The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s14.276

c8.s14.276

Taila III. left a son, Sômêśvara IV., who, however, did not immediately succeed to the throne. At some time in the course of Taila’s reign,² a serious blow to the Western Châlukya power was dealt by the Kâkatya or Kâkatîya prince Prôla,—father of the Rudradêva mentioned just above,—in respect of whom the Anamkoṇḍ inscription tells us that “in an instant he made captive in war the “glorious Tailapadêva, the ornament of the Châlukyas, who was skilled “in the practice of riding upon elephants,—whose inmost thoughts “were ever intent upon war,—and who was mounted upon an elephant “which was like a cloud (in size); and then, at once, he, who was re- “nowned in the rite of severing the throats of his enemies, let him “go, from goodwill produced by his devotion.”³ This blow from the outside was accompanied or followed by still more serious internal troubles. The Kalachurya Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara Bijjala, who has been already mentioned, appears to have been the commander-in-chief of all the forces, and practically the most powerful person in the kingdom under Taila III. And an inscription at Harihar describes him as devoted to the service of the Châlukyas, and protecting the whole of the Châlukya army.⁴ But subsequent records state that he destroyed all the Châlukya kings, and acquired the sovereignty over the whole of the Kuntala country;⁵ and, in fact, they amply prove the truth of this assertion. It is plain, then, that Bijjala abused the trust reposed in him, and used his sovereign’s own armies to deprive the latter of his kingdom, or at least to prevent the accession of his son. The steps which led to this result, will be fully detailed in the next chapter, in the account of Bijjala himself. It is sufficient to state here that Bijjala took possession of part of the kingdom in A. D. 1156, and completed his usurpation in A. D. 1162. And he and his sons held the throne up to A.D. 1183.