History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c8.s1.14

v1.c8.s1.14

The Chālukyas ruled principally form Badāmi in the Southern Maratha Country but they were not Dravidians; they were pure Aryans from the north and belonged to the solar race of Ayodhya. This tradition has been preserved by Bilhaṇa in the Vikramānkadevacharita and is also mentioned in the inscriptions of the Eastern Chālukyas. Hiuen Tsang clearly says that Pulakeshin II whom he visited was a Kshatriya and belonged to the Mahārāshtra country. The inscriptions of these Chālukyas themselves state that they were born in the Mānavya gotra and were Hāritīputras. What Hāritīputras meant we will try to elucidate when we come to their political history, but the Mānavya-gotra indicates the tradition that they belonged to the Solar race. The Chālukyas of the north are represented by Chanda bard of Prithvirāja as belonging to the Agnikula. The theory of Chanda about Agnikulas has been proved to be unfounded (we believe that the Rāsā itself is misunderstood on this point as we shall have to show in our next volume) and that the four Agnikula families really belong to other races the only Agnikula family being the Paramārs with the Vasishta gotra. For the Chālukyas of Mahārāshtra are shown in inscriptions to have married into the Rāshṭrakūṭa family. In a grant of Danlidurga of the Rāṣṭrakūta family (J. B. R. A. S. Vol. II) it is said that the queen of Indra belonged to the Lunar race on the mother's side and to the Shalikya race on the father's (राज्ञी सोमान्वयी तस्य पितृश्च शलिक्यजा ). This opposition indicates the fact that the Chālukyas were looked upon as belonging to the Solar race. The eastern Chālukyas represented themselves as born of the Lunar race. Whether they belonged or not to the Lunar race it is certain that inscriptions of date earlier than Chand show that they were not looked upon as Agnikulas which affords to some a ground to believe that they were foreigners admitted into the Kshatriya caste by purification in fire. Chālukyas are in our view clearly Aryans and of the Solar race.