Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Ballala IV (Hoysala)

Ballala IV, also called Virupaksha, was the last Hoysala king. He succeeded his father Ballala III, who was killed fighting the Sultan of Madurai on 8 September 1342, and was crowned in August 1343. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar identified him with the 'Bilal Dew' of Ferishta, who joined Krishna Naig of Warangal against the Delhi governors in 1344. The Cuddapah gazetteer says that a Hindu league including 'the Hoysala king from Mysore' drove the Muslims out of Warangal that year.

Ballala IV, also called Virupaksha, was the last king of the Hoysalas.12 He came to the throne in 1342, when the old kingdom was already breaking up.13 Historians link him with the league of 1344 that freed Warangal from the Delhi governors.34

The last Hoysala

His father, Ballala III, was killed fighting the Sultan of Madurai on 8 September 1342.1 Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1932) dated Ballala IV’s accession to the same day.1 They wrote that he carried on the struggle against the Muslims of Madurai.1 A record says that he was crowned on 11 August 1343, though its weekday is wrong.1 B. Lewis Rice wrote that the son was wearing the crown in 1343, “but the Hoysala power was at an end”.2

The league of 1344

The Persian historian Ferishta tells how the Delhi Sultanate lost Warangal.5 Krishna Naig, who lived near Warangal, went secretly to “Bilal Dew, Raja of the Carnatic”.5 He warned him that the Muslims meant to destroy the Hindus, and urged him to join forces.5 Bilal Dew raised an army and put part of it under Krishna Naig.5 With it Krishna Naig took Warangal, and its governor, Imad-ul-Mulk, fled to Daulatabad.5

Sewell and Aiyangar placed this league in 1344.3 They took Ferishta’s Bilal Dew to be Ballala IV, and Krishna Naig to be a son of the Kakatiya king Prataparudra.3 The Cuddapah gazetteer (1915) also describes a Hindu league of 1344 that drove the Muslims out of Warangal.4 It names “the Hoysala king from Mysore” among its members, without giving his name.4 See Kapaya Nayaka.

Where the sources disagree

  • Who was Bilal Dew? Sewell and Aiyangar identified him with Ballala IV.3 Ferishta’s own account lists the Raja of Dwar-Sumoodra separately, among the former tributaries who joined the league.5 Dvarasamudra, now Halebid, was the Hoysala capital.6
  • Who was Krishna Naig? Ferishta calls him the son of Luddur Dew.5 Sewell and Aiyangar called him the Kakatiya prince Krishna, son of Prataparudra II.3 The Cuddapah gazetteer lists “the son of Prataparudra” and “Krishna Nayakkar of Vijayanagar” as two different members.4

Footnotes

  1. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 188 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 108 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  3. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 189 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. C. F. Brackenbury, Madras District Gazetteers: Cuddapah (1915), p. 35 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. Muhammad Qasim Ferishta, tr. John Briggs, History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Vol. I (1829), p. 427 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  6. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (1909), p. 96 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

Dynasties

Hoysalas

c. 1173–1343 CE

The Hoysalas ruled from Dorasamudra (Halebid) in the Mysore region. They first served under the Western Chalukyas and became independent under Vishnuvardhana in the 12th century. Ballala II took Nolambavadi; his inscriptions are at Parigi (1178) and Hemavati (1205–06) in Anantapur district, and he claimed to have taken Gooty. His successors fought the Seunas, Pandyas and Telugu Chodas for the Chola country. In the later 13th century, they held the Rayachoti region. 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 (4)
  1. B. Lewis Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Archibald Constable, London, 1909, pp. 96, 108. [Public domain]
  2. 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. 188–189. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  3. Muhammad Qasim Ferishta (tr. John Briggs), History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the Year A.D. 1612, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, London, 1829, pp. 427. [Public domain]
  4. C. F. Brackenbury, Madras District Gazetteers: Cuddapah, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1915, pp. 35. [Public domain]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: