Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Beta-Vijayaditya V

Beta-Vijayaditya V was the eldest son of the Eastern Chalukya king Amma I of Vengi. He was anointed as a child after his father's death in 925, in J. F. Fleet's dating, but Tadapa of a rival branch drove him out. Two grants say he reigned for a fortnight. He was called Kanthika-Beta after the necklet tied on him as heir. He did not die young: later inscriptions make him the ancestor of the Chalukya princes of Pithapuram, whose line came to hold Vengi again.

Beta-Vijayaditya V was the eldest son of Amma I, king of the Eastern Chalukya kingdom of Vengi.1 When his father died, he was anointed as heir while still a child.1 Within days Tadapa, a prince of a rival branch, drove him out.12 J. F. Fleet dated these events to 925.1 Beta matters because he did not die young: the Chalukya princes of Pithapuram traced their line to him.13

His names

Most grants call him Vijayaditya.1 Fleet took the name Beta from two later records.1 One grant says that he was “born” Beta.4 Fleet explained that Beta was his birth name, and that he took the name Vijayaditya when he received the kanthika.4

The kanthika was a necklet.5 The grants say it was tied around his neck when he was anointed as a child.1 E. Hultzsch explained that it was a sign of his anointment as heir to the throne.5 From it he was also called Kanthika-Beta.5 A grant examined in 1917 misspells his name as Beka-Vijayaditya.6

Fifteen days

The grants tell the story in different ways.1 Two of them say that the child was anointed and then driven out by Tadapa.1 Six others mention only that Tadapa drove him out.1 Another says that Tadapa attacked him and put him in prison.1 Only two grants say that he actually reigned, for a fortnight.1 The Kolavennu grant says: “His son Vijayaditya (ruled) for half a month.”7

The Pithapuram pillar inscription puts it this way: “Having expelled his son, the young Vijayaditya, whose other name was Kanthika-Beta,— Tadapa (ruled) for one month”.8 The Maliyapundi grant also speaks of Amma’s “infant son” being overcome.9 See Tadapa.

The civil war

Tadapa held the throne for a month.3 Then Amma’s uncle Vikramaditya II killed Tadapa and reigned.2109 After Vikramaditya’s death, the Maliyapundi grant says, the “kinsmen-princes who were desirous of the kingdom” fought for five years.9 It names them as Yuddhamalla, Rajamartanda and “Kanthika-Vijayaditya”.9 Hultzsch identified this Kanthika-Vijayaditya with Beta.11

The same grant says that Chalukya-Bhima II finally won.9 He killed Rajamartanda and made Kanthika-Vijayaditya and Yuddhamalla “go to a foreign country”.9

Founder of the Pithapuram line

Fleet noticed that nothing in the records shows that Beta died as a child.1 Two later inscriptions show him growing up and founding a separate line of descent.1 One is a stone inscription at Pithapuram, and the other a copper-plate grant from the Godavari district.13 Both carry the family down to the time of Vikrama-Choda, who left Vengi without a king of its own.3 At that point they bring in this new line.3

According to these records, Beta’s son was Satyasraya.312 Among Satyasraya’s descendants were Mallapadeva and his son Vijayaditya, “the king of the Vengi country”.3 Hultzsch described these descendants as the Chalukya princes of Pithapuram.12 So Beta’s line came to hold the Vengi country again.1

Where the sources disagree

  • Did he reign? Only two grants say that he reigned, for a fortnight.1 The others say only that Tadapa drove him out.1
  • What became of him. One grant says that Tadapa put him in prison.1 The Maliyapundi grant says that Chalukya-Bhima II later sent him abroad.9 Robert Sewell thought that he retired into private life.13 K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya (1960) wrote that he took refuge in the fort of Pithapuram and founded a local dynasty there.14
  • When. Fleet’s reckoning gives 925.1 The Early History of the Deccan (1960) gives 927.15

Footnotes

  1. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 267 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21

  2. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 43 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  3. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 268 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  4. J. F. Fleet, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), pp. 95–96, note 9 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  5. E. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Pillar Inscription of Mallapadeva”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1896–97), p. 227 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. Annual Report on Epigraphy, for 1916–17 (G.O. No. 1035, Home (Education), 10 August 1917), p. 117, paragraph 24 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), No. 37 (Kolavennu grant of Chalukya-Bhima II), translation, p. 46 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Pillar Inscription” (1897), p. 240, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Hultzsch, “Maliyapundi Grant of Ammaraja II” (1908), p. 55, abridged translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  10. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 269 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. E. Hultzsch, “Maliyapundi Grant of Ammaraja II”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1907–08), p. 49 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Pillar Inscription” (1897), p. 228 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Sewell and Aiyangar, Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 44 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  14. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya, “The Eastern Chalukyas”, in G. Yazdani (ed.), The Early History of the Deccan, Parts VII–XI (1960), p. 482 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  15. Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya, in The Early History of the Deccan (1960), p. 502, Appendix A, “The Eastern Chalukya Genealogy” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

Dynasties

Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi

c. 615–1077 CE

The Eastern Chalukyas were a branch of the Chalukyas of Badami. They ruled Vengi, the coastal country between the lower Godavari and Krishna, from the early 7th century. Their founder, Kubja Vishnuvardhana, was a younger brother of Pulakesin II. The kings fought the Rashtrakutas for two centuries. After about 1000 they were linked to the Cholas by marriage, and in 1070 their heir became the Chola emperor Kulottunga I. Their copper-plate grants record the length of every reign. The first Telugu literary work, Nannaya's Mahabharata, was written at their court in Rajahmundry.

References

Sources (7)
  1. R. C. Temple (ed.); article by J. F. Fleet, Indian Antiquary, Vol. XX (1891), incl. J. F. Fleet, 'The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings' (opens in a new tab), Education Society's Press, Bombay, 1891, pp. 12, 95–96, 267–268. J. F. Fleet, 'The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings'. [Public domain]
  2. F. Kielhorn (articles); E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IV (1896–97) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1897, pp. 227–228, 240. E. Hultzsch, Pithapuram pillar inscription of Mallapadeva. [Public domain]
  3. E. Hultzsch and Sten Konow (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IX (1907–08) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1908, pp. 49, 55. E. Hultzsch, Maliyapundi grant of Ammaraja II. [Public domain]
  4. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I: Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1890, pp. 46. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions I, No. 37, translation. [Public domain]
  5. Madras Government (Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy), Annual Reports on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1915-16 to 1919-20 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1920, pp. 117 (report for 1916–17). [Public domain]
  6. 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. 43–44. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  7. G. Yazdani (ed.); Part VII by K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya, The Early History of the Deccan, Parts VII-XI, Oxford University Press, London, published under the authority of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1960, pp. 482, 502. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: