The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s4: Section XIII. The Kalachuris

The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s4

Language: English

Section XIII. The Kalachuris

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The earliest mention of a family of this name that we have is in connection with Mangalîsa of the early Châlukya dynasty. Vinayâditya is represented in one of his inscriptions to have subdued the Haihayas and Vikramâditya II. married, as we have seen, two girls who were sisters belonging to the family.¹ The later Râshtrakûta princes were also connected by marriage with the Haihayas. This family known also by the name of Kalachuri or Kulachuri² ruled over Chedi or the country about Jabalpur. The Kalachuris of Kalyâna must have been an offshoot of this family. One of the titles used by Vijjana was *Kâlañjarapuravarâdhîśvara* “or Lord of the best city of Kâlañjara.”³ Kâlañjara was a stronghold belonging to the rulers of Chedi⁴ and was probably their capital, though Tripura, the modern Tevur, is also known to have been the principal seat of the family. The title, therefore, connects the Kalyâna branch of the Kalachuris with the Chedi family. This branch was founded by Krishna, who in the Belgaum grant⁵ is spoken of as “another Krishna,” the incarnation of Vishnu, and as “having done wonderful deeds even during his boyhood.” He was succeeded by his son Jogama, and Jogama by his son Paramardin. Paramardin was the father of Vijjana. Vijjana before his usurpation called himself only a Mahâmandalesvara or minor chief, and is first mentioned as a foudatory of Jagadekamalla, the successor of Somesvara III.⁶ The manner in which he drove away Taila III. from Kalyâna, and having raised himself to the supreme power in the state gradually assumed the titles of a paramount sovereign, has already been described. But soon after, a religious revolution took place at Kalyâna, and Vijjana and his family succumbed to it.

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¹ Supra, Section X.

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² See grant published in Arch. Surv. West. Ind., No. 10.

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³ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. IX., p. 330, No. 50.

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⁴ Bilhana's Vikr. Ch., XVIII., p. 93. Karna seems to be represented here to have conquered Kâlañjara.

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⁵ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. XVIII., p. 270.

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⁶ P. S. & O. C. Ins. No. 119.

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The principal leader of that revolution was a person of the name of Basava. A work in Kanarese entitled Basava Purâna gives an account of Basava; but it is full of marvellous stories and relates the wonderful miracles wrought by him. The principal incidents, however, may be relied on as historical. On the other hand there is another work entitled Vijjalarâyacharita, written by a Jaina, which gives an account of the events from the opposite side, since the attacks of the Lingâyatas were chiefly directed against the Jainas, and these were their enemies.

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Basava was the son of a Brâhman named Mâdirâja, who lived at Bâgevâdi in the Kalâdgi district. Baladeva, the prime minister of Vijjana, was his maternal uncle and gave him his daughter in marriage.⁷ After Baladeva’s death the king appointed Basava his **Section XIII.** prime minister as being closely related to Baḷadeva.¹ The Jainas, however, state that Basava had a beautiful sister named Padmâvatî, of whom the king became enamoured and whom he either married or made his mistress²; and it was on that account that he was raised to that office and became a man of influence. There must be some truth in this story; for the Basava Purâṇa narrates that the king gave his younger sister Nîlalochanâ in marriage to Basava, which looks as if it were a counter-story devised to throw discredit on the other which was so derogatory to Basava.³ Basava had another sister named Nâgalâmbikâ, who had a son named Chenna-Basava or Basava the younger. In concert with him Basava began to propound a new doctrine and a new mode of worshipping Śiva, in which the Liṅga and the Nandin or bull were prominent. He speedily got a large number of followers, and ordained a great many priests, who were called Jaṅgamas. Basava had charge of the king's treasury, and out of it he spent large amounts in supporting and entertaining these Jaṅgamas, who led a profligate life. Vijjaṇa had another minister named Mañchaṇṇa, who was the enemy of Basava, and informed the king of his rival's embezzlements.⁴ In the course of time Vijjaṇa was completely alienated from Basava and endeavoured to apprehend him. But he made his escape with a number of followers, whereupon the king sent some men in pursuit. These were easily dispersed by Basava, and then Vijjaṇa advanced in person. But a large number of followers now joined Basava, and the king was defeated and had to submit to his minister. Basava was allowed to return to Kalyâṇa and reinstated in his office.⁵ There was, however, no possibility of a complete reconciliation, and after some time the leader of the new sect conceived the design of putting the king to death. The circumstances that immediately led to the deed and the manner in which it was perpetrated are thus stated in the Basava Purâṇa.

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⁷ Basava Purâna, Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 57.

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¹ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 69.

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² Ib., p. 97. Sir W. Elliot's paper, Jour. R. A. S., Vol. IV., p. 20.

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³ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 70.

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⁴ Ib., pp. 78 & 89.

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⁵ Jour. R. A. S., Vol. IV., p. 21; Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 89.

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Basava's rebellion.

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**Basava plans the murder of the King.** **Account of the event according to the Basava Purâṇa.**

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At Kalyâṇa there were two pious Liṅgâyatas named Halleyaga and Madhuveyya, who were the devout adherents of their master Basava. Vijjaṇa, listening to the calumnious accusations of their enemies, caused their eyes to be put out. All the disciples of Basava were highly indignant at this cruel treatment of these holy men, and assembled in their master's house. Basava ordered Jagaddeva to murder the king, pronounced a curse on Kalyâṇa, and left the town. Jagaddeva hesitated for a moment, but his mother spurred him on, and with two companions, Mallaya and Bommaya, went straight to the palace of the king; and rushing through the throng of courtiers, counsellors, and princes, they drew their poignards and stabbed Vijjaṇa. Thence they went into the streets, and brandishing their weapons proclaimed the reason of their perpetrating the deed. Then arose dissensions in the city, men fought with men, horses with horses, and elephants with elephants; the race of Vijjaṇa was extinct, Kalyâṇa was a heap of ruins, and the curse pronounced by Basava was verified. Basava went in haste to his favourite shrine of Saṅgames’vara, situated on the confluence of the Malaprabhâ with the Krishṇâ, and there in compliance with his prayers the god absorbed him in his body.¹

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¹ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 96; Wilson’s Mackenzie MSS., pp. 309-310.

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The account given by the Jainas is different. Vijjaṇa had gone on an expedition to Kolhâpur to reduce the Śilâhâra chief Bhoja II. to subjection. In the course of his march back to the capital he encamped at a certain place on the banks of the Bhîmâ, and, while reposing in his tent, Basava sent to him a Jaṅgama disguised as a Jaina with a poisoned fruit. Vijjaṇa, who is said to have been a Jaina himself, unsuspectingly took the fruit from the hands of the seeming Jaina priest; and as soon as he smelled it, he became senseless. His son Immadi Vijjaṇa and others hastened to the spot, but to no purpose. Vijjaṇa, however, somewhat recovered his senses for a short while; and knowing who it was that had sent the poisoned fruit, enjoined his son to put Basava to death. Inmadi Vijjaṇa gave orders that Basava should be arrested and all Jaṅgamas, wherever found, executed.² On hearing of this, Basava fled; and being pursued went to the Malabâr coast and took refuge at a place called Ulavi.³ The town was closely invested and Basava in despair threw himself into a well and died, while his wife Nîlâmbâ put an end to her existence by drinking poison. When Vijjaṇa’s son was pacified, Chenua-Basava surrendered all his uncle’s property to him and was admitted into favour.⁴ He now became the sole leader of the Liṅgâyatas; but, even before, his position was in some respects superior to that of Basava. The religious portion of the movement was under his sole direction, and it was he who shaped the creed of the sect. In him the Praṇava or sacred syllable Om is said to have become incarnate to teach the doctrines of the Vîra Śaiva faith to Basava,⁵ and, according to the Chenna-Basava Purâṇa, “Chenna-Basava was S’iva; Basava, Vrishabha (or S’iva’s bull, the Nandin); Bijjala, the door-keeper; Kalyâṇa, Kailâsa; (and) S’iva worshippers (or Liṅgâyatas), the S’iva host (or the troops of S’iva’s attendants.)”⁶

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² Wilson’s Mackenzie MSS., p. 320.

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³ Jour. R. A. S., Vol. IV., p. 22.

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⁴ Wilson’s Mackenzie MSS., p. 320.

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⁵ *Ib.*, p. 311.

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⁶ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. VIII., p. 127.

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Vijjaṇa’s death took place in S’aka 1089 (1090 current), or A.D. 1167. He was succeeded by his son Soma, who is also called Sovideva or Someśvara. The Belgaum copper-plate charter was issued by him on the twelfth of the bright half of Kârttika in S’aka 1096, the cyclic year being Jaya, to confirm the grant of land to fourteen Brâhmaṇs and the god Someśvara made by one of his queens named Bâvaladevî. The king had given her his consent to make the grant as a reward for a beautiful song that she sang on an occasion when the most influential persons, belonging to his own and other kingdoms had gathered together in his audience-hall. Soma reigned till S’aka 1100 and was followed by his brother Saṃkama, whose inscriptions come down to the cyclic year Subhakṛit. In an

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Section XIII.

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Extinction of the Kalachuri dynasty.

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inscription at Balagâmve the cyclic year Vikârin (S. 1101) is called the third of his reign,¹ while in another at the same place the same year is spoken of as the fifth.² In other inscriptions we have two names Samkama and Âhavamalla and the cyclic years Sârvarin (S. 1102) and Plava (S. 1103) are represented as the third year of his or their reign, which is possible, and Subhakrit (S. 1104) as the eighth.³ About Saka 1104 the Châlukya prince Someśvara IV. wrested some of the provinces of his ancestral dominions from the Kalachuris, and the rest must have been conquered by the Northern Yâdavas; so that about this time the Kalachuri dynasty became extinct.

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¹ P. S. & O. C. Ins. No. 183.

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² Ib. No. 189.

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³ Ib. Nos. 190, 192 and 193.

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Religious and social condition of the people during the later Châlukya period.

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Buddhism.

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Jainism.

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Purânic religion.

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Codification of the civil and religious law.

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During the period occupied by the later Châlukya dynasty and the Kalachuris (Saka 895-1110 or A.D. 973-1188), the old state of things as regards the religious and social condition of the country may be said to have finally disappeared and the new ushered in. First, we have in this period what might be considered the last traces of Buddhism. In the reign of Tribhuvanamalla or Vikramâditya II., in the cyclic year Yuvan, and the nineteenth of his era (Saka 1017), sixteen merchants of the Vaiśya caste constructed a Buddhistic vihâra or monastery and temple at Dharmavolal, the modern Dambal in the Dhârvâd district and assigned for its support and for the maintenance of another vihâra at Lokkigundi, the modern Lakkundi, a field and a certain amount of money to be raised by voluntary taxation.⁴ In Saka 1032 the S'ilâhâra chief of Kolhâpur constructed a large tank and placed on its margin an idol of Buddha along with those of S'iva and Arhat, and assigned lands for their support.⁵ Jainism ceased in this period to be the conquering religion that it was, and about the end received an effectual check by the rise of the Lingâyata sect. This new creed spread widely among the trading classes, which before were the chief supporters of Jainism. There is a tradition in some parts of the country that some of the existing temples contained Jaina idols at one time and that afterwards they were thrown out and Brâhmanic ones placed instead. This points to a change of feeling with reference to Jainism, the origin of which must be referred to this period.

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⁴ Ind. Ant., Vol. X., p. 185.

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⁵ Jour, B. B. R. A. S., Vol. XIII., p. 4, and infra, Section XVI.

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The worship of the Purânic gods flourished; and as in the times of the early Châlukyas the old sacrificial rites were reduced to a system, so during this period the endeavours of the Brâhmans and their adherents were for the first time directed towards reducing the civil and the ordinary religious law to a system, or towards its codification, as it might be called. The texts or precepts on the subject were scattered in a great many Smritis and Purânas; and often there were apparent inconsistencies and the law was doubtful. Nibandhas or digests, of which we have now so many, began to be written in this period, but the form which they first took, and which even now is one of the recognized forms, was that of commentaries on Smritis. Bhoja of Dhârâ, who belongs to the first part of this period, must have written a treatise on the subject, since under the name of Dhâreśvara he is referred to by Vijñāneśvara in his work. He was followed by Vijñāneśvara, who, as we have seen, lived at Kalyāṇa in the reign of Vikramāditya II. Aparārka, another commentator on Yājñavalkya, who calls his work a *nibandha* on the *Dharmaśāstra* or institutes of Yājñavalkya, was a prince of the Śilāhāra family of northern Konkan and was on the throne in Śaka 1109 (A.D. 1187) and in the cyclic year *Parābhava*.¹ Or, if he was the earlier prince of that name, he must have flourished about fifty years before. This movement was continued in the next or thirteenth century by Hemādri, and by Sāyaṇa in the fourteenth.

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¹ Jour. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. XII., pp. 334-335.

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*Genealogy of the Châlukya family between Vijayâditya and Tailapa as given in the Miraj grant of Jayasimha dated Śaka 946.*

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*Genealogy of the later Châlukyas.*

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1. TAILAPA I. (Śaka 895-919. A.D. 973-997.) | 2. SATYÂŚRAYA, Irivibhujaṅga. (Śaka 919-930. A.D. 997-1008.) | Das'avarman. | 3. VIKRAMÂDITYA I. (Śaka 930-940. A.D. 1008-1018.) | 4. JAYASIMHA, Jagadekamalla I. (Śaka 940-962. A.D. 1018-1040.) | 5. SOMEŚVARA I., Âhavamalla, Trailokyamalla I. (Śaka 962-991. A.D. 1040-1069.) | 6. SOMEŚVARA II., Bhuvanaikamalla. (Śaka 991-998. A.D. 1069-1076.) | 7. VIKRAMÂDITYA II., Tribhuvanamalla. (Śaka 998-1048. A.D. 1076-1126.) | Jayasimha. | 8. SOMEŚVARA III., Bhûlokamalla. (Śaka 1048-1060. A.D. 1126-1138.) | 9. JAGADEKAMALLA II. (Śaka 1060-1072. A.D. 1138-1150.) | 10. TAILAPA II., Nurmaḍi Taila, Trailokyamalla II. (Śaka 1074-1087 ? A.D. 1150-1165.) | 11. SOMEŚVARA IV (Śaka 1104-1111 ? A.D. 1183-1189.)

Linked texts (3)

Yājñavalkyasmṛti — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit
Dharmaśāstra
Vikramāṅkadevacarita — Bilhaṇa, Sanskrit