A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c14.27

c14.27

In the closing years of Rājendra's reign war broke out once more with the Western Chālukyas and the affairs of Vengi were, as usual, involved in it. In the Chālukyan kingdom Jayasimha II was succeeded by his son, Someśvara I Āhavamalla (1042). He removed the capital from Mānyakheta to Kalyāni, adorning it with many new buildings and generally adding to the amenities of the new capital. He continued the war begun by his father against the Bhoja of Malwa, and received his submission after a raid on his capital Dhārā. He extended his power across Vidarbha and part of modern Madhya Pradesh, into Kosala and Kalinga, and imposed his sovereignty on the Nāgavamśi ruler Dhārāvarsha of Cakrakūta. It deserves to be noted that the Kākatīya chieftain Prola I and his son Beta assisted Someśvara in his wars, and received from him as fief the Anumakonda Vishaya. In another direction Someśvara attacked Vengi and thus challenged the Chola power. In Vengi Rājarāja had no peace after his coronation in 1022. His half-brother Vijayāditya renewed his struggle for the throne, perhaps with the aid of Chālukya Jayasimha II, drove Rājarāja out of Vengi, and made himself king (1031) with the title Vishnuvardhana Vijayāditya VII; but by 1035 Rājarāja had regained his kingdom. Vijayāditya sought refuge in the Western Chālukya court where he was received with open arms and entertained royally. Someśvara's invasion of Vengi was undertaken ostensibly in furtherance of the claims of Vijayāditya and news of it quickly reached Rājendra I. The king was too old to take the field himself, his son Rājādhirāja was engaged in the south, so a trusted Brahmin general, assisted by three able lieutenants, was ordered to go to Rājarāja's relief. The Chola army engaged the enemy in a sanguinary but indecisive battle at Kalidindi. Meanwhile Rājendra I died and was succeeded by Rājādhirāja I (1044). He was eager to restore Chola power in Vengi, and himself led an expedition into the Telugu country soon after he ascended the throne. He defeated the Western Chālukya forces in a battle at Dannada (Dhānyakataka) on the Krishna and compelled Vikramāditya, Someśvara's son, and Vijayāditya, Rājārāja's rival, to retreat in disorder. He then entered Western Chālukyan territory and set fire to the important fort of Kollipākkai (Kulpak). These successes enabled Rājārāja to breathe freely for a time. They were followed by campaigns on the western front where the Chola forces captured several generals and feudatories of the Chālukyas, demolished the Chālukya palace in the city of Kampili, and inflicted a defeat on the enemy in a pitched battle at Pūndūr on the banks of the Krishna. Crossing that river, the victorious camp of the Chola was fixed at Yetagiri (Yadgir), where a pillar of victory with the tiger emblem on it was planted. After more fighting, the Chālukya capital Kalyāni was itself sacked, and Rājādhirāja performed the *vīrābhisheka* (coronation of victor) in the enemy capital and assumed the title ‘Vijayarājendra’. A fine image of a *dvārapālaka* which used to be at the entrance to the Dārāśuram temple (Tanjore district) and has since been removed to the Tanjore Art Gallery, bears the Tamil inscription: ‘the *dvārapālaka* brought by Uḍaiyār Śrī Vijayarājendradeva after burning Kalyāṇapuram’.