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The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s15: Chapter V. The Kalachuryas of Kalyani

The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s15

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Chapter V. The Kalachuryas of Kalyani

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The manner in which the Kalachuryas of Kalyani acquired the sovereignty,—by Bijjala usurping it in the time of the Western Chalukya king Taila III.,—has already been stated.

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As regards the origin of this family, an inscription at Harihar in Mysore, of the time of Bijjala,¹ gives the following account:—The founder of it, Krishna by name, was an incarnation, born from a Brahman woman, of a portion of the god Siva. Passing himself off as a barber, he contrived to kill, at Kalanajara, an evil-minded king who practised cannibalism.² And thus he, "an ornament of the Kalachuri family," acquired possession of the nine-lakh Dahala country, i.e. of the Chedi country in Central India. Many kings of his line ruled. And at length there arose, among them, a certain Kannama. To him were born two sons, Bijjala and Sandaraja; of whom the elder, Bijjala, succeeded him in the sovereignty. To Sandaraja there were born four sons,—Amugi, Sankhavarman, Kannara, and Jogama; of whom Amugi succeeded first, and was followed by Jogama. Jogama's son was Permadi. And to the latter was born Bijjala,—the reigning king at the time when the record was drawn up.

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¹ P. S. and O.-C. Insers. No. 121; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 64.—The photograph does not show the exact date.

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² This looks like some reminiscence of a fuller story, invented to explain the family name. In Kanarese we have chura and surige, as corruptions of the Sanskrit kshura, kshurikā, chhurikā, 'a razor;' and a connection might easily be made between the first two syllables, kala, and the Kanarese kali, 'to kill.'

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There are, however, other synchronous accounts, equally admissible, which differ from this. Inscriptions of the time of Bijjala's eldest son Sovideva, dated in A. D. 1173, at Harasur³ and Kaligi⁴ in the Nizam's Dominions, state that, in a line of kings which belonged to the Lunar Race, there was a certain Santama or Santasama. His son was Sagararasa. His son was Kannama. His sons were Narana and Bijja. Bijja's son was Karna. And the Jogama of the other accounts is represented as the son of this Karna. The Kokatnur grant, however,

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³ At the temple of Isvara (Carn.-Desa Insers. Vol. II. p. 148).

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⁴ At the temple of Kalinga (ibid. p. 165).—The table given by Sir Walter Elliot (Jour. R. As. Soc., F. S., Vol. IV. p. 19; Madras Jour. of Lit. and Science, Vol. VII. p. 211) must have been based partly on these two records and partly on the Kukkanur inscription of Sankama.—The Harihar record is not included in his Collection; and his reference to Krishna, the son of the Brahman woman, who reigned at Kalanajara, was probably taken from an inscription at the temple of Basavanna on the south of the Hubli gate at Annigere (Carn.-Desa Insers. Vol. II. p. 155).

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of the same king, dated in A. D. 1174,¹ and the Bêhaṭṭi grant of his youngest brother Siṅghaṇa, dated in A. D. 1183,² simply state that Jôgama was the son of a certain Kṛishṇa of the Kalachuri family, and say nothing about any antecedents whatever. While an inscription of Bijjala's second son, Saṅkama, dated in A.D. 1178, at Kukkanûr in the Nizâm's Dominions,³ merely says that, in the lineage of the Kalachuris, which was considered to be a portion of the god Īśvara (Śiva), there was a king Kannama. His sons were Bijjala and Râjala. And the son of Râjala was the Jôgama of the other accounts.

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¹ *Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc.* Vol. XVIII. p. 269.

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² *Ind. Ant.* Vol. IV. p. 274.

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³ At the temple of Mahammâyi (*Carn.-Désa Inscrs.* Vol. II. p. 207; verified from an ink-impression).

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It is curious that there should be such discrepancies in accounts which were written in the period itself. But such is the case. And the result is, that the first name that can be taken as authentic, is that of Jôgama. And, with this starting-point, the list of the Kalachuryas of Kalyâṇi stands as shewn in the table on page 471 below.

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The Kalachuryas carried the *suvarṇa-vṛishabha-dhvaja* or banner of a golden bull, and were heralded in public by the sounds of the *ḍamaru*ka or double-drum shaped like an hour-glass. Their *lâñchhana* or crest is not specifically mentioned in their records: it might be inferred to be the bull, which appears on the seals of the Kokatnûr and Bêhaṭṭi grants: but, if so, it would furnish a departure from the more usual custom, according to which the devices of the crest and the banner were different, and the crest was used on seals and coins; and it seems more likely that we have here, in one or two other cases of this later period, an exceptional use of the device of the banner, instead of the crest, on the seals of the charters.⁴ The formal preambles of their records always style them "lord of Kâlañjara, the best of towns."⁵ This place is the modern Kâlañjar or Kâliñjar,—a town, with a well-known hill-fort, in the Bânda District, Bundêlkhaṇḍ, in the North-West Provinces; *i.e.* in the heart of the ancient Kalachuri territory. And, from this hereditary title, as well as from the mention of Kâlañjara and the Dâhala country in the account given in the Harihar inscription, it is plain that, whether with or without good cause, the members of this family claimed some connection with the Kalachuri or Haihaya kings of Central India, of whom mention has already been made in connection with some of the Western Chalukya, Râshṭrakûṭa, and Western Châlukya kings.⁶ But the actual point of contact is nowhere disclosed. And, as in the case of the forms Chalukya and

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⁴ On the general question of crests and banners, see page 299 above, note 4.

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⁵ Occasionally the name Kâlañjana occurs, by mistake, of course; *e.g.*, in two inscriptions of Bijjala, dated in A. D. 1162, at Hâli in the Belgaum District (I quote from ink-impressions).

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⁶ Pages 296, 368, 374, 410, 414, 415, 418, and 427, above.—In fact, an inscription of Sôvidêva, dated in A. D. 1176, at the temple of Sômanâtha at Ingḷêshwar in the Bijâpur District (*Carn.-Désa Inscrs.* Vol. II. p. 189; it is doubtful whether the original now exists), appears to represent Bijjala as a descendant of Kârtavîrya-Arjuna, who is the Sahasrabâhu-Arjuna of whom the Kalachuris of Central India claimed to be descendants.

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Jōgama, and Permāḍi.

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Chālukya and Kadamba and Kādamba, the constant use of the name Kalachurya seems to imply the recognition of descent from only some side-branch of the Kalachuri stock,—not from the line that reigned in Central India.¹

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¹ The only instances, that I can quote, in which ‘Kalachuri’ occurs in one of the formal preambles in prose, are in line 39 f. of the Harihar inscription, mentioned above, where we have Kalachuri-kula-kamala-mārtaṇḍa, instead of the customary Kalachurya, etc., and in the same expression in the Kukkaṇūr inscription of A. D. 1178. In metrical passages, the form occurs constantly; e.g., as ‘Kalachuri,’ in line 11 of the Harihar record,—in a variety of places in the Kukkaṇūr record,—in lines 5 and 10 of the Aṇṇigere inscription of A. D. 1184-85 which records the establishment of the power of Sōmēśvara IV. by the Daṇḍanāyaka Brahma (Carn.-Dēśa Inscrs. Vol. II. p. 37; see page 464 above, note 3),—and in line 29. of the Hoysaḷa inscription of A. D. 1192 at Gadag (Ind. Ant. Vol. II. p. 29);—and as ‘Kalachuri,’ in lines 3, 4 of the Kokaṭnūr grant, and line 6 of the Bēhaṭṭi grant (here, Nāgarī characters were used; and this accounts for the different l: but ‘Kalachurya’ would have suited the metre, just as well as ‘Kalachuri’).—The transcripts in Carn.-Dēśa Inscrs. usually, if not always, give ‘Kalachuri;’ but I never met with this form in an original record.—Sir Walter Elliot himself used the forms ‘Kalabhuri’ and ‘Kalabhurya’ as much as, if not in preference to, ‘Kalachuri’ and ‘Kalachurya’ (e. g., Jour. R. As. Soc., F. S., Vol. IV. pp. 15, 17, 19, 22, 32; Madras Jour. of Lit. and Science, Vol. VII. pp. 207, 209, 211, 214, 224). But this is simply due to mislection or some other mistake.—I have met with the curious form ‘Kaḷaturya,’ in an inscription of Bijjala, of A. D. 1166, at Maṇakaṭṭi near Shiggaon in the Dhāṭwār District, and in an inscription of his son Sōvidēva, of A. D. 1174, at Huḷgūr in the same neighbourhood (I quote from ink-impressions).

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In connection with Jōgama, we have no historical details: And all that we know about his son Permāḍi, whose name also appears as Permāḍi, is that, in the month Kārttika (Oct.-Nov.), falling in A. D. 1128, of the Kīlaka saṁvatsara, Śaka-Saṁvat 1051 (current), he was governing the Tarḍavāḷi district, in the neighbourhood of Bijāpur, as a feudatory Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara of the Western Chālukya king Sōmēśvara III.²

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² From an inscription at the temple of Nārāyaṇa at Ingḷēshwar, in the Bijāpur District (Carn.-Dēśa Inscrs. Vol. I. p. 687; here, again, it is doubtful whether the original is now in existence).

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Bijjala.

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Permāḍi's son was Bijjala, whose name appears also in the forms of Bijja, Bijjaṇa, Vijjala, and Vijjaṇa. In the course of his career, he assumed the biruda of Tribhuvanamalla, and the designations of Bhujabala-Chakravartin³ "the powerful emperor," and Kalachurya-Chakravartin, "the Kalachurya emperor," which were sometimes combined into one appellation,—Kalachurya-bhujabala-Chakravartin. And, as he ended by usurping the sovereignty, it will be interesting to trace, as far as the records enable us to do so, the steps by which he rose to such power.

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³ Or, occasionally, Nijabhujabala-Chakravartin.

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The earliest reliable mention that we have of Bijjala, is in an inscription at Harihar in Mysore:⁴ the photograph does shew the date;

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⁴ P.S. and O.-C. Inscrs. No. 119; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 60.—According to Carn.-Dēśa Inscrs. Vol. I. p. 667, on a stone at the burning-ground near the tank near the house of the Sarāyadavanu at Hirē-Kerūr in the Dhārwār District, there is an inscription which refers itself to the reign of the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya VI., mentions Bijjala as a contemporary Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, and speaks of the latter's Mahā-pradhāna, the Daṇḍanāyaka Sōḍḍaladēva. But the transcript does not shew the date, which appears to have been broken away and lost. And, as the record styles Bijjala Bhujabala-Chakravartin,—a designation which he did not assume till A. D. 1156,—I feel convinced that there must be something wrong about either the original

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[Figure: The Kalachuryas of Kalyani. Jógama. Permâdi. (A.D. 1128.)
(1) Tribhuvanamalla-Bijjala. (About A.D. 1145, and 1156 to 1167.) By Êchaladêvî.
(2) Bhujabalamalla-Râyamurâri-Sômêśvara-Sôvidêva; married Sâvaladêvî. (A.D. 1167 to 1177.)
(3) Niśśankamalla-Saikama. (A.D. 1177 to 1181.)
(4) Vîranârâyaṇa-Âhavamalla. (A.D. 1161 to 1183.)
(5) Singhaṇa. (A.D. 1183.) Vajra. Siriyâdêvî; married to the Sinda Châvuṇḍa II. of Yelburga.]

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but the record refers itself to the time of the Western Châlukya king Jagadêkamalla II., and therefore belongs to the period A. D. 1138-39 to 1149; and it may be placed approximately in A. D. 1145. This record does not expressly state that Bijjala,—to whom no titles of any kind, subordinate or otherwise, are allotted in it,—was a feudatory of Jagadêkamalla II.; it simply says that, in the time of that king, there was Bijjala, whose servant Vijaya-Pândya was ruling the Nolambavâdi thirty-two thousand. But the mention of Jagadêkamalla II., who is plainly indicated as the reigning king, though the fact is not expressly stated by the usual formal preamble, is sufficient, with the fact that the Nolambavâdi province was a regular constituent part of the Western Châlukya dominions, to prove that, to some extent at least, Bijjala recognised his sovereign power.

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Probably, the next record of Bijjala is to be found in another inscription at Harihar.² Here, again, the date is not available. But the record takes the Western Châlukya genealogy as far as Taila III.; and it thus indicates plainly, though here also there is no formal preamble, that he was the reigning king. It does not connect any titles with Bijjala's name; it simply says that, in the time of Taila III., there was Bijjala, whose servant Kasapayyanâyaka was governing the Banavâsi twelve-thousand. It is, therefore, to be placed probably quite early in the reign of Taila III.; and it may be referred to A.D. 1150. It seems to add that Bijjala was devoted to the service of the Châlukyas, and protected the whole of the Châlukya army.³ And from this it would follow that he was the commander-in-chief of all the forces.

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² P.S. and O.-C. Inscrs. No. 120; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 57.

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³ This is according to Mr. Rice's translation. I cannot detect the words in the photograph.

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But the first dated mention of Bijjala that is available, is contained in the Bijâpur inscription,⁴ which is dated in the month Bhâdrapada (Aug.-Sept.), falling in A. D. 1151, of the Prajâpati samvatsara (Saka-Samvat 1074 current). Here, in addition to the samvatsara being cited as the third regnal year of Taila III., there is the formal preamble which expressly refers the record to the reign of Taila III., as paramount sovereign, reigning at Kalyâna. The record does

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⁴ See page 459 above, note 3.

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or the transcript; especially as the latest possible date for Vikramâditya VI. is A. D. 1125-26, and we have the date of A.D. 1128 for Bijjala's father.—An inscription (I quote here from an ink-impression) at the temple of Kâdadêva at Sirûr near Mûdhôl in the Southern Marâthâ Country, purports to connect Bijjala with a date in the month Chaitra (March-April) of the Ânanda samvatsara. The Saka year is not quoted. But Ânanda coincided with Saka-Samvat 1057 current (A.D. 1134-35), and with S.-S. 1117 current (A.D 1194-95). On the first occasion, it fell before any date for Bijjala that is known for certain to be authentic; and, on the latter occasion, it fell after his time. As, however, this record gives Bijjala the paramount epithets and title of samastabhuvanâśraya, śrîprithivîvallabha, and Mahârâjâdhirâja, it is plain that it was not written before at any rate A. D. 1162. And there are other points in it, which raise suspicions as to its genuineness. It would seem, therefore, to be a spurious record, concocted in or after A. D. 1194.

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¹ i.e., it does not use the customary expression of feudatory position,—tat-pâda-padm-ôpajîvin, “subsisting (like a bee) on the water-lilies that are his feet.”

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not allot any titles to Bijjala. But it distinctly mentions him as a feudatory of Taila III. And it states that the *Mahâpradhâna*, *Sênâdhipati*, and *Daṇḍanâyaka* Mailârayya, was governing the Tardavâḍi thousand, i.e. the country in the neighbourhood of Bijâpur, as a feudatory of Bijjala.

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So far, none of the customary feudatory or official titles appear in connection with Bijjala s name. But an inscription at Balagâmve in Mysore,¹ dated on a day in the Yuvan *saṃvatsara* (*Saka-Saṃvat* 1078 current) of which the English equivalent is probably the 26th December, A. D. 1155, styles him *Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara*. There is the formal preamble, expressly referring the record to the reign of Taila III., as paramount sovereign; and the *saṃvatsara* is cited as his sixth regnal year. The record includes the rather pregnant statement, that Bijjala was then governing "all the provinces."² And it adds that Bijjala's own *Daṇḍanâyaka* Mahadêvarasa was governing the Banavâsi twelve-thousand in conjunction with the four *Karaṇas*, i. e. writers or accountants, Pôtarasa, Chaṭṭimaraṣa, Padmarasa, and Sôvarasa, who were "embodiments of the mind of Bijjala."³ The title of *Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara*, here first applied to Bijjala, appears again in records of December, A. D. 1157, at Aṇṇigere and Tâlgund, and of January, A. D. 1162, at Balagâmve. After that, it was entirely dropped.

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¹ *P. S.* and *O.-C. Insers.* No. 181; *Mysore Inscriptions*, p. 100.—As regards the date, the details given in the original are the *uttarâyaṇa-saṃkrânti* or winter solstice coupled with Monday and the new-moon *tithi* of the month Mâgha. But the *saṃkrânti* in question cannot take place so late as on the last day of Mâgha. There must be some mistake. And the probability is that *Mâgha* was written by mistake for *Pausha*.

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² *Sukala-dêśamgaḷam ḍḷuttam-ire*.

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³ *Bijjanadêv-ântahkaraṇa-rûparum*.

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Taila III. is mentioned again, with Bijjala, in inscriptions, dated at the winter solstice, in December, A. D. 1157, of the month Pausha of the *Îśvara* *saṃvatsara*, at Hâvêri in the Dhârwâr District,⁴ where the *saṃvatsara* is cited as the eighth year of Taila III., and at Tâlgund in Mysore,⁵ where it is coupled, not with a regnal year of either party, but with *Saka-Saṃvat* 1079 (expired), and in an inscription at Balagâmve,⁶ dated at the winter solstice, in December, A. D. 1158, of the month Pausha of the Bahudhânya *saṃvatsara*, coupled in the same way with *S.-S.* 1080 (expired): the Tâlgund and Balagâmve inscriptions record the fact that the *Mahâpradhâna* Kêśava, Kêśirâja or Kêśimayya, son of Holalarâja or Holalamarasa, was then governing the Banavâsi province as a feudatory of Bijjala; and the Hâvêri inscription mentions the same official, giving him also the titles of *Sênâdhipati*, and *Banavâsi-naḍa-heggaḍe* or *Heggaḍe* of the Banavâsi province. These references to Taila III., however, simply mention him as the last in the lineal succession of the Châlukya kings; and convey no distinct information as to the exact relations then existing between him and Bijjala. And the Balagâmve inscription of December, A. D. 1155,

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⁴ See page 459 above, note 3.

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⁵ *P. S.* and *O.-C. Insors.* No. 219; *Mysore Inscriptions*, p. 188.

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⁶ *P. S.* and *O.-C. Insors.* No. 183; *Mysore Inscriptions*, p. 152.

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is the latest record which expressly admits Taila III. as the paramount sovereign of Bijjala.

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Shortly after the above date, Bijjala introduced a reckoning of his own, of which the first year was the Dhātu saṁvatsara, Śaka-Saṁvat 1079 current, = A. D. 1156-57, and assumed the biruda of Tribhuvanamalla and the designations of Bhujabula-Chakravartin and Kalachurya-Chakravartin. The earliest available record, dated in this reckoning, is an inscription at Aṇṇigere,¹ dated at the winter solstice, in December A.D. 1157, of the month Pausha of the Īśvara saṁvatsara (Ś.-S. 1080 current), which is here cited as the second year of Bijjala. This record, which exhibits the biruda of Tribhuvanamalla and the designation of Bhujabalu-Chakravartin, gives to Bijjala only the title of Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara. But it mentions him, with his title, biruda, and designation, in a formal preamble, of the usual style, customarily employed only in the case of paramount sovereigns. And, though Bijjala did not assume the full paramount style till A. D. 1162, there can be no doubt that in A. D. 1156 he threw off his allegiance to Taila III., and set himself up on equal terms with that king in part of the latter's dominions. It may be added here that the first instance, among available records, in which the designation Kalachurya-Chakravartin appears, is an inscription at Hūli in the Belgaum District,² dated in the month Śrāvaṇa (July-Aug.), falling in A. D. 1162, of the Chitrabhānu saṁvatsara (Ś.-S. 1085 current), cited as the seventh year of Bijjala. The combined designation Kalachurya-bhujabala-Chakravartin is met with earlier, in an inscription at Balagāṁve,³ dated probably in Bhādrapada (Aug.-Sept.), falling in A. D. 1158, of the Bahudhānya saṁvatsara (Ś.-S. 1081 current), cited as Bijjala's third year.

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¹ In the door of the temple of Māruti or Hanumanta (Carn.-Dēsa Insors. Vol. II. p. 61; verified from an ink-impression).—At the temple of Amṛitēśvara at Aṇṇigere, there appears to be an inscription dated in the month Chaitra of the same saṁvatsara, cited again as the second year of Bijjala (ibid. p. 65). But I have not found an ink-impression of it in the bundle from Aṇṇigere.—The regnal years of Bijjala, cited in such of the subsequent records as are dated in that way, are all in agreement, as these two are, with the computation of the Dhātu saṁvatsara as his first year.

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² At the temple of Andhakēśvara (Carn.-Dēsa. Insors. Vol. I. p.. 444; verified from an ink-impression).

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³ P. S. and O.-C. Insors. No. 182; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 182.

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The records next disclose an occasional use of one of the paramount titles, Mahārājādhirāja, in the place of the feudatory title Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, which, however, as already noted, did not yet fall entirely into abeyance. This new title is first met with in the Hāvēri inscription of December, A.D. 1157; and it is the more noticeable there, because the record also gives the full paramount titles to Taila III., and is dated in one of his regnal years. It appears also in the Balagāṁve inscription of December, A. D. 1158; and in one or two other records, the dates of which are not determinable.

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And finally, in A. D. 1162 Bijjala assumed the full paramount epithets and titles of samastabhuvanaśraya, śrīprithivīvallabha, Mahārājādhirāja, Paramēśvara, and Paramabhaṭṭāraka. The period when this step was taken is determined by inscriptions at Baḷagâmve¹ and Hûli.² In the former,—which is dated at the time of an eclipse of the sun on the new-moon day of the month Pausha, corresponding to the 17th January, A. D. 1162,³ of the Vishu saṁvatsara (S.-S. 1084 current), cited as the sixth year of Bijjala,—though no mention is made of Taila III., the feudatory title of Mahâmaṇḍalésvara is applied to Bijjala. While, in the latter,—which is dated at the winter solstice on Monday, Pausha kṛishṇa 2, corresponding probably to the 24th December, A. D. 1162,⁴ of the Chitrabhanu saṁvatsara, coupled with S.-S. 1084 (expired),—he has all the paramount titles mentioned above, with the exception of Paramabhaṭṭāraka.⁵ This Balagâmve inscription further tells us that Bijjala had then encamped at that town, in the course of a progress which was made to secure the southern country. From a combination of all these hints, it is evident that it was at this juncture, in A. D. 1162, that Bijjala completed the usurpation which he had been contemplating, and annexed to himself all the Western Châlukya dominions. And in this final step he appears to have received material assistance from the Silâhâra prince Vijayâditya of Karâḍ; for, a Silâhâra record of A. D. 1191 asserts that it was through the friendship of Vijayâditya that Bijjala attained the position of Chakravartin or emperor.⁶

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¹ At the temple of Basavanna (Carn.-Désa Inscrs. Vol. II. p. 67; P. S. and O.-C. Inscrs., No. 194; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 92).

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² At the temple of Agastyésvara (Carn.-Désa Inscrs. Vol. II. p. 77; verified from an ink-impression.)

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³ On this day there was an annular eclipse of the sun, visible in India (see Von Oppolzer's Canon der Finsternisse, pp. 226, 227, and Plate 113).

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⁴ The saṁkrānti, however, appears to have taken place on the Tuesday, 25th December.

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⁵ Rather curiously, I do not find this title actually used in any records of Bijjala himself, which I can verify; and, as a rule, his successors do not seem to have used it. But it is allotted to him in the Balagâmve inscription of April, A.D.1168, which records his abdication (P. S. and O.-C. Inscrs. No. 195; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 109), and in another Balagâmve inscription of A. D. 1179 (Ind. Ant. Vol. V. p. 45). And there is but little doubt that he did assume and use it, with the other titles.—It is applied to him in the transcript of one of his own inscriptions at Chikka-Kerûr in the Dhârwâr District (on a stone on the bank of the tank; Carn.-Désa Inscrs., Vol. II. p. 86). But I have not an ink-impression, by which to check the transcript.

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⁶ That is, adopting Dr. Bhandarkar's suggestion (Early History of the Dekkan, 1884, p. 95, note 6) that, in the record in question (Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, reprint of 1877, Vol. III. p. 411), Vikshana is a mistake,—whether of the preparer of the lithograph, or of the writer or engraver of the original,—for Vijjana or Vijjana.

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Other records of Bijjala mention, as feudatories and officials,—the Daṇḍanâyaka Sridhara, with dates in A. D. 1157 and 1162, who apparently had the government of the territory in the neighbourhood of Annigere: the Daṇḍanâyaka Barmarasa, son of Muñjaladêva of the Sagara lineage, who in A. D. 1161-62 was governing the Banavâsi twelve-thousand with the approval of his relative Kasapayyanâyaka, who has already been mentioned;⁷ the Mahâpradhâna, Sénâdhipati, and Adhikârin of the Belvola district, the Daṇḍanâyaka Ammaṇa, with the date of A. D. 1163-64; the Mahâmaṇḍalésvara Sôma or Sôvidêva, of the Kâdambas of Hângal, with the same date; the Mahâmaṇḍalésvara Vijayâditya, of the Silâhâra family of Karâḍ, ruling at Valavâḍa, and the Mahâmaṇḍalésvara Kârtavîrya III., of the Raṭṭa

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⁷ P.S. and O.-C. Inscrs. No. 121; Mysore Inscriptions, p. 64.

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family of Saundatti, who are mentioned in a record of A. D. 1165¹ which says that Bijjala, having subdued all kings, was then reigning over the whole world with the one umbrella of sole sovereignty; a *Mahamandalesvara* of the Sinda family, named Isvara, with the hereditary title of "lord of Karahata, the best of towns," who in the same year was governing, at Halavur or Hallavur, several small districts in the Banavasi and Santalige provinces; the *Mahapradhana*, *Senadhipati*, and *Heggade* of the Hanumgal district, the *Dandanayaka* Siddhapayya, who was governing the Hanumgal five-hundred in the same year; and the *Mahasamanta* Kaliyamarasa, of the Jimutavahana lineage and the Khachara race, with a date in A. D. 1167. Slightly subsequent records shew that, during the whole of Bijjala's time, the *Mahamandalesvaras* Permadi and Vijayaditya II., of the family of the Kadambas of Goa, were ruling their possessions, the Konkana nine-hundred and the Palasige twelve-thousand; but the records do not make it clear that these powerful chieftains acknowledged the sovereignty of Bijjala over their territory. Inscriptions dated in the months Karttika (Oct.-Nov.) and Pausha (Dec.-Jan.), falling in A. D. 1165, of the Parthiva *samvatsara* (S.-S. 1088 current), cited in one case as Bijjala's tenth year,² state that he was then reigning at Kalyana, *i. e.* Kalyani in the Nizam's Dominions,³ which had previously been the Western Chalukya capital. And finally, an inscription at Balagamve,⁴ at the time of an eclipse of the moon and a *samkranti* on Sunday, the full-moon day of the month Vaisakha of the Sarvadharin *samvatsara* (S.-S. 1091 current), corresponding, probably, to the 24th April, A.D. 1168, says that, while still happily reigning over the whole earth with un-.

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¹ At the Jain temple at Yaksamba in the Belgaum District (*Carn.-Desa Inscr.* Vol. II. p. 90; verified from an ink-impression).

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² In front of the temple of Kalamesvara at Balambid (Hangal taluka), and on the bank of the tank at Mantagi, in the Dharwar District (*Carn.-Desa Inscr.* Vol. II. pp. 119, 105; both verified from ink-impressions: the Mantagi record cites the *samvatsara* as the tenth year; the word 10neya, given in the transcript of the other record, does not exist in the original).

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³ See page 427 above, note 3.

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⁴ On a stone on the bank of a tank outside the village (*Carn.-Desa Inscr.* Vol. II. p. 133; P. S. and O.-C. *Inscr.* No. 185; *Mysore Inscriptions*, p. 109. As regards the date, the Vrishabha-*samkranti*, or passage of the sun into Taurus, took place on the day given by me; and the full-moon occurred on the same or the preceding day; The week-day, however, was Wednesday, for the *samkranti*. And Von Oppolzer's *Canon der Finsternisse* shews no eclipse for this full-moon.— In the preceding month Chaitra, the Mesha-*samkranti*, or passage of the sun into Aries, took place on the forenoon of Sunday, 24th March. And the *Canon* shews an eclipse of the moon on the Monday. But, as the *samkranti* and eclipse do not both come to the Sunday, there do not appear sufficient grounds for assuming that Vaisakha is a mistake for Chaitra. In this record, the Sarvadharin *samvatsara* is cited as the sixteenth of the Kalachurya years. The transcript in *Carn.-Desa Inscr.* indeed, substitutes "second" for "sixteenth." But this was done simply because the *samvatsara* in question was the second year of Bijjala's son Somesvara. And the photograph shews the reading of the original quite clearly and unmistakably,— *srimut-Kalachurya-varshada 16neya Sarvadhari-samvatsarada*, &c. This would point to another Kalachurya reckoning, of which the first year would be the *Srimukha samvatsara*, *Saka-Samvat* 1076 current, = A. D. 1153-54,— earlier by three years than the commencement of Bijjala's reckoning. But I have not met with any other date in accordance with such a reckoning. I cannot suggest any historical starting-point for it. And it seems, on the whole, probable that simply a mistake was made, in writing or engraving 16neya instead of 13neya.

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divided lordship and with the single umbrella of sole sovereignty, Bijjala transferred the burden of government to his dear or favourite son Sôvidêva, who was reigning at the time when this record was drawn up. The latest known date for Bijjala is the new-moon day of the month Ashâḍha, corresponding approximately to the 19th July, A. D. 1167, of the Sarvâjit saṁvatsara (S.-S. 1090 current), cited as his twelfth year.¹ The subsequent records shew that the Sarvâjit saṁvatsara was reckoned as the first year of Sôvidêva. And the abdication of Bijjala is, accordingly, to be placed in A. D. 1167, at any time after the 19th July.

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¹ In an inscription at the temple of Gôpâlasvâmin at Chikka-Muddaṇûr in the Nizâm's Dominions (Carn.-Désa Inscr. Vol. II. p. 120; verified, and corrected in respect of the tithi, from an ink-impression).

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In addition to Sôvidêva, in whose favour he abdicated, Bijjala left three other sons, Saṅkama, Âhavamalla, and Siṅghaṇa, who also succeeded to the throne. And inscriptions of A. D. 1179 and 1180 at Rôn² and Sûḍi³ in the Dhârwâr District, tell us that, by a wife named Êchaladêvî,—who was probably not the mother of Sôvidêva and the others of that group,—he had a son Vajradêva, and a daughter, Siriyâdêvî, who was married to the Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara Châvuṇḍa II., of the Sinda family of Yelburga.⁴

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² At a temple of Îśvara in front of the house of the Gireḍḍiyavaru (Carn.-Désa Inscr. Vol. II. p. 22b; verified from an ink-impression).

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³ On the promises of Akkivaravva of Saṅkanûr, in the fort (Carn.-Désa Inscr. Vol. II. p. 226; verified from an ink-impression).

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⁴ See chapter VIII, below.

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The period to which Bijjala belonged was remarkable for a revival of the worship of Śiva, or for a fresh impetus to the Śaiva faith with elaborated and improved rites and practices, which culminated in the establishment of a new sect of Śivabhaktas or worshippers of Śiva, called technically Vîra-Śaivas, i. e. "brave, fierce, or strict Śaivas," or "Śaiva champions," and popularly Liṅgâyats or Liṅgâwants, i. e. "those who have the liṅga or phallic emblem." The Liṅgâyats—(using the appellation by which all average members of the sect would describe themselves)—are outwardly distinguished from the ordinary Śaivas by the practice of carrying about with them a miniature liṅga, usually in a silver box suspended from the neck and hanging about the waist. And the chief characteristics of their faith and practices are, adoration of the liṅga and of Śiva's bull Nandi, hostility to Brâhmaṇs, disbelief in the transmigration of the soul, contempt for child-marriage, and approval and habitual practice of the remarriage of widows. They are found chiefly in the Kanarese country; their vernacular is Kanarese; and it is due almost entirely to them that this beautiful, highly polished, and powerful language has been preserved, in later times, amidst the constant inroads of Marâṭhâs from the north. They now constitute about thirty-five per cent. of the total Hindû population in the Belgaum, Bijâpur, and Dhârwâr Districts.⁵ In

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⁵ For detailed accounts of them in these districts, with their doctrines, customs, &c., and their divisions into Pure, Affiliated, and Half-Liṅgâyats, see the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. XXI. Belgaum, pp. 149-151; Vol. XXII. Dhârwâr, pp. 162-166; and Vol. XXIII. Bijâpur, pp. 219-280.—For a more general account, see an "Essay on the Creed, Customs, and Literature of the Jaṅgams," by Mr. C. P. Brown, in the Madras Jour. of Lit. and Science, Vol. XI. pp. 143-177.

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Mysore and the Kêlhâpur State, they number about ten per cent. of the Hindù population. And they are also found, but in smaller proportions, in the districts of Poona, Shôlâpur, Sâtârâ, and North Kanara. Elsewhere, they are constantly met with; but as the result of the migration of isolated families, mostly in connection with trade and manufactures. In the Bijâpur and Dhârwâr districts, and possibly in the neighbouring parts of the Nizâm's Dominions and Mysore, the sect appears to be still steadily gaining ground. And an interesting internal movement was observable in 1891, when large numbers of the members of it claimed to have themselves entered in the census returns under the designation of Vira-Saivas, in preference to that of Lingâyats, with which they had been content on previous similar occasions.

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According to the tradition of the Lingâyats themselves, as embodied in their principal sacred writings, the Basava-Purâna and Channabasava-Purâna,¹ the establishment of the new sect, and certain events, connected with it, which ended in the assassination of Bijjala, were as follows:—

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¹ Abstract translations of these two works, by the Rev. G. Würth, have been published in the Jour Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. VIII. pp. 65-97 and 98-221, from which I quote.

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To a certain Mâdirâja and his wife Madalâmbikâ, pious Saivas of the Brâhman caste, and residents of a place named Bâgewâdi which is usually supposed to be the subdivisional town of that name in the Bijâpur District, there was born a son, who, being an incarnation of Siva's bull Nandi, sent to earth to revive the declining Saiva rites, was named Basava.² When the usual time of investiture had arrived, Basava, then eight years of age, having meanwhile acquired much knowledge of the Saiva scriptures, refused to be invested with the sacred Brâhmanical thread; declaring himself a special worshipper of Siva, and stating that he had come to destroy the distinctions of caste. This refusal, with his singular wisdom and piety, attracted the favourable notice of his uncle Baladêva, "prime minister"³ of Bijjala, who had come to be present at the ceremony; and Baladêva gave him his daughter Gangâdêvî or Gangâmbâ in marriage.⁴ The Brâhmans, however, began to persecute Basava, on account of the novel practices propounded by him. And he consequently left his native town, and went to a village named 'Kappadi,' where he spent his early years, receiving instruction there from the god Siva, in the form of the local idol Sangamêśvara.⁵

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² Loc. cit. p. 67. The word basava is treated as a corruption of the Sanskrit vrishabha, 'a bull,' in its special designation of Nandi, the bull on which Siva rides. From Wilson's Descriptive Catalogue of the Mackenzie Collection, p. 305, it would appear that some versions of the Basava-Purâna substitute, for Bâgewâdi, Inglêshwar, which is a village in the same neighbourhood.

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³ The Mackenzie Collection, however, gives the technical official title Dan-danyaka or 'leader of the forces,' which would not necessarily denote a prime minister.

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⁴ Loc. cit. p. 67.

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⁵ Loc. cit. p. 68.

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Meanwhile, his uncle Baladêva died. At the advice of the deceased minister's relatives, Bijjala decided on securing the services of Basava, whose ability and virtues had now become publicly known. After some demur, Basava accepted the office; having the hope that the influence attached to the post would help him in propagating his peculiar tenets. And, accompanied by his elder sister Nâgalâmbikâ, he proceeded from ‘Kappadi’ to Kalyâna, where he was welcomed with deference by the king, and was installed as prime minister, commander-in-chief, and treasurer,—second in power to only the king himself;¹ and the king, in order to bind him as closely as possible to himself, gave him his younger sister Nîlalôchanâ to wife.²

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¹ loc. cit. p. 69.

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² loc cit. p. 70.

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Somewhere about this time, from Basava’s unmarried elder sister Nâgalâmbikâ, who was an incarnation of the intelligence of the goddess Pârvatî, there was born, by the working of the spirit of Siva, a son, who was an incarnation of Siva’s son Shanmukha or Kârttikêya, the god of war.³ Because, the Channabasava-Purâna says, he was more beautiful than Basava in many respects, he was named Channabasava, i. e. “the beautiful Basava.”⁴ And he perhaps played a more important part than even Basava himself in the propagation of the tenets of the new sect; for, Basava is represented as receiving from him instruction on important points connected with it.⁵

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³ loc. cit. pp. 118, 119, 120.

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⁴ loc. cit. p. 121.

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⁵ loc. cit. p. 125.

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The two Purânas are occupied, for the most part, with doctrinal expositions; recitals of mythology, praises of previous Saiva saints, and accounts of miracles worked by Basava. And it is only quite at the end of each of them, that we come again on any historical matter. They shew, however, that, with the influence that his official position gave the uncle, Basava and his nephew propagated with great energy and activity their doctrines, which included the persecution and extermination of all persons,—and especially the Jains,—whose creed differed from that of the Lingâyats.⁶ Coupled with the lavish expenditure incurred by Basava, from the public coffers, on the support of the Jangams or Lingâyat priests, the proceedings naturally aroused in Bijjala, who was of the Jain faith,⁷ feelings of uneasiness and distrust, which appear to have been fanned from time to time by a rival minister named Manchanna, in spite of the latter being himself, in secret, a Vîra-Saiva.⁸ And at length an event occurred, which ended in the assassination of Bijjala and the death of Basava.

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⁶ loc. cit. p. 71.

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⁷ loc. cit. p. 78.

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⁸ loc. cit. pp. 86, 97.

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At Kalyâna, there were two specially pious Lingâyats, named ‘Halleyaga’ and ‘Madhûveyya,’ whom Bijjala, in mere wantonness, caused to be blinded. Thereupon, says the Basava-Purâna,⁹ Basava;—himself leaving Kalyâna for a place named ‘Kudali-Sangamêshvara,’—deputed one of his followers, Jagaddêva, to slay the king. And Jagaddêva, with two unnamed friends, succeeded in making his way into the palace and accomplishing his errand,—stabbing the king even in the midst of his court. Civil war ensued. And, the news reaching Basava as he was journeying, he hastened on his way, and, reaching

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⁹ loc. cit. pp. 78, 88, 128.

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Kudali-Samgamêśvara, was there absorbed into the god;¹ while Channabasava fled to Ulavi, in North Kanara, where he found refuge in a cave.

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¹ According to Sir Walter Elliot (*Jour. R. As. Soc.*, F. S., Vol. IV. p. 22, note; and *Madras Jour. of Lit. and Science*, Vol. VII. p. 214, note), the place of Basava's absorption is said to be Samgam, in the Hunguud tâluka, Bijâpur District, at the junction of the Krishna and the Malparbhâ, where, he added, a depression in the *linga* at the temple of Samgamêśvara is still pointed out as the exact spot into which Basava entered. I am not prepared to deny the correctness of these statements. Still, as regards the true identification of the place, the prefix ‘Kudali’ seems to me to point rather to the historically much more important (see, e.g., page 445 above note 1) Kudal-Samgam, at the junction of the Krishna and the Tungabhadrâ.

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The *Channabasava-Purâṇa* gives a somewhat different account.² It places first the death of Basava, who, it says, was absorbed in Samgamêśvara in the month Phâlguna, falling in A. D. 785, of the Raktâkshin *samvatsara*, *Saka-Samvat* 707 (current);³ and the only reason that it assigns, is, that the news had reached Basava that a certain Prabhu, who was an incarnation of Śiva,⁴ had left Kalyâṇa and had been absorbed into Śiva in a plantain-tree at Śrîśaila. On the death of Basava, Bijjala appointed Channabasava to the office that had been held by his uncle. After this, the king caused the pious ‘Halleija’ and ‘Madhuvêija’ to be tied to a rope and dragged about the ground till they died. In revenge for this, Bijjala was slain by two torch-bearers, named Jagaddêva and Bommaṇa. Then Channabasava, who had meantime sent away many Lingâyats to Ulavi under the pretext of celebrating a feast in honour of the god Jamgamêśvara (? Samgamêśvara), gathered together his horses and men, and left Kalyâṇa to follow and join them. The “son-in-law” of Bijjala started in pursuit. And a battle ensued, in which the pursuers were destroyed, and the king was taken captive. At the advice of Nâgalâmbikâ, however, Channabasava restored the slain army to life; and, having impressed upon the king that he should not persecute the Lingâyats, as his predecessor had done, but should walk in righteousness, he anointed him, and sent him back to govern his country.⁵

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² *loc. cit.* pp. 219, 220. This part of the narrative is put as a prophecy in the mouth of Channabasava.

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³ The *Channabasavanna-Kâḷajñâna* (Wilson's *Descriptive Catalogue* of the Mackenzie Collection, pp. 312, 313,) gives the month Phâlguna of *Saka-Samvat* 696, equivalent, as a current year, to A. D. 773-74.

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⁴ *loc. cit.* pp. 71, 72.

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⁵ The *Purâṇa* ends with various other prophecies, not connected with the present subject, to the effect that the king, thus anointed, should reign for sixty years from the death of Basava; that then, at a time when the Hoysaḷa kingdom was flourishing, the Turks, — (the original probably has Turushkas), — led by the giant Pitâmbara, born among them by the blessing of Śiva, should come and vanquish Bijjala, destroy Kalyâṇa, kill cattle in the temple of Śiva, erect a mosque there, and build the town of Kalburigi; that the kings of Anegundi should build the town of Vijayanagara, near Hampe; that Pitâmbara and his house should reign over the land for seven hundred and seventy years; that then there should arise a king named Vasantarâya, who would drive the Turks out of the country and restore Kalyâṇa; that, all the Śaiva saints coming to life again, Channabasava should become the prime minister of this king, and Basava the commander of his forces; and that thus the Lingâyat religion should be re-established and greatly increased. — This *Purâṇa* was written in A. D. 1585 (*loc. cit.* p. 221). And these “prophecies” are, of course, nothing but confused reminiscences of intervening history.

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The Jain account, as given in the *Bijjalaryacharitra*,¹ puts things very differently. Basava's influence with the king is attributed to the fact that he had a very beautiful sister, whom the king took as a concubine. And the end of Bijjala and Basava is related thus:— Bijjala had marched against and subdued the Kôlhâpur chief, *i.e.* the Silâhâra *Mahâmandaleśvara*, who must have committed some act of rebellion. During a halt on the way back to Kalyâna, a Jangam arrived, sent by Basava, and disguised as a Jain; and presented the king with a poisoned fruit, the mere smell of which caused his death. He had time, however, before dying, to tell his son Immadi-Bijjala, *i.e.* "the second Bijjala,"² that it was Basava who had sent the fruit, and to enjoin him to put Basava to death. Immadi-Bijjala accordingly ordered that Basava should be apprehended, and that all the Jangams, wherever seized, should be executed. And, on hearing this, Basava threw himself into a well, and died; while his wife "Nîlâmbâ" poisoned herself. Channabasava, however, after Immadi-Bijjala's resentment was allayed, presented his uncle's treasures to the king, and was admitted to favour and to a ministerial office at court.³

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¹ *loc. cit.* p. 97; and Wilson's *Descriptive Catalogue of the Mackenzie Collection*, p. 320.

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² This doubtless denotes Sôvidêva. But there is no epigraphic evidence for calling him Immadi-Bijjala.

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³ Sir Walter Elliot has said that Basava's sister, who became the king's mistress, was named Padmâvatî; that it was at Ulavi that Basava drowned himself; and that these events occurred, according to the Jain poem, in Kaliyuga-Samvat 4255 (expired), = Saka-Samvat 1077 (current), = A.D. 1154-55 (*i.e.*, before even the time when Bijjala commenced his independent career). But I have not been able to find the authority for these statements.

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Such are the traditional accounts. There are, however, no apparent reasons for attributing, either to the Lingâyat *Purânas*, or to the Jain poem, any greater historical accuracy than other Hindû works of the same class have been found to possess. And, on the contrary, there are fair grounds for questioning the correctness of the narratives given by them. The Lingâyat and Jain accounts differ very markedly; to a far greater extent than can be accounted for on simply the supposition of a representation of true facts from different sectarian points of view. In respect of the circumstances immediately attending the deaths of Bijjala and Basava, even the Lingâyat *Purânas* are not at all in accordance with each other. The *Channabasava-Purâna* allots to these events the absurd date of A. D. 785, which is too early by close upon four centuries. Even the Jain poem appears to place them,⁴ not only twelve years before the time, in A.D. 1167, when Bijjala, still alive, abdicated in favour of his eldest son, but also even before the time, in A. D. 1156, when Bijjala established himself as king. No epigraphic mention of Basava and Channabasava has been obtained; which is peculiar, if they really held the high office that is allotted to them by tradition. And finally, in the only epigraphic record which has come to notice, containing an allusion of any kind to the revival of the Saiva faith and rites, the indication is that it was a Brâhman named Êkântada-Râmayya, to whom the movement owed its origin.

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⁴ See the preceding note.

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The record in question is an undated inscription, of the time of the Mahâmaṇḍalêśvara Kâmadêva (about A. D. 1181 to 1203), of the family of the Kâdambas of Hângal, at Ablûr in the Dhârwâr District.¹ And it gives the following narrative, which, if we discount the supernatural agency and the miracle, is reasonable and verisimilar enough:—

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¹ At the temple of Sômanâtha, on the right of the god (Carn-Désa Insers, Vol. II. p. 121; I quote, however, from an ink-impression).

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Among the Brâhmaṇs at a town named Alande in the Kuntala country, where there was a temple of the god Śiva under the name of Sômanâtha, there was one named Purushôttamabhaṭṭa, of the Vatsa or Śrîvatsa gôtra, well versed in all the Vêdas and Vêdângas. His wife was Padmâmbike. He and she lived together for some time, without having any offspring. And Purushôttamabhaṭṭa began to do special worship to Śiva, in order to obtain a son. One day, when Śiva, with Pârvatî, Brahman, Vishṇu, and Indra, and a count'less host of his Gaṇas or attendants, was in public assembly on the mountain Kailâsa, a leader of the Gaṇas, named Nârada, stood out and represented that, while Ôhila, Dâsa, Chenna, Siriyâḷa, Ha'âyudha, Êṇa, Udbhaṭa, Malayêśvara who came to Kailâsa in human form, Kêśavarâja,² and countless other Gaṇas, resigning the happiness of earthly life, had been dwelling in Kailâsa, engaged in the worship of Śiva, an opportunity had arisen for the Jains and Buddhists to become predominant and aggressive. Thereupon Śiva commanded his son or attendant Vîrabhadra to make a portion of himself incarnate, in the person of a man who should restrain these hostile rites. And Vîrabhadra appeared to Purushôttamabhaṭṭa in a dream, in the guise of a hermit, and announced to him that he should have a son, who was to be called Râma, and who should discomfit all those, in the dakshiṇâpatha or Dekkan, who had gone astray into the paths of the Jains. In due course, a son was born to Purushôttamabhaṭṭa. According to the god's command, he was named Râma. In conformity with his divine origin, he was taught to practise the Śaiva rites, with a view to ultimate absorption into Śiva. And, by the exclusiveness and intensity of his devotion to Śiva, he acquired the name of Êkântada-Râmayya or "the single-minded Râmayya." At various sacred Śaiva sites, with speech, body, and mind entirely given up to Śiva, he worshipped all the Sômanâthas of the south. And at length he did worship at the shrine of Sômanâtha at Huḷigere, e.g. at Lakshmêshwar in the Dhârwâr District. There the god appeared in person to him, and gave him the command to go to Ablûr, to take up his abode there,—to enter fearlessly into controversy with the Jains,—and to defeat them by wagering his head. Accordingly, he established himself at Ablûr, and continued to practise ascetism at a place known as the site of the god Brahmêśvara. One day, the Jains, led by one of the village-headmen named Saṅkagâvuṇḍa, assembled, and began to persistently sing the praises of Jina, as the sole god, in the vicinity of the image of Śiva which he worshipped. He remonstrated; maintaining that no other god deserved to be praised in

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² These persons were famous Śaiva saints, and are mostly mentioned in the Basava-Purâṇa.

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the neighbourhood of Siva. And, on their refusing to desist, he then began to sing the praises of Siva, as the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer, and as the god whose essence pervades the whole universe. The Jains then challenged him to decapitate himself and offer his head to Siva, in the presence of all the people; promising that, if his head should be restored to him, they would admit that Siva was indeed the one god, and Ekantada-Ramayya his true disciple. And, being asked to wager something against his head, they further bound themselves by a writing on a palmyra leaf, to demolish their Jina and set up an image of Siva, in the event of his success. Then, singing the praises of Siva, Ekantada-Ramayya cut off his own head with a scimitar, and laid it at the feet of his god. On the seventh day, it was found by all the people that Ekantada-Ramayya's head was restored to him, without a scar. The Jains, however, failed to keep their word. And so he himself, in spite of their guards, their horses, their chieftains, and the troops that they sent against him, broke off the head of their Jina, and presented it as an offering to his own god, and, as is gathered from subsequent parts of the record, set up an image of Siva under the name of Vira-Somanatha, at Ablur, and built a temple for it, "as large," the record says, "as a mountain."¹ The Jains went and complained to Bijjala, who became much enraged, and sent for Ekantada-Ramayya, and questioned him as to why he had committed so gross an outrage on the Jains. Thereupon Ekantada-Ramayya produced the writing on the palmyra leaf, which he asked Bijjala to deposit in his treasury, and offered that, if the Jains would wager their seven-hundred temples, including the Anesejjeya-basadi,² he would repeat the feat; and he undertook even to allow his opponents to burn his head, and still to recover it. Wishing to see the spectacle, Bijjala called all the learned men of the Jain temples together, and bade them wager their temples, repeating the conditions on a palmyra leaf. The Jains, however, would not face the test again. So Bijjala, laughing at them, dismissed them with the advice that henceforth they should live peaceably with their neighbours, and gave Ekantada-Ramayya, in public assembly, a jayapatra or certificate of success. Also, pleased with the unsurpassed daring with which Ekantada-Ramayya had displayed his devotion to Siva, he laved Ramayya's feet, and granted to the temple of Vira-Somanatha a village named Gagave in the Sattalige seventy in the Banavasi twelve-thousand.³ Subsequently, the record says, when the Western Chalukya king

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