The Colas c15.23

c15.23

The Bāṇas were an ancient line of kings who ruled for over two centuries in the tract that came to be called Perumbāṇappāḍi, the big Bāṇa country.²⁴ This was the area to the north of the Pālār, between Punganūr in the west and Kāḷahasti in the east. There is reason to believe that at an earlier period they ruled the territory further north and were forced to migrate south in the period of the rise and expansion of the Cāḷukyas of Bādāmi. In the last stages of their existence as an independent power their capital was at Parivi²⁵ which is first mentioned in the Sholingur inscription and may be identical with Parigi in the Hindupur taluq of Anantapur district. The last ruler of the line was Vikramāditya III, Vijayabāhu, described as the dear friend of Kṛṣṇarāja, doubtless Kṛṣṇa III, his powerful Rāṣṭrakūṭa neighbour. The course of events which is nowhere described in explicit terms can only be inferred from a careful study of the dates which, fortunately, are clearly recorded in the inscriptions.