Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c17.4

c17.4

'As stated in the opening lines of all the copper-plate grants of this family, the Châlukyas belonged to the Gotra or race of Mânavya and were the descendants of Hârıtı . They were under the guardianship of the Seven Mothers and were led to prosperity by the god Kârtıkeya They obtained from Nârâyana a standard with a boar represented on it, and fighting under that standard they subjugated all kings . The Yevur tablet and the Mıraj plates, referred to above, agree with Bilhana in representing Ayodhyâ as the original seat of the family But since these were almost contemporaneous with the poet, all the three represent only the tradition that was current in the eleventh century . The first prince who raised the family to [49] distinction in the south was Jayasimha He fought several battles with the reigning princes, and, among them, those belonging to the Râshtrakûta famıly, if the Yevur tablet is to be trusted, and acquired the have been a Kalachuri prince, as the name Śaṁkaragana frequently occurs in the genealogy of the dynasty Mangalîśa is said to have carried his arms to both the eastern and the western seas On the coast of the latter he conquered what is called Revatîdvîpa, or the Island of Revatî A copperplate grant by a governor of this island was found near Goa,⁴ from which it would appear that Revatî was very probably the old name of Reḍî⁵ situated a few miles to the south of Vengurlem In an inscription in a cave-temple at Bâdâmî, it is stated that the temple⁶ was caused to be excavated by Mangalîsa He there placed an idol of Vishṇu, and on the occasion of its consecration granted a village, out of the revenues of which a ceremony called Nârâyaṇabalı was to be performed and sixteen Brâhmans to be fed every day, and the residue to be devoted to the maintenance of recluses This inscription is dated in the twelfth year of some reign when 500 years of the Saka era had elapsed The reign in the [50] twelfth year of which the cavetemple was consecrated is taken to be the reign of Mangalîsa On this supposition Mangalîsa began to reign in 489 Śaka, but I have elsewhere⁷ brought forward what I consider to be very strong arguments to show that Mangalîsa could not have come to the throne so early as that, and the only criticism⁸ that I have seen on my observations seems to me to be very unsatisfactory and serves only to confirm my statement The reign referred to, therefore, is that thus reigned from 489 Śaka or A D 567 to 513 Śaka or A D 591, that is, for twenty-four years