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The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s12: Chapter II. The Western Chalukyas of Badami

The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s12

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Chapter II. The Western Chalukyas of Badami

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With the Western Chalukyas of Bádámi,¹ whose records, mostly dated in the well-known Śaka era,² cover a period of nearly two centuries, from A. D. 578 to 757, we enter upon a far more definite chapter in the history of Western and Southern India.

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¹ I have hitherto written of the earlier members of this family, from Jayasiṁha I. to Maṅgalêśa, as the "Early Chalukyas;" applying the term "Western Chalukyas" to Pulikêśin II. and his descendants, in connection with the distinct separation that took place in his time between the Chalukyas of Bádámi and their relatives who became kings of the Veṅgi country on the east coast. There was, however, no break in the hereditary succession. And it will henceforth be more convenient to abolish an unnecessary term, and to speak of all the kings of Bádámi as the "Western Chalukyas." We have only to bear in mind that the eastern branch of the family did not come into existence till soon after A. D. 616 or 617, in the time of Pulikêśin II.—It is not an uncommon thing to find the Western Chalukyas of Bádámi called "the Chalukyas of Kalyâṇa." But this is a pure mistake. Kalyâṇa or Kalyâṇapura, which is the modern Kalyâṇi in the Nizâm's Dominions (the 'Kullianee' of the Indian Atlas, sheet No. 57; lat. 17° 51', long. 77°), is nowhere mentioned in the records of the earlier Chalukya period, nor even in those of the Râshṭrakûṭa period. The earliest mention of it that I have been able to trace, is in an inscription of A. D. 1053, which speaks of it as the neleviḍu,—= 'fixed place of abode,' or 'capital,'—of the Western Châlukya king Sômêśvara I. (A. D. 1044 and 1068). And the Vikramâṅkadêvacharita, ii. 1, distinctly says that that king made the place. Dr. Bühler, indeed (Vikramâṅkadêvacharita, Introd. p. 28; and Ind. Ant. Vol. V. p. 318) rendered the verse otherwise; and added the note—"The word "chakâra, 'he made,' might be also taken to indicate that he founded Kalyâṇa. But "this is not the case, as the town existed long before his time." This remark, however, is simply based on what is, as I say, a pure mistake.—See also a note near the beginning of chapter IV. below.

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² The epoch or year 0 of the Śaka era is A.D. 77-78; the first current year, as a luni-solar year, began on the 3rd March, A.D. 78, and ended on the 20th February, A.D. 79; and, to convert Śaka years into the equivalent current Christian years, the additive quantities are, 77-78 for a current Śaka year, and 78-79 for an expired Śaka year (see my Note on the Epoch and Reckoning of the Śaka Era; Gupta Inscriptions, Appendix I., and Ind. Ant. Vol. XVII. p. 205).—For purposes of accuracy, it is usual, and it is desirable, to quote the two Christian years, in parts of each of which a Śaka year falls; thus, "Śaka-Saṁvat 500 expired, = A.D. 578-79." When, however, an original date contains full details which shew precisely where it falls, it may often be convenient, for extreme exactness, to quote only one of the two Christian years; thus, "Śaka-Saṁvat 500 expired (Kârttika full-moon), in A.D. 578," and "Śaka-Saṁvat 500 expired (Phâlguna full-moon), in A.D. 579."—On the general question of the use of current and expired years of the two most commonly used Hindû eras, see Professor Kielhorn's papers on the Śaka and Vikrama eras in Ind. Ant. Vols. XIX., XX., XXIII., XXIV.

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The career of the great Chalukya family of Western India was spread over two periods, separated by a considerable interval. The first king, Pulikêśin I., established his power about A. D. 550; and his rule was apparently confined to the territory surrounding Bádámi. The possessions acquired by him, however, were extended in various directions by his sons, Kîrtivarman I. and Maṅgalêśa. The former attacked and dispossessed the Kadambas of Banawâsi, the Mauryas of the Koṅkaṇ, and the Naḷas somewhere in, apparently, the direction

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of Bellâry and Karnûl. And the latter, in addition to some further successes in the Konkan, conquered, towards the north, the Kalachuri king Buddha, and, by doing so, acquired the northern parts of the Bombay Presidency, certainly up to the river Kîm, and perhaps as far as the Mahî. At that point, the progress of Mangalêsa was stopped by the rulers of Valabhî, who held Kâthiâwâd and the northern parts of Gujarât,—the then representative of the family, whether as a paramount sovereign, or as the local governor for some king of Northern India, being evidently Sîlâditya I., for whom we have the date of Gupta-Samvat 286 (current), = A. D. 605-606.¹ But there was thus constituted a kingdom which embraced the whole of the Bombay Presidency, excepting Kâthiâwâd and northern Gujarât,—where the kings of Valabhî continued to reign till about A. D. 766,—and, with additions made to it by Pulikêsin II., included also much of the neighbouring territory to the east and south. And, except for a serious reverse, coupled with a suspension of their sovereignty for some thirteen years, which they suffered at the hands of the Pallavas at the end of the reign of Pulikêsin II., the Western Chalukyas of Bâdâmi held this kingdom until a little more than half-way through the eighth century. They were then completely overwhelmed by the Râshtrakûtas; and the family remained in obscurity for over two hundred years. The dynasty was then restored, or, more probably, a side-branch of the same stock was brought into power, by Taila II., in A. D. 973. His successors held the sovereignty for over two centuries more. And then the power of the family finally sank and disappeared. We are dealing now with the earlier of the two periods indicated above.

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¹ See *Gupta Inscriptions*, Introd, p. 41.

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The accompanying table² gives the genealogy of the Western Chalukyas, from the founder of the family to the last king, Kîrtivarman II. In the records, the dynastic or family name appears as Chalkya, Chalikya, and Chalukya.³ Like the Kadambas, the

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² The numbers before some of the names indicate the members of the family who reigned as king, and the order in which the succession went.—I have separated the entire Western Chalukya genealogy, which the original records purport to give unbroken from beginning to end, into three parts. The list of the kings from the restoration by Taila II. is given in the table that accompanies chapter IV. And the traditional connection between that part of the genealogy and the portion that is now given, is exhibited towards the end of this chapter.

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³ The earliest form is 'Chalkya,' in the Bâdâmi cave-inscription of the time of Kîrtivarman I., of A.D. 578 (*Ind. Ant.* Vol. VI. p. 363, text lines 3 and 4; for a lithograph, see Vol. X. p. 58).—The next form is 'Chalikya,' with the Dravidian *l*, in the Mahâkûta pillar-inscription of Mangalêsa, of A.D. 602 (*id.* Vol. XIX. p. 16, text line 2).—Next comes 'Chalikya,' with the ordinary *l*, in the Nerûr grant of Mangalêsa (*id.* Vol. VII. p. 162, text line 2; for other instances, see *id.* Vol. VI. p. 73, Vol. XIX. p. 309, Vol. IX. pp. 127, 130, and *Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc.* Vol. XVI, pp. 2, 235, where *le* was formed by mistake for *li*, and 238).—And then comes 'Chalukya' (which was finally adopted, and occurs most frequently), in the Aihole inscription of the time of Pulikêsin II., dated in A.D. 634-35 (*Ind. Ant.* Vol. VIII. p. 241, text lines 1 and 3; for other instances, see *id.* Vol. VII. pp. 163, 301, Vol. VIII. p. 46, Vol. IX. pp. 124, 133, Vol. XIX. p. 149, and *Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc.* Vol. XVI. pp. 234, 243). In the grant of Kîrtivarman II., of A.D. 757, Mr. Rice's published reading gives 'Chau-lukya' (*Ind. Ant.* Vol. VIII. p. 26, line 4); but there also, as the lithograph shews, the original distinctly has 'Chalukya.'—For the variants of the family name in the Eastern Chalukya records, see *Ind. Ant.* Vol. XX. p. 95, note 10.—In line 34 of the Nausâri

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Jayasimha I.

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Ranarâga.

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(1) Satyâśraya-Ranavikrama-Pulikêśin I.; married Durlabhadêvî.

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(2) Ranaparâkrama-Kîrtivarman I. (A. D. 566-67 to 597-98.)

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(3) Ranavikrânta-Maṅgalêśa. (A. D. 597-98 to 608.)

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? Satyâśraya-Dhruvarâja-Indravarman. (A. D. 590 and 610-611.)

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(4) Satyâśraya-Pulikêśin II. (A. D. 609 to 642.)

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Kubja-Vishnuvardhana I.; founder of the Eastern Branch of the family in Veṅgî. (A. D. 615 to 633.)

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Âdityavarman.

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Chandrâditya; married Vijayamahâdêvî, (A. D. 655 and 659.)

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(5) Satyâśraya-Ranarasika- Vikramâditya I. (A. D. 655 to 680.)

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(6) Satyâśraya-Râjâśraya- Vinayâditya. (A. D. 680 to 696.)

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(7) Satyâśraya-Samastabhuvanâśraya- Vijayâditya. (A. D. 696 to 733-34.)

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(8) Satyâśraya-Vikramâditya II.; married Lôkamahâdêvî and Trailôkyamahâdêvî. (A. D. 733-34 to 746-47.)

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(9) Satyâśraya-Nripasiṁha- Kîrtivarman II. (A. D. 746-47 and 757.)

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? Kuṅkumamahâdêvî.

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First Gujarat Branch. Jayasimharâja.

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Ranavikrânta- Buddhavarmarâja.

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Second Gujarat Branch (doubtful).

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Dharâśraya- Jayasimhavarman.

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Third Gujarat Branch.

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Dharâśraya- Jayasimhavarman. (A. D. 671 and 692.)

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Śryâśraya- Silâditya. (A. D. 671 and 692.)

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Vinayâditya-Yuddhamalla- Jayâśraya-Maṅgalarasa. (A. D. 731-32.)

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Jayâśraya- Tribhuvanâśraya- Nâgavardhana.

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Vijayavarmarâja. (A. D. 643.)

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Avanijanâśraya-Pulikêśin.

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the *Goths*, the *Vandals*, the *Suevi*, the *Burgundians*, the *Alani*, the *Huns*, the *Franks*, the *Saxons*, the *Thuringians*, the *Rugians*, and the *Heruli*. The names of these tribes are familiar to the reader, but their origin, their migrations, and their settlements are involved in the deepest obscurity. The most probable opinion is that they were all of German or Scythian extraction, and that they had been driven from their native seats by the pressure of the Huns, a formidable nation of Tartars, who had crossed the Volga and the Tanais, and were advancing with rapid strides towards the frontiers of the Roman empire.

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The first of these nations that crossed the Danube was the *Goths*. They were divided into two great branches, the *Visigoths* or Western Goths, and the *Ostrogoths* or Eastern Goths. The Visigoths, under the conduct of Fritigern, implored the protection of the emperor Valens, and were permitted to settle in the province of Thrace. But the perfidy of the Roman governors, and the insolence of the Roman soldiers, soon provoked them to rebellion. They defeated the imperial armies, and Valens himself perished in the battle of Hadrianople.

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The death of Valens was followed by the accession of Theodosius, who, by his wisdom and valour, restored the discipline of the Roman legions, and compelled the Goths to accept a peace, which was rather a truce than a permanent settlement. The Goths, however, remained in the heart of the empire, and their presence was a constant source of danger and alarm. They were no longer the rude barbarians who had first crossed the Danube; they had learned the arts of war and the policy of the Romans, and they were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to assert their independence.

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The reign of Theodosius was the last period of the glory of the Roman empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadius reigned in the East, and Honorius in the West. The division was fatal to the interests of the state. The two brothers were weak and indolent, and they were governed by their ministers and favourites. The Goths, under the command of Alaric, took advantage of the weakness of the government, and invaded Italy. They besieged and took Rome, and the eternal city, which had for so many centuries been the mistress of the world, was plundered by the barbarians.

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The fall of Rome was a shock to the whole civilized world. It was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new and darker age. The Goths, after the death of Alaric, retired from Italy, and settled in Gaul and Spain, where they founded kingdoms which were destined to last for several centuries. The Vandals, under the command of Genseric, crossed into Africa, and established a powerful kingdom, which for a time threatened the security of the Mediterranean. The Franks, under the command of Clovis, conquered Gaul, and laid the foundations of the French monarchy. The Saxons, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, invaded Britain, and established the kingdoms of the Heptarchy.

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Chalukyas are represented as belonging to the Mânavya gôtra or clan,¹ and as being Hâritîputras, or descendants of an original ancestress of the Hârita gôtra.² Again like the Kadambas, they claim a certain connection with Kârttikêya, the god of war, and his foster-mothers, the Pleiades. And the usual complete description of them may be best illustrated by quoting the preamble of the Haidarâbâd grant of Pulikêśin II., of A. D. 612, which, with only a few unimportant verbal differences, was followed in all the later formal records: it speaks³ of "the family of the Chalukyas, who are glorious; who are of the Mânavya gôtra, which is praised throughout the whole world; who are Hâritîputras; who have been nourished by the Seven Mothers who are the seven mothers of mankind;⁴ who have acquired an uninterrupted continuity of prosperity through the favour and protection of Kârttikêya; and who have had all kings made subject to them at the sight of the boar-crest which they acquired through the favour of the divine Nârâyaṇa (Vishṇu)." This quotation illustrates the preamble of

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¹ This statement appears in the earliest record, the Bâdâmi cave-inscription of A.D. 578, and is repeated in all the subsequent records of a formal nature.—For the meaning of the statement, see page 278 above, note 1.

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² This statement also appears in the Bâdâmi cave-inscription, and is repeated in all the subsequent records of a formal kind.—As in the Eastern Chalukya records (see Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 96, note 11), so also in the western records we find variants of the first component of the word Hâritîputra. The earliest and most usual form is 'Hâritî:' it occurs in the Bâdâmi cave-inscription; and other instances are found in Ind. Ant. Vol. VII, pp. 161, 163, Vol. VIII, pp. 26 (see the lithograph), 44, Vol. IX. pp. 126, 130, Vol. XIX. pp. 16, 149, and Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVI. pp. 233, 235, 238, 242. 'Hâritt' occurs in the Haidarâbâd grant of Pulikêśin II., of A.D. 612 (Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 73), and in four or five other places. 'Hâriti' occurs in the Chiplûṇ grant of about the same period (Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III. p. 50). The 'Hariti' of the Nerûr grant of Vijayâditya (id. Vol. IX. p. 133) is only due to a mistake of the writer or the engraver, in one detail if not in two. The Lakshmêshwar inscription, which was put on the stone after A. D. 967, gives 'Hâriti;' but it is not to be relied in a detail of this sort.—It is plain that, though 'Hâritîputra' may be more correct grammatically, 'Hârittîputra' is the standard form in the Chalukya records, as in also the Kadamba records.—For the gôtra-name itself, see page 277 above, note 5.

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³ Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 74.

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⁴ The mothers of mankind are the divine mothers, the personified energies of the principal deities. When taken as seven in number, which is usually the case, they are named as Brâhmî or Brahmâṇî, Mâhêśvarî, Kaumârî, Vaishṇavî, Vârâhî, Indrâṇî or Aindrî or Mâhêndrî, and Châmuṇḍâ. They were closely connected with the worship of Śiva; and they attended on Kârttikêya, who was his son.—They must have some original connection with the Pleiades, derived from the time when the principal stars of that group, visible clearly to the naked eye, were seven in number. Kârttikêya was fostered by the Pleiades (Krittikâh); and from this is derived his name of Kârttikêya, and one of his epithets, viz. shaṇmâtura, 'having six mothers.'

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grant of A. D. 739, of Avanijanâśraya-Pulikêśin of Gujarât (Proceedings of the Âryan Section of the Seventh International Congress of Orientalists, p. 232, and Plate), we have the very exceptional form 'Chalukki.' Whether this stands for 'Chalukika,' as given by Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji in his reading of the text, or whether 'Chalukya' was intended, or whether it is a real variant of the name, it is difficult to say.—The form 'Châlukya,' with the long vowel â in the first syllable, which was used by Taila II. and his successors, does not occur in any genuine document of the early period. It is used, with also the Drâviḍian ḷ in the second syllable, in the Lakshmêshwar inscription, dated in the second year of Vikramâditya II., of A.D. 735 (Ind. Ant. Vol. VII, p. 106, text line 64; and also in line 52, in another division of the record). But, however admissible this record may be, as a copy, for general purposes, it was not put on the stone till after A. D. 967, and it furnishes no criterion in a detail such as the present one.—The forms 'Chalikya' and 'Chalukya' were perhaps evolved from 'Chalkya,' by the insertion of pronunciative vowels.

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their documents, as it was finally settled. But the earlier records contain some slight differences. The Bâdâmi cave-inscription of the time of Kîrtivarman I., dated in A. D. 578, represents them as also meditating on the feet of the holy Svâmin, i.e., probably, Kârttikêya, and as having their heads purified by ablutions performed after celebrating the agnishtôma, agnichayana, vâjapêya, pauṇḍarîka, bahu-suvarṇa, and aśvamêdha sacrifices.¹ The Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription of Maṅgalêśa, dated in A. D. 602, describes them as meditating on the feet of their parents.² And the Nerûr grant of the same king describes them as meditating on the feet of Svâmi-Mahâsêna, i.e. Kârttikêya,³ which statement is repeated in the Sâtârâ grant of Viṣṇuvardhana I.,⁴ dated in the eighth year of Pulikêśin II., in A. D. 616 or 617. We have just seen that the Chalukya crest was the varâha-lâñchchana or boar-crest; in addition to being mentioned in the passage quoted above and in all the similar formal preambles, it appears constantly on the seals of their grants. Their banner was the pâlidhvaja, which is a particular arrangement of flags in rows;⁵ but it is not mentioned in the records until the time of Vijayâditya, whose records say⁶ that it was one of the insignia of supreme dominion, and that it was acquired by his father, Vinayâditya, by crushing some paramount king of Northern India, and add that he himself, pushing on further to the north even than his father, acquired again the pâlidhvaja-banner and also the insignia of the signs of the rivers Gaṅgâ and Yamunâ.⁷ From the boar-crest, acquired, according to their tradition, from the god Viṣṇu himself, and from an invocation of Viṣṇu in his incarnation as a boar which stands at the beginning of many of their records irrespective of the particular sectarian subjects of them, it is plain that the family-god of the Chalukyas was Viṣṇu. But, nevertheless, they displayed a considerable amount of tolerance in matters of religion, and patronised the Jains and Śaivas, equally with the followers of the Vaiṣṇava faith.

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¹ Ind. Ant. Vol. VI. p. 363.—In the Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription, the second epithet is applied, not to the members of the family as a body, but to Pulikêśin I.; as also, with an omission of the agnichayana-sacrifice, in the Nerûr grant of Maṅgalêśa (id. Vol. VII. p. 162).

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² id. Vol. XIX. p. 18.

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³ id. Vol. VII. p. 162.

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⁴ id. Vol. XIX. p. 310.

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⁵ See id. Vol. XIV. p. 104.

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⁶ e.g., id. Vol. IX. p. 129.

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⁷ i.e., probably, the images of two goddesses, as personifications of the rivers. These were also Râshṭrakûṭa insignia; thus, Gôvinda III. is described as “taking from his enemies the Gaṅgâ and the Yamunâ, charming with their waves, and acquiring at the same time that supreme position of lordship (which was indicated) by (those rivers in) the form of a visible sign” (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 163); and the rivers are spoken of again, as doing service to the palace of Gôvinda IV. (id. pp. 248, 253). These two emblems must have been derived, by some means or another, from the early Guptas, in the temples of whose period the Gaṅgâ and the Yamunâ, as goddesses, the former with an attendant crocodile and the latter with a tortoise, constantly appear as an architectural embellishment (see General Sir Alexander Cunningham’s Archaeol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. pp. 43, 70).

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In later times, there was gradually evolved a legendary history, embodying a variety of inventions devised in order to account for

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appellations the origin of which had been forgotten in the lapse of time and events of which no very accurate memory had been preserved, which refers the origin of the Chalukyas to Ayôdhyâ or Oudh, and allots them to the Sômavamśa, or Lunar Race, in the family of the god Brahman, who sprang from the water-lily that grew from Vishnu's navel. Thus, the Kauthêm grant of Vikramâditya V., of A.D. 1009, tells us that fifty-nine kings of the Châlukya¹ lineage reigned at Ayôdhyâ, and, after them, sixteen more over the dakshinapatha or region of the south, i.e. the Dekkan; that then there was a temporary obscuration of their power; and that eventually it was restored by Jayasimha (I.)² An inscription at Balagâmve, in Mysore, of the time of Jayasimha II., dated in A. D. 1019, states, in the same way, that fifty-nine Châlukya kings reigned at Ayôdhyâ, and subsequently in their lineage there was born Satyâśraya, through whom the family of Brahman came to be called the family of Satyâśraya.³ Another record, apparently of the same reign and dated in A. D. 1025-26, at Kalyân in the Dhârwâr District,⁴ says that the mind-born son of the god Brahman was Svayambhuva-Manu; his son was Mânavya, from whom came all those who belonged to the Mânavya gôtra; Mânavya's son was Harita; his son was Pañchaśikhi-Hâriti; and the son of the latter was Châlukya, from whom sprang the race of the Châlukyas.

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Two inscriptions of the time of Vikramâditya VI., at Gadag in Dhârwâr and Kâlige in the Nizâm's Dominions, tell us that the Châlukya race arose in the lineage of Sôma, the Moon, who was produced from the eye of Atri, who was the son of Brahman.⁵ And a later inscription of the same reign, at Handarike in the Nizâm's Dominions,⁶ introduces a popular etymology of the family-name, and gives us the following account: in the water-lily that sprang from the navel of Vishnu, there was born Hiranyagarbha-Brahman; his son was Manu; his was Mândavya;⁷ his, Hârita; and his, Hâriti-Pañchaśikha; the Châlukyas were born in the interior of his water-pot (chulka),⁸ when he was pouring out a libation to the gods; then a certain Vishnuvardhana-Vijayâditya (a purely imaginary person) appropriated the territories of his enemies; then there reigned fifty-nine kings, commencing with Satyâśraya, lord of Ayôdhyâ; then Jayasimha (I.) became king; and he was succeeded by sixteen others; after whom, the Rattas, i.e. the Râshtrakûtas, governed the earth.¹ The most full statement, however, is to be found in the records of the eastern branch of the family; and the earliest instance of it occurs in a grant of Vishṇuvardhana-Râjarâja I., of the period A.D. 1022 to 1063. The genealogy there given² commences with the god Brahman, as born from the water-lily that grew from Vishṇu’s navel; it is taken through Sôma, the Moon, Budha, the planet Mercury, Parûravas, Âyu, Âyusha, and so on;

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and the last specific name in this portion of it, is that of Satânîka. Then comes the legendary connection of the Chalukyas with the preceding. Without any specification of names, we are told that, including Udayana, fifty-nine emperors sat on the throne at Ayôdhyâ, in unbroken lineal succession.³ Then a member of the family, named Vijayâditya, came to the south, from a desire for conquest, and attacked Trilôchana-Pallava, but lost his life in the attempt. His queen, who was pregnant, escaped with some of her attendants, and, being preserved by a saint named Vishṇubhaṭṭa-Sômayâjin, gave birth to a posthumous son named Vishṇuvardhana. The young prince was nourished; and, having done worship to the goddess Gaurî on the mountain called Chalukyagiri.⁴ he at length assumed all the royal insignia of the family,¹ conquered the Kadamba, Gaṅga, and other kings, and established himself as emperor of all the Dekkan, including seven and a half lâkhs of villages, lying between the Bridge of Râma, i.e. Adam’s Bridge or the ridge of rocks connecting Ceylon with the Coromandel coast, and the Narmadâ.² The historical genealogy is introduced at this point, with the name of Pulikêśin I. It is connected with the preceding, by making him the son of the second Vijayâditya mentioned above. But, in reality, he was the son of Raṇarâga, who was the son of Jayasiṁha I.

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¹ This, with the long vowel â in the first syllable, is the proper form of the name for the later period to which the Kauthêm grant, with the others quoted in the present connection, belongs. The records of that period, however, occasionally use also the earlier form, Chalukya; especially in metrical passages.

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² Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 21.

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³ id., Vol. V. p. 17.

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⁴ At the dargah of Pir-Pâdshâh; Carn.-Désa Inscr., Vol. I. p. 48; and see page 278 above, note 1.

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⁵ See Ind. Ant. Vol. XXI. p. 167.

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⁶ At the temple of Lôkêśvara; Carn.-Désa Inscr., Vol. I. p. 642.

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⁷ Another inscription represents Mândavya as the son of Hârita; Pañchaśikha as the son of Mândavya; and the Chalukyas as descended from Pañchaśikha (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 21).

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⁸ Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary gives the forms chaluka and chuluka, but not chulka.

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¹ Bilhaṇa, the *Vidyâpati* or Chief Pandit of Vikramâditya VI., gives a somewhat different account, to the following effect (*Vikramâṅkadêvacharita*, i. 31-58; see *Ind. Ant.* Vol. V. p. 317):—On an occasion when Brahman was engaged in his *sandhyâ*-devotions, Indra came to him, to complain of the growing godlessness on earth, and begged him to put an end to it, by creating a hero who would be a terror to the evil-doers. On hearing this request, the Creator directed his looks towards his *chuluka*; and from it there sprang a warrior, fit to protect the three worlds. From him descended the Châlukyas,—a race of heroes, among whom Hârita is reckoned the first progenitor, and one of whom was Mânavya, who humbled the kings of the earth. The original seat of the Châlukyas was Ayôdhyâ.—At Aṇhilwâḍ, in the Gaikwâr’s Dominions, there was a well-known dynasty, the name of which was Chaulukya (*e. g.*, *Ind. Ant.* Vol. XI. pp. 104, 223, 242), or sometimes Chaulukika (*e. g.*, *id.* Vol. VI. p. 192). In connection with it, a similar popular etymology is given in the Surat grant of Trilôchanapâla, dated in A.D. 1051. Thus (*id.* Vol. XII. p. 203), when Brahman was churning the ocean which was his *chuluka* with a mount Mandara (the churning-stick) which was his anxiety that was caused by the trouble given by the demons, there sprang forth a jewel of a king. He asked the god what he might do. The god said “O great king!, O Chaulukya!, marry a daughter of Râshṭrakûṭa at Kanauj, and obtain progeny from her; so that thus there may be a long-continuing race of warriors, born from Chaulukya.”—Some other passages of the same purport, but giving the name of the first king as Chulukya, are quoted and referred to in the same paper.

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² *Ind. Ant.* Vol. XIV. p. 48; see also Vol. XIX. p. 427, and Vol. XX. p. 274.—There is a similar Purâṇic genealogy, agreeing with it as far as the name of Yayâti, in the records of the Gaṅgas of Kaliṅganagara (*id.* Vol. XVIII. p. 170). And another, of the same style, seems to be followed in some of the Kâkatya records (see Wilson’s *Mackenzie Collection*, Introd. p. 74).—A short Purâṇic genealogy of the Sûryavaṁśa or Solar Race, beginning, in the same way, with Vishṇu and Brahman, but then taken through Marîchi, Kaśyapa, and Sûrya, the Sun, was adopted by the Chôḷas (*e. g.*, *Ind. Ant.* Vol. XIX. p. 330).

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³ With this we may compare the statement in the records of the Gaṅgas of Kaliṅganagara, which connects their real with their Purâṇic genealogy by saying that, after Kôlâhala had founded the city of Kôlâhalapura, his son and seventy-nine other kings reigned there, and these were followed by the historical members of the family, commencing with Vîrasimha.

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⁴ With the mountain Chalukyagiri that is introduced here, we may compare the Nandagiri fort which, according to the Kâkatya legend, was founded by Nanda, the son of Uttuṅgabhuja; Nanda’s father is represented, in similar manner, as coming from Upper India, and then settling to the south of the Gôdâvarî. And, in very similar fashion, the mountain Mahêndragiri,—in this case a really existent mountain,—is introduced into the traditions of the Gaṅgas of Kaliṅganagara.

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¹ They are enumerated as the white umbrella, the conch-shell, the pañchamahâ-śabda (i.e. the sounds of five kinds of musical instruments, or, perhaps, five kinds of loud-sounding musical instruments; see Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 95, and Gupta Inscriptions, p. 296, note 9), the pâlikêtana (i.e. pâlidhvaja), the double drum, the boar-crest, the piñchha or bunch of feathers of a peacock’s tail, the spear, the throne, the makaratôraṇa (probably an ornamental arch), the golden sceptre, the Gaṅga and Yamunâ, and others which are not particularised.

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² Sêtu-Narmadâ-madhyam sârdha-sapta-lakshaṁ dakshiṇâpatham.—The Narmadâ was always recognised as the dividing line between Northern India (uttarâpatha) and Southern India or the Dekkan (dakshiṇâpatha).—It is to be borne in mind that the record which asserts these details is an Eastern Chalukya record, of the eleventh century A. D. There is nothing in the records of the Western Chalukyas of Bâdâmi to suggest that their dominions were then known as a seven-and-a-half-lâkh country, i.e. (see page 298 above, note 2) as comprising seven hundred and fifty thousand cities, towns, and villages. On the contrary, in connection with Pulikêśin II. their territory is defined, in the Aihoḷe inscription, as consisting of the three Mahârâshṭras, containing ninety-nine thousand villages (Ind. Ant. Vol. VIII. p. 244). The references to the seven-and-a-half-lâkh country appear first after the period of the Râshṭrakûṭas of Malkhêḍ, who, succeeding to the sovereignty of the Western Chalukyas, possibly added a good deal, especially in the direction of Mysore, to the territory which they thus acquired. Even the Râshṭrakûṭa records have not yet disclosed any mention of their territory by the conventional term in question. But it seems likely that the expression did come into use in the time of the Râshṭrakûṭas, and that a technical appellation was then adopted, which was retained for some time, even after their sovereignty had passed away, in commemoration of their connection with the territory: for, Irivabeḍaṅga-Satyâśraya, the second king in the later Châlukya dynasty of Kalyâṇi which came immediately after the Râshṭrakûṭas, is described, in the Khârêpâṭaṇ grant, of A. D. 1008, as ruling over Raṭṭapâṭi, i.e. the country of the Râshṭrakûṭas (for pâṭi, = pâḷi, vâli, see page 298 above, note 3); and the records of his Chôḷa opponent Kô-Râjarâja-Râjakêsarivarman, otherwise called Râjêndra-Chôḷa, the successor of Râjarâjadêva, are described as taking the Raṭṭapâḍi seven-and-a-half-lâkh country (e.g., South-Ind. Insors. Vol. I. pp. 63, 65), and Kô-Parakêsarivarman, otherwise called Râjêndra-Chôḷa, the successor of Râjarâjadêva, is described as taking the Raṭṭapâḍi seven-and-a-half-lâkh country from Jayasiṁha II., a successor of Irivabeḍaṅga-Satyâśraya (e.g., ibid. pp. 95, 96, 99). Even then, however, the seven-and-a-half-lâkh country was plainly not really looked upon as embracing, as is asserted in the Eastern Chalukya record from which the above quotation has been made, the whole of Southern India; for, Râjarâjadêva is described (e g., ibid. pp. 63, 65) as conquering, in addition to that country, Veṅgainâḍu (the land of Veṅgi, the territory of the Eastern Chalukyas), Gaṅgapâḍi (i.e. the Gaṅgavâḍi ninety-six-thousand), Nuḷambapâḍi (i.e. the Noḷambavâḷi thirty-two-thousand), Tadigai pâḍi (not yet identified), Kuḍamalainâḍu (“the western hill country,” Coorg), Koḷḷa (Quilon), and Kaliṅga (the country between the rivers Gôdâvarî and Mahânadî).—The later Western Châlukya records preserve the conventional numerical expression, without the dynastic appellation; e.g., an inscription of A. D. 1103, at Baḷagâṁve (P. S. and O.-C. Inscrs. No. 171; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 139), mentions the Mahâpradhâna Anantapâlayya, a minister of Vikramâditya VI., as managing the paṇḍya-tax of the saptârdha-lakshe or seven-and-a-half-lâkh country.

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For the above account, a certain amount of foundation may be derived from the fact that, from the time of Pulikêśin II. onwards, the Western Chalukyas were constantly at war with the Pallavas, who were their

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most powerful and inveterate foes; coupled with a tradition of the later Kâdambas, that the founder of the Kadamba family was a certain Trinêtra or Trilôchana. But, in other respects, the account is a mere farrago, of vague legend and Purânic myths, of no authority. And the tenth century A. D.,—at about which time, all the great families of Southern India were looking up their pedigrees, and devising more or less fabulous genealogies,—is probably the period to which the invention of it is to be referred.¹ There are, indeed, in the early records, faint indications of some such ideas having been even then entertained: thus, a passage in the Mahâkûta pillar inscription describes Pulikêsin I. as descended from the god Hiranyagarbha (Brahman);² the Aihole inscription states that Jayasimha I. was preceded by many members of his family, in respect of whom, however, no further information of any kind is offered;³ and a passage which appears for the first time in the grants of Vinayâditya, describes his father, Vikramâditya I., as defeating the lord of the Pallavas, who had been the cause of the humiliation and destruction of the family (of the Chalukyas) which was as pure as the rays of the moon.⁴ These statements, however, are too vague to prove that anything had then been devised, at all approaching to the full and detailed accounts which are found in the records of the period after the restoration by Taila II.

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¹ The Purânic genealogy of the Râshtrakûtas makes its first appearance in the Sângli grant of A. D. 933 (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 247). The pretended historical genealogy of the Western Gangas may have been concocted a little earlier, but was more probably devised about A. D. 950 (Epigraphia Indica, Vol. III. p. 169). The Chôla Purânic genealogy is apparently first met with in the Kalingattu-Parani (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIX. p. 329), which was composed in the reign of the Eastern Chalukya king Kulôttunga-Chôdadêva I., A. D. 1063 to 1112. And the Purânic genealogy of the Eastern Gangas of Kalinganagara is first presented in a record of A. D. 1118-19 (id. Vol. XVIII. p. 165).—The Purânic genealogy of the Pallavas has been mentioned on page 316 above. This is the earliest such pedigree that has as yet come to light. And possibly a discovery of it, in some ancient record, set the later fashion which became so general.

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² Ind. Ant. Vol. XIX. p. 19.

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³ id. Vol. VIII. p. 243.

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⁴ c.f., id. Vol. XIX. p. 151.

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The earliest authentic names in the Western Chalukya family are those of Jayasimha I., and his son Ranarâga, whose designations mean, respectively, "the lion of victory," and "he who delights in war." We have no records of the time of either of them. And, among the genuine records of the early period, they are mentioned only in the Mahâkûta pillar inscription of Mangalêsa and the Aihole inscription of the time of Pulikêsin II.; in the former the epithet of vallabhêndra, "the lord or chief of favourites," and in the latter the simple epithet of vallabha, "the favourite," is attached to the name of Jayasimha. According to a statement made in the Kauthêm grant of A. D. 1009, Jayasimha I. re-established the Chalukya power after a period of obscuration, and did so by conquering a Râshtrakûta king named Indra, son of Krishna, who had an army of eight hundred elephants. But the records of the period with which we are dealing, contain no allusion to any such event, and do not attribute any specific victories, or any historical acts at all, either to Jayasimha I. or to Ranarâga; and the statement in the Kauthêm grant is explained by

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events which occurred at the time when the Râshtrakûṭa sovereignty was passing into the hands of the later Châlukyas of Kalyâṇi.¹ Jayasiṁha I. and Raṇarâga may very possibly have held some military or executive office under the Kadamba kings of Banawâsi; such a position would have paved the way to the step by which Pulikêśin I. acquired Bâdâmi and established his independence. But it seems clear that neither of them enjoyed any semblance of sovereign power.² And it may be that their names were simply taken, to be placed at the head of the genealogy, from some grant of Pulikêśin I. drawn up in accordance with the directions of the Sanskrit law-books, which prescribe that the genealogical part of a grant should give the names of at least three generations.³

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¹ See at the commencement of chapter IV. below.

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² I cannot endorse Dr. Hultzsch's identification of Raṇarâga with the Raṇarasika of the Pallava records, whose army and town were destroyed by Ugradaṇḍa-Lokâditya-Paramêśvaravarman I.; see page 329 above.

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³ For the general rules regarding charters, see Dr. Burnell's South-Indian Palæography, second edition, pp. 94 to 105. It is there said (p. 97) that the grantor should specify three generations before himself.

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The son of Raṇarâga, — called, in the Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription, his "dear or favourite son,"⁴ — was Pulikêśin I., whose initial date, reckoning from the known commencement of his successor's reign, may be fixed pretty closely in A.D. 550. His name occurs in the various forms of Polekêśin, Polikêśin, Pulikêśin, and Pulakêśin.⁵ He had the birudas of Satyâśraya, "the asylum of truth," and Raṇavikrama, "the valorous in war." The Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription, and the Karṇûl grant of Âdityavarman, give him the epithet of śrî-prithivîvallabha, "favourite of fortune and the earth :"⁶ but, in the

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⁴ priya-tanuja; for the apparent meaning of the expression, see page 361 below, and note 3. In this case, however, it seems to be misapplied; for there was certainly no paramount sovereignty, at any rate, for Pulikêśin I. to be selected for.

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⁵ I do not feel sure about the meaning of the name. But I think it is a hybrid word; Kanarese and Sanskrit, meaning 'tiger-haired;' i.e. perhaps 'having a coat of short, thick, and close hair, like that of a tiger.' The original form of the name, however, appears to be Polekêśin; and I do not know whether pole is an older form of puli, = huli, 'a tiger.' Still, Dr. Hultzsch has suggested to me a translation, better than the one given by me, of the verse which mentions him in the Aihole inscription, to this effect:—"His son was he who, even though he possessed a lustre equal to that of the moon, was named Polekêśin, and who, favourite of fortune as he was, became the bridegroom of the bride which 'was the town of Vâtâpi." And here, as remarked by Dr. Hultzsch, there seems to be a contrast, suggested by the ferocious meaning of his name; with also an allusion to the tiger as the natural enemy of the deer which the moon is supposed to possess.—In the Kauthêm grant, in which the name is written Pulakêśin, with the vowel a in the second syllable, explanations of it are suggested by the words,—"His son was Pulakêśin, equal to (Krishṇa) the destroyer of (the demon) Kêśin; . . . . . . we, while describing king Pulakêśin, have our bodies experiencing the sensation of having the hair standing erect through pleasure (pulaka-kalita-dêhâḥ)." This, however, is purely fanciful, and depends entirely on the spelling used. And, though the form Pulakêśin has now been carried back, by the Kûram Pallava grant (see page 322 above), to the time of his grandson of the same name, still I think it must be a corruption of any original Polekêśin.—The name Pulakêśin appears in the Haḍḍâla grant, of A.D. 914; as that of an ancestor of Dharaṇivarâha of the Châpa race (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 194); and this is the only instance, known to me, of the existence of the name outside the Chalukya family.

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⁶ This epithet is explained by such statements as (Ind. Ant. Vol. XXI. p. 257, and note 55) "Gôpâla was the husband of Fortune, as well as the lord of the Earth," or, literally, "Gôpâla was a lord of the Earth who was the fellow-wife of the goddess of Fortune."

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Aihole inscription, he has the simpler epithet of *śrivallabha*, "favourite of fortune;" while, in the formal charters, commencing with the Haidârâbâd grant of Pulikêśin II., the epithet that is attached to his name is the still plainer one of *vallabha*, and in the Nerûr grant of Mangalêśa, he is referred to simply by that epithet, used there in the place of a proper name,—*Vallabha*.¹ From the Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription, we learn that his wife was Durlabhadêvî, of the Batpûra family.² And the same record describes him as descended from the god Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahman), and as performing the *agnishṭômu*, *agnichayana*, *vâjapêya*, *bahusuvarna*, *pauṇḍarîka*, and *aśvamêdha* sacrifices. With the exception of the *agnichayana*, the same attribution of sacrifices is made in the Nerûr grant of Mangalêśa, which further describes him as conversant with the code of laws of Manu, the *Purâṇas*, and the *Râmâyaṇa* and *Bhârata* (*Mahâbhârata*) and (other) *Itihâsas*. But, in the Aihole inscription and in the subsequent formal charters, the *aśvamêdha*-sacrifice is the only one that is linked with his name. The only historical fact that we have in connection with him, is recorded in the Aihole inscription; and it is that he made himself master of the town of Vâtâpi, which is the modern Bâdâmi, the chief town of the tâluka of that name in the Bijâpur District.³ His power was doubtless confined to the surrounding territory, which, with the town that he made his capital, he probably wrested from the Kadambas of Banawâsi. But, that he possessed sovereign powers, is indicated by the title of *Mahârâja* being attached to his name in all the formal charters, from the time of Pulikêśin II. onwards. He was, therefore, the first king in the dynasty. And the manner in which the genealogy given in the formal charters commences usually with him, shews that he was looked upon as the real founder of the family.⁵ We have, as yet, no genuine records of his time.⁶

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¹ The epithet is used in the same way, in the place of a name, to denote Pulikêśin II., in the Udayêndiram Pallava grant (see page 326 above). And the practice was a frequent one in the case of the fuller forms of *śrivallabha* and *prithivivallabha*.

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² See page 349 below.

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³ See page 280 above, and note 3.

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⁵ His memory, or that of his grandson, appears to have been preserved for a long time among the Kanarese poets; see some quotations by Nâgavarman and Kêśava, which are noted in Mr. Rice's *Nâgavarman's Canarese Prosody*, p. xxvi.

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⁶ There are, however, two spurious grants. One is the grant from Pimpalnêr in the Khândêsh District (*Ind. Ant.* Vol. IX. p. 293), which refers itself to the time of Satyâśraya, and purports to be dated in *Saka-Samvat* 310 (expired), = A. D. 388-89, and to record that he bestowed the village of Pippalanagara upon Brahmans: here, the name Satyâśraya might possibly be intended to denote Pulikêśin II.; but it probably indicates the grandfather, Pulikêśin I. The other is the British Museum grant, obtained from somewhere in the Southern Marâṭhâ Country or in the Kanarese country (*id.*, Vol. VII. p. 209), which distinctly refers itself to his time, and purports to be dated in the *Vibhava samvatsara*, coupled with *Saka-Samvat* 411 expired by mistake for 410 expired or 411 current, = A. D. 488-89, and to record the building of a Jain temple, and the allotment of certain grants to it, at the village of Alaktakanagarî, in the Kuhuṇḍi *vishaya*, which was being governed by a feudatory named Sâmiyâra, of the Ruṇḍanîla-Saindraka family.

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Kirtivarman I.

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Pulikêśin I. was succeeded by his eldest son, Kîrtivarman I., who came to the throne in A. D. 566 or 567.⁷ In the Nerûr grant of Pulikêśin II., his name appears as Kîrtirâja; but in all the other records he is uniformly called Kîrtivarman, "he whose armour is his fame." The Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription describes him as performing the *bahusuvarṇa* and *agniṣṭôma* sacrifices, and gives him the *birudu* of Puru-Raṇaparâkrama, "puissant in war as Puru," to which allusions are made in some others of the records. And the Nirpaṇ grant of Nâgavardhana would give him the *birudu* of Satyâśraya; but it is doubtful how far this may be accepted as authentic. Of the formal charters, a few attach to his name the epithet of *vallabha*; but the majority use the fuller one of *pṛthivîvallabha*, "favourite of the earth:"¹ they all agree in indicating his rank as a paramount sovereign, by the use of the title *Mahârâja*. From the Chiplûṇ grant, of the time of Pulikêśin II., we learn that his wife was a sister of the *Râja* Śrîvallabha-Sênânanda of the Sêndraka family;² her name, however, is not given. And the same record describes him as "the first maker or creator of Vâtâpi:"³ we have seen, however, that Vâtâpi was acquired by Pulikêśin I.: the statement about Kîrtivarman I. must, therefore, be intended to mean that it was he who began to adorn the city with temples and other buildings; and it was, as a matter of fact, in his time, and under his orders, that at any rate the large *Vaiṣṇava* cave-temple there was finished. The Aihoḷe inscription describes him as "a night of death to the Naḷas, the Mauryas, and the Kadambas," and as breaking up the confederacy of the Kadambas, which indicates pretty well the directions in which, and the extent to which, he enlarged the Chalukya power:⁴ the Kadambas were the kings of Banawâsi in North Kanara; the Naḷas were evidently the people of the Naḷavâḍi country, in, apparently, the direction of Beḷḷâry and Karṇûl; the Mauryas, as we learn from the Aihoḷe inscription, were a people in the Koṅkaṇ; and Kîrtivarman I. appears to have appointed, in or about A. D. 590, as his governor for the possessions in the Koṅkaṇ which he thus acquired, a certain Satyâśraya-Dhruvarâja-Indravarman who, at the beginning of the reign of Pulikêśin II., was stationed in Rêvatîdvîpa, and was governing four provinces.⁵ The Mahâkûṭa pillar inscription, giving a larger list of his victories, would claim that they included the kings of Vaṅga, Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Vaṭṭûra, Magadha, Madraka, Kêraḷa, Gaṅga, Mûshaka, Pâṇḍya, Dramiḷa, Chôḷiya, Âḷuka, and Vaijayantî.⁶ But some of

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⁴ See page 288 above, and note 5.

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⁷ As, by the Bâdâmi cave-inscription, the full-moon of Kârttika, *Saka-Samvat* 500 expired, fell in his twelfth (current) year, the full-moon of Kârttika, *S.-S.* 489 expired,

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¹ This is indicated as specially a Western Chalukya epithet, by the verse in line 2 of the Aihoḷe inscription.

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² See page 292 above.

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³ *Vâtâpyaḥ prathama-vidhâtâ*.

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⁴ The conquest of the Naḷas, the Mauryas, and the Kadambas, is mentioned also in the Kauṭhêm grant.—Bilhaṇa does not mention the Kadambas by name in connection with the Western Chalukyas; but he says (*Vikramâṅkadêvacharita*, i. 64) that, when they first left Ayôdhyâ, their conquests "in the southern region, where the betel-tree grows," extended as far as the Nâgarakhaṇḍa; and the Nâgarakhaṇḍa was a part of the Kadamba territory.

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⁵ See page 349 below.

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⁶ Regarding the localities that are indicated see pages 281, 282, above.

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or 490 current, fell in his first current year. And, consequently, his accession took place, on some day still to be exactly determined, in A.D. 566 or 567; on any day from the *pûrṇimânta* Mârgaśîrsha kṛishṇa 1 of Ś.-Ś. 489 current, up to Kârttika śukla 15, the full-moon day, of Ś.-Ś. 490 current.

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these territories lay so far away to the north and east, that the claim that is made in respect of them is plainly only a mere boast. And the mention of Kêraḷa, Pâṇḍya, Dramila, and Chôḷiya, has probably not much more substance in it. Vaijayantî, however, was, as we have already seen, Banawâsi in North Kaṇara, and was the principal capital of the Kâdambas; and the reduction of it by Kîrtivarman I. is not only implied by his conquest of the Kâdambas, but is also specifically recorded in the formal charters, which speak of him as "establishing the banner of his pure fame in the territories of the hostile kings of Vanavâsî and other (cities), that had been invaded by his prowess." And he may easily have come in conflict with some rulers of the Western Gaṅga territory in Mysore, which was adjacent to his own possessions.

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We have one record of his time,—the inscription on a pilaster in the verandah of the Vaishṇava cave at Bâdâmi.¹ It is dated in the twelfth year of his reign, on the full-moon day of the month Kârttika, 'Saka-Saṁvat 500 expired, corresponding to the 31st October, A.D. 578.² And it records that having, under his orders, finished the construction of the cave-temple, his younger brother, Maṅgalêśa, on the occasion of the installation of the image of Vishṇu, on the above date, granted gifts to Brâhmaṇs, and endowed the temple with a village named Lañjîśvara, which³ is the modern Nandikêshwar, close to Bâdâmi.

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¹ *Ind. Ant.* Vol. III. p. 305, Vol. VI. p. 363, and Vol. X. p. 57; see also Vol. XIX. p. 10.—For a description of the cave, see Dr. Burgess' *Archaeol. Surv. West. Ind.* Vol. I. pp. 19-25.

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² This is the earliest epigraphic record, as yet brought to notice, dated in the *Saka* era. And it fixes the historical starting-point of the era, as being the *râjyâbhishêka* or 'royal installation,' i. e. coronation, of the *Saka* king (or kings).

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³ See *Ind. Ant.* Vol. XIX. p. 317.

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Maṅgalêśa.

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Kîrtivarman I. was succeeded, on his death, in A.D. 597 or 598, by his younger brother, Maṅgalêśa,⁴ who seems to have been his half-brother,⁵ and whose name appears in the various forms of Maṅgala-râja, Maṅgalêśa, Maṅgalîśa, and Maṅgalîśvara; the first meaning "the auspicious king,” and the others, “the auspicious lord.” He had the *birudas* of Raṇavikrānta, “the valorous in war,” and Uru-Raṇavikrānta, “valorous in war as Uru;” and the epithets of *pṛithivīvallabha*, and *śrīpṛithivīvallabhéndra* “or chief of favourites of fortune and the earth :” and he is described as a *paramabhāgavata* or most devout worshipper of the Divine One (Vishṇu). The important events of his reign were, as mentioned in the Aihole inscription, a conquest of the Kalachuris,¹ and of a territory called Rēvatīdvīpa. From the Mahākūṭa pillar inscription, we learn that the Kalachuri king at the time was named Buddha: the Nerūr grant gives us the name of his father, Saṁkara-gaṇa; and the Mahākūṭa record shews that the victory over Buddha, by which Maṅgalēśa acquired the whole of the northern territory up to the river Kīm or perhaps even to the Mahī, took place before April, A. D. 602. The Nerūr record also states that he slew a chief named Svāmirāja, of Chalukya descent, who had been victorious in eighteen battles; this person, who was apparently settled in the Koṅkaṇ, is otherwise unknown. The stronghold which was attacked for the reduction of Rēvatīdvīpa, was evidently situated on the coast; for,—the Aihole inscription says,—Maṅgalēśa’s army, when it had beset the ramparts, was reflected in the water of the great sea as if it were the army of Varuṇa (the god of the ocean) which had come at his command. And we plainly have a reminiscence of the name of the territory, and very possibly an indication of the exact position of the stronghold itself, in the modern Rēḍī, a fortified promontory about eight miles south of Veṅgurla in the Ratnāgiri District, Bombay Presidency.² Maṅgalēśa died in the course of civil

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