History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.s6.29

v1.c14.s6.29

Coming to our period of Indian history and the Chālukyas in Mahārāshtra, we may first observe that it is difficult to decide whether the Chālukya family was founded by a Kshatriya warrior from Ayodhya as later inscriptions declare or whether it was a local Maratha family. The earliest grants give only the information that the Chālukya family was of the Mānavya gotra and were Hāritīputras. The importance of this latter epithet will appear clear from what we have said above about Gautamiputra and Vasisthīputra. In fact this epithet Hāritiputra connects the Chālukya tradition with the Satavāhana forms of titles. This family was certainly Kshatriya both on the father's side and on the mother's. The gotra of the founder of the family was Mānaya on the father's side and Harita on the mother's side and hence the family takes pride in calling itself Haritiputra as well as Mānavasagotra. It rose to power according to earlier grants by conquering Govinda a Rāshtrakūta king. Its greatest representative Pulakeśin the first performed the Aśvamedha sacrifice so characteristic of the Kshatriya race and power. It also indicates as we have said, that this family came to power by opposing Buddhistic tendencies and by establishing the ascendancy of the Vedic religion much in the same way as the rise of the Guptas in the north may be said to represent the ascendancy of the orthodox Vedic Aryans, against the Buddhists of the north. These Guptas, though Vaiśyas apparently, also performed the Aśvamedha. In the same way the first assertion of power by this Pulakeśin Kshatriya Maratha king was the celebration of the Aśvamedha a fact of which the family appears to have been proud and always made mention.