The Western Chalukyas of Badami

As we have discussed earlier, in northern Maharashtra and Vidarbha (Berar), the Satavahanas were
succeeded by the Vakatakas. The Vakatakas were followed by the Chalukyas of Badami, who played a
prominent role in the history of Deccan and south India for about two hundred years from the beginning
of the 6th century CE. The Chalukyas were a maritime power and they set up their kingdom in western
Deccan with capital at Vatapi (modern Badami in Karnataka). Along with the Chalukyas of Badami (who
are primarily called the Western Chalukyas), there were two other branches of the lineage who ruled
independently – the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi and the Chalukyas of Lata.

The Western Chalukyas, in order to acpuire legitimacy and respectability, claimed Brahmanical origin
as Haritiputras of the Manavaya gotra. The founder king of this dynasty was Pulakeshin I, who
established the independent power of this dynasty.

 Pulkeshin I (c. 535 – 566 CE)

 Founded the kingdom with capital at Vatapi (Badami, Karnataka).
 Performed a number of shrauta sacrifices such as ashavmedha.
 Kirtivarman I (c. 566 – 598 CE)
 Pulkeshin I’s son, who further enlarged the kingdom and defeated the Kadambas of
Banavasi (near Mysore), the Mauryas of the Konkan, and the Nalas of the Bastar area.
 Mangalesha (c. 598 – 609 CE)
 After Kirtivarman I’s death, a war of succession broke out between his brother
Mangalesha and nephew Pulakeshin II, in which Pulkeshin II emergd triumphant.
 Pulkeshin II (c. 610 – 642 CE)
 The most powerful and famous king of this dynasty, who achieved many military
successes, His eulogy was written by his court poet Ravikirti in the Aihole Inscription,
which describes his victories against the Kadambas of Banavasi, Alupas and Gangas of
Mysore. He also led expeditions against eastern Deccan Kingdoms, south Kosala and
Kalinga.
 Contemporary of Harsha Vardhana and defeated him on the banks of river Narmada.
He thus acquired the title of dakshinapatheshvara (lord of the south).
 Sent an embassy to Persian king Khusro II (the reception of this embassy is depicted in
the Ajanta Caves).
 Hsuan Tsang visited his kingdom and he describes that even though Pulkeshin II was
Hindu, he was tolerant towards Buddhism and Jainism.
 He had conflicts with the Pallavas of Kanchi and annexed the region between Krishna
and Godavari (popularly known as Vengi) from the Pallavas and placed it under his
brother Vishnuvardhana (Chalukyas of Vengi / Eastern Chalukyas). Thus the first
expedition against the Pallavas, who were at the time ruled by Mahendravarman I, was
a complete success. However, the second expedition against the Pallavas proved to be
a complete failure as King Narsimhavarman of the Pallava dynasty killed Pulkeshin II and
adopted the epithet of Vatapikonda.
  The Badami Chalukya dynasty went into a brief decline following the death of
Pulakeshin II due to internal feuds. Badami was occupied by the Pallavas for a period of
13 years. It marked the beginning of a long-drawn political struggle between the
Pallavas and Chalukyas, that continued with ups and down for more than a hundred
years.
 Vikramaditya I (c. 655 – 680 CE)
 Succeeded in pushing the Pallavas out of Badami and re-established authority over
whole kingdom. He not only defeated successive Pallava rulers but also captured their
capital Kanchi.
 Vikramaditya I took the title ‘Rajamalla’ (meaning ‘the Sovereign of the Mallas’ or
Pallavas).
 Also defeated the Cheras, Cholas ad Pandyas.
 Vinayaditya I (c. 680 – 696 CE)
 Vijayaditya (c. 696 – 733 CE)
 His 37 year rule was a prosperous one and is widely known for his prolific temple
building activity.
 Vikramaditya II (c. 733 – 743 CE)
 The Vatapi dynasty was at its peak again during the rule of the illustrious Vikramaditya
II, who is known for his repeated invasions of the territory of Tondaimandalam and his
subsequent victories over Pallava King Nandivarman II. He thus avenged the earlier
humiliation of the Chalukyas by the Pallavas and engraved a Kannada inscription on the
victory pillar of the Kailasanath Temple.
 He is also known for benevolence towards the people and the monuments of
Kanchipuram, the Pallava capital.
 During his reign, Arab intruders of the Umayyad Caliphate invaded southern Gujarat,
which was under Chalukya rule, but the Arabs were defeated and driven out by Pulakesi,
a Chalukya governor of Navsari.
 He later also overran the other traditionnal kingdoms of Tamil country, the Pandyas, the
Cholas and the Cheras, in addition to subduring a Kalabhra ruler.
 Kirtivarman II (c. 743 – 757 CE)
 Last ruler of this dynasty who was defeated by the Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga. Thus,
Chalukyan rule came to an end in about 757 CE and one of the feudatories, the
Rashtrakutas came into prominence.

Culturally, Chalukyan period is noted for the growth of art and architecture in Deccan. Their style of
architecture is called ‘Chalukyan architecture’. They developed Deccan or Vesara style of temple-
building, which reached its culmination under the Rashtrakutas and the Hoyasalas (13th century). Nearly
a hundred monuments built by them, rock-cut (cave) and structural, are found in the Malaprabha river
basin in modern Bagalkot district of northern Karnataka. They mostly used locally found reddish-golden
sandstone in their monuments. Most of the Chalukyan temple-building activity were concentrated in a
relatively small area of Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta in modern Karnataka state. Their
temple building activity can be categorised primarily into three phases:
The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
In the second half of the 8th century, the Eastern Chalukyas established themselves in Vengi in Andhra
Pradesh. As we have discussed earlier, Pulakesin II (c. 610-642 CE) conquered the Vengi region in
eastern Deccan and in 624 CE appointed his brother Vishnuvardhana as the governor of this newly
acquired territory. Probably after the death of Pulkeshin II, Vishnuvardhana declared independence and
thus the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi came into prominence. Initially, the capital of the Eastern
Chalukyas was Vengi (near modern Eluru) but later it was moved to Rajamahendravaram (modern
Rajamundry). Throughout their history, the Easter Chalukyas were the cause of many wars between the
more powerful Cholas and Western Chalukyas since they controlled the strategic Vengi country. The
five centuries of the Eastern Chalukya rule of Vengi saw not only the consolidation of this region into a
unified whole, but also saw the efflorescence of Telugu culture, literature, poetry, and art during the
later half of their rule. They continued ruling the region as feudatories of the Cholas until 1189 CE.
Their kingdom ultimately succumbed to the Hoysalas and the Yadavas.

 Vishnuvardhana (around c. 624 CE)

 Vijayaditya II (c. 808 – 847 CE)
 One of the most important ruler of this dynasty, who led successful military expeditions
against the Rashtrakutas, the Gangas, and also led campaigns into Gujarat. Even the
Rashtrakuta inscriptions acknowledge their defeat at the hands of Vijayaditya and they
admit that the glory of their kingdom was ‘drowned in the ocean of the Chalukyas’.
 Vijayaditya III (c. 848 – 892 CE)
 Another important ruler of this dynasty, who claimed to have won over not only the
Pallavas, the Pandyas, the Gangas, the Rashtrakutas, the Kalachuris, and South Kosala,
but also gave shelter to a Chola king.
 Bhima I (c. 892 – 922 CE)
 He was captured by the Rashtrakuta king but was later released.
 Vijayaditya IV (around c. 922 CE, for a period of six months)
 From his reign, many succession disputes erupted in which the Rashtrakutas openly
interfered and backed one or the other contenders. The later rulers thus had very short
reigns, from six months to a mere fortnight too.
 Some political stability was restored during the reigns of Bhima II and Amma II, but it did
not last for a long time and subsequently in 999 CE, the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi were
conquered by the Chola king Rajaraja.

Far South
The political history of the far south during this period was dominated by two prominent kingdoms,
the Pallavas of Kanchi and the Pandyas of Madurai.

The Pallavas of Kanchi

 On the ruins of the Satavahanas, in the eastern part of the peninsula (specially in the Krishna-Guntur
region), arose the Ikshvakus. They were probably a local tribe who adopted the exalted name of the
Ikshavakus to demonstrate the antiquity of their lineage. Many monuments and copper plate
inscriptions at Nagarjunakonda and Dharanikota belonged to them. The Ikshvakus were supplanted by
the Pallavas. The term Pallava means ‘creeper’, which is a Sanskrit version of the word tondi and in
Tamil they are synonymous to robber. So, the Pallavas were probably a pastoral local tribe who
established their authority in the land of creepers called Tondaimandalam (the land between the north
Penner and north Vellar rivers), mostly comprising of southern Andhra Pradesh and northern Tamil
Nadu with their capital at Kanchi. Kanchi (modern Kanchipuram) under them became an important
temple town and a centre of trade and commerce.

Some inscriptions refer to early kings of this dynasty such as Shivaskandavarman, who probably ruled
in the early 4th century CE. But in the last quarter of the 6th century, the ruler who played a crucial role
in the Pallavas’ rise to power was Simhavishnu.

 Simhavishnu
 He supposedly defeated the Ikshvakus and laid a firm foundation for the Pallava empire.
 Putting an end to the political disturbances caused by the Kalabhras, he conquered the
land up to the Kaveri and set up capital at Kanchi (south of Chennai).
 Bore the title of “Avanisimha” (Lion of the Earth)
 Mahendravarman I (c. 590 – 630 CE)
 During his reign, conflict between the Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas heightened
and he was defeated by Pulekshin II at Pullalur (near Kanchi) who annexed the northern
part of the Pallava kingdom.
 Was a great patron of arts, was himself a poet and musician. He wrote the Mattavilasa
Prahasanna and initiated the construction of the famous cave temple at
Mahabalipuram.
 Was earlier a Jaina but later took up Shaivism under the influence of Appar.
 Narasimhavarman I / Mahamalla (c. 630 -668 CE)
 Avenged his father’s defeat and not only defeated Pulkeshin II but also invaded the
Western Chalukyan kingdom and captured Badami with the help of the Sri Lankan
prince, Manavarma.
 Claimed to have won over not only the Chalukyas but also the Cholas, Cheras and the
Kalabhras.
 Dispatched two naval expeditions to help his friend Manavarma, but subsequently
Manavarma was defeated and he had to seek political refuge at his court.
 Enthusiastic patron of architecture and along with constructing the port of
Mamallapuram, he also ordered the construction of the rathas at Mahabalipuram. It is
in honour of Narasimhavarman I that Mahabalipuram is also known as Mamallapuram.

Ratha Temple at Mahabalipuram

 Mahendravarman II (c. 668 – 670 CE)
 The Pallava – Chalukya conflict continued for subsequent decades and
Mahendravarman II died fighting the Chalukyas.
 Parameshvaraman I (c. 670 – 695 CE)
 Defeated the Chalukya king Vikramaditya and also the Gangas.
 Built temple at Kanchi.
 Narsimhavarman II / Rajasimha (c. 700 – 728 CE)
 Constructed Rajasimheshvara / Kailashnatha Temple.
 Shore temple at Mahabalipuram
 Sent an ambassador to China.
 Paramesdhvaraman II (c. 728 – 731 CE)
 Nandivarman II (c. 731 – 795 CE)
 Dantivarman (c. 795 – 846 CE)
 During his reign, Rashtrakuta king Govind III invaded Kanchi.
 Nandivarman III (c. 846 – 869 CE)
 Managed to defeat the Pandyas.
 Aparajita (c. 880 – 893 CE)
 Last known Pallava king who, with the help of Western Gangas and Cholas, defeated the
Pandyas at a battle at Shripurambiyam.

In c. 893 CE, the Pallavas were ultimately overthrown by the Chola king Aditya I and the area of
Tondaimandalam passed under the suzerainty of the Cholas. Culturally, the reign of Pallavas is
important for the growth of Tamil bhakti literature and the Dravidian style of art and architecture in
south India. It was under them that Mahabalipuram emerged as an important centre of temple
architecture.