History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c16.14

v1.c16.14

The political history of the Eastern Chālukyas does not seem to be very disturbed and they enjoyed a long rule from 605 A. D. to 1078 A. D. when they were merged into the new risen power of the Cholas. Their rule extended much beyond Vengi itself which is now a small town (Pedda Vegi) between the Godavari and the Krishna. They must have been lords of Kalinga also i. e. the territory to the north of the Godavari as far as the confines of modern Orissa. Raja-Mahendri was founded by the Eastern Chālukya later king named Amma called also by the biruda Rajamahendra. However, Kalinga seems to have had during this period a dynasty of its own called in their inscriptions the Ganga family. It must be noted that Kalinga is an ancient name and Vengi is much later. Kalinga like Mahārāṣtra is said to be composed of three countries and hence the name Trikalinga which by Prakrit phonetic change has become Telanga of the modern times. This Trikalinga is expressly mentioned in a grant of Vijayāditya (S. I. In. Hultzsch Vol. I. p. 45) as under the king Chālukya Bhīma. The expression is सत्रिकालिङ्गवङ्गिमण्डलपालयत् which shows that Vengimandala was considered distinct from Trikalinga. Vengi must, therefore, be taken to mean primarily the eastern coast district between the Godavari and the Krishna and Trikalinga meant Kalinga to the north of the Godavari, Āndhra inside the Ghauts and Ganjam, in which extended territory the Telagu language is still spoken (we will speak of Āndhra is a special note). The Eastern Chālukyas had also rule in the western Madras districts though not towards the south of the Krishna as they must have been opposed in early days by the Pallavas and later on by Cholas in this direction. These districts were latterly a subject of dispute between the eastern Chālukyas and the Rattas i. e. the Rāshtrakūta kings of Malkhed who were then supreme in Mahārāshtra. The Chālukyas thus fought often with the Gangas in Kalinga and the Rāshtrakūtas in the western districts. Their king Chālukya Bhīma is said in a grant to have fought 108 battles and to have built 108 Śiva temples. Another king is said to have even taken the capital of Krishna and burnt it (S. I. Ins. Vol. I p. 39). The eastern Chālukyas thus kept up their prestige for valour.