Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s14.30

Language: English

c8.s14.30.1

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).

c8.s14.30.2

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);

c8.s14.30.3

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*).

c8.s14.30.4

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).