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Ballala II (Hoysala)

Hoysala king, crowned at Dorasamudra on 22 July 1173, who defeated the Seuna army at Soratur, took the Pandya fortress of Uchchangi and pushed his frontier to the Bhima river. He took Nolambavadi: his records in the Anantapur country are at Parigi (Saka 1100, 1178) and Hemavati (1205–06), and an inscription at Harihar claims that he took Gooty. B. Lewis Rice dates his reign 1173–1220.

Ballala II was a king of the Hoysalas of Dorasamudra from 1173 to 1220.12 B. Lewis Rice (1909) wrote that his reign “vied in glory” with that of his grandfather Vishnuvardhana.1 His inscriptions are found in the Anantapur country.34

His wars

Ballala II was crowned at Dorasamudra on 22 July 1173.1 Early in his reign he took Uchchangi, the fortress of the Pandyas of that place.1 When the Pandya king Kama-Deva threw himself on his mercy, Ballala gave him back his kingdom.1 This was before 1177.1

His great victory was at Soratur, near Gadag, over the Seuna army.5 He chased the defeated army to the Krishna.5 By 1190 he had taken a number of forts north of the Mysore country, and his frontier reached the Bhima.5

In the Anantapur country

The Bellary gazetteer of 1904 wrote that Ballala II took Nolambavadi.3 His records in the Anantapur district show his rule there.46

  • At Parigi, in the Hindupur taluk, an inscription of Saka 1100 (1178; Saka is an Indian way of counting years) shows him ruling at Dorasamudra with his queen Santaladevi.4 It records the gift of a bell and of land to the Bhimesvara temple.4 Sewell and Aiyangar (1932) cited it to show him supreme in the Anantapur district.7
  • At Hemavati, in the Madakasira taluk, an inscription of his of 1205–06 records a gift to the Nolambesvara temple.68
  • An inscription at Harihar, in Mysore territory, claims that he took Gooty.6

The end of the reign

In 1220 Ballala placed his son Narasimha II on the throne and died.2 Rice records that a prince named Lakshma and a thousand sworn followers took their own lives at his death.2

Where the sources disagree

Rice dates the reign from 1173 to 1220.12 The Anantapur gazetteer of 1905 gives “1191 to about 1212”.6

Footnotes

  1. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 102 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Bellary (1904), p. 31 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 16, Anantapur No. 97 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 103 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Anantapur (1905), p. 16 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  8. Francis, Anantapur (1905), p. 180 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Hoysalas

c. 1173–1343 CE

Dynasty of Dorasamudra (Halebid) in the Mysore country, at first vassals of the Western Chalukyas and independent from the time of Vishnuvardhana in the 12th century. Ballala II took Nolambavadi; his inscriptions are at Parigi (1178) and Hemavati (1205–06) in the Anantapur district, and he claimed Gooty. His successors fought the Seunas, the Pandyas and the Telugu Chodas for the Chola country, and in the later 13th century held the Rayachoti country. Ballala III lost Dorasamudra to Malik Kafur in 1311 but still ruled parts of Anantapur to 1340; a Kakatiya general defeated him at Kanchi. He was killed fighting the Sultan of Madurai in 1342.

References

Sources (5)
  1. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Archibald Constable, London, 1909, pp. 102–104. [Public domain]
  2. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Anantapur (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras (Addison & Co.), 1905, pp. 16, 180. [Public domain]
  3. W. Francis, Madras District Gazetteers: Bellary (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1904, pp. 31. [Public domain]
  4. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 16, 22. [Public domain]
  5. 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. 120. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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