The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c17.s3.1

v1.c17.s3.1

The Śūlkīs are apparently the same as the Sūlikas mentioned in the Harāhā inscription of the Maukhari Iśānavarman (554 A.D.).¹ We are told by this record that Iśānavarman conquered the *Andhrādhipati* "who had thousands of three-fold rutting elephants," vanquished in battle "the Sūlikas who had an army of countless horses," and caused "the Gauḍas, living on the sea-shore, in future to remain within their proper realm." By mentioning the Sūlikas between the Gauḍas and the realm of the lord of the Andhras, the writer of the record probably gives us some idea about the location of the Sūlikas. As the records of the Śūlkīs have all been found in Orissa, they can roughly be said to be the rulers of that area which was in the possession of the Sūlikas in the middle of the 6th century A.D. Nothing is definitely known about the origin of these Sūlikas or Śūlkīs, but it is not impossible that their name may be one of the variation of the name *Caḷukya*.² Their records are not dated in any era, but are referred on palaeographic grounds to about the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.