The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c9.s2.t7: Vijayāditya

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c9.s2.t7

Language: English

Vijayāditya

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Vijayāditya’s rule began sometime in July A.D. 696;² his reign was the longest in the Bādāmi period, and perhaps also the most prosperous and peaceful. He had had a long apprenticeship which began under his grandfather whose great ability as soldier and statesman secured the proper training of his son and grandson and laid foundations for the continued peace and prosperity of his extensive empire during three generations. The only political event recorded in his inscriptions beside those already noticed is as vague and uncertain from the point of view of exact history as is his part in the northern wars of his father. His fleeing enemies somehow got hold of Vijayāditya and carried him away, because fate willed it so; then we are told, somewhat inconsequentially, that he stopped the popular commotion and anarchy (due to his absence?) by his own prowess, and, like Vatsarāja, made good his escape from captivity without any external aid. We have no means of deciding whether the comparison with Vatsarāja of legendary fame is all that is meant; at any rate we do not know who these enemies were who carried Vijayāditya into captivity in their flight, and when they did so. It must be noted, however, that there is a gap of about ten years in the inscriptions of the reign from the 10th regnal year to the 23rd.

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² DKD, p. 370, n. 5; KI, p. 3.

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Like his father and grandfather, Vijayāditya associated his son Vikramāditya II with him in the rule of the kingdom. The recently discovered stone inscription from Uḷchala dated in the thirty-fifth year of Vijayāditya (A.D. 731) refers to Yuvarāja Vikramāditya returning from an expedition to Kāñchī in which he levied tribute from the Pallava Parameśvara-varman II. This was doubtless the first of the three expeditions of Vikramāditya against Kāñchī referred to in an undated inscription of his queen Lokamahādevī at Paṭṭadakal.³ Another undated stone inscription from Paṭṭadakal⁴ registers a joint donation by the father and son to the image of Anantaguṇa in the Lokapāleśvara temple built by a certain Añjanāchārya, the devāchārya of the āsthāna (court). An undated copper-plate grant from Nerūr is also likewise issued by father and son together; the father has the title Bhaṭṭāraka in addition to the other imperial titles common to both. The number of Vijayāditya’s inscriptions is not as great as one might expect from the length of his reign. They show him encamped at different places, once in Elāpura (Ellora) about the tenth year, at Hatampura in the twenty-second year,¹ and once in Raktapura (Lakshmeśvar) in the 34th year of his reign. Among his feudatories are found the Bāṇas,² the Telugu-Choḍas of Reṇāṇḍu,³ a certain Bhūpāditya mentioned in an inscription from Dānavulapāḍu (Cuddapah Dt.)⁴ and an Upendra who figures as Vijñapti in the Nerūr grant of the tenth year.⁵ In addition to the usual imperial titles of the Chālukyas during the period, viz. Satyāśraya śrī Pṛthivīvallabha Mahārājādhirāja Parameśvara Bhaṭṭāraka, Vijayāditya is also given the title Samastabhuvanāśraya, ‘the refuge of the whole world’, in the inscriptions of his successors, a title which is explained as due to his being perfect master of the three powers (śakti-traya), his having curbed the pride of his enemies, his liberality, and his faultlessness.

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³ Ancient India, No. 5—Ten Years of Epigraphy.

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⁴ IA, x, 163.

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¹ Bopgami plates, Ś. 640-JBISM, ix, 2, pp. 1-6.

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² 333 and 359 of 1920.

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³ Rajole inscription (Mack. MSS.).

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⁴ 539 of 1905.

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⁵ IA, ix, 130.

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Vijayāditya built the great Śiva temple at Paṭṭadakal, calling it Vijayēśvara after his own name;⁶ the temple now bears the name of Saṅgameśvara which it must have acquired during Kīrtti-varman’s reign since his inscription on a pillar in the temple opens with a verse in praise of Hara-Gauri-saṅgama (the union of Hara and Gauri). Deep human interest lingers over a unique dateless inscription⁷ of Vijayāditya’s reign from Mahākūṭa which mentions the king’s favourite mistress Vināpoṭigal, and records her performance of the hiranya-garbha dāna (the gift of the golden egg) and her precious gifts to the deity, comprising a pīṭha (pedestal) set with rubies with a silver umbrella spread over it, and a field called Maṅgaluḷḷe measuring 800 units. Vijayāditya had a sister, Kuṅkumadevī,⁸ who is mentioned in an inscription.

Cites (1)

Paṭṭadakal inscription (No. 481) — Sanskrit