian Antiquities*, page 41 (entries under 170 and 153 B.C) where the name is set down correctly as Yajñasena. But he is made an Āndhra and a Sātakarṇi, on what authority is not clearly stated. Kālidāsa's drama, *Mālvika-Agnimitra* is the authority for the data regarding Agnimitra's war against the Vidarbha king Yajñasena. Between him and a paternal first cousin of his, there was a war of succession. Agnimitra espoused the cause of the latter though he was the son of a younger brother, and ultimately made the country of Vidarbha into two states divided by the river Varada. The northern of these two parts, and therefore, that on the immediate neighbourhood, was given over to Yajñasena, and over the southern part he placed Mādhavasena, his own brother-in-law, as against the *prakrityamitra*, a neighbour, whose interests naturally clashed with those of his own. The drama always uses the term ‘Vidarbha’ for the state and ‘Vaidarbha’ for the king, and leaves us in little doubt as to what is actually meant. This is made much more clear by the people being spoken of as *Krathakaiśikas*, the people who inhabited Berar, even according to the sixth book of the Raghuvamśa, where the *svayamvara* of Indumati is described in detail. The state of Vidarbha thus indicated is a comparatively narrow one and can hardly be regarded as synonymous with that of either the Āndhras or of a Sātakarṇi at any time of the history of that dynasty. Vidarbha is to be regarded as a distinct geographico-political entity. Whether the dynasty that ruled over the territory was Āndhra or no, by blood relationship, it was distinctly Vaidarbha in point of political character. It would be too much to argue, in the circumstances, that the Vidarbha rulers figuring in these transactions were in any sense Āndhras and for the name actually given, there is no warrant whatsoever in the Paurāṇic lists of the Āndhras anywhere.—*Editor*,

c8.21

B.C. 163. [The King of Kalinga, Khārāvela, about this time in alliance with the Āndhra King, Pūrṇōtsanga reduced the ‘Rāshṭrikas and Bhōjakas,’ and stormed the city of Rājagriha, whose king fled.]

c8.22

B.C. 155. [The Greko-Baktrian Menander invaded northern India and after 25 years of fighting, in which he forced his way temporarily into parts of Oudh, Rajputana and Kathiāwār, eventually retired.]

c8.23

B.C. 153. [Khārāvela compelled the Sunga King Pushyamitra to make peace.]

c8.24

B.C. 150. [The effect of the Śaka inroads into northern India became more and more serious from now onwards. But it is believed that in general theirs was a peaceful penetration and that they mingled amicably with the people, gradually acquiring power over them.]

c8.25

B.C. 145. [A Chola Tamil, by name Elāra, succeeded in making himself King of Ceylon, though he was not a Buddhist. He ruled for 44 years when he was killed by a Singhalese prince. Duṭṭhagāmaṇi. Mahāvaṃsa, ch. xxi.]

c8.26

B.C. 101. [Duṭṭhagāmaṇi became King of Ceylon, and reigned for 24 years. During his reign there was much fighting between Singhalese and Tamils.]

c8.27

B.C. 100. [Approximate date of the arrival in North India of the Kushan tribe of the Yueh-chi, who were driven over the border. They gained great power in Baktria, and after a time their King, Kadphises I conquered Hermaios, the last Greek king of Baktria and made himself sovereign over that country, as also of Gandhāra; the date of Kadphises is placed by Vincent Smith as late as A.D. 40.]

c8.28

B.C. 72. [The Sunga dynasty of Magadha came to an end, King Dēvabūmi being murdered by his minister the Brahman Vāsudēva, who seized the throne and founded the short lived Kāṇva dynasty.]

c8.29

B.C. 58. [This date has been accepted by some authorities as marking the beginning of the reign of the Kushan King Kanishka; but there has been much controversy on the point. Vincent Smith makes his accession as late as A.D. 120. At any rate the year 58 B.C. is remarkable as that of the establishment of the ‘Vikrama’ era in chronology. Kanishka’s kingdom in the end included the north-west of India as far east as Benares, and the country southwards to Sindh. His capital was Peshawar.]

c8.30

B.C. 43. [The King of Ceylon Vaṭṭagāmaṇi Abhaya was attacked in the fifth month of his reign by an army of Pāṇḍya Tamils, and was defeated. For fourteen years Ceylon was ruled over by five Tamils in succession who usurped the throne. The last of them was killed in 29 B.C. when Vaṭṭagāmaṇi-Abhaya regained the throne.]

c8.31

B.C. 27. [One of the Āndhra kings, either (12) Kuntala, (13) Śāta Śātakarṇi, or (14) Pulumayi I, slew Suśarman the last king of the northern Kāṇva dynasty. After this the Śaka rulers gained the upper hand and their Kushan governed the country till about A.D. 125.]

c8.32

B.C. 22. [A Pāṇḍya king sent an embassy to Augustus Cæsar in Rome. He received it at Samos.] (Strabo, xv. 2, 4).

c8.33

A.D. 1. [The following was the political condition of Southern India at this time. The Ganjam and Vizagapatam country was probably governed by the King of Kalinga. The Āndhra king ruled the Godavari and Krishna tracts, with parts of Nellore, Cuddapah and Kurnool. North of what is now the Madras Presidency they had greatly extended their power so as to govern the whole of the Dekhan and even far to the north of it. The Chōla king held the territories lying between Pulikat and Rāmnād on the eastern side of the peninsula, with capital at Puhār on the Kāvēri river (Kāṇchi or Conjeveram was a Viceroyalty). The Pāṇḍyas held Madura, Tinnevelly, Travancore, part of Coimbatore, Cochin and the Palni Hills. The Chēras ruled the country to the north and west of the Pāṇḍya dominions.

c8.34

The country between the mouths of the Krishna and the Pālār river was the ‘Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam.’ (See Prof. Krishnaswami Aiyangar’s ‘South Indian Culture’, p. 63.)]

c8.35

A.D. 20. [For a note as to the flourishing condition of trade between South India and Rome at this time see Introduction above.]

c8.36

A.D. 47. [This trade received an impetus by the discovery made by Hippalos of the regularity of the north-east and south-west monsoons in the Indian Ocean; but it declined after the death of Nero at Rome as his successors discountenanced the love of luxury prevalent in his day.

c8.37

The Indo-Parthian king Gondophares was now reigning in the Panjab and Sindh.

c8.38

A.D. 70-80. (Approximately). [The author of the ‘Periplus’ mentions the Kēraḷa and Pāṇḍya kings and another called ‘Saraganes’, which probably stands for Sātakarṇi, the family name of the Āndhra king.

c8.39

Pliny tells us that the Āndhra king was stronger than the King of Kalinga. The former had an army of 100,000 foot, 2,000 horse, and 1,000 elephants. Both he and Arrian write about the Pāṇḍyas and their capital city Madura. (For further remarks on the Periplus see the Introduction.)]

c8.40

A.D. 78. [Epoch of the Śaka era in India, which Fleet believed to be the year of accession of the Śaka king Nahapāna, one of the western Kshatrapas, ruling about Nasik.]

c8.41

A.D. 99, 107. [Indian embassies were sent to Rome in these years, the earlier by Wima Kadphises of the Kushan dynasty in the north.]

c8.42

A.D. 113. [Approximate date for the accession of the Āndhra king Vilivāyakura II, or Gautamiputra Sātakarṇi. He is believed to have resided at Dhānyakaṭaka (Amarāvati), while the heir-apparent ruled the Western territories from Paithān. Dr. Barnett's date for this is A.D. 106.]

c8.43

A.D. 124-25. [Vilivāyakura II sought to crush the rule of the Śaka Satrap Nahapāna and made war on him. He was very successful and wrested from the foreigners the territories of Gujarāt, Malwa, Kāthiāwār, parts of Central India, Berar, Nasik, Poona and the Northern Konkan. Nahapāna seems to have met his death in the war. He was succeeded by his co-regent Chashṭhana, son of Ghsamōṭika, who recovered most of the territories north of the Narbada and established a Śaka dynasty which lasted for about 250 years. He made Ujjain his capital. He was known to Ptolemy as ‘Tiasthenes’.]

c8.44

A.D. 138. [Approximate date for the accession of the Āndhra king Pulumāyi II, Vāsiṣṭhīputra, who married a daughter of the Śaka Satrap Rudradāman I, grandson of Chashṭhana.]

c8.45

A.D. 145. [Rudradāman made war on his son-in-law, Pulumāyi II the Āndhra king, and inflicted on him a severe defeat. The Āndhras lost all the territory that had remained to them in the west after Chāshṭhana’s victory, retaining, beyond their own territory proper, only Nasik and Poona. This loss was a severe blow to them and the family never recovered from it. Nasik and Poona were after this governed by an off-shoot of the Āndhra royal family, the members of which were known as the Chūṭu-Sātakarṇi’s. They were eventually crushed by the Kadambas about A.D. 350.]

c8.46

A.D. 145-46. Inscription at Jangli-guṇḍu, Adoni Taluk, Bellary, of the Āndhra ‘king of the Sātavāhana family’, Pulumāyi II, in his eighth regnal year. He is the ‘Siro Polemaios’ of Ptolemy. (Ep. Ind. xiv, 153). The record proves Āndhra rule in that tract and at that time.

c8.47

A.D. 150. Approximate date for the accession of the Chōḷa king Karikāla Chōḷa. The earliest Chōḷa king known by name was Perunarkilli I. He had a son Ilañjēt-Śenni,¹ who was father of Karikāla. The grand-father and grand-son together fought against the Chera king, Kuḍakkō-Neḍumśēral-Ādan I with the result that both Perunarkilli and Ādan I lost their lives in the same battle, and the Chōḷa throne fell to Karikāla Chōḷa, his father having probably died earlier. His capital was Puhār, or Pugār or Kāvēripattanam on the bank of the Kāvērī river.

c8.48

¹ The prefix Iḷam (= ‘young’) seems to imply that Karikāla’s father did not come to the throne.

c8.49

He was a very powerful monarch. He is said to have made an expedition to the north. He is also said to have dammed the Kāvērī and constructed irrigation channels—a great work of which we find an echo in the Sinhalese *Rajavaliya*, which says that, in the reign in Ceylon of Vankanāsika Tissa, father of Gajabāhu I, 12,000 Sinhalese had been carried off to the mainland by the Chōḷa King—possibly as labourers. It states that prince Gajabāhu, accompanied by only one man, who however was a giant went to the Chōḷa king and by threats induced him to send these men back to the island. At the same time Gajabāhu carried back to Ceylon a number of treasures including the begging-bowl of Buddha which had been carried off from the island 200 years earlier in the time of Vattagāmini Abhaya.

c8.50

The wealth of Karikāla Chola is described in the old Tamil poems as fabulous. The old Tamil poems relate of him that he gave 160,000 gold pieces to the author of the *Pattiṉappālai*. (*SI.I. ii. 375*; *Ep. Ind. xv, 46.*) His daughter married the Chēra King Perum-Śēral-Ādan II.

c8.51

Arrian, the Greek geographer flourished about this time. About this time also, the Pāṇḍya King Neḍuñjeḷian Pāṇḍya I came to the throne in Madura. He was contemporary with Karikāla Chōḷa and the Chēra King Ādan II. He is said to have defeated an ‘Āryan’ army in the Dekhan. He is also called ‘Ugra Pāṇḍya’ or ‘Ugra Peruvaḷudi.’ His capital was Korkhai on the Tāmraparṇi river, but it was afterwards removed to Madura. The Veḷvikuḍi grant of about A.D. 770 says that after the reign of Neḍuñjeḷian I (cir. A.D. 190) the Pāṇḍya country was occupied by the Kaḷabhras who, V. Venkayya thought, might be the Karṇāṭas.¹

c8.52

¹ This grant states that the Kaḷabhras came some considerable time after one Muḍukuḍumi 'of many sacrifices' —The Kaḷabhras could not be Karṇāṭakas as the two are mentioned together.—*Editor*.

c8.53

A.D. 173. [Probable date of accession of Gajabāhu I, King of Ceylon, determined by its distance in time from the date of Buddha's death which is taken, as in modern computation to have occurred in 483 B.C. It is important to fix this date because Gajabāhu is known to have been a contemporary of the Chēra King Śen-guṭṭuvan who invited him to visit him at his capital city Vañji. (*Mahāwaṃśa ch. xxxv*.)]

c8.54

A.D. 175. [About this time there was war in South India. Karikāla Chōḷa quarrelled with his son-in-law the Chera Ādan II and fought against him. The Pāṇḍya Neḍuñjeḷian allied himself with Ādan II. The allies were badly beaten at the battle of Veṇṇil and Ādan II was so ashamed at his ill-success that he starved himself to death. He was succeeded by his son Śenguṭṭuvan on the Chēra throne.]

c8.55

A. D. 180. [Conjectural date for the death of Karikāla Chōḷa and accession of his elder son Neḍumuḍi-Kiḷḷi who was also called by many other names in the Tamil Epics, such as ‘Vaḍivēr-Kiḷḷi,’ ‘Velvēr-Kiḷḷi’ and ‘Māvaṇ-Kiḷḷi.’ He also fought with the allied Chēras and Pāṇḍyas and won a battle against them at Kārīyāṟu. Neḍumuḍi-kiḷḷi had a younger-brother Seṭ-Śenni-Nalam Kiḷḷi who revolted and besieged his King at Uraiyūr and Āmūr, near Trichinopoly. The Chēra King Śenguṭṭuvan, however, took the field against Nalam-kiḷḷi and rescued Neḍumuḍi-kiḷḷi after fighting a battle at Nērīvāyil when, so say Chēra records, he defeated nine ‘Kiḷḷis’ or Chōḷa royal princes.

c8.56

Śenguṭṭuvan has other successes laid to his credit by his admirers, namely that he vanquished certain Āryan princes in the north, Kanaka and Vijaya; and captured the town of Viyaḷūr from local Kongu chiefs.

c8.57

A great misfortune befel the Chōḷa king Neḍumuḍi-Kiḷḷi about this time. His capital Puhār was completely destroyed by a great storm, when the sea broke in and ruined the city. It was apparently after this, when he had taken refuge in Uraiyur, that he was besieged there by his brother, as above mentioned.¹

c8.58

¹ He is also said to have attacked Madura fruitlessly, having been driven back by the Pāṇḍya King Neḍuñjeḷian II, and he is credited with having attacked Vanji, the Chera King's capital, but with little effect.

c8.59

Neḍumuḍi-Kiḷḷi was father of the Toṇḍamān prince Iḷandiraiyan by an illicit amour with, so says tradition, a Nāga princess.

c8.60

Professor Krishnaswami Aiyangar believes this age of Śeṅguṭṭuvan Chēra to have been the age of the *Saṅgam* at Madura.]

c8.61

A.D. 200. [Conjectural date for the accession of the Chōḷa King Peruṇarkiḷḷi II, whose relationship to his predecessors is not known; and also for that of the Chēra King Śey or Yānaikkaṭ-Śey. There was war between these kings. And King Śey also fought against the Pāṇḍya King Neḍuñjeḷian II who, at the battle of Talai-Ālaṅgānan, captured King Śey and held him prisoner. Opinions differ as to the date of this battle and of these kings' reigns. Dr. Barnett places it in A.D. 125. Prof. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, I understand, in about A.D. 300, I claim no superior knowledge.

c8.62

After this history is almost a blank in the extreme south till about the sixth century A.D. We know no name of any Chēra King after King Śey till the reign of Perum-Śēral Irumporai. No Chōḷa ruler's name is known till the date of Kō-Chcheṅgaṇ except a possible Subha-dēva. And with the exception of two names, with no guide as to relationship, no Pāṇḍya kings' names are known till the reign of Kaḍuṅgōn. The two names are Ugra-Peru-Vaḷudi (a title), and Nan-Māran. Perum-Śēral-Irumporai (Chēra), Kōchcheṅgaṇ (Chōḷa) and Kaḍuṅgōn (Pāṇḍya) all belong to the sixth century A.D. On the other hand we have full information of the flourishing Pallava dynasty of Kāñchi during the whole of this interval.

c8.63

It should be noted that, since the middle of the second century A.D., the provinces of Nasik and Poona had been governed by the Chūṭu-Śatakārṇi's, a branch of the Āndhras. Hārītiputra-Chūṭu-Kadānanda-Śatakarṇi established himself as independent at Baṇavāsi. The family was defeated by Bappa, the first prominent Pallava King about A.D. 225.]

c8.64

A.D. c. 225. [Bappa had been Governor of large tracts under the last Śātavāhana (Āndhra) King, Puḷumāyi III. The Āndhra kingdom had now shrunk to small size, consisting practically of nothing but the Telugu provinces, and Bappa finally put an end to the Āndhra dynasty and, ruling himself from Kāñchi, seized their dominions. Following him his descendants became a first-class power. Pallava rule lasted for over 600 years. The old Āndhra capital at Amarāvati became the seat of a Pallava Viceroyalty, and we find Bappa's son Śivaskanda I issuing orders about A.D. 234 (Bappa's 10th year) to his Viceroy at Dhannakaḍa (= Amarāvati). The Pallavas then ruled the whole Coromandel coast; and the power of the Chōḷas proportionally declined.

c8.65

(The origin of the name 'Pallava' is a subject greatly debated, and it need not here be considered.)]

c8.66

A.D. c. 234. Copper-plate inscription found at Mayidavōlu in the Kistna District. It was issued by Śiva-Skandavarman, heir-apparent to the new Pallava throne, in the 10th year of the reign of his father Bappa, who established the Pallava dynasty. The order was given to the Pallava Viceroy at 'Dhannakaḍa' or Amarāvati; and consisted of a grant of villages in the 'Āndhra country' (*Āndhrapatha*). (*Ep. Ind. vi. 84*).

c8.67

Another copper-plate record was found at Koṇḍamuḍi, on the north-bank of the Krishna near its mouth which is reported to be in characters closely resembling those of the Mayidavōlu plates. It purports to have been issued in the tenth regnal year of Jayavarman Mahārāja, who was in his ‘Camp of Victory’ at Gūḍur, near by, at the time. It is not known who this Jayavarman was, but it is just possible that it may have been a name adopted by Bappa.¹ (Ep. Ind. vi. 315; V. R. ii. Guntūr, 838.)

c8.68

¹ The word ‘Bappa’ merely means ‘father.’ It would not be surprising if on his acquisition of real power this ruler adopted a more high-sounding name.

c8.69

A.D. 250, or thereabouts. [Accession (according to Professor Jouveau-Dubreuil’s date) of the second king of the Pallava Dynasty, Śivaskandavarman.]

c8.70

A.D. c. 257. Hirahadagali plates (Bellary District). Grant by Śivaskandavarman, Pallava king, in his eighth year of reign. Sacrifices offered by him are mentioned. He gave away a village in the ‘Śātāhaniraṭṭha.’ This was in the country which had been ruled by the Chūṭu-Sātakarṇi branch of the Āndhras. (Ep. Ind. i, 2.)

c8.71

About the same time another set of plates, now in the British Museum, mention the Yuvarāja (crown prince) Buddhavarman and his wife Chāru-dēvī. Buddhavarman was son of Śivaskanda. (Ep. Ind. viii. 143.)

c8.72

A.D. 275. [In Ceylon Vohāraka Tissa came to the throne in succession to his father Śirināga I. Tissa’s brother Abhaya Nāga revolted, and fled to the main land. There he collected an army of Tamils. With these he returned to the island, defeated Tissa, and caused him to fly for refuge to the Malaya country, whither he was pursued and killed, Abhaya carrying off Tissa’s queen. (Mahāwaṃśa ch. xxxvi.)

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A.D. 319-20. [Chandragupta I, chief of a small principality near Pāṭaliputra, who had been very energetic and had made himself independent about A.D. 308, was crowned in 319-20. He married a princess of the Lichchavi family. His descendants came to great power, their empire, that of the ‘Guptas’, embracing the valley of the Ganges, Allahabad, Tirhut, Bihar and Oudh.]

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A.D. 336. [He was succeeded in this year by his son, Samudragupta, who raised large forces and waged many wars. After defeating, according to his panegyrist (e.g. the Allahabad pillar inscription—Ep. Ind. xv, 246) nine local kings he warred successfully against eleven kings of the Gangetic plain. Then he seized southern Kōsala and the valley of the Mahānadi; defeated the King of Kalinga; took Mahēndragiri in Ganjam, the Kolēr Lake country and Piṭhāpur north of the Godāvari; crossed that river and seized Vengi, now a Pallava centre governed by a Viceroy named Hastivarma. Then he defeated the Pallava king himself, Vishṇugōpa I of Kāñchi, captured him and his city and restored him to his throne. Shortly after this his attention was called to the west and about A.D. 340 he reduced a chief on the Malabar coast. Samudragupta reigned till about A.D. 380.

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Between A.D. 364 and 380 he received an embassy from King Kirtti-Śri-Mēghavaṇṇa of Ceylon, whose reign began, according to the revised chronology, in A.D. 354 The Mahāwaṃśa (ch. xxxvii) relates that during that reign a Brahman princess ‘from Kalinga’ brought the tooth-relic to Ceylon. (See Ep. Ind. xv, 246.)

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About A.D. 375 the Gupta king, after a period of fighting succeeded in getting the better of the Śaka Satraps, and he and his successors finally crushed Śaka power before the end of the century.

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After the departure from Kāñchi of Samudragupta, the Pallava king induced the Kadamba chief of Baṇavāśi to form a defensive alliance with him against attacks from the north. Although actually the power of the Pallava lost strength after the Gupta raid and the Kadamba family became proportionally stronger, the latter acknowledged the Pallava sovereign as their political superior. Baṇavāśi had been captured from the Āndhra Chūṭu-Sātakarṇis. The Pallava king Viṣṇugopa I crowned the Kadamba Mayūraśarma about A.D. 340.]

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A.D. 340. A record at Tālgund, Shimōga District, Mysore, gives an account of the foundation of the long-lived Kadamba dynasty of Baṇavāśi. It belongs to the reign of Kākusthavarman (A.D. 425-450), and presents the history of the times from a Kadamba standpoint. A Brahman named Mayūraśarma went to Kāñchi as a theological student, rebelled against the life, became a freebooter, raised a force, fought against Pallava troops, seized lands in the Dekhan and as far east as Śrīśailam, levied tribute from the Bāṇa chiefs of North Arcot, whose residence was at Tiruvallam, and finally became so troublesome that the Pallava king came to terms with him, and about A.D. 340 recognized him as legitimate lord of Baṇavāśi, Hāngal, and other larger tracts. Mayūraśarma finally put an end to the Chūṭu-Sātakarṇi rule in that country.

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(Ep. Carn. iv. Introd. 1; Ep. Ind. vii. 105; viii. App. ii. 19.)

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About the fourth century A.D. A set of plates from Komarti in Ganjam, dated in the sixth year of the Śālankāyana chief Chandavarman. We hear also of his son Vijaya-Nandivarman, and of an earlier ruler Dēvavarman who issued an order to the villagers of Ellore in his thirteenth year. This is in Prakrit, the others are in Sanskrit. These chiefs were descendants, probably, of the Āndhras, and still retained some local power in Vengi and the neighbourhood.

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(E.R. iv. 142; Ep. Ind. ix. 56.)

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[The Pallavas, though secure at Kāñchi at the time could not extend their power as much as they wished because of the constant opposition of the Bāṇa chiefs of North Arcot and the neighbourhood, who were also known as ‘Mahvali’ chiefs. The two families were therefore very hostile to one another. But Professor Jouveau-Dubreuil holds that Pallava power extended as far south as Pudukotta. And this led to the Pallava king procuring the assistance of a Ganga chief of the Mysore country towards the conquest of the Bāṇas, who ruled the tracts ‘West of the Telugu road.’]

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A.D. 436. Date of accession, according to Fleet, of the Pallava king Simhavarman I. He consecrated, perhaps about A.D. 450, the Ganga King Harivarman, or Ayyavarman, ‘to conquer the Bāṇa dominions.’

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(Ep. Carn. ii, Introd. App. A; Ep. Ind. vii. 110.) J.R.A.S. 1915, pp. 476, 485.]

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A.D. 425-450. Period of the Talgund record of Kadamba Kakusthavarma referred to above, s.v. A.D. 340.

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A.D. c. 426(?). [According to Professor Jouveau-Dubreuil the Pallava Kumāra-Viṣṇu II, came to the throne about A.D. 425. A record of his second year witnesses the gift of the village of Chandalūr in Nellore District by him (Ep. Ind. viii. 233). Relying on date of the Penukonda plates of A.D. 458 (see below), this inscription would seem to belong to a year considerably earlier. For three reigns intervened between Kumāra-Viṣṇu II and Simhavarman I, and the latter came to the throne in the year ending August 25, A.D. 436.]

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A.D. 446. This Uruvapalle copper-plate grant of this date was issued in the eleventh year of Pallava Simhavarman I. It shews that his predecessor Vijaya Skandavarman died and he came to the throne ten years earlier. (See *s.v.*, A.D. 458 below.) He made a grant to a rock-cut temple, the Mūlasthāna, at Tirukkaḷukuṉṟam in Chingleput District. (*Ep. Ind. iii. 277; Dubreuil ‘Antiquities’, p. 43.*)

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A.D. 420. Approximately (but about 450 according to Dubreuil). Grant of a village in the neighbourhood of Vengi by the Pallava Virakūrchavarman, son of Skandavarman III. (*Ep. Ind. i. 397; Ind. Ant. v. 50, 154; viii. 168.*)

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A.D. 450, roughly. The Kadamba Śāntivarma ruling at Baṇavāsi. An inscription gives him Āndhra titles, probably derived from the Chūṭu-Sātakarṇi chiefs of Āndhra stock ejected by the Kadambas, and it calls him ‘Master of the entire Karṇāṭa region.’ Grant by one of his family in his third year. (*E. C. vi. Kd. 162.*)

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About the same time. Record on copper-plates from Rāgōlu in Ganjam. Vasishṭhīputra Śaktivarman ruling Piṭhāpūr. He is called ‘Lord of Kalinga.’ (*Ep. Ind. xii. p. 1.*) The prefix to his name is evidently derived from the Āndhras.

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Rice places at this time an interesting stone inscription of Dēvavarman-Śivanandavarman, prince of the dynasty of Kadambas of Baṇavāsi and son of king Krishṇavarman I by a princess, ‘daughter of Kaikeya.’ It is at Anaji in North Mysore. It states that Krishṇavarman having been completely defeated and ruined by the Pallava Rāja Naṇakkāsa, Śivananda retired into a life of seclusion and penance. (*E. C. xi. Dg. 161.*)

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A.D. 458, August 25. Notice of the early Gaṅga king Mādhava II, from Peṇukoṇḍa. The date is as stated, and, as it is given as the twenty-second year of the Pallava king Simhavarman I, it makes the latter’s accession in the year ending 25th August A.D. 436. It says that Mādhava II had been crowned by Pallava Skandavarman. Skandavarman was son of Simhavarman I and therefore it would seem that he, being Yuvarāja, had been appointed by his father to conduct the ceremony in question. (*J. R. A. S. 1915, p. 471. f. 485.*)

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A.D. 466. Mercara (Coorg) Treasury plates. Grant by the Gaṅga king Avinīta, son of Mādhava II. The date is defective in two respects and cannot be safely trusted. (*E. C. i. Coorg Inscriptions, No. 1.*)

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A.D. 471-72. Date of accession of the Kadamba king of Baṇavāsi, Mrigēśavarman, according to a record of his third year = A.D. 473-74. (See *Fleet, Sans. and Old Kan. Inscriptions No. xxxvi, Ind. Ant. 1878, p. 35.*) He claims to have defeated the Western Gaṅgas. (*Ep. Ind. v. 157.*)

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A.D. 477-78. Record of the Kadamba Mrigēśavarman in his eighth year. (*Ind. Ant. 1877, 24.*)

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A.D. c. 490. An undated record at Siraguṇḍa in Mysore of the Gaṅga king Durvinīta; stating that when he received the Koṅguṇi crown from the ‘Kāḍuveṭṭi’ (i.e. the Pallava) king, his younger brother was roused to anger, and to pacify him ‘the people of Naṇḍyāl granted him a share in a village.’ (*E. C. vi. Cm. 50; E. C. xii, Mi. 110.*)

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The *Mahāwaṃśa* relates that at this time about A.D. 496, a Tamilian named Pāṇḍu probably a Pāṇḍya prince, landed in Ceylon with an armed force, slew king Mittasēna who had, in the previous year, usurped the throne of the island, and himself seized it. Pāṇḍu surrounded himself with Tamils, and he and several successors ruled Ceylon for over twenty years. (*Mahāwaṃśa ch. xxxviii.*)

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A.D. 500. [Professor Dubreuil fixes this as the date of accession of the Kadamba king Ravivarman. He slew Vishṇuvarman I, and defeated the Pallava Skandavarman V, and established himself at Halsi.]

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A.D. 500. [Vincent Smith (J. R. A. S. 1914, p. 137) places about this time a Viṣṇukuṇḍin chief, Mādhavavarma, who married the daughter of the Vākāṭaka chief Hariṣēṇa, and by the latter's influence succeeded in getting possession of the Vengi country, south of the Godavari river. Hariṣēṇa claimed to have conquered the Āndhra country and Kaliṅga. It is believed, however, that by the term ‘Āndhra’ may be meant the country that had been ruled by the Śālaṅkāyana chiefs further west than Vengi. Nevertheless Mādhavavarma settled himself at Deṇḍalūr close to Vengi. Since the Pallavas undoubtedly ruled that tract, these Viṣṇukuṇḍins must have been only minor chiefs.]

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A.D. c. 500. The Pikira grant of a village in the ‘Muṇḍarāṣṭra’ province by the Pallava prince Simhavarman II, son of the Yuvarāja Viṣṇugōpa. It was issued from his camp at Mēnmātūra. (Madras Museum, V. R. ii. Madras 183; Ep. Ind. viii. 159.) He also gave a village in the Vengi country. (Ind. Ant. viii. 154.)

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An inscription in the Puṅganūr Taluk, Chittoor District, and therefore in the ancient ‘Puliṇāḍu,’ of Prithivipati, brother of the Gaṅga king Durvinita. (V. R. i. Chittoor 215; 326 of 1912.)

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About this time, according to Jouveau-Dubreuil's chronology the Kadamba Ravivarma came to the throne. The date cannot be far wrong for his father's accession has been fairly proved to have taken place in A.D. 471. Ravivarman claims to have conquered the Pallava Chaṇḍadaṇḍa of Kāñchi, i.e. Skandavarman V; also he claims to have conquered the Western Gaṅga king, and that at least he had some temporary success is shewn by his grant of two villages near Talakāḍ, the Gaṅga capital in Mysore. (Ep. Ind. viii. 146.)

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[The beginning of the sixth century A.D., then, found the whole country disturbed. The Pallavas and Gaṅgas had united against the turbulent Bāṇa chiefs, but the Kadambas had warred against both the allies. Kadamba Mrigēśavarma claims a victory over the Gaṅgas, while somewhat earlier the Pallavas had ‘ruined’ the Kadamba country for the time being. (See above s. v. A.D. 450.)]

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A.D. 517-18. Mallōhalli plates, No. 2, in Mysore. Grant by the Western Gaṅga king Durvinita in his thirty-fifth year. A pedigree of five generations is given. It makes his accession as in A.D. 483-84 (E. C. ix, D-B 68). The Kuḍlūr grant (Mysore Arch. Sur. 1921, p. 1920) states that he fought many battles, some of which are mentioned, viz., those at Andāri, Alattūr, Puruḷare and Pernaṅgara; that he captured the ‘Kāḍuveṭṭi’ (i.e. the Pallava king, and if so the friendships existing between their families did not last long); and that he ruled over the ‘Pāṇāḍu and Punṇāḍu’ countries. The Punṇāḍu country was in South Mysore.

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[About this year A.D. 517, or 523 according to another computation, Dhatusēna seized the throne of Ceylon from the Pāṇḍya usurpers who had ruled since A.D. 496. He extirpated the Tamils in the island. (Mahāvaṃśa ch. xxxviii.)]

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A.D. 545. September 21. Sangoli C. P. grant, made from Banavāsi. The Kadamba Harivarman reigning there. (Ep. Ind. xiv. 163.) [The date may be September 22, A.D. 526, but is probably as given. Granted this, his accession was in A.D. 537-38.]

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A.D. 541-42. Halsi C. P. grant. This record shews that Uchchangi, on the extreme northern border of Mysore, was then a Kadamba possession, being ruled by Śivaratha, uncle of the reigning king Harivarman. (Ind. Ant. vi., p. 30.)

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[A.D. c. 550. Approximate date for accession of the early Chālukya king in the Dekhan, Pulakeśin I. His grandfather Jayasimha, a chief of the Mānavya-gōtra claiming descent from Hārītī, had acquired great power half a century earlier in the country about Bijapūr. His success was mainly due to the fact that the persistent inroads of Huns and Śakas into the Dekhan had broken up the Gupta Empire. The last Gupta king Bhānugupta became, in the early sixth century A. D. a tributary of the Hun leaders. Pulakēśin's original capital was Paithān. He afterwards seized Bādāmi, or Vātāpi, and the surrounding country from the Kadamba king. Harivarma (A.D. 537 to 550). Pulakēśin married Durlabha-dēvī. He was also called ‘Raṇavikrama’.]

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A.D. c. 556. Bannahalli C. P. grant. The seventh regnal year of Kadamba Krishnavarma II whose accession M. Jouveau-Dubreuil places in A.D. 550. It gives a pedigree of his forefathers for four generations. (E. C. v. Bl. 121.)

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A.D. 565. [The Chālukya Kīrttivarma I came to the throne in succession to his father Pulakēśin I. He fought a number of battles and before the year A.D. 570 defeated a confederation of Kadamba princes, headed by Krishnavarman II. The Kadambas are little heard of after this. They succumbed to the Chālukyas. Kīrttivarma is said in inscriptions to have conquered seventeen southern nations. He began the construction of the cave-temples at Bādāmi. He also claims to have defeated the kings of Kalinga.]

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A.D. 575. Conjectural date, according to Dubreuil, for the accession of the Pāṇḍya king Kaḍungōn at Madura, who founded a dynasty that lasted about 300 years. Prior to Kaḍungōn the Pāṇḍya country had lain under a long interregnum of Kaḷabhra rulers. The Vēḷvikuḍi grant and the two Sinnāmānūr grants are one authority for this. (Since published Ep. Ind. xvii, 291; S.I.I. iii, pt. iv, 441 ff.) (Ep. Rep. 1908, p. 62; Ep. Ind. viii, 318; Ind. Ant. 1908, p. 193; 1922, p. 221.)

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About this time the ‘Rēnāṇḍu 7000’ country (i.e., the districts of Cuddapah and Kurnool) was ruled by a family of Telugu Chōḍa chiefs (See General Tables s: v. Chōḷa). They claimed descent from Karikāla Chōḷa, and used the tiger-seal of that house. The date rests on the assumption that a chief of the third known generation, Mahēndra, was named after the Pallava king Mahēndravarman I. The late V. Venkayya held that this family may represent the ‘Chu-li-ye’ chiefs described in A.D. 639 by the Chinese traveller Hiuen-Thsang. (Ep. Rep. 1904-5, p. 48.)

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A.D. 594, February 10. Polamūr, Godavari District. Grant, in his forty-eighth regnal year by the Vishṇukuṇḍin king Mādhava III, fixing his accession as in the year following February 10, 546. He states that he had ‘crossed the river (Godavari) in order to attack in the East.’ His capital being at Deṇḍalūr, south of that river, he was probably marching to attack the kingdom of Kalinga. (Ep. Rep. C. P. No. 7 of 1913-14; Journal of Department of Letters, Univ. of Calcutta. XI. (31, A. D. 192.)

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The fourth Vishṇukuṇḍin chief Vikramēndravarman gave a grant of villages on the Krishna river bank at Ravirēva (modern Ravirēla). (Ep. Ind. iv, 193.)

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[The Vishṇukuṇḍins were descendants of Mādhava II who had married a Vākāṭaka princess, and had been installed as ruler of the Vengi country in place of the Sālankāyanas, by the Vākāṭaka king.]

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A.D. c. 600. The Pallava kings Simhavishṇu-Pōtarāja *alias* ‘Avanisimha’ and Mahēndra-Pōtarāja I are mentioned in several inscriptions of about this date at the rock-cut temples at Mahābalipuram (Ep. Rep. 1923, p. 24; 661-665 of 1922); and in many other places in what was afterwards the territory of the Chōḷas. Simhavishṇu is said to have won many victories.

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A record in the cave-temple at Vallam (*V. R. i. Chingleput 242; 185 of 1892*) shews that the poet Appar lived in the reign of Mahēndra I. Appar was one of the composers of the *Tēvāram* hymns. Mahēndra is here called by his *biruda* ‘Guṇabhara.’

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At Trichinopoly, at the cave temple on the hill, are two inscriptions on pillars. Here Mahēndra is said to have gazed ‘on the power of the Chōḷa’ while the rock is called the ‘diadem of the Chōḷa province’, and the Kāvērī river is named the ‘beloved of the Pallava’. It would seem therefore that Pallava power had by this time spread to the south; that the country near to and east of Trichinopoly belonged to the Chōḷa; that the Kāvērī river had been crossed by the Pallava king; and that he ejected the Chola chief from Trichinopoly. (*V. R. iii. Trichin. 777, 778; 63, 64 of 1888; S.I.I., i, 28.*)

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That Mahēndra I was actually dominating large tracts at this time is shown by his having excavated many cave temples at Trichinopoly, Vallam, Śīyamangalam, Daḷavānūr; Mahēndravāḍi, Maṇḍagapaṭṭu . . . ¹ etc. (*Ep. Rep. 1904-5.*)

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¹ The Maṇḍagapaṭṭu inscription says that Mahēndra ‘abandoned the use of bricks, timber, metals or mortar’ in constructing his shrines, thereby implying that previously temples had been raised by the use of those materials.

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One of his inscriptions is at the Mahēndravāḍi temple near Sholinghar. (*Ep. Ind. iv, 152.*) Another is at Śīyamangalam in North Arcot. (*Ep. Ind. vi, 319.*) M. Jouveau-Dubreuil has written at length about these rock-cut temples in several recent works—‘Pallava Antiquities’, etc. . . . He holds that though the Pallavas were driven out of their northern possessions by the conquering Chāḷukyas, they ruled as far south as Pudukota.

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[In A. D. 597 the Chāḷukya king Kīrttivarmā I was succeeded by his brother Mangalēśa. A Mātanga tribe was destroyed by Mangalēśa; and he defeated in 609 Buddharāja, the Kaṭachuri ruler of Chēdi, in the Mahākōsala country of Central India (*Vaḍner plates, Ep. Ind. vi, 294; xii, 30.*) He slew a ‘Chāḷukya’ chief in the Konkan, perhaps a rebel, called ‘Svāmirāja’. Mangalēśa is said to have lost his own life in an endeavour to secure the throne for his own son Dhruvarāja *alias* Indravarman, in opposition to the claims of the rightful heir, Pulakēśin II, son of Kīrttivarma I. Pulakēśin II succeeded in gaining the throne in A.D. 609. (*Ind. Ant. 1881, p. 57; 1891, p. 3.*)]

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Pulakēśin (A.D. 609-642) was very successful. He drove the Mauryas from the Konkan, completely crushed the Kadambas of Baṇavāśi, defeated king Harsha of Kanauj about A. D. 620 when the latter tried a campaign to his south; defeated the Pallava Mahēndra I and drove him out from the northern Telugu country, taking the city of Pithāpūr; and defeated also the kings of Kōsala and Kalinga (*Ep. Ind. ix, 200*). He established his brother Kubja Vishṇuvardhana at Vengi, and the latter became the founder of the very important Eastern Chāḷukya dynasty. (*Ear. Hist. Dekh., p. 2; Ep. Ind. iii, 2.*)

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The Kaśākuḍi plates of A. D. 738-39 say that Mahēndra I defeated Pulakēśin II at Puḷḷalūra near Kāñchi. W. Chāḷukya records say that Pulakēśin II ‘made the leader of the Pallavas take refuge behind the ramparts of Kāñchi.’ But this is not a claim to have actually captured Kāñchi, which he would have done if victorious, and this leads to the supposition that he was really beaten back from Puḷḷalūra, after having advanced as far as that place.

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Kubja Vishṇuvardhana became ruler of the Vengi country in A.D. 615, and henceforth the Chāḷukya families have to be treated separately as Western and Eastern Chāḷukyas. He was practically king in the year following July 8, A.D. 614. (*Ind. Ant. xx, 1891, pp. 1, 93, 266.*)]

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A.D. 619. A C. P. grant now in the Madras Museum of this year's date shews that part of Ganjam District including the Aska Taluk was ruled by members of the Śailōdbhava family, of whom at the time Mādhavavarman II ‘Mahāsāmanta Sainyabhīta’, grandson of Mādhava I, was feudatory to King Harsha of Thanēsar. (*V. R. i. Ganjam 12; E. I. vi, p. 143.*)

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A.D. 630. [The Pallava king Narasimhavarman I came to the throne probably in this year in succession to Mahēndra I. His territory was shrunk in the north by the Chālukya conquest, but somewhat expanded in the south. In his reign lived Gñāna Sambandar (*Ep. Ind. iii, 278*). The reign is remarkable for the construction by him of the great rock-cut group of temples at Mahābalipuram, on the coast south of Madras, the original name of which was ‘Māmallapuram’ after Māmalla, a *biruda* of Narasimha.

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He fought several battles and inflicted in A.D. 642 a crushing defeat on the Chālukya king, as will be seen from the notes below.]

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A.D. 631. The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Thsang visited India, and travelled in various parts for about twelve years. He left behind him a most valuable book of notes and observations on his journeys and what he saw. He states that Buddhism was declining and Brahmanism on the increase.

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A.D. 632. July 7. Chipurapalle C. P. grant, Vizagapatam District. It shews Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana as sovereign at that time and place. He is called ‘Vishama Siddhi’, and was then in his eighteenth regnal year. It fixes his accession as in the year following July 8, A.D. 614. (*V. R. iii Vizag. 16; Ind. Ant. xx, 1891, p. 15.*)

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A.D. 633. [Death of the Eastern Chālukya king Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana, and accession of his son Jayasimha I.]

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A.D. 635. October 31. Two grants of land on the same day by the E. Chālukya Vishṇuvardhana II, son according to one and nephew according to the other, of Jayasimha I, the occasion being a lunar eclipse in Kārttika in the third regnal year. It appears to me that this third year must be that of Jayasimha. No hint as to the year, either the cyclic year or that of any era, is given. But there was a lunar eclipse in Kārttika on October 31, A.D. 635, and this was Jayasimha's third year. Vishṇuvardhana's own third regnal year would be A.D. 665-66 and there was no eclipse in Kārttika in that year. The Epigraphist suggests that Vishṇuvardhana had been adopted as his son by Jayasimha. (*Ep. Rep. 1917. App. A., C. P. 14, 15 and Report §20.*)

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A.D. 634-35. Aiholē inscription of the W. Chālukya Pulakēśin II. He is said to have, before this date, subdued the kings of Kaliṅga and Kōsala, taken Piṭhāpur, occupied the Kolēr Lake country near Ellore, defeated the Pallavas near Kāñchi, and crossed the Kāvēri. (*Ep. Ind. vi, 1.*)

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[Thus it appears that the Chālukyas swept the whole Pallava country from north to south. The latter however recovered themselves a little later.]

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Pallava Narasimha I was able to keep his court in Kāñchi. About A.D. 640 he received as a guest Prince Mānavamma of Ceylon, son of Kassapa II, who had left the island on account of internal plots and disturbances, and the two became great friends. Narasimha I reorganized his forces, attacked the Chālukya intruders, fought several battles and gradually drove them back into their own country. In this he was assisted by Mānavamma. . . . His success was such that he was able to advance his armies to the Cāḷukya capital, Bādāmi, finally capturing and destroying the city. This was in A.D. 642. Ever since then he was known by his having assumed the title ‘Vātāpikoṇḍa’ or capturer of Vātāpi (Bādāmi).

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Many distinguished religious leaders and poets flourished at this time. Appar, already mentioned, and Tirugñāna Sambandar, two of the 63 Śaiva devotees, composed the Tēvāram collection of Śaiva hymns. One of these devotees Śiruṭṭoṇḍa Nāyanār assisted in the destruction of Bādāmi, and he was visited by Tirugñāna Sambandar—a fact which fixes the date of these authors. Śiruṭṭoṇḍa Nāyanār appears to have been one of Narasimha Pallava's generals.

c8.137

Three of Narasimha's battles against the Cāḷukyas are mentioned, viz., at Pariyaḷa, Maṇimangalam and Śūramāra (S.I.I., vol. i, 144 f, the Kūram, C. P. grant). Another record credits him with a victory over the Kaḷabhras.

c8.138

That this complete defeat of Pulakēśin II really occurred is supported by admissions in their own records which state that, after the destruction of Bādāmi, the city ‘was left without a sovereign for thirteen years.’ It is a fact that there is no known record of Pulakēśin II after A.D. 642, and that his successor only began to reign in 655. Pulakēśin is said to have been killed in the war.

c8.139

[Narasimha is said in some records to have ‘conquered Ceylon’, but this is a poetic exaggeration. He only sent troops to Ceylon to assist Mānavamma to recover his throne, about A.D. 668. (Cf. the Mahāwamśa, ch. xlvii.)]

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