Ancient History of the Deccan c6.s2.23

c6.s2.23

The first king, of whose date we are sure, reigned in the VIII century : in 1918, Mr. R. Narasimhachar discovered at Halkûr (Sira taluk) an inscription on a stone belonging to the reign of Śripuruṣha and dated Ś. 710 or 788 A. D. This king was the son of Śivamâra (Vallimalai insc., No. 91 of 1889), and grandson (Śuḍi plates, Ep. Ind., Vol. VIII, p. 181), of Bhûvikrama. Since Śripuruṣha reigned in 788 A. D. we may suppose that his grand father Bhûvikrama ascended the throne in the first quarter of the VIII century (700-725 A. D.). The father of Bhûvikrama named Śrivikrama must have reigned therefore in the 4th quarter of the VII century (675-700 A. D.) and his grandfather Mushkara in the 3rd quarter of the same century (650-675 A. D.). We know that Durvinîta the father of Mushkara reigned for a long time : the Gummareḍḍipura plates (Report, Archæol. Depart. Mysore, for 1912; paras 65-69) are, in fact, dated in the 40th year of his reign, and, as it is probable that he lived a few years more, we may give him a reign of 45 years which will extend from 605 to 650 A. D. His father Avinîta probably reigned for an equally long period, for, the Śringêri plates, which are dated in the second year of his reign, say that he obtained the "sovereignty while still on the lap of his divine mother" and the grant of Ep. Carn., 9, Doḍḍa-Baḷḷâpûr, 68, is dated in the 29th year of his reign. We may therefore believe that he reigned for a further period of 11 years after making the latter grant and that his reign lasted about 40 years. Avinîta would therefore have reigned from 565 to 605 A. D. According to these calculations, Mâdhava II., the father of Avinîta, would have reigned from 540 to 565 A. D. and this is exactly the epoch we have assigned to the Kadamba Kṛiṣhṇavarman II. If we now bear in mind that the Gaṅga Mâdhava II. and the Kadamba Kṛiṣhṇavarman II. both reigned over Mysore, the one in the North and the other in the South, and that, in consequence, they were neighbours, it would seem to be quite natural that Mâdhava II. should marry the sister of Kṛiṣhṇavarman II. It is clear that it is absolutely impossible that Mâdhava II, who lived in the middle of the VI century, should have married the sister of Kṛiṣṇavarman I. who lived in the middle of the V century. We shall therefore conclude by saying: "Mâdhava II, the father of Avinīta, married the sister of the Kadamba Kṛiṣṇavarman II. and reigned from 540 to 565 A. D.".