The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c9.s2.t2.1.2

v1.c9.s2.t2.1.2

the dynasty had already experienced many violent changes of fortune.² The Mauryas were ruling in Konkan with their capital at Purī described as ‘the Lakshmī of the Western ocean’. It is clear that under Kīrtti-varman the sway of the Chāḷukyan kingdom was extended in all directions, and we may well believe that he fought many victorious battles, performed the Agniṣṭoma and Bahusuvarṇa sacrifices, and earned the title of puru-raṇaparākrama, ‘puissant in many battles’. But the Mahākūṭa pillar inscription asserts that the hostile rulers of Vanga, Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Vattūra (?), Magadha, Madraka, Kerala, Gaṅga, Mūshaka, Pāṇḍya, Dramila, Cōḷiya, Āluka, Vaijayanti, and other kingdoms were overcome by Kīrtti-varman; we can accept this only as a measure of the knowledge of Indian geography possessed by the writer of the praśasti. The same inscription states further that an extremely beautiful cave temple to Viṣṇu was constructed under the king’s orders by his younger brother Mangaleśa; the work was completed and the image of Viṣṇu consecrated perhaps after the death of Kīrtti-varman, during Mangaleśa’s reign. From an inscription of Pulakēśin II we learn that his mother, Kīrtti-varman’s queen, was a sister of Rājā Śrīvallabha Senānanda of the Sendraka family which held a subordinate position in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa division of the Banavāsi province, at first under the Kadambas and then under the Cāḷukyas;