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Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Virarajendra (Chola)

Chola king from 1062–63 to 1070, probably a younger son of Rajendra I, whose inscriptions give the fullest Chola account of the struggle with the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani for Vengi. He defeated armies sent into Vengi, and in his fifth year his army beat the enemy at Bezwada on the Krishna, marched to the Godavari and through Kalinga, and gave Vengi to a Vijayaditya, whom Hultzsch identified with the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII. A record of his seventh year, Saka 991, is in the Chittoor district.

Virarajendra was the Chola king between Rajendradeva and Kulottunga I.1 F. Kielhorn placed the start of his reign between September 1062 and September 1063.1 His inscriptions tell of the long fight with the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani for Vengi.23 See the Cholas of Tanjore.

Family

E. Hultzsch concluded in 1903 that Virarajendra and his elder brothers Rajendradeva and Rajadhiraja I “seem to have been the sons of Rajendra-Chola I.”.4 He added that he did not consider this “absolutely final”, because the South Indian languages use words of relationship loosely.4 His pedigree therefore shows Virarajendra as a son of Rajendra I, with a son Adhirajendra and a daughter who married the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI.5 See Vikramaditya VI.

The war for Vengi

Hultzsch summed up the earliest long record of Virarajendra’s reign, of his second year.2 It tells of three battles with the Chalukyas.2 In one of them, “an army which he had sent into Vengai-nadu was defeated”.2 An inscription of his fourth year says he destroyed another army sent into Vengai-nadu.6 It also claims that he cut off the head of “the king of Pottappi”.6 Hultzsch took Pottappi-nadu to be the Telugu name of the Kalahasti country.7

The Manimangalam inscription of his fifth year describes a new campaign.3 In Hultzsch’s words, “His army defeated the enemy ‘on the great river close to Visaiyavadai,’ i.e. at Bezvada on the Krishna, proceeded to the Godavari, and passed Kalinga and Chakra-kotta.”3 The king then “re-conquered the good country of Vengai and bestowed (it) on Vijayadityan”.8 See Bezwada (Vijayawada).

Vijayaditya

Which Vijayaditya received Vengi was long debated.39 In 1903 Hultzsch identified him with the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII.9 It looked to him “as if the rightful heir Kulottunga I. had been ousted by the latter with the assistance of Virarajendra I.”.9 K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer (1933–34) thought Virarajendra gave Vengi to Vijayaditya about 1065.10 See Kulottunga I, the heir passed over.

S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1911) explained the policy: “The Telugu country safe on his side, the Chalukya advance in the south would be impossible.”11 Robert Sewell doubted that Vengi was really captured.12 He noted that an inscription at Kolanupaka of 1067 still names the Western Chalukya Somesvara I as its king.12

In the Chittoor country

A Tamil record of Virarajendra, on four loose stones in front of a temple, is listed under the Chittoor district.13 It is dated in his seventh year and in Saka 991 (Saka is an Indian way of counting years).13 V. Rangacharya noted that it shows Virarajendra came to the throne in 1063–64.13

Where the sources disagree

  • Which Vijayaditya. Hultzsch first took him for the Eastern Chalukya Vijayaditya VII.3 In 1899 he followed V. Venkayya in naming the Western Chalukya prince Vishnuvardhana-Vijayaditya.3 In 1903 he returned to Vijayaditya VII.9
  • Whether Vengi was taken. Virarajendra’s inscriptions claim it.8 Sewell doubted it.12

Footnotes

  1. F. Kielhorn, “Dates of Chola Kings”, Epigraphia Indica IX (1907–08), p. 218 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  2. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 193 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. I (1899), p. 65, introduction to No. 30 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 195 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  5. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 196, “Pedigree of the Chola Dynasty” (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  6. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. I (1899), p. 37, translation of No. 20 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  7. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, pt. I (1899), p. 33, note (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  8. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. I (1899), p. 70, translation of No. 30 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  9. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pt. II (1903), p. 128 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  10. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “The Smaller Leiden Plates (of Kulottunga I)”, Epigraphia Indica XXII (1933–34, publ. 1938), pp. 270–272 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  11. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Ancient India (1911), p. 120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  12. Robert Sewell and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 81 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1919), p. 508, Chittoor No. 288 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

Dynasties

Cholas of Tanjore

c. 985–1268 CE

The imperial Chola dynasty of Tanjore (Thanjavur) and Gangaikondacholapuram in the Tamil country, overlords of much of the Telugu country from about 1000 to the 12th century. Rajaraja I restored the Eastern Chalukya Saktivarman I in Vengi about 999 and married his daughter to Saktivarman's brother Vimaladitya. Rajendra I waited on the Godavari while his general marched to the Ganges, and Virarajendra fought the Western Chalukyas at Bezwada. In 1070 the Eastern Chalukya heir became the Chola emperor Kulottunga I, whose sons governed Vengi until 1118. After a Western Chalukya occupation, Vikrama-Chola recovered the coast, but by the mid-12th century Chola rule north of the Krishna was nominal. In the south, the Telugu Choda chiefs of Nellore and Pottappi acknowledged the Chola king until the dynasty ended in the 1260s.

References

Sources (7)
  1. E. Hultzsch (ed. and tr.); introduction to the volume by H. Krishna Sastri (1929), South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. III, Parts I and II: Miscellaneous Inscriptions from the Tamil Country (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras (scan of the Archaeological Survey of India facsimile reprint, 1987), 1903, pp. 32–33, 37, 65, 69–70, 128, 193–196. E. Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions III, pts. I and II. [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. 218. [Public domain]
  3. V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency (collected till 1915), with Notes and References, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1919, pp. 508. [Public domain]
  4. N. P. Chakravarti (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXII (1933–34) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1938, pp. 142, 270–272. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  5. F. R. Hemingway, Madras District Gazetteers: Godavari, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1907, pp. 21. [Public domain]
  6. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Ancient India (opens in a new tab), Luzac & Co., London; S.P.C.K. Depository, Madras, 1911, pp. 120. [Public domain]
  7. 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. 81. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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