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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Chalukyas of Badami

Dynasty of the western Deccan that ruled from Vatapi (Badami) from about 550 to 757. Pulakesin II took Pishtapura (Pithapuram) and the Kolleru lake country about 615. He left his brother Vishnuvardhana in Vengi, where the Eastern Chalukya line began. Their grants and inscriptions show them holding the Guntur country in 631, the Kurnool and Alampur country under Vikramaditya I and his successors, and land in Nellore in 660. The Rashtrakuta Dantidurga overthrew the last king, Kirtivarman II, in the 750s.

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Each bar is a ruling power in its region; time runs left to right. Dashed = approximate dates. Select a bar for details.

500550600650700750800Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdoms (225–624 CE)Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdomsEastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers (624–1163 CE)Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powersTelanganaVakatakasChalukyas of BadamiVishnukundinsChalukyas of VemulavadaRashtrakutas of MalkhedCoastal AndhraPallavasChalukyas of BadamiVishnukundinsPallavasEastern Gangas of KalingaEastern Chalukyas of VengiChalukyas of BadamiRayalaseemaPallavasTelugu Cholas of RenaduChalukyas of BadamiBanasVaidumbasNolamba-PallavasRashtrakutas of Malkhed500550600650700750800
Show as a list

Ikshvakus, Vishnukundins & early kingdoms 225–624 CE

Telangana
Vakatakas (c. 300–500 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 375–612 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Pallavas (c. 250–630 CE) · Salankayanas of Vengi (c. 300–470 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 500–630 CE) · Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 615–973 CE) · Chalukyas of Badami (c. 615–642 CE)
Rayalaseema
Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE) · Telugu Cholas of Renadu (c. 550–800 CE)

Eastern Chalukyas & the Deccan powers 624–1163 CE

Telangana
Chalukyas of Badami (c. 655–753 CE) · Chalukyas of Vemulavada (c. 750–973 CE) · Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (c. 753–973 CE)
Coastal Andhra
Pallavas (c. 250–630 CE) · Chalukyas of Badami (c. 655–680 CE) · Vishnukundins (c. 500–630 CE) · Eastern Gangas of Kalinga (c. 537–1434 CE) · Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi (c. 615–973 CE)
Rayalaseema
Pallavas (c. 300–900 CE) · Telugu Cholas of Renadu (c. 550–800 CE) · Chalukyas of Badami (c. 654–753 CE) · Banas (c. 700–915 CE) · Vaidumbas (c. 750–1000 CE) · Nolamba-Pallavas (c. 750–974 CE) · Rashtrakutas of Malkhed (c. 750–973 CE)
Kingdoms and empires Uncertain or debated dates Held another region first This page

Reigns

Each bar is one ruler’s reign; time runs left to right. c. = approximate date.

525550575600625650675700725750775Pulakesin I · c. 550–566 CE · c. 16 yrsPulakesin Ic. 550–566 CE · c. 16 yrsKirtivarman I · c. 566–597 CE · c. 31 yrsKirtivarman Ic. 566–597 CE · c. 31 yrsMangalesa · c. 597–609 CE · c. 12 yrsMangalesac. 597–609 CE · c. 12 yrsPulakesin II · c. 609–642 CE · c. 33 yrsPulakesin IIc. 609–642 CE · c. 33 yrsVikramaditya I (Chalukya of Badami) · c. 655–680 CE · c. 25 yrsVikramaditya I (Chalukya of Badami)c. 655–680 CE · c. 25 yrsVinayaditya · c. 680–696 CE · c. 16 yrsVinayadityac. 680–696 CE · c. 16 yrsVijayaditya · c. 696–733 CE · c. 37 yrsVijayadityac. 696–733 CE · c. 37 yrsVikramaditya II · c. 733–746 CE · c. 13 yrsVikramaditya IIc. 733–746 CE · c. 13 yrsKirtivarman II · c. 746–757 CE · c. 11 yrsKirtivarman IIc. 746–757 CE · c. 11 yrs
  1. Pulakesin Ic. 550–566 CE · c. 16 yrs
  2. Kirtivarman Ic. 566–597 CE · c. 31 yrs
  3. Mangalesac. 597–609 CE · c. 12 yrs
  4. Pulakesin IIc. 609–642 CE · c. 33 yrs
  5. Vikramaditya I (Chalukya of Badami)c. 655–680 CE · c. 25 yrs
  6. Vinayadityac. 680–696 CE · c. 16 yrs
  7. Vijayadityac. 696–733 CE · c. 37 yrs
  8. Vikramaditya IIc. 733–746 CE · c. 13 yrs
  9. Kirtivarman IIc. 746–757 CE · c. 11 yrs
Reign · c. = approximate date

Reign years after J. F. Fleet's chapter in the Bombay Gazetteer (1896). Fleet placed Pulakesin I about 550, Kirtivarman I's accession in 566 or 567, Mangalesa's in 597 or 598 and his death about 608, and Pulakesin II's coronation in 609. The years 642–655, after the Pallavas took Badami, had no Chalukya king. Kielhorn (1908) put Vikramaditya I's accession between September 654 and July 655. Sewell (1932) dated Kirtivarman II's accession to soon after April 743, where Fleet had 746 or 747. Kirtivarman II's last record is of 757, but Sewell dates the collapse of Chalukya rule to 753.

Family tree

The rulers and the relatives who explain the succession. Every line rests on a cited statement on a person page; the sources are listed below the tree. Select a card to open that page.

  • parent and child
  • marriage
  • adoption
  • the sources disagree (see below)
  • order of succession
Family tree: Chalukyas of Badamison?Pulakesin Ic. 550–566 CE1Kirtivarman Ic. 566–597 CE2Mangalesac. 597–609 CE3Son of MangalesaNot named in the records;Fleet suggestedDhruvaraja-IndravarmanPulakesin IIc. 609–642 CE4KubjaVishnuvardhanaJayasimhavarmanThird son of KirtivarmanI in the doubtful NirpangrantChandradityaElder son of PulakesinII; Maharaja underVikramaditya IVikramaditya Ic. 655–680 CE5Dharasraya-JayasimhavarmanSon of Pulakesin II;father of the GujaratChalukya princesVinayadityac. 680–696 CE6Vijayadityac. 696–733 CE7Vikramaditya IIc. 733–746 CE8Kirtivarman IIc. 746–757 CE9

  1. Generation 1

    • 1Pulakesin Ic. 550–566 CE

  2. Generation 2

    • 2Kirtivarman Ic. 566–597 CESon of Pulakesin I
    • 3Mangalesac. 597–609 CESon of Pulakesin I

  3. Generation 3

    • 4Pulakesin IIc. 609–642 CESon of Kirtivarman I
    • Kubja VishnuvardhanaSon of Kirtivarman I
    • JayasimhavarmanThird son of Kirtivarman I in the doubtful Nirpan grantsources disagree
    • Son of MangalesaNot named in the records; Fleet suggested Dhruvaraja-IndravarmanSon of Mangalesasources disagree

  4. Generation 4

    • ChandradityaElder son of Pulakesin II; Maharaja under Vikramaditya ISon of Pulakesin II
    • 5Vikramaditya Ic. 655–680 CESon of Pulakesin II
    • Dharasraya-JayasimhavarmanSon of Pulakesin II; father of the Gujarat Chalukya princesSon of Pulakesin II

  5. Generation 5

    • 6Vinayadityac. 680–696 CESon of Vikramaditya I

  6. Generation 6

    • 7Vijayadityac. 696–733 CESon of Vinayaditya

  7. Generation 7

    • 8Vikramaditya IIc. 733–746 CESon of Vijayaditya

  8. Generation 8

    • 9Kirtivarman IIc. 746–757 CESon of Vikramaditya II

Where the sources disagree

Did Kirtivarman I have a third son, Jayasimhavarman?

Sources for every line of the tree
  • Pulakesin I → Kirtivarman I and Mangalesa (parent and child)
    • His father, Kirtivarman I, was the eldest son of Pulakesin I. →
      1. Fleet, "Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts" (1896), p. 344 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • Mangalesa, his uncle, was the younger brother of Kirtivarman I and, in Fleet's view, probably his half-brother. →
      1. Fleet, "Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts" (1896), p. 346 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Mangalesa → Son of Mangalesa (parent and child)
  • Kirtivarman I → Pulakesin II and Kubja Vishnuvardhana (parent and child)
  • Kirtivarman I → Jayasimhavarman (parent and child) · sources disagree
  • Pulakesin II → Chandraditya, Vikramaditya I and Dharasraya-Jayasimhavarman (parent and child)
    • Vikramaditya I was a son of Pulakesin II. →
      1. J. F. Fleet, "Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts", Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 361 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • Chandraditya, another son of Pulakesin II, was his elder brother, and ruled with the rank of Maharaja under him. →
      1. Fleet, "Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts" (1896), p. 365 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
    • A younger brother, Dharasraya-Jayasimhavarman, is named in a grant from Nausari in Gujarat, whose dignity, it says, was raised by his elder brother Vikramaditya I. →
      1. Fleet, "Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts" (1896), p. 364 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)).
  • Vikramaditya I → Vinayaditya (parent and child)
  • Vinayaditya → Vijayaditya (parent and child)
  • Vijayaditya → Vikramaditya II (parent and child)
  • Vikramaditya II → Kirtivarman II (parent and child)

A line from one parent only means that the cited sources name no other parent.

Old photograph of a carved stone gateway post with panels of small figures, standing among broken masonry.
Old photograph of a carved stone gateway post with panels of small figures, standing among broken masonry. · G. Yazdani (Director), Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions; photographer not named (opens in a new tab) · Public domain

The Chalukyas of Badami were a dynasty of the western Deccan, with their capital at Vatapi, the modern Badami in Karnataka. They matter to the history of the Telugu country for three reasons:123

  • Pulakesin II conquered the east coast and put his brother in charge of Vengi, where the Eastern Chalukya line began.
  • Their grants show them holding the Guntur, Nellore and Kurnool country at different times in the 7th century.
  • Their kings and queens left inscriptions in the temples of Alampur on the Tungabhadra.123

The dynasty in brief

J. F. Fleet, in the history he wrote for the Bombay Gazetteer (1896), traced the line from Jayasimha and his son Ranaraga to Pulakesin I. He placed Pulakesin I about 550. He regarded him as the real founder of the family, since the formal genealogy of the charters usually begins with him. Pulakesin I’s eldest son, Kirtivarman I, came to the throne in 566 or 567. Kirtivarman I’s younger brother Mangalesa succeeded him in 597 or 598.456

Mangalesa died in a civil war with his nephew Pulakesin II, who was crowned in 609.78 In Fleet’s words, Pulakesin II’s reign “ended in disaster”.910 The Pallavas under Narasimhavarman I took and laid waste Badami, probably in 642.910

After thirteen years without a king, Pulakesin II’s son Vikramaditya I restored the kingdom about 655 and took the Pallava capital Kanchi.1112 His son Vinayaditya succeeded in 680, Vinayaditya’s son Vijayaditya in 696, and Vijayaditya’s son Vikramaditya II in 733 or 734. Vikramaditya II entered Kanchi again, spared it and gave gold to its temples.13141516

His son Kirtivarman II succeeded in 746 or 747.1718 In his time, as Fleet put it, “the Chalukya sovereignty was overthrown”. The Samangad grant of the Rashtrakuta Dantidurga says that he won supremacy by conquering “Vallabha”, whom Fleet took to be Kirtivarman II.1718 Robert Sewell dated the collapse of Chalukya rule to 753.19 The western Chalukya dynasty of Kalyani, which rose in 973, claimed descent from this line.18

Pulakesin II’s eastern campaign

The Aihole inscription of 634–35 is a Sanskrit poem by the Jaina poet Ravikirti on the Meguti temple at Aihole.202122 It describes Pulakesin II’s conquests one after another.202122 F. Kielhorn’s translation of 1901 gives the eastern ones in four verses:23

  • The Kalingas and the Kosalas “were made to evince signs of fear”.
  • Pishtapura, “hard pressed” by him, “became a fortress not difficult of access”.
  • He ravaged “the water of Kunala”.
  • He drove the splendour of the lord of the Pallavas “to vanish behind the walls of Kanchipura”.23

Kielhorn argued that the verses follow the march from north to south down the east coast. On that reading, Pishtapura is the modern Pithapuram in the Godavari district.2122 On that reading, too, “the water of Kunala” can only be the Kolleru lake, south of Pithapuram between the Godavari and the Krishna.2122

Fleet identified the Pallava king who retired behind the walls of Kanchi as Mahendravarman I.24 Sewell, writing later, has Pulakesin drive Mahendra I out of the northern Telugu country and take Pithapuram.2

The Pallava records tell another side of the story.2 According to the Kasakudi plates, Mahendra I defeated Pulakesin II at Pullalura near Kanchi.2 Sewell thought this meant that the Chalukya army reached Pullalura and was beaten back.2 (See the Pallavas and Mahendravarman I.)

Vengi and Kubja Vishnuvardhana

Fleet thought that Vengi was probably made part of the Chalukya dominions during the campaign in which Pithapuram fell. Pulakesin II’s younger brother Vishnuvardhana was made heir-apparent (yuvaraja) in 615 and was later sent to govern Vengi. Fleet wrote: “In no great length of time, and at any rate before A.D. 632”, he became an independent king there, whether by agreement or by rebellion.1

Vishnuvardhana founded the Eastern Branch of the family. In Fleet’s words, that branch “held that part of the country for five centuries at least”.1 The story is told on the pages for Kubja Vishnuvardhana and the Eastern Chalukyas.

The Kopparam plates add a complication. They were found near Kopparam in the Guntur district and are dated in the 21st year of Pulakesin II, probably 631. They grant a field in the district of Karmarashtra. E. Hultzsch read the executor of the grant, “Prithividuvaraja”, as a title of Vishnuvardhana.252627 He concluded that Vishnuvardhana “continued to be dependent on Pulakesin II” in that year.252627

The Kurnool, Alampur and Nellore country

The Aihole inscription names the Nalas among the enemies of Kirtivarman I. Fleet took them to be the people of the Nalavadi country, “in, apparently, the direction of Bellary and Karnul”.28 Three copper-plate grants kept in the Kurnool Collector’s office in the 1880s bore a boar on the ring, “the distinct emblem of the Chalukyas”.29

Fleet and Sewell list grants of Vikramaditya I from the Kurnool district, one of them for land in the Nalavadi district.11303132 They also list grants of Vinayaditya from the same district.11303132 One of Vinayaditya’s grants, of his eleventh year, gives a village on the north bank of the Krishna.11303132

South of the Krishna and north of the Tungabhadra, in today’s Telangana, the Amudalapadu plates of Vikramaditya I were found in the Alampur taluk. D. C. Sircar dated them to 30 April 660 and described their letters as “old Telugu-Kannada”.33 The editors of Epigraphia Telanganica (2023) call them the earliest Telugu inscription in Telangana.34 They call the plates a record of “the earliest use of Telugu alphabets” there.34 The language of the grant is Sanskrit.3334

The Gadval plates of the same king, of 674, were found at Gadwal nearby.3536 Hultzsch noted that two of their terms for measures of grain were “taken over from the Telugu vernacular of the donee”.3536 On the coast, the Talamanchi plates, found near Nellore, record a grant of 660 by Vikramaditya I to his own preceptor (teacher).3738

Alampur itself has a series of Chalukya records. A pillar inscription in the Arka Brahma temple records the installation of a linga (stone emblem of Shiva) by a queen of Vikramaditya I. Its editors (M. D. Sampath and V. S. Subrahmanyam) took it as the earliest date for the group of temples called Navalingesvara, now known as the Nava Brahma temples. A record in the Svarga Brahma temple says that Lokaditya-Ela-Arasa built the temple in honour of Vinayaditya’s queen.33940

An inscription of Vijayaditya, of 704, states that an enclosure was built at the instance of the king and dedicated to Isanacharya.41 A two-script inscription of 713, edited by G. S. Gai, records the building of an enclosure by Isanacharya at the command of Vijayaditya. Gai noted that the fort in which the slab is set encloses the Navalingesvara temples.4243 The most important of these is the Bala Brahma shrine.4243 See the temples of Alampur.

Wars with the Pallavas

The Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas of Kanchi fought on and off for more than a century. The Telugu country between them changed hands more than once. The Pallava Narasimhavarman I took Badami about 642.944 Vikramaditya I’s Gadval plates claim that he defeated three Pallava kings, Narasimhavarman I, Mahendravarman II and Paramesvaravarman I, and took Kanchi. In 674 he was encamped south of the Kaveri.3631

The Pallava records say that Paramesvaravarman I put Vikramaditya to flight at Peruvalanallur and destroyed his city.12 Vikramaditya II, according to the Vakkaleri grant of his son, made a sudden raid into the Pallava country and defeated Nandipotavarman (Nandivarman II).1516 He entered Kanchi without destroying it, and gave heaps of gold to its temples.1516 (See Narasimhavarman I, Paramesvaravarman I and Nandivarman II.)

Evidence and disagreements

  • Kunala. Kielhorn’s identification of “the water of Kunala” with the Kolleru lake rests on the order of the verses.2122 He also linked it with the Kaunalaka of Samudragupta’s Allahabad inscription.2122 There it is named just before Pishtapuraka.2122
  • When Vishnuvardhana became independent. Fleet put it before 632, because a grant of Vishnuvardhana of 632 already calls him Maharaja. Hultzsch read the Kopparam plates of 631 as showing him still dependent on Pulakesin II.126 K. V. Lakshmana Rao first edited the Kopparam plates.26 He identified their great warrior with Satyasraya-Dhruvaraja-Indravarman, not with Vishnuvardhana.26
  • Accession of Vikramaditya I. Fleet placed it in the autumn of 655.11 Kielhorn, from the eclipse in the Talamanchi plates, put it between September 654 and July 655.38
  • The end. Fleet thought Kirtivarman II had lost his northern provinces before 754 and tried to recover them afterwards.18 Sewell gives 753 for the collapse of the dynasty.19
  • Alampur. None of the older reports gives the temples a dynasty. In 1886 the Kurnool manual repeated a tradition that put the temple at Alampur in the 11th century.45 The 1926-27 report of the Nizam’s Archaeological Department compared their towers with the Papanatha temple at Pattadakal but suggested no date.46 The Chalukya date rests on the inscriptions listed above.

Footnotes

  1. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 352 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 22 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 39, summarising Indian Archaeology 1976-77 and M. D. Sampath and V. S. Subrahmanyam, Epigraphia Indica XL. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. J. F. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts”, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 343 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 344 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 346 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 348 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 351 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 358 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 359 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  11. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 363 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  12. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 362 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 367 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  14. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 370 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  15. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 374 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 375 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  17. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 376 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  18. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 378 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  19. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 29 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  20. F. Kielhorn, “Aihole Inscription of Pulikesin II”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1901), p. 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  21. Kielhorn, “Aihole Inscription” (1901), p. 2 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  22. Kielhorn, “Aihole Inscription” (1901), p. 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  23. Kielhorn, “Aihole Inscription” (1901), p. 11 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  24. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 350 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  25. E. Hultzsch, “Kopparam Plates of Pulakesin II”, Epigraphia Indica XVIII (1926), p. 257 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  26. Hultzsch, “Kopparam Plates” (1926), p. 258 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  27. R. Sewell, postscript to Hultzsch, “Kopparam Plates”, Epigraphia Indica XVIII (1926), p. 261 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  28. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 345 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  29. Chetty, Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  30. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 369 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  31. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 25 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  32. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  33. D. C. Sircar, “Amudalapadu Plates of Vikramaditya I, Year 5”, Epigraphia Indica XXXII (1959), p. 175 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  34. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica I: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana (2023), p. 8. Cite-only; paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  35. E. Hultzsch, “Gadval Plates of Vikramaditya I”, Epigraphia Indica X (1910), p. 100 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  36. Hultzsch, “Gadval Plates” (1910), p. 101 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  37. E. Hultzsch, “Talamanchi Plates of Vikramaditya I”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1908), p. 99 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  38. F. Kielhorn, postscript to Hultzsch, “Talamanchi Plates”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1908), p. 102 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  39. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 40. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  40. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 44, summarising the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy for 1959-60, p. 60. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  41. Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series 3, 1961), p. 38, No. 107 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  42. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 47, reprinting G. S. Gai, “Alampur Inscription of Chalukya Vijayaditya, Saka 635 and 636”, Epigraphia Indica XXXV, pp. 121–124. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  43. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 48, reprinting Gai, Epigraphia Indica XXXV. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  44. Sewell, Historical Inscriptions (1932), p. 24 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  45. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District (1886), p. 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  46. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions, 1926-27 (1929), p. 7 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

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Pulakesin II

c. 609–642 CE

Chalukya king of Badami (609–642), the son of Kirtivarman I. His Aihole inscription of 634–35 says that he humbled the Kalingas and Kosalas, took the fortress of Pishtapura (Pithapuram), ravaged 'the water of Kunala' (taken to be the Kolleru lake) and drove the Pallava king behind the walls of Kanchi. He gave the conquered Vengi country to his younger brother Vishnuvardhana, the founder of the Eastern Chalukyas. His Kopparam plates of about 631 grant land in the Guntur country. He died when the Pallava Narasimhavarman I took Badami, probably in 642.

Vikramaditya I (Chalukya of Badami)

c. 655–680 CE

Chalukya king of Badami (about 655–680), a son of Pulakesin II. He restored the kingdom after the Pallavas took Badami, fought three Pallava kings and took Kanchi. His copper-plate grants come from the Telugu country: Amudalapadu and Gadwal in today's Telangana, the Kurnool district, Talamanchi near Nellore, and Hyderabad. His Amudalapadu plates of 660 record his initiation into the Shaiva faith. A queen of his installed a linga at Alampur.

Monuments

Alampur temples (Nava Brahma temples)

Group of early stone temples inside the old fort of Alampur on the Tungabhadra, in today's Telangana, known as the Nava Brahma or Navalingesvara temples. Inscriptions on them name queens and kings of the Chalukyas of Badami. They name a queen of Vikramaditya I (655–680), a queen of Vinayaditya, and Vijayaditya, under whom an enclosure was built in 704 and 713. The Nizam's Archaeological Department surveyed them in 1926-27 and compared their curved towers with the Papanatha temple at Pattadakal.

Inscriptions

Kopparam plates of Pulakesin II

c. 631 CE

A Sanskrit copper-plate grant of the 21st year of the Chalukya king Pulakesin II, probably 631, found near Kopparam in the Narasaraopet taluk of the Guntur district. It gives a field of 800 nivartanas in Karmarashtra to a Brahmana of Mugamur. E. Hultzsch read its 'Prithividuvaraja' as Pulakesin's brother Vishnuvardhana, still a subordinate in that year. Its first editor, K. V. Lakshmana Rao, identified him with another Chalukya prince.

Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II

634 CE

A Sanskrit poem of 37 verses by the Jaina poet Ravikirti, engraved in 634–35 on the Meguti temple at Aihole in Karnataka. It is the main account of the conquests of the Chalukya king Pulakesin II, including his eastern campaign. There he humbled the Kalingas and Kosalas, took Pishtapura (Pithapuram), and ravaged 'the water of Kunala', which Kielhorn identified with the Kolleru lake. He also defeated the Pallava king before Kanchi.

Amudalapadu plates of Vikramaditya I

660 CE

A Sanskrit copper-plate grant of the fifth year of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya I, from Amudalapadu in the Alampur taluk (now in Telangana). D. C. Sircar dated it to 30 April 660. It records the gift of a village to the king's guru Sudarsanacharya when the king was initiated into the Shaiva faith. Its letters are early Telugu-Kannada, and the editors of Epigraphia Telanganica (2023) call it the earliest Telugu inscription in Telangana.

Talamanchi plates of Vikramaditya I

660 CE

A Sanskrit copper-plate grant of the sixth year of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya I, found by a ploughman at Talamanchi in the Nellore taluk and now in the Madras Museum. It gives the village of Elasatti to the king's own teacher, Srimeghacharya. F. Kielhorn dated its solar eclipse to 13 July 660, and used it to fix Vikramaditya's accession between September 654 and July 655.

Gadval plates of Vikramaditya I

674 CE

A Sanskrit copper-plate grant of the 20th year of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya I, dated 25 April 674. It was kept at Gadwal (then in Hyderabad State, now in Telangana) and is said to have been found in the fields there. Issued from a camp at Uragapura on the south bank of the Kaveri, it names the three Pallava kings whom Vikramaditya defeated. E. Hultzsch noted two Telugu terms for measures of grain in it.

References

Sources (11)
  1. J. F. Fleet, R. G. Bhandarkar and others (Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency), Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part II: History of the Konkan, Dakhan and Southern Maratha Country (opens in a new tab), Government Central Press, Bombay, 1896, pp. 343–378. J. F. Fleet, Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts, chapter II, The Western Chalukyas of Badami. [Public domain]
  2. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VI (1900–01) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1901, pp. 1–12. F. Kielhorn, Aihole Inscription of Pulikesin II (No. 1). Pages 1, 7 and 8 read in scan in.ernet.dli.2015.56212. [Public domain]
  3. H. Krishna Sastri and Hirananda Sastri (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XVIII (1925–26) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta, 1926, pp. 257–261. E. Hultzsch, Kopparam Plates of Pulakesin II (No. 27), with a postscript by R. Sewell. [Public domain]
  4. E. Hultzsch and Sten Konow (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IX (1907–08) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1908, pp. 98–102. E. Hultzsch, Talamanchi Plates of Vikramaditya I (No. 12), with a postscript by F. Kielhorn. [Public domain]
  5. Sten Konow and V. Venkayya (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. X (1909–10) (opens in a new tab), Government Printing, India, Calcutta, 1910, pp. 100–102. E. Hultzsch, Gadval Plates of Vikramaditya I (No. 22). [Public domain]
  6. D. C. Sircar and B. Ch. Chhabra (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXII (1957–58) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1959, pp. 175–178. D. C. Sircar, Amudalapadu Plates of Vikramaditya I, Year 5 (No. 21). Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  7. Robert Sewell (ed. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar), The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (Collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History (opens in a new tab), University of Madras, 1932, pp. 22–29. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  8. Archaeological Department, H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions (G. Yazdani, Director), Annual Report of the Archaeological Department of His Exalted Highness the Nizam's Dominions, 1336 F. (1926-27) (opens in a new tab), H.E.H. the Nizam's Government, 1929, pp. 7, 12. Annual Report of the Archaeological Department, Nizam's Dominions, 1926-27: the Alampur temples. [Public domain]
  9. Dr. P. SREENIVASACHAR, M.A., Ph. D. (London) & Prof. P. B. DESAI, M.A., Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series No. 3. KANNADA INSCRIPTIONS OF ANDHRA PRADESH (opens in a new tab), 1961, pp. 38. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  10. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.); Gautam Pingle (gen. ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica, Vol. 1: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana, Dr MCR Human Resource Development Institute, Government of Telangana, 2023, pp. 8, 39–40, 44, 47–49. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  11. Narahari Gopalakristnamah Chetty, A Manual of the Kurnool District in the Presidency of Madras (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1886, pp. 20. [Public domain]

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