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Vijayaditya IV (Kollabhiganda)

Vijayaditya IV, called Kollabhiganda, was an Eastern Chalukya king of Vengi and the eldest son of Chalukya-Bhima I. He reigned for only six months, in 918 by J. F. Fleet's dating. The grants say he ruled Vengi with the forests of the three Kalingas and set up a pillar of victory. Later grants add that he won a battle at Virajapuri and died there or soon after. His death began nine years of civil war in Vengi. His sons Amma I and Chalukya-Bhima II both became kings.

Vijayaditya IV, called Kollabhiganda, was a king of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty of Vengi.1 He was the eldest son of Chalukya-Bhima I and reigned for only six months.12 J. F. Fleet dated this short reign to 918.1 In that time he led his army into Kalinga, won a battle at a place called Virajapuri and died there or soon after.34 His death began a long fight for the throne.4

Names

His grants call him Vijayaditya, Kollabiganda-Vijayaditya or Kollabhiganda-Vijayaditya.1 One record calls him simply Kollabiganda, and also Kollabigandabhaskara.1 Another gives him the title Kaliyarttyanka.1 Fleet thought an unpublished inscription gave yet another form of this title.2

Family

Fleet calls him the eldest son of Chalukya-Bhima I.1 K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya (1960) call him the eldest of the surviving sons.3 They tell how his brother Irimartiganda, the heir, had died earlier fighting a Rashtrakuta army.3 Another brother, Vikramaditya II, later ruled Vengi for eleven months.5

Melamba was his queen, and two grants name her.2 The Pithapuram pillar says that his two sons were Amma and Rajabhima.6 Amma I ruled after him for seven years.6 Rajabhima became king later as Chalukya-Bhima II.6

War in Kalinga

The grants give only a few lines about his reign.2 One says that he ruled the Vengi country “together with the forests of Trikalinga”, the three Kalingas.2 Another says that he conquered the rulers of Kalinga.2 The Pithapuram pillar inscription calls him “the renowned (and) unequalled hero Vijayaditya, who granted gold in profusion”.6 It says he “established a pillar of victory and ruled the earth for half a year”.6

Later grants say more. The Nanduru plates were examined in 1917 as copper-plate No. 23 of that year.7 They say that he died in a battle at Virajapuri.89 Plates of the later king Saktivarman I, examined the next year, say that a son of Chalukya-Bhima I planted a pillar of victory at Viraja.9 The epigraphist thought this referred to Kollabhiganda.9

B. V. Krishna Rao edited the Nanduru plates in 1952.10 He read them as saying that Vijayaditya IV won a decisive victory at Virajapuri, took the city and “went to heaven”.10 He took this to mean that the king died soon after the battle.10 He identified Virajapuri with Jajpur, the chief town of the Jajpur tahsil of the Cuttack district in Odisha (then Orissa), on the Vaitarani river.10

Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya also placed the war in Kalinga.3 They thought the Eastern Gangas, under their king Vajrahasta III, had probably stopped accepting Chalukya rule.3 Vijayaditya defeated the enemy near the city of Viraja, they wrote, but died in the battle or just after it.34 So the victory turned into a disaster.3 His army came home without its leader, and the nobles hurried back to take part in the coming war of succession.4

A follower

One grant names a follower of his, Bhandanaditya, also called Kuntaditya, of the Pattavardhini family.211 His ancestor Kalakampa had served Kubja Vishnuvardhana, the founder of the dynasty.2 Amma I later gave Bhandanaditya a village.11

After his death

Within about a dozen years after his death, Vengi passed through the hands of six kings.4 His son Amma I first had to fight relatives who, in E. Hultzsch’s view, had joined the Rashtrakutas.11 In the two years after Amma died, five rulers followed one another on the throne.12 See Amma I and Beta-Vijayaditya V.

Where the sources disagree

  • When. Fleet’s reckoning gives 918.1 The Early History of the Deccan (1960) gives 921.313
  • How he died. The 1917 epigraphy report understood the Nanduru plates to say that he died in the battle at Virajapuri.8 B. V. Krishna Rao (1952) thought he died soon after it.10 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya left both open.34
  • Whom he fought. Writing in 1928, Krishna Rao thought the enemy was the Rashtrakuta army and that Virajapuri lay on the border of Vengi or in Rashtrakuta country.14 He later identified Virajapuri with Jajpur in Odisha.10 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya thought the enemy was probably the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga.3

Footnotes

  1. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 103 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. 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. 481 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  4. Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya, in The Early History of the Deccan (1960), p. 482 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

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

  6. E. Hultzsch, “Pithapuram Pillar Inscription of Mallapadeva”, Epigraphia Indica IV (1896–97), p. 240, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. B. V. Krishna Rao, “Nanduru Plates of Velananti Rajendra-Choda: Saka 1091”, Epigraphia Indica XXIX (1951–52), p. 225 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  8. Annual Report on Epigraphy, for 1916–17 (G.O. No. 1035, Home (Education), 10 August 1917), p. 118, paragraph 26 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Annual Report on Epigraphy, for 1917–18 (G.O. No. 1172, Home (Education), 6 September 1918), p. 132, paragraph 5 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  10. Krishna Rao, “Nanduru Plates of Velananti Rajendra-Choda” (1952), p. 227 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  11. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), No. 36, p. 38 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. 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)). ↩

  13. 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. ↩

  14. Bhavaraju V. Krishna Rao, “History of Rajahmundry”, Quarterly Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society III, pts. 2–4 (1928–29), p. 156 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

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, 103–104. 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. 240. E. Hultzsch, Pithapuram pillar inscription of Mallapadeva, translation. [Public domain]
  3. 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. 118 (report for 1916–17); 132 (report for 1917–18). Nanduru plates (No. 23 of 1916–17) and Saktivarman's plates (No. 15 of 1917–18). [Public domain]
  4. B. Ch. Chhabra (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXIX (1951–52) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1952, pp. 225, 227. B. V. Krishna Rao, Nanduru plates of Velananti Rajendra-Choda; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  5. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I: Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1890, pp. 38. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions I, No. 36. [Public domain]
  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. 481–482, 502. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  7. Bhavaraju V. Krishna Rao (article); Andhra Historical Research Society, The Quarterly Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. III, pts. 2-4 (Oct. 1928, Jan. and Apr. 1929), incl. Bhavaraju V. Krishna Rao, 'History of Rajahmundry' (pp. 135-170) (opens in a new tab), Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, 1928, pp. 156. Bhavaraju V. Krishna Rao, 'History of Rajahmundry' (1928). [Public domain]

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