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Vikramaditya II (Eastern Chalukya)

Vikramaditya II was a son of the Eastern Chalukya king Chalukya-Bhima I and a younger brother of Vijayaditya IV. In the civil war after Amma I's death he defeated and killed Tadapa, who had seized the throne of Vengi. He then ruled for eleven months, 925–926 in J. F. Fleet's dating, though some grants say one year. One grant says he ruled Vengi together with Trikalinga. Bhima, a younger son of Amma I, overthrew him. He is a different king from the Telugu Chola Vikramaditya II.

Vikramaditya II was a king of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty of Vengi, in the years of civil war after 925.12 He was a son of Chalukya-Bhima I and a younger brother of Vijayaditya IV.1 He took the throne by defeating Tadapa and ruled for less than a year.1 He should not be confused with the Telugu Chola king Vikramaditya II.

Family

Chalukya-Bhima I’s eldest son, Vijayaditya IV, reigned first, for six months.3 Vijayaditya’s son Amma I then ruled for seven years.4 So Vikramaditya was the uncle of Amma I.2 E. Hultzsch, describing the Kolavennu grant, called him “the younger son of Chalukya-Bhima I”.5

A long wait for the throne

According to K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and N. Venkataramanayya (1960), Vikramaditya had tried to reach the throne for eight years before he won it.6 They wrote that he rebelled against his nephew Amma I and challenged his right to rule.6 In their account, Amma’s feudatory relatives then deserted him and asked the Rashtrakuta king Indra III for help.6

Taking the throne

After Amma I died in 925, his young son Beta-Vijayaditya V was driven out by Tadapa of the junior branch.78 Tadapa held the throne for a month.8 Every grant that names Vikramaditya agrees that he won the throne by conquering Tadapa.1 One grant adds that he killed him.1

The Maliyapundi grant tells the story in a verse.9 It says that Vikramaditya, “of very fierce power”, slew “this Tala-raja together with crowds of different vassals”.9 These vassals had a large army and “troops of furious elephants”.9 Robert Sewell called it an assassination.2

His reign

The grants differ on how long he reigned:1

  • one says nine months1
  • most say eleven months1
  • three say one year1

Fleet followed the majority and gave him eleven months, 925–926.1 The Pithapuram pillar inscription also says eleven months.4 A grant from the Nandigama taluk, examined in 1917, gives him one year.10

The Kolavennu grant of his nephew Chalukya-Bhima II says that he “ruled for (one) year over the country of Vengi together with Trikalinga”.11 Trikalinga means the three Kalingas.12 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya wrote that he won back Trikalinga, which had been lost after Chalukya-Bhima I’s death.13

His fall

Bhima, a younger son of Amma I, overthrew him.1 Fleet found only one grant that names this Bhima.1 It says that Bhima conquered Vikramaditya II in war and then reigned for eight months.1 Sewell also wrote that a civil war followed, and that Bhima defeated and dispossessed Vikramaditya.214 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya wrote that Bhima had Vikramaditya assassinated, and that only the Digumarru grant mentions this.13 See Bhima III.

Most later grants leave Bhima out.1 The Maliyapundi grant says that after Vikramaditya’s death, several “kinsmen-princes who were desirous of the kingdom” fought each other for five years.9

Where the sources disagree

  • Length of reign. Nine months, eleven months or one year, in different grants.110
  • How Tadapa died. One grant and the Maliyapundi grant say that Vikramaditya killed him.19 Sewell wrote of an assassination.2
  • How Vikramaditya fell. Fleet’s grant says that Bhima conquered him in war.1 Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya say that Bhima had him assassinated.13
  • When. Fleet’s reckoning gives 925–926.1 The Early History of the Deccan (1960) gives 927.15

Footnotes

  1. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 269 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18

  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 ↩4 ↩5

  3. J. F. Fleet, “The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings”, Indian Antiquary XX (1891), p. 103 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

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

  5. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), No. 37 (Kolavennu grant of Chalukya-Bhima II), p. 44 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. 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. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 267 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

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

  9. E. Hultzsch, “Maliyapundi Grant of Ammaraja II”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1907–08), p. 55, abridged translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. 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)). ↩ ↩2

  11. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I (1890), No. 37, translation, p. 46 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Fleet, “Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings” (1891), p. 104 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  13. Nilakanta Sastri and Venkataramanayya, in The Early History of the Deccan (1960), p. 483 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

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

  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. 103–104, 267–269. J. F. Fleet, 'The Chronology of the Eastern Chalukya Kings'. [Public domain]
  2. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I: Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1890, pp. 44, 46. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions I, No. 37 (Kolavennu grant). [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. 55. E. Hultzsch, Maliyapundi grant of Ammaraja II, abridged translation. [Public domain]
  4. 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]
  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); 132 (report for 1917–18). [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. 482–483, 502. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]

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