Bhima III (Kona)

Bhima III was a chief of the Haihayas of Kona, who ruled Konamandala, the Godavari delta.¹ He shared power with his cousin Lokamahipala in the mid-12th century, and his dated records run from 1153 to 1168.¹² In his time the stronger Velanati rulers of the Krishna delta brought the Kona country firmly under their control.³

Family

Bhima III was a son of Satya I, and his elder brother was Rajaparendu II.⁴ His cousin Lokamahipala was a son of Mummadi-Bhima II.⁴ The Pithapuram inscription of 1195 says that the two cousins followed their fathers as joint rulers.¹ V. Yashoda Devi, in a thesis printed in 1993, noted that Bhima’s elder brother was passed over.⁵ She dated the joint rule of the two cousins from 1150 to 1168.⁵

Records

An inscription at Draksharama names the mahamandalesvara (great provincial lord) Bhimaraja, son of Kona-Satyaraja.¹ It is dated in Saka 1075, about 1153, and in the 9th year of a king Rajarajadeva (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).¹ E. Hultzsch concluded that Bhima III was a vassal of that king.¹

The Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1932–33 added a Draksharama record of Saka 1090, about 1168.² In it a servant of Kona Bhimaraja made a gift to the temple.² The report identified him as Bhima III.² Yashoda Devi took 1168 as the year of his death.⁵⁶

War with Velanadu

Yashoda Devi thought that the two cousins tried to enlarge their small kingdom and to throw off the rule of the Velanati Chodas.⁵ In her account, Lokamahipala moved against Velanadu after the death of Gonka II.³ Rajendra Choda II then sent an army into the Kona country under Devanapregadda, in 1164 and again in 1165.³ Konamandala was beaten, and its chiefs again obeyed Velanadu.³

She added that Lokamahipala rose again about 1175.³ A subordinate of Rajendra Choda II named Prolayanayaka claimed to have killed a Kona Loka, whom she took to be Lokamahipala.³

Successor

After Bhima III died, Vallabha, the son of his elder brother Rajaparendu II, took his place.⁴⁷ See Mallideva, who later ruled with Vallabha.

Where the sources disagree

• Who was the king Rajaraja? Hultzsch made Bhima III a vassal of the same Rajaraja as the Velanati Prithvisvara, and described that king as a descendant of the Eastern Chalukyas.¹ Yashoda Devi took the Rajaraja of the records of 1150–1153 to be the Chola emperor Rajaraja II.⁶
• Who followed the cousins? The Pithapuram inscription, as Hultzsch read it, says that Lokamahipala and Bhima III were followed by Mallideva and Vallabha.¹ Yashoda Devi wrote that Vallabha took Bhima’s place in 1168 beside Lokamahipala, and that Mallideva joined him only after Lokamahipala’s death in 1175.⁷

Footnotes

1. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Inscription of Mallideva” (1897), p. 86 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. Annual Report on South-Indian Epigraphy for 1932–33 (1936), Part II, para. 10, p. 57 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 85 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. E. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Inscription of Mallideva and Manma-Satya II; Saka-Samvat 1117”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1897), p. 85, table “The Chiefs of Konamandala” (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. V. Yashoda Devi, The History of Andhra Country, 1000 A.D.–1500 A.D. (1993), p. 83 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 84 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²

7. Yashoda Devi, History of Andhra Country (1993), p. 86 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²