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Kokkili

Kokkili was an Eastern Chalukya king of Vengi who reigned for only six months, in 709 by J. F. Fleet's dating. He was the youngest son of Mangi-yuvaraja and the younger half-brother of Jayasimha II, whom he followed on the throne. His elder brother Vishnuvardhana III then drove him out. Copper plates found at Munjeru, near Bhogapuram, record grants by a Kokuli Vikramaditya-Bhattaraka, son of Mangi-Yuvaraja, and by his descendants in Kalinga. The Early History of the Deccan took this to mean that Kokkili kept a small territory around Yellamanchili.

Kokkili was a king of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty of Vengi.1 He reigned for only six months, which J. F. Fleet dated to 709.1 His short reign was the first quarrel over the throne in the dynasty.2 Copper plates found later may show that he and his descendants kept a small territory in Kalinga.23

Family

Kokkili was the youngest son of Mangi-yuvaraja.41 His mother was not the mother of his elder half-brother Jayasimha II.1 Most grants simply call him a younger brother of Jayasimha II, while four call him “the younger half-brother”.1 One grant carelessly makes him the son of Jayasimha II.1

Vishnuvardhana III was the elder brother of Kokkili.1 The grants do not say whether these two had the same mother.1 Fleet noted that Kokkili, like his father Mangi-yuvaraja, seems to be known only by the personal name given to him at birth.5

Six months on the throne

After Jayasimha II, Kokkili took the throne.1 Every grant that names him agrees that he reigned for six months.1 The Maliyapundi grant then says that “his eldest brother Vishnuvardhana (III.), having expelled him”, ruled for thirty-seven years.6 Fleet also wrote that Vishnuvardhana gained the throne “by ejecting Kokkili”.1

K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya (1960) saw this as the first dispute over the succession in the dynasty.2 In their account the younger brother seized the throne, held it for six months and then gave it up to the elder.2 They dated these events to 718–19.7

The Munjeru plates

In 1908–09 four sets of copper plates reached the epigraphy office from Munjeru, near Bhogapuram in the Bimlipatam taluk of the Visakhapatnam (then Vizagapatam) district.8 A farmer had dug them up in a pot near his house.8

Two of the sets carry seals with the words Sri-Vijayasiddhi.9 One records a grant by Kokuli Vikramaditya-Bhattaraka, the son of Mangi-Yuvaraja and grandson of Vishnuvardhana-Maharaja.9 He gave the village of Munjeru itself at an aturakala, a time of distress.9 The report guessed from this word that the king was dangerously ill, perhaps dying.9 The other set records a grant by a Mangi-Yuvaraja, the son of Kokkuli Vikramaditya-Bhattaraka.9 He gave a village to 103 Brahmins of Munjeru, at a lunar eclipse and on the building of a temple of Siva.9

The last two sets carry seals reading Sri-Anivarita.9 They are grants of Kokilivarma-Maharaja, the son of Vinayadityavarman and grandson of Mangivarman.9 One of them was issued from his residence at Elamanchi, which the report identified with Yellamanchili in the Sarvasiddhi taluk of the Visakhapatnam district.9 The villages granted lay in the Bhogapura district of Madhyama-Kalinga (Middle Kalinga).9

A branch in Kalinga?

Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya used these plates to explain what became of Kokkili.23 In their view the two brothers made an agreement.23 Kokkili was allowed to rule the country around Yellamanchili in Middle Kalinga as an appanage (a share of land given to a prince).23 His line held this district for at least four generations.3 They also noted that Kokkili took the title Vijayasiddhi during his short reign at Vengi.3

Their family table names Kokkili’s son Mangivarman II, his grandson Vinayadityavarman and his great-grandson Kokkili-varman II.7 They added that “Kokkili” was also one of the titles of the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya I.3 See Vikramaditya I.

Where the sources disagree

  • When he reigned. Fleet’s reckoning gives 709.1 The Early History of the Deccan (1960) gives 718–19.7
  • What became of him. The grants of the Vengi kings say only that Vishnuvardhana III expelled him.16 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya, reading the Munjeru plates, thought that he kept a share of the kingdom in Kalinga.23

Footnotes

  1. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 99 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. 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. 473 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya, in The Early History of the Deccan (1960), p. 474 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. J. F. Fleet, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), p. 12, list of kings (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), pp. 95–96, note 9 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. E. Hultzsch, “Maliyapundi Grant of Ammaraja II”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1907–08), p. 55, abridged translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. 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. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. H. Krishna Sastri, Annual Report on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1908–09 (1909), Part II, para. 55, p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Krishna Sastri, Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1908–09 (1909), Part II, paras. 55–56, p. 105 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

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 (4)
  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, 99. J. F. Fleet, 'The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings'. [Public domain]
  2. E. Hultzsch and Sten Konow (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. IX (1907–08) (opens in a new tab), Government of India, Calcutta, 1908, pp. 55. E. Hultzsch, Maliyapundi grant of Ammaraja II, abridged translation. [Public domain]
  3. Madras Government (Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy), Annual Reports on Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for 1906-07 to 1909-10 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1910, pp. 104–105 (report for 1908–09). Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1908–09, Part II, paras. 55–56: the Munjeru plates. [Public domain]
  4. 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. 473–474, 502. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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