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Kalyani (Basavakalyan)

Town in the Bidar district of Karnataka, outside the Telugu country, formerly in the Nizam's Dominions. J. F. Fleet identified it with Kalyana or Kalyanapura, the capital of the Western Chalukyas from the time of Somesvara I, and of the Kalachuris after them. According to the poet Bilhana, Somesvara I 'made the town'. Fleet found no ancient remains there.

J. F. Fleet identified Kalyana, or Kalyanapura, the capital of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani, with the modern Kalyani in the Nizam’s Dominions.1 He followed an identification by Sir Walter Elliot, which he saw no grounds for questioning.1 He noted that an account of the place “shews that there are now no ancient remains at it”.1

Kalyana was made the capital by Somesvara I.12 One of his inscriptions, dated 1053, mentions it as the capital.12 It remained the capital of his successors, and of the Kalachuris after them.12 The poet Bilhana says that Somesvara I “made the town”.3 Fleet took this to mean that he either founded it or developed it into the capital.3

Fleet rejected the idea that Kalyana had been the capital of the earlier Chalukyas of Badami.12 He pointed out that the place is not mentioned in their records, or in those of the Rashtrakutas.12 In his words, “the idea in question is nothing but a pure mistake”.12 Even so, the Imperial Gazetteer of Hyderabad (1909) says that the Chalukyas who rose to power about 550 founded a kingdom “with their capital at Kalyani”.4

A Kannada inscription at Kalyani is dated 10 November 1326, in the reign of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq.5 It describes how the linga (emblem of Shiva) of Madhukesvara was installed again, and worship began again in its temple.5 The temple had been damaged in the disturbances that followed the rebellion of Bahauddin Gurshasp.5

Footnotes

  1. J. F. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts”, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 427 and note 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 428 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 440 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  4. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Hyderabad State (1909), p. 10 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  5. P. B. Desai, introduction to P. Sreenivasachar, Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series 3, 1961), p. 31, No. 79 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

Photos

Dynasties

Western Chalukyas of Kalyani

c. 973–1189 CE

A dynasty of the western Deccan that overthrew the Rashtrakutas in 973 and ruled from Kalyana (Kalyani) until about 1189. Telangana was part of their kingdom. Kannada inscriptions of their reigns run from Korapolu in the Medak district (973) to Alampur, Gangapuram, Kolanupaka and Hanamkonda, where the early Kakatiya chiefs, the Polavasa chiefs and the Kandur Chodas served them as feudatories. They fought the Cholas for Vengi for a century, and Vikramaditya VI was recognised as king there from 1118 to about 1126. After the Kalachuris took over in the 1150s, the Kakatiyas declared their own sovereignty in 1163.

People

Somesvara I

c. 1042–1068 CE

Western Chalukya king, called Trailokyamalla and Ahavamalla, who reigned from about 1042 to 1068 and made Kalyana (Kalyani) his capital. Records of his reign are found at Alampur, Bodhan and Kolanupaka in Telangana, and the early Kakatiya chiefs Beta I and Prola I served him. His wars with the Cholas reached the Vengi country. Chola inscriptions claim that his army sent to Vengi was destroyed and his sons beaten at Kudalasangamam. He drowned himself in the Tungabhadra in 1068.

Vikramaditya VI

c. 1076–1126 CE

Western Chalukya king of Kalyani, called Tribhuvanamalla. He deposed his brother Somesvara II in 1076 and reigned for fifty years, to 1126. He replaced the Saka era with his own Chalukya-Vikrama era, in which most Telangana records of the time are dated. As a prince he fought the Cholas and their Eastern Chalukya allies for Vengi. Late in his reign, after the Chola viceroy left in 1118, he was recognised as king in Vengi and the coastal Telugu country. His feudatories in Telangana included the Kakatiyas Beta II and Prola II and the Choda chiefs of Kandur.

Somesvara III

c. 1126–1138 CE

Western Chalukya king, called Bhulokamalla, who reigned from 1126 to 1138. He is credited with the encyclopaedic Sanskrit work Manasollasa. As Prince Somesvara he governed the Kollipake province from Kolanupaka in Telangana, where a pillar of 1125 celebrates his victory over the lord of Trikalinga. An inscription at Patancheru records grants made on the day of his coronation, 20 February 1127.

References

Sources (3)
  1. 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. 427–428, 440. [Public domain]
  2. Government of India, Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Hyderabad State (opens in a new tab), Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1909, pp. 10. [Public domain]
  3. Dr. P. SREENIVASACHAR, M.A., Ph. D. (London) & Prof. P. B. DESAI, M.A., Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series No. 3. KANNADA INSCRIPTIONS OF ANDHRA PRADESH (opens in a new tab), 1961, pp. 31. P. B. Desai's summary of No. 79; paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

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