A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c13.4

c13.4

For a period of 300 years from the middle of the sixth century A.D., the history of South India is virtually the story of mutual conflict among three powers each seeking constantly to extend its empire at the expense of its neighbours. The three powers were the Chālukyas of Bādāmi, the Pallavas of Kānchi and the Pāndyas of Madura. All of them rose into prominence in the sixth century; but the Chālukyas quit the stage about a century earlier than the two other powers, their place on the political map being more or less exactly filled from the middle of the eighth century by their successors, the Rāshtrakūtas of Mānyakheta (Malkhed). Besides the main house of Bādāmi, the Chālukyas established themselves in two other branches, more or less independent of the main line: the Chālukyas of Lāta, and the Eastern Chālukyas of Vengi. Together with the Gangas of Mysore, the Eastern Chālukyas took sides in the conflicts of the three kingdoms, sometimes with decisive results. The Cholas of the Tamil country had practically disappeared except that a line of Telugu rulers bearing their name and claiming a traditional connexion with their capital at Uraiyūr ruled in the area now known as Rayalaseema.