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Narasimha II (Chalukya of Vemulavada)

Chalukya king of Vemulavada, a feudatory of the Rashtrakutas, who ruled from about 915 to 930. Pampa and the Vemulavada inscription of his son Arikesari II credit him with victories over the Latas, the 'Seven Malavas' and the Gurjara-Pratihara king Mahipala, and with a pillar of victory at Kalapriya. N. Venkataramanayya held that he won them as the commander of the Rashtrakuta Indra III's northern campaign of about 916.

Narasimha II was a king of the Chalukyas of Vemulavada and the father of Arikesari II, the patron of the poet Pampa.12 His family’s records and Pampa’s poem describe him as a great conqueror in northern India.12

Family

Narasimha II was the son of Yuddhamalla III.13 Pampa calls his father Dugdhamalla, which N. Venkataramanayya took to be a form of the same name.45 Narasimha II’s queen was Jakavve, called Jatavve in Rice’s edition of Pampa, and their son was Arikesari II.67

Pampa has a line saying that the infant Arikesari was cradled on Indra’s shoulder.89 From this M. Govinda Pai suggested that Jakavve was a sister of the Rashtrakuta king Indra III.89 Venkataramanayya thought this plausible but unproved.89

J. F. Fleet summed up Pampa’s family tree in 1896, using Rice’s paper of 1882, and his summary gives the patron’s parents differently.10 It calls Arikesari II “the son of this Yuddhamalla and his wife Chandrânanâ”.10 In Rice’s translation of 1898 the same verses describe Narasimha’s queen Jatavve as having “a face like the moon”.7

The northern campaign

The Vemulavada inscription says that Narasimha defeated the rulers of the Seven Malavas and made them pay tribute.2 It says that at Kalapriya, by himself, he defeated the army of the Gurjara king that came out against him, and set up a pillar of victory there.2

Pampa’s account, in Rice’s translation, says that he resolved to attack the Latas.11 He plundered the chiefs of the “Seven Malala” and put to flight the army of the “Ghurjjara-Raja”.11 Then “Mahipala fled in consternation, not stopping to eat or sleep or rest”.11 Narasimha bathed his horse where the Ganges meets the sea.11

Fleet’s version adds that Narasimha’s guru was the sage Subhadra.1012 It also says that he gave a province to one Erapa, whom Fleet thought might be the Western Ganga king Ereyappa.1012

Venkataramanayya argued that Narasimha was not an independent king, and that these victories were won in the service of his overlord.9 The Cambay plates of Govinda IV credit the same deeds to the Rashtrakuta king Indra III.9136 In them Indra’s elephants broke up the courtyard of Kalapriya and his horses crossed the Yamuna, and he laid waste the enemy city of Mahodaya (Kanauj).9136

Venkataramanayya placed all these deeds in one campaign of about 916, in which, he held, Narasimha led the Rashtrakuta armies against the Gurjara-Pratihara king Mahipala.9136 A later editor of the Maser inscription likewise wrote that Indra III’s feudatory, Narasimha II of Vemulavada, fought the Latas.14

Where was Kalapriya?

D. R. Bhandarkar edited the Cambay plates in 1903.15 He wrote that “the god Kalapriya is the same as Mahakala, whose temple at Ujjain is so widely known all over India”.15 In his view Indra stopped at Ujjain to pay homage to the god.15

Venkataramanayya disagreed, for three reasons:1617

  • Mahakala and Kalapriya are different names1617
  • Ujjain was never called Kalapriya1617
  • a temple of Kalapriya stands at Kalpi on the southern bank of the Yamuna, on the direct line of march to Kanauj1617

He took Kalpi to be the battlefield.1617 The editors of The Early History of the Deccan (1960) also preferred Kalpi.18

Dates

Venkataramanayya placed Narasimha II’s reign at about 915 to 930, from his link with Indra III (915–929).819 His son Arikesari II succeeded him about 930.6

Footnotes

  1. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 24 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 83, introduction to the Lemulavada inscription (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 93, introduction to the Parabhani plates (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  4. B. Lewis Rice (ed.), The Pampa Bharata (1898), “Analysis of the Poem”, p. 1, stanzas 30–31 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. N. Venkataramanayya, The Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 9 and note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  6. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 30 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. Rice, Pampa Bharata (1898), introduction, p. 4 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 11 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 25 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  10. J. F. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts”, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 380 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. B. Lewis Rice (ed.), The Pampa Bharata or Vikramarjuna Vijaya of Pampa (1898), introduction, p. 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  12. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 381 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. M. Venkataramayya, “Maser Inscription of a Sulki Chief”, Epigraphia Indica XXIX (1952), p. 23 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  15. D. R. Bhandarkar, “Cambay Plates of Govinda IV; Saka-Samvat 852”, Epigraphia Indica VII (1903), p. 30 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 28 and note 50 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  17. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 29, note 50 continued (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  18. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya, “The Chalukyas of Vemulavada”, appendix C to “The Eastern Chalukyas”, in G. Yazdani (ed.), The Early History of the Deccan, Parts VII–XI (1960), p. 509. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  19. Venkataramanayya, Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (1953), p. 12 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

Dynasties

Chalukyas of Vemulavada

c. 750–973 CE

A family of Chalukya chiefs who ruled the Sabbi country of northern Telangana, today's Karimnagar district, from their capital Vemulavada (Lembulavataka). They were feudatories of the Rashtrakutas from about 750 to about 970. Their records begin with Vinayaditya-Yuddhamalla, who is said to have bathed his elephants in oil at Podana (Bodhan). Arikesari II (about 930–955) was the patron of the Kannada poet Pampa, and Somadeva Suri wrote his Yasastilaka in 959 in the town of Arikesari's son. Their rule ended when the Chalukyas of Kalyani took Telangana before 973.

References

Sources (6)
  1. N. Venkataramanayya, The Chalukyas of L(V)emulavada (opens in a new tab), The Archaeological Department, Government of Hyderabad (printed at the G. S. Press, Madras), 1953, pp. 9, 11–12, 24–30, 83, 93. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  2. B. Lewis Rice (ed.), The Pampa Bharata or Vikramarjuna Vijaya of Pampa: An Ancient Jaina Poem of 941 A.D. (Bibliotheca Carnatica) (opens in a new tab), Mysore Government Central Press, Bangalore, 1898, pp. 3–4; Analysis p. 1. [Public domain]
  3. J. F. Fleet, R. G. Bhandarkar and others (Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency), Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part II: History of the Konkan, Dakhan and Southern Maratha Country (opens in a new tab), Government Central Press, Bombay, 1896, pp. 380–381. J. F. Fleet, Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts. [Public domain]
  4. E. Hultzsch (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. VII (1902–03), with Kielhorn's List of Inscriptions of Southern India (opens in a new tab), Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta (scan of the ASI 1981 facsimile reprint), 1903, pp. 30. D. R. Bhandarkar, Cambay Plates of Govinda IV. [Public domain]
  5. B. Ch. Chhabra (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXIX (1951–52) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1952, pp. 23. M. Venkataramayya, Maser inscription of a Sulki chief. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  6. 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. 508–510. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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