Chalukya
Encyclopedia : C : CH : CHA : Chalukya
 Western Chalukya Empire during Pulakesi II (c. 640 CE), Vikramaditya II (c.735 CE) Vikramaditya VI (c.1120 CE) | |
| Official languages | Prakrit Kannada |
| Capitals | Early Chalukyas: Vatapi Later Chalukyas : Manyakheta, Kalyani |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Preceding state | Satavahana, Rashtrakuta |
| Succeeding states | Hoysala, Yadava, Kakatiya, Southern Kalachuri |
The Chalukya Dynasty was a powerful Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th century C.E. They began to assert their independence at the decline of the Satavahana empire and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakesi II (609 – 642) C.E. Immadi Pulakesi (Immadi in old Kannada means "II") extended the Chalukyan Empire up to the northern extents of the Pallava kingdom and halted the southward march of Harsha by defeating him on the banks of the river Narmada. He also defeated the Vishnukundins in the southeastern Deccan. He is considered as one of the great kings in Indian history. Pallava Narasimhavarman however reversed this victory by attacking and occupying the Chalukya capital Vatapi (Badami).
The Chalukyan dynasty witnessed some determined struggles for political hegemony over the Deccan. It also saw some remarkable achievements in the myriad realms of culture, particularly in the evolution and proliferation of architectural styles.
The Chalukya Empire went in to a brief decline following Pulakesi II due to internal feuds. It recovered during the reign of the equally illustrious Vikramaditya II who defeated the Pallava Nandivarman II and captured Kanchipuram.
After the rise of the Rashtrakutas the Chalukyas of Badami went in to an eclipse to be recovered in the tenth century C.E. by Tailapa II (973 – 997) C.E. These later Chalukyas ruled from Kalyani. These 'Western Chalukyas' were in constant conflict with the Imperial Cholas over the control of the Eastern Chalukya kingdom of Vengi.
After almost three hundred years of glory, the Western Chalukyan power finally succumbed to the Hoysalas and Yadavas. Somesvara IV 1184 – 1200 C.E. was the last recognised Chalukyan ruler.
Chalukyas have left behind their legacy of some of the most beautiful architecture and literature. The Chalukyan style of architecture was a combination of the South Indian and the North Indian building styles.
Origin of Chalukyas
Natives of Karnataka
While opinions vary regarding the origins of the Chalukyas, there is consensus on the opinion that they were natives to the Karnataka region. Well known historians like Dr. S. C. Sircar, Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ASI epigraphist Sri. N. Laxminarayana Rao and Professor S. C. Nandinath have emphatically asserted that the Chalukyas were Kannadigas and very much the natives of Karnataka. Their inscriptions are in Kannada and Sanskrit. The names of some Chalukya kings end with the Kannada term arasa ("king" or "chief"). The Rashtrakuta inscriptions speak of Chalukyas of Badami as Karnataka Bala. They claim that the Chalukyas were descendants or were related to the Kadambas of Banavasi. The Chalukyas took control of the territory formerly ruled by the Kadambas. The famous Badami cliff inscriptions (578 CE) of Kirtivarman I, the Mahakuta Pillar inscription (602 CE) of Mangalesa, the Aihole inscription (620 CE?) of Pulakeshi II and Kappe Ara Bhatta inscriptions of 7th c. CE. in early Kannada provide more evidence of the Chalukyan language. The earliest inscirption dated 543CE of Pulakesi I is a Sanskrit inscription written in Kannada script and gives details of the Badami fort.
Aihole inscription mentions Pulkeshi as king of three Maharashtras consisting of 99,000 thousand villages. The Solanki (chale/chalukya), one among of 96 Maratha clans are descendants of the Chalukya clan of Kshatriyas whose oldest known area of residence may be in present-day Karnataka.
Chinese notes
Huien-Tsang, a Chinese traveller speaks of Pulkeshi as king of Maharashtra and a kshatriya. This must have been a terminology describing the entire territory between Kaveri and Narmada.
The Name Chalukya
The name Chalukya seems to have been derived from the word 'Chalkya' which was the original form of the dynastic name. Like the Chutus and Kadambas, the Chalukyas were an indigenous tribe. They rose to importance in the later Satavahana period and asserted their independence after the downfall of the central empire.In the Maruturu inscription of Pulakesin II, a village that was granted by him is presumed to be situated in the Chalukya Vishaya. It is therefore clear that the original word of Chalukya was applied to a territorial division or a Vishaya of a kingdom. The territorial division came to be known as Chalukya after the Chalukyan clan.
The provenance of the Maruturu grant and also the other factors mentioned in it clearly prove that this Chalukya Vishaya must have comprised portions of the ceded districts of Andhra Pradesh including perhaps parts of the Mahboobnagar district of Telangana, Hence the Chalukyas were the original residents of this area.
According to the earliest Chalukyan Kanarese legend preserved in an inscription dated 578 C.E. at Badami, the Chalukyas were worshippers of the feet of the sacred Lord Kartikeya and belonged to Manavyasa Gotra and had themselves purified by the performance of several yajnas. They were Kshatriyas. They were nourished by the Saptamatrikas, acquired great merit and prosperity and obtained the Varaha Lanchana by the divine favour and grace of Vishnu.
Legends
Vidyapati Bilhana, the famous poet in the court of Vikramaditya VI of the Western Chalukya family of Kalyana, mentions an amusing legend in his work, Vikramankadeva Charita.
- Indra once requested Brahma to create a hero who would put an end to godlessness in the world and punish the wicked. Agreeing to his request, Brahma looked into his Chuluka (hollow of the hands) while performing the Sandhya, and lo! From there sprang a mighty warrior. He was called Chalukya and he became the eponymous ancestor of the line. In it were born two great heroes, Harita and Manavya who raised the Chalukyas into distinct position. This story is repeated and elaborated in the Ramastipundi grant of Vimaladitya of the Eastern Chalukya family.
Periods in Chalukya history
The Chalukyas ruled over the central Indian plateau of Deccan for well over 600 years. During this period they ruled as three closely related, but individual dynasties. These are the Chalukyas of Badami, who ruled between the 6th and the 8th century C.E., and the two sibling dynasties of Chalukyas of Kalyani or the Western Chalukyas and the Chalukyas of Vengi or the Eastern Chalukyas.the Eastern Chalukyan dynasty was established when Pulakesi II established the Viceroyalty of Vengi under his brother Vishnuvardhana in 624 C.E.Chalukyas of Badami
The Chalukya dynasty was established by Pulakesi I c. 550 C.E. The name probably meant "the great lion' Pulakesi I took Vatapi (Badami in Bagalkot district, Karnataka) under his control and made it his capital. They are referred to as Chalukyas of Badami.
Pulakesi I and his descendants ruled over an empire that comprised of the entire state of Karnataka and most of Andhra Pradesh in the Deccan. Pulakesi II was perhaps the greatest emperor of the Badami Chalukyas.
- Pulakesi I (543 – 566 C.E.)
- Kirtivarman I (566 – 597 C.E.)
- Mangalesa (597 – 609 C.E.)
- Pulakesi II (609 – 642 C.E.)
- Vikramaditya I (655 – 680 C.E.)
- Vinayaditya (680 – 696 C.E.)
- Vijayaditya (696 – 733 C.E.)
- Vikramaditya II (733 – 746 C.E.)
- Kirtivarman II (746 – 753 C.E.)
Chalukyas of Kalyani
The Chalukyas revived their fortune in 973 C.E. after their period of decline under the Rashtrakutas. Tailapa II, overthrew the Rashtrakuta Krishna III and re-established the Chalukyasn kingdom and recovered most of the Chalukya empire.Later legends and tradition hailed Tailapa as an incarnation of the God Krishna who fought 108 battles against the race of Ratta (Rashtrakuta) and captured 88 fortresses from them (KAN Sastri) This dynasty came to be known as the Western Chalukya dynasty.
The Western Chalukyas ruled for another 250 years and were in constant conflict with the Cholas and their cousins the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. Satyasraya 997 – 1008 C.E.,, Somesvara I 1042 – 1068 C.E. and Vikramaditya VI (1076 – 1126 CE) were some of the greatest emperors of this dynasty.
- Tailapa II (973 – 997 C.E.)
- Satyasraya (997 – 1008 C.E.)
- Vikramaditya V 1008 - 1015 C.E.
- Jayasimha II 1015 – 1042 C.E.
- Somesvara I 1042 – 1068 C.E.
- Somesvara II 1068 – 1076 C.E.
- Vikramaditya VI 1076 – 1126 C.E.
- Somesvara III 1126 – 1138 C.E.
- Jagadhekamalla II 1138 – 1151 C.E.
- Tailapa III 1151 – 1164 C.E.
- Jagadhekamalla III 1163 – 1183 C.E.
- Somesvara IV 1184 – 1200 C.E.
Eastern Chalukyas
Pulakesin II (c. 608 – 644 C.E) conquered the eastern Deccan, corresponding to the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh c. 616 C.E., defeating the remnants of the Vishnukundina kingdom. He appointed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as Viceroy. The word Kubja means 'hunchback' pointing to a possible physical deformity of the king. On the death of Pulakesin II, the Vengi Viceroyalty developed into an independent kingdom. Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi outlived the main Vatapi dynasty by many generations. Till around the middle of 9th century, they continued to encourage Kannada language in the Vengi region. Thereafter, inscriptions show a gradual shift towards Telugu with the appearance of Telugu stanzas written in old Kannada script.
- Kubja Vishnuvardhana (624 – 641 C.E.)
- Jayasimha I (641 – 673 C.E.)
- Indra Bhattaraka (673 C.E.)
- Vishnuvardhana II (673 – 682 C.E.)
- Mangi Yuvaraja (682 – 706) C.E.)
- Jayasimha II ([[706) – 718 C.E.)
- Vishnuvardhana III (719 – 55 C.E.)
- Vijayaditya I (755 – 772 C.E.)
- Vishnuvardhana IV (772 – 808 C.E.)
- Vijayaditya II (808 – 847 C.E.)
- Vishnuvardhana V (847– 849 C.E.)
- Vijayaditya III (848 – 892 C.E.)
- Bhima I (892 – 921 C.E.)
- Vijayaditta IV (921 C.E.
- Amma I (921 – 927 C.E.
- Vikramaditya II (927 – 928 C.E.)
- Yuddamalla II (928 – 935 C.E.)
- Chalukya Bhima II (935 – 947 C.E.)
- Amma II (947 – 970 C.E.)
- Danamava (970 – 973 C.E.)
- Jata Choda Bhima (973 - 1000 C.E.
- Saktivarman I (1000 - 1011 C.E.
- Vimaladitya (1011 – 1018 C.E.
- Rajaraja Narendra (1018 – 1061 C.E.)
- Saktivarman II
- Vijayaditya VII (1063 – 1068 C.E. , 1072 – 1075 C.E.)
Legacy of Badami Chalukyas
The most enduring legacy of the Chalukya Dynasty is the architecture and art that they left. The rock-cut temples of Pattadakal (UNESCO World Heritage Site),Badami and Aihole, and the some of the celebrated paintings and sculptures of the Ellora and Ajanta caves are examples of the art that the Chalukya Empire patronized. This is considered the beginnings of Chalukyan style of architecture. Over a hundred and fifty temples were built by the Badami Chalukyas in Aihole alone between 450 - 750 CE. At Aihole, the Durga temple (6th C. CE), Ladh Khan temple (450CE), Meguti temple (634 CE), Hucchimalli and Huccappayya temples (5th c. CE.), Badami Cave temples (600CE.) are examples of early chalukyan art. The awe inspiring temples at Pattadakal were commissioned by Vikramaditya II (740CE.). Here the Virupaksha, Mallikarjuna, Sangameswara and a Jain temple are in the dravidian style while Jambulinga, Kasivisweswara and Galaganatha are in the Northern nagara style. The Papanatha temple shows an attempt to combine the Northern & Southern styles.Art and Literature of Kalyani Chalukyas
Kannada LiteratureThe Kalyani Chalukyas patronized great Kannada poets like Ranna. He was the court poet of Tailapa II and Sathyashraya. Ranna was the first poet to write under the Chalukyas of Kalyani. Ajitapurana Sahasabhimavijaya, Parashuramacharitha, Sahasa Bhima Vijaya or Gadaa Yudda, Ranna-Kanda are his famous works. There were many other well known Kannada scholars of this time. Among them Chandraraja wrote Madanatilaka, a work on erotics , Shridharacharya wrote Jatakatilaka a work on astrology, Kirtivarma wrote Govaidya on veterinary science , Nayasena wrote Dharmamritha, Nagavarma wrote Kavyavalokana, Brahmashiva wrote Samayaparikshe, Rajaditya wrote Kshetraganita, Vyavaharaganita, and Lilavati, Jagaddala Somanatha's work on medicine was Karnataka Kalyanakaraka . Devara Dasimayya, who wroteVachanas, belonged to this period. Even ministers like Durgasimha wrote panchatantra and army commander Chavundaraya II wrote Lokopakara, a collection of useful knowledge. In short, this was a golden age in Kannada literature.
Sanskrit Literature
The Chalukya rulers of Kalyani gave encouragement to Sanskrit scholars like Vadiraja who wrote Yashodharacharitam and Parshvanatha Charitam . Bilhana immortalized the name of his patron Vikramaditya VI through his Vikramankadeva Charitha. Vijananeshvara achieved fame by writing Mitakshara. Someswara III himself complied an encyclopedia of all arts and sciences. Jagadekamalla wrote Sangithachudamani.
Architecture
The buildings of later Chalukya style in Bellary, Dharwad and Hyderabad Karnataka areas constitute a link between the early Chalukyan and the Hoysala temples.According to Percy Brown. The Kalyani style of architecture reaches its maturity and culmination in the 12th century, with over a hundred temples built across the deccan, more then half of them in Karnataka. The Kalyani Chalukyas were also famous for their ornate stepped wells or Pushkarni. Kasi Vishveshvara at Lakkundi in Gadag district, Mallikarjuna at Kuruvatii in Davangere district and Mahadeva at Itagi in Koppal district are the finest examples produced by the later Chalukya architects. The 12th Century Mahadeva Temple with splendid sculptures is said to be one of the finest examples in the country in respect of magnificence and decorative details. The exquisite carvings on walls, pillars and towers speak volumes about the Chalukyan taste and culture. An inscription dated 1112 C.E. in the temple premises describes the temple as Emperor among temples and being constructed by Mahadeva Dandanayaka (army general) of king Vikramaditya VI. History has it that when the legendary sculptor/architect, Amarashilpi Jakanachari was asked by the Hoysalas to build the famous Belur temple, he first visited the Mahadeva temple to gain his inspiration. The Kalyani Chalukya style placed emphasis on ornate pillars and stepped wells called Pushkarni or Kalyani.
The Kalyani Chalukyas built over fifty temples in Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri regions of Karnataka. They also added many ornate temples in Badami and Aihole during its second phase of temple building activity, like the Mallikarjuna and Yellamma temples. They evolved a new style, which is known as the Gadag architecture. It has been described as belonging to the vesara style, a combination of the South Indian or Dravida and the North Indian or Nagara Styles.
- "The Chalukya art zone of Karnataka has been described by K. V. Soundara Rajan as "The Prayaga of coalescing formal trends in temple styles…" Moreover, the building activities of the period were, as Percy Brown observes, "clearly the result of an enthusiasm which was religious in origin and in intensity of purpose." History of Karnataka, Mr. Arthikaje.
- "In Karnataka history, Chalukyan period is considered as golden age. Besides political expansion it represented efficient administration, social security, spread in education and other cultural activities increase in trade and commerce, growth in literature, art and architecture. It also brought in unique religio-social reformation of Basaveswara which gave birth to Veerashaivism". Dr. Jyotsna Kamat
Coinage
The Chalukyas minted coins that were of a different standard compared to the northern kingdoms. The Badami Chalukyas minted coins with symbols of temples, lion or boar facing right and the lotus. They minted coins that weighted 4gms and were called honnu in old Kannada and had fractions such as fana and the quarter fana, whose modern day equivalent in Kannada being hana. The later Chalukyas struck punch marked gold pagodas which were large thin gold coin with several varying punch marks on them on the obverse. They usually carried multiple punches of symbols such as stylished Lion, Sri in Kannada, Spearhead, King's title, lotus etc. Jayasimha-II (1015 - 1043 AD) used the legend Sri Jaya. Somesvara-I issued coins with legend Sri Tre lo ka malla and Somesvara-II, the legend Bhuvaneka malla, Lakshmideva's coin carried the legend Sri Lasha, and Jagadekamalla-II coinage had the legend Sri Jagade. The Alupas, feudatories of the Chalukyas in coastal Karnataka also issued coins with Kannada and Nagari inscriptions on them. Coins with Kannada legends seem to have minted in Mangalore and those with Nagari legend at the Udupi mint. The Pagodas and Fanams were the common coinage of all the Alupa kings. The obverse of the coins carried the royal emblem "Two Fishes" and the reverse had the legend "Sri Pandya Dhanamjaya" either in Nagari or old (Hale) Kannada.
| '''MIDDLE KINGDOMS OF INDIA ''' | ||||||||||||
| Timeline: | Northern Empires | Southern Kingdoms | Foreign Kingdoms | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6th century BCE 5th century BCE 4th century BCE 3rd century BCE 2nd century BCE 1st century BCE 1st century CE 2nd century CE 3rd century CE 4th century CE 5th century CE 6th century CE 7th century CE 8th century CE 9th century CE 10th century CE 11th century CE |
|
|
(Persian rule) (Greek conquests)
(Islamic invasion of India) (Islamic empires in India) | |||||||||
Notes
See also
- Ellora Caves
- Hoysala Empire
- Chola Empire
- Eastern Chalukyas
- Chalukya Cholas
External links
- [Indian Inscriptions - Archeological Survey of India]
- [Chalukyan Art by Dr. Jyotsna Kamat]
- [List of rulers of Maharashtra]
- [History Of Karnataka, Mr. Arthikaje]
- [Coins of Chalukyas]
- [The Chalukyan magnificence]
- [Coins of Alupas]
- [Aihole temples]
- [Badami caves temples]
- [Pattadakal temples]
References
- Durga Prasad, History of the Andhras upto 1565 A. D., P. G. PUBLISHERS, GUNTUR (1988)
- [South Indian Inscriptions]
- Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002).
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.