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Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c9: II. Rulers of Minor States

Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c9

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II. Rulers of Minor States

1. Ālupas or Āluvas

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OF the rulers of the principal minor States, we may begin with the Ālupas or Āluvas (also called Ālu and Ālva). They are mentioned in connection with the Chalukyas in the seventh century, who describe them along with the Gangas as an ancient family (Dg 66), and under the Rāshṭrakūṭas in the eighth (Sb 10). Their original estate seems to have been Eḍevolal, to the north-east of Banavāsi. But their regular kingdom was called Āluvakhēḍa or Āluvakhēḍa, which was one of the boundaries of the Hoysala kingdom in the eleventh century (Mg 32). It was a Six Thousand province (Sb 10), situated chiefly in South Kanara, and it has been suggested that it corresponds with the Olokhoira mentioned by Ptolemy so far back as the second century. The inscriptions of the Āluvas have been found at Kigga (Koppa tāluq) and at Udayāvara, near Uḍipi (South Kanara), while it appears that Pomburcha (Humcha in Nagar tāluq) was at one time in their possession (Kp 37).

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No connected genealogy of the line has been obtained, nor any account of their origin. But the names of certain kings occur. Thus we have Guṇasāgara as governor of the Kadamba-maṇḍala in about 675 (Kp 38), and his son Chitravāha (Chitravāhana) in 692 in the time of Vinayāditya (Sb 571). Then in about 800 we have a later Chitravāhana, ruling the Āluvakhēḍa Six Thousand under the Rāshṭrakūṭa king Gōvinda III (Sb 10). The Udayāvara inscriptions (EI. ix. 15) supply Raṇasāgara and Śvētavāhana as the names of other kings; also Pṛithivīsāgara and Vijayāditya or Māramma.

2. Śāntaras

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The earliest mention of these kings is in the time of (the Chalukya) Vinayāditya, the end of the seventh century.¹ With the approval of the brother's son of the Chānta king Jayasangraha, who was lord of the city of Madhura encircled by the Kālindī, and of the Ugra-vamśa but connected with the Yadu-vamśa by marriage, a grant was then made by the wife of the Pāṇḍi yuvarāja; and it is said to be under the protection of “the three hundred of the children of the house of the Chāntas.” That this was the original form of the name appears also from Sk 283 of about 830, where too the king is said to be a Chānta. According to Nr 35 and 48, the Śāntara kingdom was founded by Jinadatta-Rāya, lord of the northern Madhura (Muttra), who was of the Ugra-vamśa. The Śāntaras are identified with Paṭṭi-Pomburcha,² the modern Hombucha or Humcha in Nagar tāluq, as their capital, which may previously have been in the possession of the Āluvas. The remote progenitor of the line was Rāha, from whom was descended Sahakāra, who became a cannibal. He was the father of Jinadatta, who escaped from him in disgust and came to the South, bringing an image of the Jain goddess Padmāvatī. She bestowed on him the power to transmute iron into gold, as exemplified in his horse's bit being turned into a golden bit on touching it with her image. Thus aided, he subdued the local chiefs around, and established his capital at Pomburcha (supposed to mean golden bit) and took the name Śāntara. His descendants the Śāntaras ruled over the Sāntalige Thousand, which corresponds generally with the present Tīrthahalli tāluq and neighbouring parts. Jinadatta conquered the country southwards as far as Kalasa (Mudgere tāluq), and northwards fortified Gōvardhangiri (Sāgar tāluq), which he named after the famous hill near Muttra in the north of India. At a later period the capital was removed to Kalasa and then to Kārakala (in South Kanara). The rulers eventually became Lingāyits and adopted the title of Bhairarasa-Woḍeyars, but they probably had Jain wives. They continued beyond the fall of Vijayanagar in the sixteenth century, and were finally absorbed into the Keladi State.

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¹ Plates lately discovered in Tarikere tāluq (Mys. Arch. Rep. of 1908).

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² Paṭṭi was apparently the name of the country in which Pomburchha was situated. The Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana is said (Sr 49, Bl 58) to have set up Paṭṭi Perumāla.

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Among the early Śāntara kings are mentioned the brothers Śrīkēśi and Jayakēśi, and the son of the former, Raṇakēśi. We have the Chānta king Jagēśi in Sk 283 ruling the whole of Sāntalige under the Rāshṭrakūṭa king Nṛipatunga Amōghavarsha. He may therefore be placed in about 830. But a connected genealogy begins with Vikrama-Śāntara, who had the titles Kandukāchārya and Dāna-vinōda. He is credited with forming the Sāntalige Thousand into a separate kingdom, of which the boundaries were the Sula river on the south, Tavanasi on the west, and Bandige on the north. No eastern boundary is named (Nr 35). In about 920 a Śāntara king, whose name is not given, was defeated in a battle with the Nolambas, and slain and beheaded by the Ganga prince, the son of Pilduvipati or Pṛithuvipati (Gd 4). In 1062 and 1066 Vīra-Śāntara and his son Bhujabala-Śāntara are said (Nr 47, 59) to have freed the kingdom from those who had no claim to it. The reference may be to certain Chālukya princes, Bijjarasa and his brother Gōna-Rāja, who are stated (in Sa 109 *bis*) to be in full enjoyment of the Sāntalige-nāḍ in 1042. A glowing description is given of the fertility of the province, which was such that hunger was unknown there, and grass, firewood, and water were so abundant that many learned Brāhmans were induced to make it their abode. The Sāntalige-nāḍ, it says, had been ruled by many, but among them none was more famous than Gōna-Rāja. He established an agrahāra for the Brāhmans at Andhāsura (still so called, near Anantapur). Andhāsura is named among one of the first conquests of Jinadatta.

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After this the Śāntaras completely recovered their power and influence. For of Nanni-Śāntara, the brother of Bhujabala, it is said (Nr 36) that he gained much greater distinction than even Būtuga-Permmāḍi (the Ganga king) had obtained, as the emperor came to meet him half way, and, giving him half the seat on his metal throne, placed the valiant Śāntara, whom he had protected, at his side. In the third generation from this we have Jagadēva, who must be the king that attacked the Hoysalas in Dōrasamudra and was beaten off by Ballāla I and Biṭṭi-Dēva in 1104, as his nephew Jayakēśi is given the date 1159 (Sa 159).

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The centre of the State was later removed southwards to Kalasa (Mudgere tāluq), and from 1209 (Mg 65) to 1516 (Mg 31) it is called the Kalasa kingdom. Inscriptions at Kalasa give us the names of its rulers, two of whom, from 1246 to 1281, were queens, Jākala and Kālala-mahādēvīs; then Vīra-Pāṇḍya and Bhairarasa-Woḍeyar alternately recur. In 1292, at the time of the coronation of the Hoysala king Ballāla III, Kālala's son Pāṇḍya-Dēva successfully defended his country from an attack (Cm 36). But for the fourteenth century there are no inscriptions; it was the time of the Musalmān invasions from Delhi. In 1432 was erected the gigantic image of Gōmaṭa at Kārakala by Vīra-Pāṇḍya. From 1516 the State is called the Kalasa-Kārakala kingdom (Mg 41), and is described (Mg 62) as the kingdom below and above the Ghats. Kalasa is above the Ghats, in Mysore, and Kārakala below the Ghats, in South Kanara, both in about the same latitude. In 1530 the king is only said to be on the throne of Kārakala (Kp 47). The extension of the kingdom below the Ghats probably took place in the fifteenth century, when the kings had the title (Mg 42) ari-rāya-gaṇḍara-dāvani (cattle-rope to the champions over kings). The Vijayanagar king Krishna-Rāya soon after invaded the Tulu country and encamped near Mangalūr (Mg 41).¹ Bhairarasa fled, but made a vow that if the imperial army should retire and he return in peace to his country, he would repair the temple at Kalasa. What he wished for happened, and his right to the territory which he had occupied may then have been recognised. In 1542 and 1555 the crown is said (Mg 40, 60) to be that of Keravase, which may have been then the capital. It is near to Kārakala, on the east. The latest grant we have by the Bhairarasa-Woḍeyars is dated 1598 (Kp 50). But another colossal image of Gōmaṭa was erected at Yenūr (in South Kanara) by the brother of a king named Pāṇḍya in 1603 (see SB, Introd. 31, 32; *EI.* vii. 110, 112).

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¹ The invasion is said to have been made by Bhujabala-Rāya. If this be taken as a name and not a title, it may refer to Krishna-Rāya’s elder brother Narasimha, who is called Busbalrao by Nuniz (see *Mys. Arch. Rep.* of 1908).

3. Changālvas

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The Changālvas or Changāluvas were a line of kings ruling for a long period in the west of the Mysore District and in Coorg. Their original territory was Changa-nāḍ (Hs 97), corresponding chiefly with the Hunsūr tāluq. They claim to be Yādavas (Hs 63, Yd 26) and of the Lunar race, descended from a king named Changālva, who was in Dvarāvatī, and having defeated Bijjalēndra, seized his titles. What these were does not appear, but the kings are generally styled mahā-maṇḍalika-maṇḍalēśvara. This Bijjala might perhaps be an early king of that name among the Kalachuryas (see above, p. 79), or one of the Śāntaras. The Changālvas became devoted Śaivas, and had as their family god Annadāni-Mallikārjuna on the Beṭṭadpur hill (in Hunsūr tāluq), which they called Śrīgiri, perhaps with reference to the Śaiva sacred place Śrīparvata or Śrīśaila in the Kurnool District. But they are first met with in Jain inscriptions at Panasoge or Hanasoge, to the south of the Kāvērī river in the Yedatore tāluq, where there are many ruined *basadis*. These, according to Yd 26, were sixty-four in number, and were set up by Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, the elder brother of Lakshmaṇa, and husband of Sītā. The Jain priests of the Hottage (or Pustaka) gachcha claim exclusive jurisdiction over basadis at Panasoge and at Tale-Kāvērī (in Coorg), which may perhaps have been the limits of the Changālva kingdom east and west.

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One of the basadis or Jain temples at Panasoge set up by Rāma had been endowed by the Gangas, and was rebuilt by the king Nanni-Changālva. The Ganga gifts are ascribed in Yd 25 to Mārasimha-Dēva, and he ruled from 961 to 974. Nanni-Changālva, from his prenomen Rājēndra-Chōla, belongs to the beginning of the eleventh century. He is the first Changālva of whom we have any certain knowledge. But as their kingdom was conquered by the Chōlas at the time when the Ganga power was overthrown in 1004, the Changālvas must have been an established line of kings prior to that. Their inscriptions are found mostly in the Hunsūr and Yedatore tāluqs and in Coorg, where they occur as far west as Yedava-nāḍ and Beṭṭyet-nāḍ.

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The subjugation of the Changālvas by the Chōlas seems to have been effected by their defeat at Panasoge by the Chōla general Panchava-mahārāya (Cg 46). The subsequent Changālva kings all had Chōla prenomens for nearly two centuries. But on the expulsion of the Chōlas from Mysore by the Hoysalas in 1116, the Changālvas came into collision with the latter. Ballāla I had led an expedition against them in about 1104 (Hn 162). Vīra-Ganga was applied to for a grant by their purānika in 1139 (Cn 199, 200). In 1145 Nārasimha is said (Ng 76) to have slain Changālva in battle, and seized his elephants, horses, gold, and new jewels. In 1155 Nārasimha’s general Chokimayya is said (Hn 69) to have brought the Changa king’s territory into subjection to his king, and in 1171 Sōvi-dēva, the Kadamba ruler of Banavase, having vowed to do it, put the Changālva king into chains (Sb 345). Changālva is named as one of the kings who paid homage to Nārasimha’s son Ballāla when as a prince he made a tour in the hill countries to the west (Bl 86). But Ballāla, when on the throne, had to send an expedition in 1174 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 afterwards attacked him, aided by the Koḍagas (or Coorgs) of all the nāḍs (the earliest express mention of the Coorgs). Beṭṭarasa was near being totally defeated, but contrived to gain the victory (Hs 20). After this the Changālvas appear to have submitted to the Hoysalas. In 1245 they had their capital at Śrīrangapaṭṭaṇa, not Seringapatam, but the place in Coorg known as Koḍugu-Śrīrangapaṭṭaṇa, situated to the south of the Kāvērī, near Siddapur (Ag 53), and two kings, Sōma-Dēva and Boppa-Dēva, were ruling conjointly. In 1252 the Hoysala king Sōmēśvara was received by them on a visit (Ag 53) to Rāmanāthpura (on the north bank of the Kāvērī in Arkalgūd tāluq). Changālvas named Mali-Dēva and Harihara-Dēva are mentioned in 1280 and 1297 (Bl 89, Cg 54, 45, 59), but during the fourteenth century none are met with.

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At the end of the fifteenth century they again appear, and Nanja-Rāja, who ruled from 1502 to 1533, was the founder of their new capital Nanjarājapaṭṭaṇa or Nanjarāyapaṭṭaṇa. It is in Coorg, to the north of the Kāvērī, where it turns north and becomes the common boundary of Mysore and Coorg. The kings now called themselves kings of Nanjarāyapaṭṭaṇa or Nanjarājapaṭṭaṇa, and this place still continues to give its name to the northern tāluq of Coorg. Nanja-Rāja’s younger brother Mahadēva is mentioned in Hs 63 and SB 103, but a genealogy of the Changālvas at this period is given in Hs 24 and 63. Mangarasa in his *Jayanṛipa-kāvya*, written in about 1509, says that his father was descended from the minister of the Changālva kings, and that the latter derived their origin from Krishna, that is, were Yādavas. Śrīkaṇṭha-Rāja, ruling in 1544 (Cg 26) seems to have been an important personage, and is distinguished by supreme titles (Hs 24). Piriya-Rāja, surnamed Rudragaṇa, who ruled from 1586 to 1607, rebuilt Singapaṭṭaṇa and named it after himself Piriyapaṭṭaṇa (Hs 15), the Periapatam in Hunsūr tāluq. In 1607 Tirumala-Rāja, the Vijayanagar viceroy at Seringapatam, made a grant of the Malalavāḍi country (Hunsur tāluq) to Rudragaṇa “in order that the worship of the god Annadāni-Mallikārjuna should not fail as long as the Nanjarāyapaṭṭaṇa kings of the Changālva family continued” (Hs 36). But Piriyapaṭṭaṇa was taken by the Mysore king in 1644, Vīra-Rājaiya, the ruling prince, falling in its defence, after putting to death his wives and children on seeing that his situation was desperate. This was the end of the Changālvas.

4. Kongālvas

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The Kongālvas ruled a kingdom consisting of the Arkalgūd tāluq in the south of the Hassan District of Mysore and the adjoining Yēlusāvira country in the north of Coorg. It was more or less the Kongal-nāḍ Eight Thousand, of which the Ganga prince Ereyappa had been governor in about 880 (Hs 92). But the Kongālva State now in question was a creation of the Chōlas in about 1004, as recorded in Cg 46. It is there said that the great Chōla king Rājakēsarivarmma-Permmānaḍigal (Rājarāja), on hearing how Panchava-mahārāya had fought without ceasing in the battle of Panasoge (Yedatore tāluq) and annihilated the enemy (the Changālvas), resolved to bestow on him a crown and give him a nāḍ. Accordingly, when he appeared before the king, the latter bound on him a crown with the title Kshatriya-śikhāmani Kongālva, and gave him Mālavvi (now Mālambi, in Coorg). Of this Panchava-mahārāya we have an inscription at Balmuri (Sr 140), dated in 1012, in which he is described as a bee at the lotus feet of Rājarāja, and is said to have been invested by him with the rank of mahā-daṇḍanāyaka for Bengi-maṇḍala (the Eastern Chālukya territory) and Ganga-maṇḍala (the Ganga territory in Mysore). He then claims to have led an expedition throughout the western coast region, in the course of which he seized Tuluva (South Kanara), and Konkana (North Kanara), held Malaya (Malabar), and put to flight Chēramma (the king of Cochin or Travancore), after which he pushed aside Teluga and Raṭṭiga (countries to the north of Mysore), and desired to have even the little Belvola country (in Dharwar and Belgaum Districts).

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Kongālva kings with Chōla prenomens continue down to 1115 (Cg 33), and disappear on the expulsion of the Chōlas by the Hoysalas at that time. They were Jains, and the titles ascribed (Ag 99) to Adaṭarāditya, who ruled from 1066 to 1100, are: entitled to the *pancha-mahā-śabda*, mahā-maṇḍalēśvara, chief lord of the city of Oreyūr (the early Chōla capital near Trichinopoly, now called Warriore), sun upon the eastern mountain — the Chōla-kula — with twisted top-knot, crest-jewel of the Sūryya-vamśa (or Solar race). Adaṭarāditya had a learned minister named Nakulāryya, who boasts of being able to write in four languages (Ag 99). Which these were is unfortunately not mentioned.

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Two occasions are referred to, in Mj 43 and Ag 76, on which the Kongālvas came into collision with the Hoysalas. In the former, the Kongālva king attacked Nṛipa-Kāma-Poysala in 1022, when the latter was apparently saved by his general Jōgayya. In the latter, Kongālva claims to have gained a victory at Manni over the base (*muṇḍa*) Poysala in 1026. As no farther advance of the Chōla arms is recorded, it is evident that the Hoysalas checked the Chōla career of conquest in Mysore in this direction.

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The Kongālva name survived till 1390 (Cg 39), when some Jain priests repaired the basadis at Mullūr (in Coorg) and a Kongālva-Suguṇi-Dēvī made grants for them, which are still continued.

5. Punnāḍ Rājās

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Punnāḍ was a very ancient kingdom, situated in the south of Mysore. It is the Punnāṭa mentioned in connection with the Jain migration from the North in the third century B.C. led by Bhadrabāhu, who at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa (Hassan District), in anticipation of his death, directed the pilgrims to go on to Punnāṭa (as stated by Hariṣēna in the *Brihatkāthakōśa*, dated in 931¹). It is also mentioned in the second century by Ptolemy as Pounnata, where (he says) is beryl. Its name occurs again in the fifth century in connection with the Ganga king Avinīta (Cg 1). It was a Six Thousand province, and had as its capital Kitthipura, now identified (Hg 56) with Kittūr on the Kabbani river in the Heggaḍadēvankōte tāluq. Avinīta's son Durvvinīta, who reigned from 482 to 517, married the daughter of Skandavarmma, the Rāja of Punnāḍ, who chose him for herself, although from her birth she had been intended by her father, on the advice of his own guru, for the son of another (DB 68). Punnāḍ was after this annexed to the Ganga kingdom (Tm 23), but the name continues to appear for some time.

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¹ See above, p. 10.

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Only one inscription has been discovered of the Punnāṭa Rājas (*IA*. xii. 13; xviii. 366). Its date is not certain, but it gives the following succession of kings: Rāṣṭravarmma; his son Nāgadatta; his son Bhujaga, who married the daughter of Singavarmma; their son Skandavarmma; and his son the Punnāṭa-Rāja Ravidatta. The latter makes a grant of villages to Brāhmans, from his victorious camp at Kitthipura.

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There was also a small district called the Punnāḍ Seventy in the Devanhalli tāluq in the tenth century (Dv 41, 43), but whether it had any connection with the other is not apparent.

6. Sindas

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The Sindas gave their name to the Sindavāḍi province, which extended over parts of the Shimoga, Chitaldroog, Bellary, Dharwar, and Bijāpur Districts. The account of their origin is first related in Dg 43, and repeated in Hl 50 and 20. From the union of Śiva and Sindhu (the name of the river Indus) was born a son, to whom Bhava (Śiva) with affection gave the name Saindhava, and made the king of the serpents his guardian. Saying that unless his son drank tigress's milk he would not become brave, Śiva created a tigress, whose milk the child drank, and grew in the world. Moreover, Paramēśvara directed the goddess Mālatī to aid his son in war, and gave him a second name of Niḍudōl Sinda (the long-armed Sinda). Being told that Karahāṭa (in Satāra District) was his abode, he took possession of it, driving out the kings that were there. Among his titles are: mahā-maṇḍalēśvara, lord of Karahāṭa-pura, obtainer of a boon from the goddess Mālatī, distinguished by the blue flag (nīla-dhvaja), of the Phanirāja-vamśa (the race of the king of serpents), having the tiger and deer crest. The Sindas also had (Hl 98, 26) the titles Sinda-Gōvinda, and Pātāla-chakravartti.

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The earliest reference to their country seems to be in the fifth century (Kd 162), under the name of the Sindh-uthayā-rāshṭra, an outlying portion. But in 750 the Sinda-vishaya itself is mentioned (Mg 36). The Sinda inscriptions in Mysore are principally found in the Dāvangere and Honnāli tāluqs. In 968 a Sinda appears under the Rāshṭrakūṭa king Akālavarsha (Hk 23). In 992 the Sindas had come under the Western Chālukyas (Dg 114), in 1180 were under the Kalachuryas (Hl 50), in 1189 again under the Western Chālukyas (Hl 46), in 1198 under the Hoysalas (Sk 315), and in 1215 under the Sēunas (Hl 44). Their chief city at this period was Bellagavartti or Belagavatti, now called Belagutti, in the Honnāli tāluq; but in 1164 the royal residence was at Hallavūr (Dg 43), which is on the Tungabhadrā (Hulloor in the Rāni-Bennūr tāluq in Dharwar), the city at which, soon after, the Hoysala king Ballāla II lived for a considerable time. A list of the nāḍs included in the Sinda kingdom is given in Hl 50, the principal being the Edavatte Seventy, Bellave Seventy, Muduvalla Thirty, and Narivalige Forty (Hl 26, 28).

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Īśvara-Dēva I, ruling from 1166 to 1180, seems to have been of some importance. At his coronation, the sound of the drums and conchs roused up Uragēndra (the king of the serpents), who came there in haste, saying, “This is a glorification of my line; Oho! I must see this.” Śiva also came, with Gaṅgā and Pārvatī, and Gaṇēśa, to bless the king. With a signet-ring of the serpent jewel on his hand, with his powerful arms and body, his sword and beard, this Sinda king Īśvara appeared to his enemies like a terrible dragon ready to swallow them up. In 1196 and 1197 the Sindas were exposed to persistent attacks from the Hoysala forces of Umā-Dēvī, the queen of Ballāla II, and in 1245 and 1247 fought severe battles at Kūḍali and Nēmatti (Nyāmti) against the Sēuna general Śrīdhara, whom they drove off in confusion.

7. Sēnavāras

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The Sēnavāras were a Jain family of whom inscriptions are found in the west of the Kadūr District. The first mention of a Sēnavāra is in about 690, in the time of the Āluva king Chitravāhana (Kp 37), and of the Western Chālukya king Vinayāditya (Sk 278). In about 1010 a Sēnavāra was ruling the Banavase province under Vikramāditya (Sb 381). But a connected account of the period when they were independent appears in Cm 95, 61, 94 and others, among which Cm 62 gives a date that seems to correspond with 1058. We thus obtain the names of Jivitavāra, his son Jīmūtavāhana, and the latter's son Māra or Mārasimha. They were of the Khachara-vamśa, had the [Figure: SĒNAVĀRA STONE, KANATI.

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serpent flag (*phani-dhvaja*) and the lion crest, and were lords of Kūḍalūr-pura. Māra received homage from all the kings of the Vidyādhara-lōka, and was master of Hēmakūṭa-pura. Sūryya and Āditya, the sons of Sēnavāra, were special ministers of Vikramāditya’s court in 1128 (Dg 90). The first was perhaps the father of the experienced general Sēnāpati, who claims (Dg 84) to have selected which of the Pāṇḍyas should sit on the throne, from Palatta downwards, and kept them in power, so that without him they were ciphers (*pūjya*).

8. Pāṇḍyas

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The Pāṇḍyas of Uchchangi were an interesting and important family. They were Yādavas, of the Lunar race, and ruled originally over Hayve, one of the Seven Konkaṇas, with their capital at Sisugali. The Pāṇḍya king in 1113 claims to be lord of Gōkarṇa-pura, and protector of the Konkaṇa-rāshṭra (Sk 99). On the conquest of the Seven Konkaṇas by the Western Chālukya prince Jayasimha, the Pāṇḍyas became identified with Uchchangi (a celebrated hill-fort on the northern border of Mysore, in the south-west of the Bellary District), which became the seat of government for the Nolambavāḍi Thirty-two Thousand (the Chitaldroog District). The origin of the family is traced in Dg 41 to Mangaya or Āditya-Dēva, from whom sprang Pāṇḍya, whose son was Chēdi-Rāja, so called from his subduing the Chēdi kings.¹ Though king over the whole circle of the earth, he was permanently partial (says Dg 39) to the Pāṇḍya country, and so became famous by the name of Pāṇḍya. The blows from his bracelets had resounded on the conch-shell on the top of Paurandara’s head, and his fish-crest was set up on great rocks on the chief mountains.² His son was Palanta, who secured their kingdoms to both the Chālukya and Chōla kings. The general distinctive titles of the Pāṇḍyas are: mahā- maṇḍalēśvara, lord of Kāñchī-pura,¹ champion in cutting on both sides (*parichchēdi-gaṇḍa*²), defeater of the designs of Rājiga-Chōla.³

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¹ Chēdi is Bandelkhand. The Kalachuryas were rulers of Chēdi.

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² The fish-crest was the emblem of the Pāṇḍyas of Madura in the south.

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¹ Apparently adopted in consequence of their defeat of the Chōlas.

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² Perhaps a covert allusion to the defeat of the Chēdi kings.

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³ Rājendra-Chōla II, afterwards known as Kulōttunga-Chōla I.

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Tribhuvanamalla-Pāṇḍya, whose name seems to have been Irukkavēla (Dg 39), was ruling the Nolambavāḍi province under the Chālukya king Tribhuvanamalla in (?) 1083 (Ci 33). In 1101 he was also in charge of the Ballakunde Three Hundred (Dg 151, 128). His residence was at Beltūr (Bettūr, close to Dāvangere on the north-east). He is said (Dg 139, 90) to be the rod in Tribhuvanamalla’s right hand, and such was the emperor’s confidence in him (says Dg 3) that he was considered sufficient by himself to break the pride of Chōla, harass Āndhra, upset Kalinga, frighten and attack the Anga, Vanga, and Magadha kings, conquer Mālava, and trample on Gurjjara. By his valour he brought the whole earth encompassed by the four oceans into subjection to king Vikrama. Dg 155 shows him in 1124 ruling the Sāntalige Thousand and various agrahāras in Banavāsi-naḍ, as well as the Nolambavāḍi province, and controlling the *nidhi-nidhāna-nikshēpa* (apparently mines or banks and underground treasures), the *sahasra-daṇḍa* (the thousand force) and other affairs. He is here called Vīra-Noḷamba-Pallava-Permmānaḍi-Dēva’s younger brother. This was the Chālukya prince Jayasimha, who was the son of a Pallava mother. Whether Pāṇḍya was really related to him, or whether this is only a complimentary expression of their intimacy, is not clear. But it may be pointed out that his grandson is stated (Dg 41) to be ruling *kumāra-vrittiyinda*,? by his right as a prince. Both of them had married sisters of Vikramāditya (Dg 41).

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With Dg 2 we come to Rāya-Pāṇḍya, who continued to rule Nolambavāḍi and Sāntalige from Beltūr. Dg 77 describes him as a confounder of the Chōla king, destroyer of Nēpāla, a warrior to Kalinga, uprooter of the unsubmissive Singala, Chyēndra, Singha, and Kaulūṭa kings. He had the sons Paṇḍita-Pāṇḍya, Vīra-Pāṇḍya, and Vijaya-Pāṇḍya or Kāma-Dēva. Paṇḍita-Pāṇḍya had for his preceptor the learned Madhusūdana (composer of Dg 41), but seems not to have come to the throne.

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Vīra-Pāṇḍya ruled Nolambavāḍi from the Uchchangi fort. He it is who is said to be standing in the right of a prince, as remarked above. He subdued Male and gave it to the ornament of the Chālukyas (Dg 168). At the time of a solar eclipse in 1148 he made great gifts at the confluence of the Tuṅgabhadrā and Haridrā (Dg 41). There is little doubt that the grants claiming to be issued by the emperor Janamējaya at this spot, in connection with the sarpa-yāga or serpent sacrifice, emanated either from this prince or perhaps from his brother Vijaya-Pāṇḍya who succeeded him, and that they were modelled on the similar grant by the Chālukya prince Vīra-Noṇamba (Bn 142¹).

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¹ See section on the Pāṇḍavas in vol. vii. Introd. p. 1.

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Vijaya-Pāṇḍya comes before us in Dg 115. Down to 1184 he seems free from any overlord. This was the period when the Chālukya power was declining and the Kalachuryas were gaining the ascendancy. In token of his splendour, Dg 5 says that the points of his crown were formed of separate large sapphires, and his arms adorned with golden bracelets. He subdued in mere sport the Seven Koṅkaṇas, set up in the Kanaka mountain a pillar of victory with the fish-crest, had a treasury filled with pearls from the Tāmraparṇi, and had a pleasure-house among the sandal trees on the slopes of the Malaya mountain. The Chōlas, it would appear, made desperate efforts to conquer Uchchangi, but after besieging it for twelve years abandoned the enterprise as hopeless. The Hoysala king Ballāla II, however, now made the attempt and easily captured it. Kāma-Dēva threw himself on the king’s mercy and was restored to his throne. In Hk 4 and 56 we accordingly find the Pāṇḍya-nāḍ under the Hoysalas, who it says had thrashed the Pāṇḍya kings on the field of battle.

9. Sāluvas

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The Sāluvas (or Sālvas) were of the Lunar race and originally Jains, located at Sangītapura, the Sanskrit for Hāḍuvaḷḷi, situated in Taulava-dēśa or South Kanara (Sa 164). A Sāluva-Tikkama was the general of the Sēuna kings Mahadēva and Rāmachandra, who invaded the Hoysala kingdom in 1276 and 1280, and claims to have plundered Dōrasamudra.

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The records supply us with the names Indra, his son Sangi-Rāja, and his sons Sāluvēndra and Indagarasa or Immaḍi-Sāluvēndra in 1488 and 1498 (Sa 164). Then we have the Sāluvas Malli-Rāya, Dēva-Rāya, and Krishna-Dēva, down to about 1530 (Nr 46). In about 1560 the residence of the kings seems to have been at Kshēmapura (Gerasoppe, after which the celebrated Gersoppa Falls are named). We have in Sa 55 the names Dēva-Rāya, Bhairava, Sālvamalla, and again Bhairava and Sālvamalla. They were ruling the Tulu, Konkana, Haive, and other countries.

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In 1384 a Sāluva-Rāma-Dēva, who seems to have been governor of Taḷakāḍ, was killed in battle against the Turukas at Kottakoṇḍa (Ck 15). Sāluva-Tippa-Rāja was married to Harimā, sister of the Vijayanagar king Dēva-Rāya II (Cd 29). And in 1431 we have Sāluva-Tippa-Rāja and his son Gōpa-Rāja, to whom Tēkal was given by order of that king (Mr 3). These Sāluvas are distinguished by the epithets mēdinī-mīsara-gaṇḍa (champion over the mustaches of the world), kaṭhāri-sāluva (dagger falcon). From this family (see My 33) sprang the short-lived dynasty, composed of Sāluva-Nṛisimha or Narasinga and his son Immaḍi-Nṛisimha or Narasinga, which held the Vijayanagar throne from 1478 to 1496.¹ The former was commander of the Vijayanagar forces under the kings Mallikārjuna and Virūpāksha. But after successfully defending the empire against the Bahmani Sultān's invasion, he took advantage of his position to usurp the crown. He is said to have been the most powerful chief in Karṇāṭa and Telingāna, and a Muhammadan historian (see vol. x, Introd. 36) represents Kānchī as being in the centre of his dominions.

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¹ Immaḍi-Narasinga's son Sāluva-Dēvappa-Nāyaka was governor of the Tippur district in 1493 (DB 42, 45), and made a grant at Channapatna in 1494 (Kg 26).

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Notwithstanding the late usurpation, Sāluvas continued in favour. For Sāluva-Timmarasa was a minister under Krishna-Rāya (Nj 195). And in 1513 we have his younger brother Sāluva-Gōvinda-Rāja, to whom that king gave the Terakanāmbi country (Gu 3), which had been taken away from the Ummattūr chiefs. In 1519, 1521, and 1523 he is called Krishna-Rāya’s minister (TN 73, 42, Ch 99). From 1520 to 1527 we have kaṭhāri-sāluva Krishna-Rāya-Nāyaka as the chief minister of Krishna-Rāya, and described as his right hand (Hs 48, Hg 78, 40); and in Nr 46 of about 1530 he is called a king—Sāluva-Krishna-Dēva-nṛipati, and said to be the sister’s son of Dēva-Rāya.

10. Padinālkunāḍ

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When the Hoysala power was nearing its end, in the reign of Ballāla III, there was a great minister Perumāla-daṇṇāyaka, who founded and endowed a college at Mālingi, on the Kāvērī, opposite to Talakāḍ (TN 27). His son Mādhava-daṇṇāyaka was ruling Padinālkunāḍ (the Fourteen nāḍs¹) in the south of Mysore, with the seat of his government at Terakanāmbi (Gundalpet tāluq). He was in power to 1318, and (Gu 58) set up the god Gōpinātha in Gōvarddhangiri (the Gopālswāmi hill in the south-west of Gundalpet tāluq). He was followed by his son Kētaya-daṇṇāyaka, ruling in 1321 (Gu 69), and by Singeya-daṇṇāyaka, ruling in 1338 (Hs 82). Among their titles are: death to the Kongas, subduer of Nilagiri, skilled in turning back Pāṇḍya, and lord of Svastipura.

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¹ There is a Pāḍinālknāḍ tāluq in Coorg, but that probably refers to four nāḍs (Nālknāḍ) as in Yeḍenālknāḍ. But Terakanāmbi-nāḍ is also said (Gu 11) to be called Kuḍugu-nāḍ, which is the name of Coorg.

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Descendants from these were the Nava Dannāyaks of tradition, nine brothers, identified with Beṭṭadakōṭe, the fort on the Gōpālaswāmi hill, the chief of whom was Perumāl-dannāyak. Four of them, headed by Bhīma-dannāyak, quarrelled with the other five, and gaining Nagarapura (Nanjangūd) and Ratnapuri (Heḍatale), set up a separate government. After a time they returned to attack Beṭṭadakōṭe, which after a siege of three years was taken by stratagem. Mancha-dannāyak, who conducted the defence, seeing the citadel taken, leaped from the hill on horseback and was killed. The site of this leap is still pointed out. The four victorious Dannāyaks, placing a junior member of the family in the government of Beṭṭadakōṭe, set forth on expeditions of conquest, in the course of which tradition says that they overran the country from Davasi-beṭṭa (the southern point of Coorg) in the south, to Goa in the north, and from Satyamangala (on the Bhavāni in Coimbatore) in the east, to the Bisale Ghat (in the north-west of Coorg) on the west.

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The later rulers of Kōṭe or Beṭṭadakōṭe belong to from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, and the seat of their government was apparently at Hura, in the south-west of the Nanjangūd tāluq. Their distinctive titles were: *mahā-maṇḍaleśvara*, *Chēra-Chōla-Pāṇḍya-mūvara-rāyara gaṇḍa* (champion over the three kings Chēra, Chōla, and Pāṇḍya), *Nīlagiri-sādarak-oḍeyar*, *Nīlagiri-nāḍ-ālva*, or *Nīlagiri-uddharaṇa* (subduer, ruler, or protector of Nilagiri). But Mādhava-nāyaka (1530-1548) is given supreme titles (Hs 41).

11. Padināḍ

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There was also a principality called Padinaḍ or Hadinaḍ, the capital of which at the end of the sixteenth century was Yelandūr (Yl 1). A chief of Padinaḍ is mentioned as early as 1058 (Ch 69). Hadinaḍ is also named in 1196 (TN 31) as a province of the Hoysala kingdom. It is now represented by Hadināru in the Nanjangūd tāluq. The inscriptions place the modern rulers in the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century. In 1586 the chiefs took the names of the Vijayanagar kings at Penugoṇḍa (Nj 141). Before 1650 the province had been annexed to Mysore by Kaṇṭhīrava-Narasa-Rāja (Ch 42). In 1807 Yelandūr was given as a jāgīr to the Dewān Pūrnayya in recognition of his eminent services, and is now held by his descendants.

12. Ummattūr Woḍeyars

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The Ummattūr Woḍeyars were an important line of rulers in the south of Mysore, and the chief rivals in that quarter of the Mysore house. Ummattūr is in the Chāmrājnagar tāluq, but the principal fortress of the chiefs was on the island of Śivasamudram,¹ at the Falls of the Kāvērī, where also was the temple of Sōmēśvara, their family god (Gu 11). Their distinctive titles were: *mahā-maṇḍalēśvara*, *javādi-kōlāhala* (exulting in musk), *pēsāli-Hanuma* (Hanumān in artifice), *arasanka-sūnegāra* (slaughterer in war with kings), *ghēnanka-chakrēśvara* (emperor in fight with the dagger), *gaja-beṇṭekāra* (hunter of elephants). They were of the Solar race, called themselves masters of the Hoysala-rājya, and ruled also over Terakanāmbi and the Nilagiris, where they had a fort at Mālekōṭa, near Kalhatti, in which they took shelter when in trouble.

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¹ See note, p. 119.

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They appear in inscriptions in the fifteenth century. In 1491 they take the royal titles, and seem independent (Nj 118). In 1505 they have the titles Chikka-Rāya, Penugoṇḍa-chakrēśvara, and lord over all rājas (Gu 67). But Ganga-Rāja now openly rebelled, while parts of the Bangalore District were called the Śivasamudram country. The Vijayanagar monarch Krishna-Rāya had therefore to march against him, and captured his fort at Śivasamudram in 1510, thus reducing him to submission. Ummattūr itself was finally taken by the Mysore Rāja in 1613, and the line brought to an end. Śivasamudram fort was ruined and deserted under tragic circumstances arising out of struggles with local chiefs. In 1814 the island was given as a *jāgīr* to Rāmaswāmi Mudaliyār, who had been native secretary to the Resident in Mysore, and he erected between 1830 and 1832 the bridges over the Kāvērī which connect it with Mysore on the one side and Coimbatore on the other. His descendants now own the place. In 1902 the first electric power installation in India was set up there by the Mysore State at the Kāvērī Falls on the Mysore side.

13. Keladi Kings

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The Keladi, Ikkēri, or Bednūr kings ruled in the Shimoga District and along the west coast from the beginning of the sixteenth century to 1763. Their territory included Āraga and Gutti (Chandragutti), both above the Ghats, in Mysore, and Bārakūr and Mangalūr, both below the Ghats, in South Kanara (Sg 11). Their capital was removed from Keladi (Sāgar tāluq) in about 1560 to Ikkēri (in the same tāluq), and in 1639 to Bednūr (now Nagar). Their State was the most considerable and wealthy of those conquered by Haidar Ali and annexed to Mysore. The kings were Lingāyits, and had the titles: *Yeḍava-Murāri* (said to be the names of two slaves belonging to the founder of the line, who, on condition that their memory was preserved, volunteered to be sacrificed for the establishment of his power, for which a human sacrifice was declared to be necessary), *Kōṭe-kōlāhala* (disturber of forts), *viśuddha-vaidikādvaita-siddhānta-pratiṣṭhāpaka* (establisher of the pure Vaidika Advaita doctrine), *Śiva-guru-bhakti-parāyaṇa* (devoted to faith in Śiva and the guru). A genealogy of the line to 1667 is given in Tl 156 in Sanskrit. Most of their inscriptions record grants to Lingāyit *maṭhas* or remission of transit duties on articles carried on pack bullocks for the use of such *maṭhas*. The following is a table of the kings:—

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1. Chauḍappa-Nāyaka, son of Hulibail Basappa, 1499-1513
2. Sadāśiva-Nāyaka, 1513-45
3. Sankaṇṇa-Nāyaka I, 1545-58
4. Sankaṇṇa-Nāyaka II, 1558-70
5. Rāmarāja-Nāyaka, 1570-82
6. Venkaṭappa-Nāyaka I, 1582-1629 Siddappa-Nāyaka Bhadrappa-Nāyaka
8. Śivappa-Nāyaka, 1645-60
9. Venkaṭappa-Nāyaka II, 1660-61
7. Vīrabhadra-Nāyaka, 1629-45
10. Bhadrappa-Nāyaka, 1661-63
11. Sōmaśēkhara-Nāyaka I, 1663-71
12. Chennammāji (widow of No. 11), 1671-97 (adopted)
13. Basappa-Nāyaka I, 1697-1714
14. Sōmaśēkhara-Nāyaka II, 1714-39 Vīrabhadra-Nāyaka
15. Basappa-Nāyaka II, 1739-54 (adopted)
16. Chenna-Basappa-Nāyaka 1754-57
17. Vīrammāji (widow of No. 15), 1757-63 (adopted)
18. Sōmaśēkhara-Nāyaka III.

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The first prominent king was Sadāśiva-Nāyak, who received his name from the Vijayanagar sovereign Sadāśiva-Rāya, in reward for his services against rebellious chiefs in Tuluva or South Kanara, and he was invested with the government of the provinces above mentioned.

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After the fall of Vijayanagar, Venkaṭappa-Nāyak I assumed independence. He drove back the invasion of the Bijāpur forces commanded by Randulha-Khān, and extended his dominions on the north and east to Māsūr, Shimoga, Kadūr, and Bhuvanagiri (Kavaledurga), and on the west and south to the sea at Honore (North Kanara), by victory over the queen of Gersoppa, the pepper queen of the Portuguese, who was a feudatory of Bijāpur. At the same time he acquired territory down to the borders of Malabar, and established his power so firmly that he was able to add 50 per cent to the land assessment in great part of Kanara. His valour is said (Sh 2) to be like adamantine armour to the Karnāṭa country, and he is described as an elephant-goad to the rutting elephants the bounding Taulava kings, a sun to the darkness the Kirātas, a boundary mountain to stop the great ocean of Mlechchas ever seeking to overflow the South in victorious expeditions. In 1621 he re-established the maṭha at Śringēri (Sg 5), originally set up in the eighth century by Śankarāchārya (Sg 11), the abbot of which was instrumental in founding the Vijayanagar empire in 1336. By espousing the cause of the queen of Ola against the Bangār rāja, he came into collision with the Portuguese, who call him Venkapor, king of Canara. But their Viceroy at Goa, being anxious to secure the trade in pepper for Portugal against the English and Dutch, sent an embassy to him in 1623 to form an alliance.

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Vīrabhadra-Nāyak averted a formidable invasion threatened by Bijāpur, which was to be assisted by the rājas of Sunda and Bilige, and the chiefs of Tarikere and Bānāvar. But the capital was removed to Bednūr, and Śivappa-Nāyak, who was in command of the army, subdued Bhairarasa of Kārakala, invaded Malayāla, and entered Coorg. Vīrabhadra is said (Sh 2) to be like a long right arm to the rājādhirāja Venkaṭādri (Venkaṭapati-Rāya II of Vijayanagar), and to have given protection to the southern kings alarmed by the great army of the Pātuśāha (the Ādil-Shāhi Sulṭān of Bijāpur).

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Śivappa-Nāyak himself next ascended the throne, and was one of the most distinguished kings of the line. He greatly enlarged Bednūr and made it a central emporium of trade. He also introduced the land assessment called shist. His expeditions in Mysore extended over Balam or Manjarābād to Vastāra, Sakkarepaṭṭaṇa and Hassan. Father Leonardo Paes, then travelling in Kanara, says that he had amassed enormous treasure, that his possessions extended from the Tudry river to Kāsargōd or Nilēśvar, and that he had a standing army of from forty to fifty thousand men. There were more than thirty thousand Christians among his subjects, originally natives of Goa and Salsette. In 1646 Śrī-Ranga-Rāya, the fugitive king of the Vijayanagar dynasty, fled to him for refuge, and Śivappa-Nāyak not only gave him the government of Bēlūr and Sakkarepaṭṭaṇa, but attacked Seringapatam on his behalf. In 1652 Śivappa rescued from the unlawful hands into which they had fallen the lands with which the Śringēri maṭha had formerly been endowed, and restored them to the maṭha (Sg 11, 13).

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In the time of Bhadrappa-Nāyak the Bijāpur army is said to have taken Bednūr and besieged Bhuvanagiri, whither the king with his family had retired, but a peace was eventually concluded. In 1664 the Mahratta leader Śivāji made a sudden descent on the coast of Kanara, sacked Kundapūr and sailed back to Gōkarna, plundering all the adjacent tracts. Sōmaśēkhara-Nāyak was seized with sensual madness, which led to his assassination. But his widow succeeded in carrying on the government for a considerable time. Her army captured Basavāpaṭṇa and other places to the east, where she fortified Harikere and named it Channa-giri after herself. She also gave shelter to Rāma-Rāja, the son of Śivāji, when he was hiding from the Mughals, until he could escape to his own country. Peace was made between Mysore and Bednūr in 1694, the former retaining the Bēlūr country. Basappa-Nāyak I was devoted to works of charity and the care of ascetics, vagrants, and infant children. As an atonement for the murder of Sōmaśēkhara, he imposed a small extra assessment, to be spent in feeding pilgrims.

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Sōmaśēkhara-Nāyak II is said to have attacked Sīra and taken Ajjampur, Sante-Bennūr, and other places from the Mughals. In 1748 was fought the battle of Māyakoṇḍa against Chitaldroog, in which the enemy suffered a disastrous defeat, Medakēri-Nāyak, their chief, being slain. Besides this, an incident of some importance was connected with the event. Chanda-Sāhib, nominated by the French as the Navāb of the Carnatic in opposition to the English candidate, Muhammad-Ali, had just been released from the Mahrattas at Sattāra. Being on his way south, he took part in the battle on the side of Chitaldroog. But his son was killed, and he himself was taken prisoner. While being led in triumph to Bednūr, he induced his Musalmān guards to march off with him to the French instead. He took Arcot in 1750, but in 1752, when the French surrendered to the English at Trichinopoly, fled to the protection of the Tanjore general. This man treacherously put him to death and sent his head to the rival Navāb, who made it over to Nanjarāj, the Mysore commander. The latter despatched it to Seringapatam, where it was exposed on one of the gates for three days. In 1751 a treaty was concluded between Bednūr and the English factory at Tellichery.

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An adopted son next came to the throne, but on remonstrating with his adoptive mother on her amours, which had become a public scandal, he was strangled, and Vīrammāji reigned in her own name. She was the last of her line. Haidar Ali, after a career of conquest over the eastern parts of Mysore, met at Chitaldroog with a pretender who professed to be the Bednūr prince supposed to have been murdered. Haidar resolved to make use of him, and invaded Bednūr in 1763 ostensibly to restore him. Making a feigned attack at the barriers, he entered by a secret path and captured the city. The Rāni, with her paramour and adopted son, fled to Ballālrāyandurga (Kadūr District), having set fire to the palace. The inhabitants deserted the place *en masse*, and in panic took shelter in the surrounding woods. The triumphant Haidar, extinguishing the flames and sealing up the houses, acquired a booty estimated at twelve millions sterling. The Rāni, her lover, and her adopted son were all seized and sent as prisoners to the hill-fort of Maddagiri (Tumkūr District), together with even the pretender. They were liberated by the Mahrattas when these captured Maddagiri in 1767. Virammāji died on the way to Poona, and Sōmaśēkhara ended his life there unmarried.

14. Bēlūr and Manjarābād

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The Bēlūr family were descended from the Haḍapa (or bearer of the betel-bag) to the king of Vijayanagar. Era-Krishnappa-Nāyaka, who is generally represented as the head, seems (Hk 112) at first to have received a grant of Bāgūr (Hosdurga tāluq), but early in the sixteenth century was invested with the government of the Bēlūr country. The principal titles of these chiefs were: lord of Maṇināga-pura, Sindhu-Gōvinda, dhavalānka-Bhīma. In 1645 Bēlūr and parts dependent on it were overrun by the Bednūr forces under Śivappa-Nāyak, who bestowed them on the fugitive king of Vijayanagar, then arrived as a refugee at his court. By the treaty concluded between Mysore and Bednūr in 1694, six nāḍs of Balam (Manjarābād) were ceded to the Bēlūr chiefs, and the remaining Bēlūr territory was annexed to Mysore. In 1792 Krishnappa-Nāyak joined the Mahrattas in their advance with Lord Cornwallis against Seringapatam, but on peace being made with Tipu Sultān, fled to Coorg in fear. Tipu, however, induced him to return, and gave him the government of Aigūr, the south of Manjarābād. On the fall of Seringapatam in 1799, Veṅkaṭādri-Nāyak attempted to gain independence and to recover the rest of Manjarābād. But he was captured after two years and executed.

15. Chitaldroog

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The Chitaldroog chieftains received their kingdom in Holalkere, Hiriyūr, and Chitaldroog, after the fall of Vijayanagar in 1565, from the representatives of that empire.

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The chiefs were Bēḍas by caste, of the Kāmagēti-vamśa, and claim to be of the Vālmīki-gōtra. They were styled mahānāyakāchāryya, and had the distinctive prefix Kāmagēti-kastūri. They were mostly named Medakēri-Nāyak. In the latter part of the seventeenth century they were engaged in contests with the Sante-Bennūr and Harpanhalli chiefs, and extended their territory at the expense of the former. Frequent wars afterwards arose with Bednūr and with the Mahrattas, as well as with the Mughals. The alliance with Chanda-Sāhib, and the fate of the battle of Māyakoṇḍa in 1748 have already been related above. Chitaldroog made a prolonged defence against Haidar Ali, who succeeded at last in capturing it in 1779 mainly through the treachery of some Musalmān officers. To break up the Bēḍa population, whose blind devotion had enabled the place to hold out so long, Haidar transported 20,000 of the inhabitants to people the island of Seringapatam, and of all the boys of proper age he formed regular battalions of captive converts or Chēlas.

16. Sante-Bennūr

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The Sante-Bennūr family appeared early in the seventeenth century. They were of the Puvvalānvaya, and adherents of Hanumanta, the servant of Rāmachandra (Tk 22). Their founder seems to have gained possession of the Dhumi hill. His son built the fort of Basavāpaṭṇa, and acquired a territory extending from Anantapur to Māyakoṇḍa, and from Harihar to Tarikere. Basavāpatna and Sante-Bennūr were taken by the Bijāpur forces in 1637, and the chiefs retired to Tarikere. But one is said (Tk 21) to have been a rod in the right hand of the Vijayanagar king Veṅkaṭapati-Dēva in 1649. Their territory was conquered by Haidar Ali in 1761. In the rebellion of 1830, the Tarikere chief suddenly left Mysore and joined the insurgents. His son continued to create disturbances till his capture two years after.

17. Niḍugal

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The Niḍugal territory had rulers in the eighth and down to the thirteenth century who are styled Chōla-mahārājas. Their capital was Penjeṛu or Henjeṛu, in Tamil called Pperuncheru, now Hēmāvati, on the northern border of Sīra tāluq. Irungōla I was ruling in 1128 (Si 7), and in connection with him the kings are described as of the Solar race and Inavamśa, descendants from Karikāla-Chōla. They were mahāmaṇḍalēśvaras, and had the titles—lord of Oreyūr (the ancient Chōla capital near Trichinopoly), Gōva (or guardian) of Rodda, champion who had taken the heads of sixty-four chieftains. Irungōla’s kingdom was composed of the Rodda Three Hundred, the Sīre Three Hundred, the Harave Three Hundred, and the Sindavāḍi Thousand. The Hoysala king Viṣṇuvarddhana is said (Ng 70) to have captured the powerful Irungōla’s fort, and Nārasimha I is described as breaker of the pride of Irungōla. In 1218 Ballāla II was encamped at Niḍugal (Hn 61). In 1269 another Irungōla made a raid into the Ānebiddasari-nāḍ in the Tumkūr country (Tm 49), and in 1276 joined the Sēuna army in its invasion of Dōrasamudra (Bl 164, 165). In 1285 Nārasimha III marched against Niḍugal (Ak 151) and reduced it.

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