The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c13.s2.t6: Rājendra and Vijayāditya VII
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c13.s2.t6
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Contents
- v2.c13.s2.t6.1 — 4 parts
Rājendra and Vijayāditya VII
v2.c13.s2.t6.1.1
On the death of Virarājendra early in A.D. 1070, and the assassination of his son and successor Adhirājendra a few months later, Rājendra, who was descended through his mother from Rājendra Chōḷa I, left Vengi and went to the south where he established himself on the Chōḷa throne; what happened in Vengi and the northern part of the Chōḷa empire during this period is not quite clear. The following facts, however, may be noted at this point: (1) A study of Vijayāditya’s inscriptions reveals the existence of a break in his rule over Vengi between A.D. 1068 and 1072. His inscriptions run in a series from A.D. 1063 to 1068; then there is a break; and no record of his reign is found again until A.D. 1072.
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(2) In some of the Eastern Ganga inscriptions of the time of Anantavarman Chōḍa Gaṅgadeva, it is said that Rājarāja-Dēvendravarman ‘first became the husband of the Goddess of Victory in a battle with the Dramilas and then wedded Rājasundarī, the daughter of the Chōḷa king, and when Vijayāditya, beginning to grow old, left (the country of) Vengi, as if he were a sun leaving the sky, and was about to sink in the great ocean of the Chōḷas, he, Rājarāja, the refuge of the distressed, caused him to enjoy prosperity for a long time in the Western horizon.¹ The name of the Chōḷa king whose daughter, Rājasundarī, Rājarāja thus married was, according to another record, Rājendra Chōḷa.² (3) Some of the copper-plate charters of Kulōttunga I, a name which Rājendra assumed after he ascended the Chōḷa throne, state that he first became king of Vengi after his father had ruled for a period of forty-one years, and that being desirous of the Chōḷa kingdom, he bestowed his ancestral kingdom on his paternal uncle Vijayāditya and departed to the south.³ It may be deduced from a comparison of these records that after Virarājendra had bestowed Vengi on Vijayāditya, his nephew Rājendra made an attempt to capture the country for himself, and that Vijayāditya thereupon fled from Vengi and took refuge in the Eastern Ganga court, where he appears to have remained during Rājendra’s rule.
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As soon, however, as the usurper left Vengi with the bulk of his army for the Chōḷa country, Rājarāja Dēvēndravarman, the King of Kalinga, invaded that province with the object of restoring Vijayāditya VII to the throne and attacked the small army which Rājendra had left there for the defence of the country. The reason for Rājarāja’s solicitude for the restoration of Vijayāditya is not far to seek. It was not so much due to his sympathy with the distressed monarch as to his desire to further his own interests under the pretext of offering him help. Rājarāja was a Chōḷa feudatory who was anxious to shake off his allegiance and assert his independence. He studied the political situation carefully, and finding that the time was suitable for the prosecution of his designs, he sent an army to invade Vengi. Rājendra (Kulōttunga I) was then fully engaged in counteracting Vikramāditya’s designs against him, and was in no position to send any strong force to Vengi. Banapati, the Brāhman general of Kalinga, marched to the west, and engaged the Chōḷa forces which had been left by Rājendra for the defence of the country. The Chōḷa army, owing probably to its reduced strength, suffered a defeat. The disaster was not perhaps serious, but Rajendra was unable to spare reinforcements.
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He must have realized that in the circumstances in which he was placed it was not wise to entangle himself in a war with Kalinga, and that peace, though it involved some sacrifice of prestige, had at the moment its advantages. The recognition to some extent at least of the rights of an inconvenient enemy like Rājarāja Dēvēndravarman would convert him into a valuable ally, and the restoration of his old uncle, who was not likely to live long and had no surviving male issue to succeed him, would not involve any permanent loss. Rājendra therefore concluded a treaty of peace with Rājarāja Dēvēndravarman according to the terms of which he agreed to allow Vijayāditya to rule Vengi during the remaining years of his life; he also recognized Rājarāja as an independent ally, and cemented the alliance by bestowing on him the hand of his own daughter Rājasundari in marriage.
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¹ *IA*, xviii, 171.
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² Ibid., p. 164.
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³ *EI*, vi, 344; *SII*, i, 60; *IA*, xix, 427; *EI*, v, 77.
v2.c13.s2.t6.5
The rule of Vijayāditya after his reinstatement did not last long. Inscriptions dated in his 12th (A.D. 1072) and 13th (A.D. 1073) regnal years show that he was ruling the kingdom at that time.¹ The total absence of any record of his reign in Vengi in the succeeding years seems to indicate that he perhaps lost his throne once again. Two important facts deserve notice in this connexion. For some reason unknown at present, Yaśaḥkarṇadēva, the Chedi king of Ḍāhala, invaded Vengi about A.D. 1073. He claims to have destroyed ‘with ease the ruler of the Andhra country (even though) the play of (that king’s) arms disclosed no flaw’, and to have honoured with munificent gifts the holy Bhīmēśvara of Drākshārāma.² Similarly Banapati, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Ganga king, Rājarāja Dēvēndravarman, declares in an epigraph found at Dirghasi and dated A.D. 1075 that he defeated the King of Vengi again and again and became possessed of all his wealth.³ It is not known whether the invasions of Vengi referred to in these records were interconnected or independent events; nor is it possible to find out why Rājarāja Dēvēndravarman, who had himself re-established Vijayāditya on the throne of Vengi three years earlier, had thus to take up arms against him. It is, however, certain that as a consequence of these invasions Vijayāditya lost his kingdom and had to spend the remaining years of his life in exile. He figures in a Western Chālukya record dated A.D. 1074-5 as a vassal of Bhuvanikamalla Sōmēśvara II.⁴ The well-known Noḷamba titles such as Pallavānvayam Kāñchīpuravarēśvaram and Pallava-permāṇaḍi with which his name is associated in the record indicate that he was then governing the province of Noḷambavāḍi, and had adopted, following the Western Chālukya practice, the titles of the Noḷamba-Pallavas whose hereditary dominions had been placed under his rule. It is clear that Vijayāditya after his defeat retired to the Western Chālukya court, where he was cordially received and treated with respect and consideration. He did not, however, long survive the loss of his kingdom. As he is said in the Ṭēki, Chellūr, and Piṭhāpuram grants to have ruled only for a period of fifteen years,⁵ he must have died in A.D. 1075. With the death of Vijayāditya, the Eastern Chālukya dynasty came to an end. Though Vengi had lost her independence under the descendants of Dānārṇava, she enjoyed a certain amount of autonomy, and was treated throughout as a separate kingdom; but after Vijayāditya’s death she lost her distinctive character and became completely absorbed in the Chōḷa empire. The descendants of Rājarāja did in fact still control her destinies for another half a century; but they no longer lived in the country. They abandoned their native home, relinquished their family name and traditions, and gloried in the name and prestige of the Chōḷas which they adopted as their own on succeeding to the throne of the Chōḷa empire.
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¹ CP, 8 and 9 of 1924-5; JAHRS, ix, 177-80.
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² EI, xii, 216.
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³ EI, iv, 316.
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⁴ EI, xvi, 68-73.
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⁵ EI, vi, no. 35; SII, i, 39; IA, xix, 427; EI, v, no. 10.