The Colas c17.26

c17.26

The period of twenty-seven years (973-999) between the death of Dānārṇava and the accession of Śaktivarman I, his son, is described in later charters of the Eastern Cāḷukyas as an interregnum⁶⁵ and ascribed to a bad stroke of fate.⁶⁶ This was the period when Jaṭā-Cōḍa Bhīma ruled in Vēṅgī; he was not a Cāḷukya and his rule was an unwelcome intrusion, a real interregnum from the standpoint of the Cāḷukyas. During this period, Bhīma met with much sullen opposition from the Vaidumbas, the nobles who were loyal to Dānārṇava's memory, and Kāmārṇava the Eastern Gaṅga king of Kaliṅga who was related to Dānārṇava and in whose court Dānārṇava's sons found shelter in the first instance. But Bhīma overcame all opposition after years of fighting and having destroyed Kāmārṇava in 978 and his brother Vinayāditya in 981, made himself master of Kaliṅga also. The children of Dānārṇava, two sons Śaktivarman and Vimalāditya, and perhaps their mother also, left Kaliṅga to find a welcome in the Tamil Cōḷa court and settle for a time in Tiruvaiyāṟu in the Tanjore district.⁶⁷ After the accession of Rājarāja, their presence in the Cōḷa country was turned by that farsighted ruler to great advantage in the development of his policy against the rising power of the Western Cāḷukyas under Taila II and Satyāśraya. They became the instruments of Cōḷa policy and furnished the excuse for Rājarāja's interference in Vēṅgī. On the other side, it seems possible though as yet there is no direct proof, that the Western Cāḷukyas came to an understanding with Jaṭā-Cōḍa Bhīma. Rājarāja invaded Vēṅgī in 999 or a little earlier to restore Śaktivarman to the throne of Vēṅgī. Though details are lacking in Cōḷa inscriptions, Śaktivarman's records state that first he killed a great warrior Ekavīra despatched against him by Bhīma, and then put to death two other powerful chiefs Baddema and Mahārāja, and finally uprooted the 'widespread tree of Jaṭā-Cōḍa to its very roots' i.e. did away with Bhīma himself. But the struggle was hard and lasted some years. Though Bhīma was driven out of Vēṅgī and Śaktivarman began his rule in 999, Bhīma returned to the charge, chased Śaktivarman as far as Kāñcī, and it was only after another fight in the neighbourhood of that city (1001-2) that Śaktivarman could feel fairly secure on the throne of Vēṅgī. In any event, it is quite certain that Śaktivarman owed much to the Cōḷa king's support, and possibly he consented to recognise the overlordship of Rājarāja in some form after becoming king of Vēṅgī. We know that the exact date of Vimalāditya's accession in Vēṅgī was 10 May, A.D. 1011⁶⁸ and that his predeces-