Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s14: 14. Poysalas or Hoysalas
Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s14
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14. Poysalas or Hoysalas
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On the subversion of the Gangas by the Chōlas in 1004, the Poysalas or Hoysalas rose to power in the west of Mysore, and eventually, in 1116, expelled the Chōlas and became rulers of the whole country, which they held till the middle of the fourteenth century. They were of indigenous origin, and Sosevūr or Sosavūr—the Śaśakapura of Sanskrit writers—named as their birthplace, has been identified with Angaḍi in the Western Ghats, in Mudgere tāluq (see Mg 9, 15, 16, 18). They claim to be Yādavas and of the Lunar race, and bear the [Figure: SALA AND THE TIGER. Size of Original 5ft. × 3ft.]
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title Lord of Dvārāvatī-pura (which represents both Dvāraka in Kathiāwār, the reputed capital of Krishna, the hero of the Yādavas, and their own capital Dōrasamudra). They were Jains, and the progenitor of the family was Sala. On a certain occasion when he went to worship at the temple of his family goddess Vāsantikā-dēvī at Sosevūr (still represented by that of Vasantamma) and was receiving instruction from the yati there, a tiger bounded out of the forest, glaring with rage. The yati¹ hastily snatched up his rod² and handed it to the chief, saying *poy Sala* (strike, Sala!). Whereupon Sala hit at and killed the tiger, finishing it off perhaps with his dagger (see Bl 171). Moreover, from the rescued yati’s exclamation, he assumed the name Poysala, of which Hoysala is the more modern form.³ This story is repeated in all the accounts of the origin of the dynasty, and their crest on temples exhibits a free standing group of Sala stabbing the tiger (see frontispiece, vol. v.), while the seal of copper-plate grants shows a dead tiger and the rod (as in Bn 6).
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¹ According to Sb 28 his name was Sudatta, and Nj 39, 38 state that he had been brought by the king from some other place and established there. Nr 46 calls him Vardhamāna-munīndra.
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² Though described as a cane (*betta*) and in other ways (see vol. v. Introd. 10), it was no doubt really the usual stout rod of an ascetic, made of the solid or male bamboo.
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³ The name also appears as Poysaṇa and Hoysaṇa. In Tamil it is written as Poyichala or Pochala.
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Of the time of Sala no records have been found, but the name Poysala occurs in an inscription of 1006 at Kaliyūr, on the opposite side of the river to Talakād (TN 44). From that time onwards Hoysala inscriptions become more and more frequent until they mount up to bewildering numbers, down to the establishment in 1336 of the Vijayanagar empire, the founders of which were probably connected with the Hoysalas. The Hoysala inscriptions are found from Tanjore in the south to Sholapur in the north, and from Coorg in the west to the east coast in South Arcot. They are mostly on prepared slabs of black hornblende, and are remarkable for their beautiful and artistic execution, the whole being so skilfully engrossed that, notwithstanding ornamental flourishes and pictorial initials, no space is left for the insertion of a single additional letter.
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The Hoysalas at first acknowledged the supremacy of the Western Chālukyas, the chosen enemies of the Chōlas, but the bond was a loose and friendly one, and in the time of Vishnuvarddhana they became independent. Their capital was Dōrasamudra (now Halebīḍ in Bēlūr tāluq), which appears in Sanskrit as Dvārasamudra and Dvārāvatīpura. But while this was under preparation and being adorned with splendid buildings by Vinayāditya (see SB 53), the capital was at first at Sosevūr and then at Beluhūr, Bēlāpura or Vēlāpura (Bēlūr). Among the usual titles of the Hoysalas were (besides the one mentioned above),—*Yādava-kulāmbara-dyumani* (sun in the sky the Yādava family), *samyaktva-chūḍāmani* (crest-jewel of perfect devotion), *Maleparol-gaṇḍa* (champion among the Malepas or hill chiefs), *bhujabala-pratāpa-chakravartti* (strong-armed illustrious emperor), and frequently, from the time of Ballāla II., *dakshina-chakravartti* or *tenkana-chakravartti* (emperor of the South). But the special titles and conquests of any one king are often carried on and attributed to his successors.
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The following is a table of the Poysalas or Hoysalas as derived from their inscriptions :—
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NRIPA-KĀMA
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1. Sala, Poysala, 1006
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2. Nṛipa-Kāma, Kāma-Poysala, . . 1022-1027 . ? Rāchamalla-Permmāḍi
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3. Vinayāditya, Tribhuvanamalla-Poysala, . . 1047-1100
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Ereyanga (Yuvarāja from 1063 to 1095)
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4. Ballāla I, 1100-1106 Tribhuvanamalla-Ballāla-Poysala
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5. Biṭṭi-Dēva, Biṭṭiga, . . 1111-1141 Vishṇuvarddhana, Vīra-Gaṅga, Vikrama-Gaṅga, Tribhuvanamalla, Taḷakāḍu-goṇḍa
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Udayāditya died 1123
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6. Nārasimha I, Pratāpa-Nārasimha, 1141-1173 Jagadēkamalla-Nārasimha
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7. Ballāla II, Vīra-Ballāla, 1173-1220 Śanivāra-siddhi, Giridurgamalla, Yādava-Nārāyaṇa
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8. Nārasimha II, Vīra-Nārasimha, 1220-1235 Magara-rājya-nirmmūlana, Pāṇḍya-diśāpaṭṭa, Chōḷa-rājya-pratishṭhāchārya
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9. Sōmēśvara, Vīra-Sōmēśvara, Soi-Dēva, 1233-1254
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10. Nārasimha III, Vīra-Nārasimha,
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11. Ballāla III, Vīra-Ballāla,
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12. Ballāla IV, 1343 Vīra-Virūpāksha-Ballāla
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Rāmanātha, Vīra-Rāmanātha,
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Viśvanātha, 1295-1297
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Nṛipa-Kāma or Kāma-Poysala is not included in the Hoysala genealogy as usually given in their numerous inscriptions, which proceeds from Sala to Vinayāditya. The reason of this omission is not evident, as Ak 157 and 141 say that he was Vinayāditya’s father. He cannot have been Sala himself, or this would have leaked out in some of the numberless inscriptions which contain the pedigree. On the contrary, he is said to have been known as Rāchamalla-Permmāḍi, which connects him with the Gangas, due perhaps to intermarriage. That he ruled there can be no doubt, for, among others, Mg 19 is of his 7th year, and in Mj 43, dated in 1022, and Ag 76, dated in 1026, we find him opposing the Kongālva king, and next year aiding Banavase (Mj 44). Moreover, SB 44 describes him as the patron of Ēcham or Ēchiga, the father of Ganga-Rāja, the Hoysala general who captured Talakāḍ in 1116. How he was related to Sala does not appear, but if the Poysala of 1006 was Sala, there was very little distance between them.
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Vinayāditya was the first notable king of the line. He was born in Sosavūr (SB 56) and ruled from there. He is styled Tribhuvanamalla-Poysala-Dēva, from the Western Chālukya king Tribhuvanamalla Vikramāditya (reigned 1076-1126) being his overlord, but Hl 1 shows that before this Hoysala-Dēvī was the queen in 1055 of Trailōkyamalla, Vikramāditya’s father. Vinayāditya also had the six letters *Ra-kka-sa Po-ysa-la* inscribed on his flag, a possible reference to connection with the Ganga king Rakkasa. In what year Vinayāditya came to the throne we do not know. The earliest date we have for him is 1047 (Ng 32, Cm 160). The boundaries of the kingdom in his time are given in the former as—Konkaṇa (North Kanara), Ālvakhēḍa (South Kanara), Bayalnāḍ (Waināḍ), Talekāḍ (in the south-east of the Mysore District), and Sāvimale (somewhere to the north), and he is said (Bl 200, etc.) to be ruling the Gangavāḍi Ninety-six Thousand. The latest date we have for him is 1100 (Bl 141). His wife was Keleyabbarasi, and they had a son Ereyanga.
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Whether the latter ever occupied the throne seems doubtful, and he probably died before his father. Kd 142 shows him to be only Yuvarāja or heir-apparent up to 1095. At the same time, Kd 33, without date, and Cn 148 of 1093 represent him as ruling (also SB 144), which must have been in conjunction with his father. He was a general under the Western Chālukyas, and is described as a powerful right arm to the Chālukya king. He trampled down the Mālava army, burnt Dhārā and laid it in ruins, dragged down Chōla and plundered his camp, broke and ruined Kalinga (Sh 64, etc.). By his wife Ēchala-Dēvī he had three sons—Ballāla, Biṭṭi-Dēva, and Udayāditya.
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Of these, Ballāla I succeeded his grandfather on the throne in 1100 (Bl 199), and his reign was a short one, but there are inscriptions of his up to 1106 (Cn 169). He is styled Tribhuvanamalla-Ballāla-Poysala, and visited Sosavūr in 1100 (Bl 199), but made Beluhūr (Bēlūr) his capital (Ng 32, Cm 160). The inscriptions tell us of his marrying in one day in 1103 the three beautiful and accomplished daughters of Mariyāne-daṇḍanāyaka. In 1104 he led an expedition against the Changālva king (Hn 161, 162), and together with his brothers repulsed an attack made by Jagaddēva (Śāntara king) on Dōrasamudra, capturing his treasury and the central ornament of his necklace (Bl 58, Ng 30).
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Biṭṭi-Dēva, Ballāla’s brother, next came to the throne, and is celebrated as the rescuer of his country from the Chōlas and the establisher of the independence of the Hoysalas, whose kingdom he greatly extended. In what year his reign began has not been discovered. DB 11 might have decided the question, being of his 12th year, but unfortunately no year is named. The earliest actual date that can be cited for him is 1111 in Sh 89, but Kd 164 represents him as ruling in 1100: this must have been in association with Ballāla, his elder brother. An important event in his career was his exchanging the Jain faith for that of Vishnu, which took place (before 1116) under the influence of the reformer Rāmānuja, who had fled from persecution by the Chōla king, a rigid Śaiva, and taken refuge in the Hoysala country. This change was signalised by Biṭṭi-Dēva calling himself thenceforward Vishnuvarddhana, the name by which he is best known. He now entered upon an extensive range of conquests. Talekāḍ was captured by his general Ganga-Rāja in 1116, and this was immediately followed up by the expulsion of the Chōlas from Mysore and the recovery of all the provinces there which they had previously taken. These Ganga-Rāja loyally made over to his king. He also in a night attack drove off the Chālukya army encamped at Kannegāla (near Hassan).
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By these operations he caused Vishnuvarddhana, who now took the title Vīra-Ganga, to stand erect, that is, enabled him to assume independence (SB 90, etc.). Thus in 1117 Ch 83 says that he was ruling in peace in Talakāḍ and Kōlāla, having under his sole umbrella the kingdom of the Gangavāḍi Ninety-six Thousand, including Kongu (Salem and Coimbatore). The conquest of the Nilagiris and Malabār, according to the same inscription, was effected by the general Punisa, who, among other exploits, is said to have frightened the Todavar, the earliest mention that has been found of the Todas as the settled tribe inhabiting the Nilagiri mountains. While these expeditions were being carried out in the south and west, the king's attention was directed to the north, and in the same year as the capture of Talakāḍ, 1116, the Pāṇḍyas of Uchchangi were attacked and defeated in a battle at Dumme, which is on the border of Shimoga and Chitaldroog Districts (Cm 99). According to Ck 29 and 30, the conquest of Uchchangi was effected for him by Chāma-Dēva, a son of the Orissa king Chōla-Ganga, and born in the Mysore country. Pages might be filled with the details of Vishnuvarddhana's conquests as given in various inscriptions. Suffice it to say that the boundaries of the kingdom in his reign extended (Mg 22, Kd 102, etc.) on the east to Nangili (the eastern portion of Kolar District); south to Kongu, Chēram, and Ānemale (Salem, Coimbatore, and Travancore); west to Bārakanūr (in South Kanara);
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north to Sāvimale (somewhere towards the Krishṇā). The southern boundary is given in Ak 30 as Rāmēśvara (on the east coast in the Madura District). Hn 119 says: east, south and west three oceans being the boundaries of the land he ruled, on the north he made the Perddore (or Krishṇā) his boundary. The course of his victories is thus graphically put in Kd 69: the lion the Hoysala king's valour, having sported in plunder at Talakāḍ, attacked the lofty elephant Uchchangi, calmly marched by Banavase, daringly seized on Belvala, and sprang forward with joy to the Perddore (or Krishṇā), planting his feet on Hānungal. Bl 58 describes his conquests in general, and Ng 70 gives a list of important forts which he captured. The provinces over which he ruled were (Cm 160, Kd 80, etc.)—Kongu, Nangali, Talakāḍ, Gaṅgavāḍi, Noḷambavāḍi, Banavase, Hānuṅgal, Huligere, Halasige, and Belvala. Gold coins of his have been found, on the reverse of which appear the titles *Talakāḍu-goṇḍa* or *Noḷambavāḍi-goṇḍa*. His own country (says Hn 119) he gave to Brāhmans and the gods, and himself ruled over the foreign countries won by his sword. Dōrasamudra was the recognised capital (Bl 147, Md 29, etc.), but he made his residence at various places. In 1128 he was at Yādavapura or Tonnūr (My 16). In 1137 Baṅkāpura on that side (the north) and Talavana-pura (Talakāḍ) on this side (the south) are stated (Ak 144) to be his capitals (*rājadhāni*).
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He took up his abode in the former in 1139 (Cm 199, 200), and there he died in 1141 (Cm 96), his body being conveyed to Sosavūr. His first wife was Śāntala-Dēvī, a strenuous upholder of the Jain faith, but she died in 1131 (SB 53), and by a subsequent marriage with Lakkumā or Lakshmī-Dēvī he had the son who succeeded him, born in 1133 (Bl 124), and crowned from the day of his birth (Bl 93).
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This was Nārasimha I, who must have been a boy when he came to the throne. His reign was on the whole uneventful, but the boundaries of the kingdom were maintained. He is said in 1145 to have slain Caṅgālva in battle, and seized his elephants, horses, gold and new jewels (Ng 76). He is also said to have been a terror to most of the kings of the South (Sr 74, Kd 51, Hs 137), and in 1161 to have defeated a Kadamba force that threatened Baṅkāpura (Bl 193). But his power was sustained mainly by his father's reputation and the devotion of his father's generals. Of these, Chokimayya (Hn 69) calls himself king Vishnu's Garuḍa, and in Bp 9 of 1155 appears as if ruling at Nangali over part of Gaṅgavāḍi. Then there were Huḷḷa (SB 137ᵃ, 138), who was one of the foremost upholders of the Jain faith, and Biṭṭiga (Hs 137). The Cālukya king Jagadēkamalla attacked Hoysala in 1143 (Dg 85), and seems to have asserted his supremacy by 1149 (Ck 29, 30). Thus Nārasimha has the prefix Jagadēkamalla in 1153 and 1155 (Kl 100ᵃ, 169), but immediately after this the Chālukya throne was usurped by Bijjala and the Kalachuryas. The Hoysala king eventually lapsed into a voluptuary. For Bl 193 informs us that he had three hundred and eighty-four well-born women in his female apartments, and Bl 114 contains statements that bear this out. He died in 1173, being, it would seem, only forty years of age. His chief queen was Ēchala-Dēvī, and they had a son Ballāla.
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The reign of Ballāla II or Vīra-Ballāla vied in glory with that of his grandfather Vishnuvarddhana, and the whole dynasty is in consequence sometimes called the Ballālas after him. He was crowned on the 22nd of July 1173 (Kd 4, 136, 129) in the capital Dōrasamudra. In Bl 86 an account is given of a royal progress made by him in his father’s lifetime through the hill countries in the west. On this occasion Tantrapāla-Hemmāḍi claims to have induced Kongālva, Changālva, and the other chiefs of Male to do homage, and eventually to have gained the crown for Ballāla, himself being made minister. But Hs 20 shows that in 1174 Ballāla had to send an expedition under his general Beṭṭarasa against the Changālva king Mahadēva, who had retired to Pālpare, a fort in Kiggaṭnāḍ in south Coorg. Beṭṭarasa destroyed him and made Pālpare the seat of his own government. But the Changālva Pemma-Vīrappa later on attacked him, aided by the Koḍagas (or Coorgs) of all the nāḍs, and was near gaining the victory, when Beṭṭarasa eventually triumphed. This is the earliest specific mention that has been found of the Koḍagas or people of Coorg. But Ballāla’s great victories were to the north. An early conquest was that of Uchchangi, the Pāṇḍya fortress. This had been besieged by the Chōlas for twelve years and abandoned as hopeless; but Ballāla easily overcame it, and when Kāma-Dēva, the Pāṇḍya king, threw himself on his mercy, restored him to his kingdom. This was before 1177 (Ck 36), and he, in consequence, assumed the titles Giridurgamalla and Śanivāra-siddhi. A battle with Sankama-Dēva (the Kalachurya king) is mentioned in 1179 (Mg 33). But his great decisive victory was one gained at [Figure: HOYSALA STONE INSCRIPTION.
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Soraṭūr (near Gaḍag) over the formidable Sēuna army. Though he came with as many as 200,000 infantry (says Dg 25), armed with thunderbolts, and 12,000 cavalry, conspicuous with high saddles and jewelled breastplates, Ballāla-Rāya on his one elephant charged the Sēuna king's army, put them to flight, and slaughtered them all the way from Soraṭūr to the bank of the Krishṇavēṇi river. According to Bl 77 he moistened his sword with the blood of the Pāṇḍya king, whetted it on the grindstone the head of Bhillama, and sheathed it in the mouth of Jaitugi (Sēuna kings). He followed up this great victory by the capture of a number of forts north of the Mysore country, all these successes being accomplished before 1190 (Cn 179). By 1193 he had taken up his residence at Lokkigondi or Lakkundi in Dhārwār (Sk 105). His northern boundary was advanced to the Bhīmarathī (Tp 43). He was now sole ruler of the Seven-and-a-half Lakh country (Ci 64), and styled emperor of the South (Sb 140). During this period he lived at various places, but eventually established the royal residence (*rājadhāni*) at Hallavūr, also called Vijayasamudram (Hn 139, Cn 172) and Vijayapura (Cn 244). This place was the modern Hulloor, on the Tungabhadrā in the Rāṇi-Bennūr tāluq of Dhārwār. He was there in 1180 (Ci 73), but from 1200 (Hn 139) seems to have been living there almost continuously till 1211 (Ak 137). His senior queen Umā-Dēvī, mentioned in 1209 (Ak 40), appears in many records for a long time. His son Nārasimha was apparently associated with him in the government in 1205 (Cd 23). He was Yuvarāja in 1210, and had a sister named Sōvala-Dēvī, celebrated for her beauty and virtues (Cn 243).¹ At the same date the king, his crowned queen Padmala-mahādēvī, and their son Nārasimha are represented as all ruling together (Hk 13, 14). In 1218 the king was encamped at Niḍugal-durga (Hn 61). At length, being of full age, Ballāla established Nārasimha in the kingdom and went to heaven (Cn 211b). This was in 1220, as Nārasimha was crowned in that year (Cn 172b). Thus closed an energetic and distinguished reign of forty-seven years, during which the Western Chālukyas and the Kalachuryas came to an end, the Sēunas were driven back, and the Hoysalas remained as a dominant power in the South. Coincident with the king's death was the self-sacrifice of the prince Lakshma, recorded on a pillar by the side of the Hoysalēśvara temple at Halebīḍ (Bl 112). He was of royal blood, and perhaps a half-brother. He and a thousand warriors had vowed themselves, as Garuḍas, to live and die with the king, and at his death took their own lives as a sign of undying devotion to him.
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¹ She established the agrahāra of Sōmanāthapura, which was equal to Valabhi, at Hāruvanahalli (Hāranhalli in Arsikere tāluq), where there is a fine temple of Sōmēśvara (Ak 123).
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Nārasimha II was crowned on the 16th of April 1220 (Cn 172b). His distinctive titles are—uprooter of the Magara kingdom, displacer of Pāṇḍya, establisher of the Chōla kingdom (Cn 197). Saying, "Why am I called master of elephants when there are no troops of elephants of which I am master?"—he marched, without stopping, for a hundred gāvudas to the east, and uprooting the Magara king, captured the hundreds of elephants he had brought against him (Ci 72). By this expedition he became possessed of a wealth of elephants, horses, jewels, and other valuables, such as had never been acquired before (Cn 197). In connection with this an incident related in Cn 203 of 1223 deserves notice. When marching against Magara, the king encamped at Chūḍavāḍi and gave a feast to celebrate the adding to his necklace of an emerald received from Munivarāditya. This must have been a stone of unusual size and value. Chūḍavāḍi is no doubt the Chūḍa-grāma (Muḍiyanūr in Mulbāgal tāluq) mentioned in 338 (Mb 157). Munivarāditya was an old title belonging apparently to a landed chief in Mēlai (or western) Mārāyapāḍi (Ci 162), and the Magara kingdom may have been identical with the Mahārājavāḍi of which the Bānas were in possession in the ninth century (see above, p. 43; also below, p. 164). The boundaries of the Hoysala kingdom are given in 1228 as Nangali on the east, Kongu on the south, Ālvakhēḍa on the west, and the Heddore on the north (Cn 204). But the next year Nārasimha is said to be ruling from Kāñchī, with the surrounding ocean as his boundary (Tp 42). The Sēunas had again attempted to press to the south, but their multitudinous army was routed (Md 121), and their leaders Vikramapāla, Pāvusa, and others were slain (Dg 25). In South Arcot the Kāḍava (or Pallava) king Perunjinga had meanwhile taken the Chōla king prisoner. On hearing of it, Nārasimha vowed that the trumpet should not sound until he had released him. He accordingly sent an army, which forced the Kāḍava king to surrender, and set free Chōla, to whom Nārasimha restored his crown, thus justifying his title of setter up of the Chōla kingdom (EI. vii. 160; Gb 45). A pillar of victory was also erected at Sētu (Dg 25), as far as which he brought the land under his control (Cn 203). By his wife Kālale-Dēvī he had the son Sōyi-Dēva or Sōmēśvara (Cn 203), who was tended like a mother by the king’s sister Sōvala-Dēvī (Ak 123).
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Sōmēśvara came to the throne in 1233, as 1254 is given as his 21st year (Sr 110). Of him it is said (Kp 12) that when he first began to walk, Chēra went before him, calling out, “Bravo! mind your steps, Dēva!” while the Chōla king and Pāṇḍya, one on each side, held his hand. The boundaries of his kingdom are given (Md 122) as Kāñchī on the east, Vēlāvura (Bēlūr) on the west, the Peddore (or Krishṇā) on the north, and Bayalnāḍ (Waināḍ) on the south. He is represented as first fighting against Krishna-Kandhara (the Sēuna king), but he was principally engaged in conquests in the north-west.¹ In 1236 he is said (Kp 63) to be living in the Pāṇḍya-maṇḍala, which he had acquired by his strength and valour. Jl 33 says he marched into the Chōla-Pāṇḍya kingdom, and Ak 123 that he had uprooted Rājēndra-Chōla on the field of battle, but when he threw himself on his mercy, gave him his protection. He now took up his residence permanently at Kannanūr or Vikramapura (north of Śrīrangam in Trichinopoly), which he had created for his pleasure in the Chōla-maṇḍala acquired by his own arm. Here, with a short interval in 1252, he remained till 1254 (Ak 108), being styled Sārvabhauma or universal emperor. In 1252 he revisited Dōrasamudra,¹ and the two Changālva kings then ruling conducted him to Rāmanāthpura (Ag 53).
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¹ An inscription at Pandharpur (near Shōlāpur) states that the Hoysala king Sōmēśvara made a gift to the god there in Saka 1159, or A.D. 1236 (Bo. Archl. Rep. 1897-8).
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¹ As stated in an inscription lately discovered at Kondajji agrahāra in Gubbi tāluq.
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On his death in 1254 a division was made of the Hoysala territories. The ancestral Kannaḍa kingdom, with its capital at Dōrasamudra, was given to Nārasimha III, his son by his wife Bijjala-Rāṇi, while the Tamil districts in the south and Kolar fell to the share of Rāmanātha, another son by his wife Dēvala-Dēvi.² Nārasimha was born perhaps on the 12th of August 1240 (Kd 100), and his upanayana was performed on the 25th of February 1255 (Bl 126). He now paid a visit to the Vijaya-Pārśva Jain temple at Halebīḍ and read the genealogy of his line as recorded in the inscription there (Bl 124). He signs himself Malaparol-gaṇḍa in Md 79 and TN 100. In 1271 the Sēuna king Mahadēva came forth to battle, but fled in a single night (Ng 39). In 1276 a more formidable invasion took place by the Sēunas under Sāluva-Tikkama, the general of Rāma-Dēva. Assisted by Irungōla and other powerful local chiefs, he advanced against Dōrasamudra. But in a great battle fought at Belavāḍi on the 25th of April the Sēuna army was utterly routed and driven beyond Dummi with great slaughter (Bl 164, 165). The rival king Rāmanātha continued to rule throughout the reign of Nārasimha, and collisions occasionally took place between their followers. But he mostly remained in his own territory, and probably had his capital at Kannanūr in Trichinopoly, as Ballāla (his successor) is represented as marching from Kannanūr (Ck 4). In the Mysore country he seems to have had a residence at Kundana, perhaps the place of that name near Devanhalli. The southern boundary of his kingdom in Mysore extended from about Honnudike in Tumkūr tāluq to Lakkūr in Mālūr tāluq, the western being east of the range of hills north from Dēvarāyadurga. He survived Nārasimha and was succeeded for a short time by his son Viśvanātha, but the Hoysala dominions were again united under Nārasimha's son Ballāla III.
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² Inscriptions of the Hoysala kings Sōmēśvara and Rāmanātha are found as far south as Tanjore, at Sendalai and Mannārguḍi (Mad. Archl. Rep. 1896-7).
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The latter was crowned on the 31st of January 1292 (Cn 36). In 1301 he appears issuing his orders to the temple priests throughout the districts in Kolar resumed from Rāmanātha's kingdom (Bn 51, etc.). In 1305 we find him marching against the Sēuna king, who was desirous of capturing him (Sa 156). In this reign began the Musalmān invasions from Delhi which brought the Hoysala empire to an end. The earliest notice of these is in 1310, when the Turukas are said to have marched against Dōrasamudra (Hn 51, 52). This was the first invasion, under Kāfūr, the general of Alā-ud-dīn of the Khilji or second Pathān dynasty. The king was defeated and taken prisoner; Dōrasamudra was sacked, and the enemy returned to Delhi literally laden with gold. The king's son, carried off as a hostage, was restored in 1313 (Sh 68). By 1316 the capital was rebuilt (Md 100). But a later expedition in 1326, sent by Muhammad III, of the house of Tughlak, completely demolished the city. The king seems to have retired to Toṇḍanūr (Tonnūr near Seringapatam), but eventually went to live at Unnāmale (Tiruvannāmalai or Trinomalee in South Arcot). He was there in 1328 (DB 14) and frequently afterwards up to 1342 (Bn 21). But in 1329 he had a residence in Mysore, called by various names—Virūpākshapura (Ht 43), Hosavīḍu, Hosanāḍ, Hosadurga, and so on. It is uncertain what place this was. But in 1340 he performed an anointing to the kingdom (Bn 111), which must have been that of his son, who is called (Cm 105) Vīra-Virūpāksha-Ballāla-Dēva. The ceremony therefore probably took place at Virūpākshapura. In 1341 he is said to have erected a pillar of victory at Sētu (Mr 82). At length he fell fighting against the Turukas in a battle at Beribi on the 8th of September 1342 (Kd 75). His son was wearing the crown in 1343 (Cm 105), but the Hoysala power was at an end. The latest date that has been found in inscriptions for Ballāla is 1346 (Bn 120).