History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s11: 5 Śilāhāras of Karhad.
History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s11
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5 Śilāhāras of Karhad.
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The last feudatory kingly family which must be mentioned is the Śilāhāra family of Karhad or Kolhapur. It was a purely Maratha Kshatriya family and its inscriptions are recorded in Sanskrit. The Śilāhāras were originally divided into three branches, those of Thana, those of Rajapur (Kharepatan) and those of Kolhapur. They were all feudatories of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. When they fell, the Śilāhāras of Thana, as stated already, assumed independence; while the Śilāhāras of Karhad though still remaining Mahāmandaleśvaras, being nearer the centre of Chālukya power, became powerful and annexed Konkan territory to their rule. The southern Konkan branch founded by Sanaphulla thus disappeared in this sub-period and we have two Śilāhāras to describe in this volume.
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These Śilāhāras ruled in the Karnatak 4000, Miraj 3000 and Kundi 4000 as also in southern Konkan. Their capital was Karahāṭaka and their chief fort was Panala (Parṇālaka) thus bringing us in contact with later Maratha history. They were descended from a heavenly Vidyādhara and originally ruled in Tagara. Their crest was a golden Garuda or eagle and they called themselves Mahākshatriyas* (E. I. III p. 209). They were worshippers of Mahālukhsmī of Kolhapur from whose favour they believed they had obtained power† (ditto). The Śilāhāras of Thana were worshippers of Śiva; but it is probable that their tutelary goddess was Pārvatī or Āryā Dvaipāyanī (i. e. island goddess) mentioned in the Bhāgavata. These facts establish the affinity of the two Śilāhāra families beyond any doubt.
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† महालक्ष्मीदेवीवरप्रसाद.
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The history of the Śilāhāras of Karhad is given in the Bombay Gazetteer Vol. I Part II by Dr. Fleet (p. 544) and by Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar in his history of the Deccan (p. 92) from many inscriptions and we will begin with Jatiga II who ruled probably in the beginning of our sub-period (1000-1200). He had four sons Gonka and others and Gonka's son was Mārasinha whose inscription dated 1058 A. D. has been found. He was a powerful king and built many temples. Gonka had probably annexed south Konkan before him and he is said to have ruled from the fort of Khiligili. This is not identified (Fleet); but it must be distinct from Panālā, though Dr. Bhandarkar suggests its identification with that fort. Dr Fleet thinks that Chandralekhā, the famous queen of Vikramānka, was a daughter of this king. She was undoubtedly a Śilāhāra princess. As the date of Vikramānka's accession at Kalyan is 1076 A. D., this is not improbable. Mārasinha must have ruled long.
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∗ श्रीशिलाहारमहाक्षत्रियान्वय.
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Mārasinha had five sons and each of them appears to have ruled. The eldest was Gūvala and his younger brother Bhoja I has left an inscription. His younger brother Ballāla is mentioned in a Kanarese inscription (I. A. XII). But the last son Gandarāditya has left many inscriptions and he is said to have fed one lakh of Brahmins at Prayāga. He also built a large tank in the Miraj country and built temples of Siva, Buddha and Jina on its bank. His government was good and just (Bhandarkar).
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He was succeeded by his son Vijayāditya, two records of whom, dated 1148 and 1153, have been found. One of them (Ep. Ind. III p. 207) is the record of a grant to a Jain temple and begins with adoration of the Jina. It tersely gives the genealogy of Vijayāditya without praise: but praises the donor most. The birudas or epithets of Vijayāditya are many, some of which are Kanarese, one of them Śanivāra-Siddhi being strange and inexplicable. As the king is described even in this Jain record as prospering through favour of Mahā-Lakshmi, it is certain that these Śilāhāras were Hindus though, as usual with tolerant Hindu kings, they patronised Jain saints and Jainism spread during their rule in southern Maratha country as it did in Gujarat in the days of Kumārapāla. From a grant of his son Bhoja II, it appears that Vijayāditya was a powerful king who assisted the Thana Śilāhāra king (Mallikārjuna probably) to regain his throne when dispossessed. He also assisted the Kadamba king of Goa and he also aided Vijjana Kalachūri to supplant the Chālukya power at Kalyan about 1157 A. D. Naturally the power of Vijayāditya must have greatly increased and it is not strange that his son Bhoja II assumed independence; a Jain work which was written in his days calls him Mahārāja and Paśchima Chakravartin, as the northern Śilāhāras began to call themselves Konkana Chakravartin.
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Many inscriptions of Bhoja II have been found dating from 1179 to 1205 A. D. He gave grants in Konkan to Brahmins for feeding Brahmins and also to Jain temples. The grant published in Ep. Ind. III (p. 214) mentions Karahātaka and Ghaisasa Brahmins, the importance of which we will show later on; but this is the oldest record we have wherein Brahmins are mentioned not by their gotra but by their new sub-castes or surnames. This record also shows that Maratha chiefs began to be called Nāyakas at this time. Bhoja though powerful could not succeed apparently in maintaining his independence and finally the line was subjugated by the Yādavas who came to power in the Deccan after the western Chālukyas. We do not get any further information about this after 1205 and it is nearly certain that it did not continue as a ruling family.
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GENEALOGY OF THE KADAMBAS OF GOA (Bombay Gazetteer Vol. X & XI p. 565).
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Guhalla
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Chhatta or Shashthadeva (1007-1008)
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Jayakeśin I (1052-53)
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Vijayāditya
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Jayakeśin II (1119-1125) m. Mallaladevi d. of Vikramāditya VI
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Śivachitta Parmādi Vishṇuchitta Vijayāditya II (1147-8, 1187-8) (1158 & 1172)
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Jayakeśin III (1187, 1210-11)
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Tribhuvanmalla
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Chattaya or Śivachitta Shashthadeva II (1246-7 and 1257 A. D.)