The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c11.s8.20

v1.c11.s8.20

In some early inscriptions of the reign of Taila III the same doubtful formula ‘in the time of Taila III there was Bijjaḷa’ is also followed. For the first time in an inscription of the third year of Taila III (A.D. 1151) from Bijapur there is a formal preamble which expressly refers to the paramountcy of Taila, then reigning at Kalyāṇi;⁴ Bijjaḷa is here shown as a *mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* under the Chāḷukya emperor. But he is already styled Bijjaḷa-kṣoṇipāla and credited with successful campaigns against Mālava, Lāḷa, Nepāḷa, and Ghurjara; whether this is an historical or merely a rhetorical statement is not easy to decide. Bijjaḷa here has also under him the celebrated general Mailāra who was then Governor, assisted by other officers of the Tarddavāḍi thousand (*karaṇas*) in the heart of the Chāḷukya empire.