Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

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LURE - THRU THE AGES

THE KALACHURIS 1162-1189 A.D.

Overview

They originally belonged to Central In-

dia and claim descent from Sahasrajit

and belonged to the

Haihaya

(Chedi)

family.

The Kalachuris of Karnataka called them-

selves as

'Kalanjara Puravaradhisvaras;

pointing to their central Indian origin.

Golden Bull was their Royal emblem.

Bijjala was their powerful king.

The growth of

'Vachanasahitya'

Kannada was the unique event of their

period; important vachana writers of the

period

were

Basaveshwara,

Alla-

maprabhu, Akkamahadevi, etc.

Their rule came to an end in 1183 A.D.

Advent

Kalachuri Bijjala founded the dynasty

after the death of Taila III of Chalukyas of

Kalyana in 1162 A.D.

Chronology

Bijjala II

(1162-1167)

Sovideva

(1167)

Mallikarj una (1176)

Sankama

Ahavamalla (1180-83)

Singhana (1183-84)

Bijjala II

Bijjala had killed Taila III of Kalyani Cha-

lukyas and founded the dynasty of Kalachuris

in 1162 A.D. (Harasur record of his son);

initially he was ruling at Mangalavada and

later shifted to Kalyana, he subdued Hoysala

Narasimha I, defeated Pandyas of Uchchangi

and Seunas, Chola Rajaraja HI, Rajendra Chola

II of Andhra and Chalukyas of Kumarapala;

he had in his court Basaveshwara, a noted

Veerashaiva saint, composer of vachanas and

his chief treasurer; abdicated his throne in

favour of his second son Sovideva in 1167

A.D.

Administration

Kingship was hereditary, the empire was.

divided into provinces like Gangavadi -

96.0,

Banavasi - 12,000, Nolambavadi-

32.0,

Belvola-300 etc. Provinces were called

mandalas

deshas\

land revenue was the

chief source of income, gold coins like

dramma, Gadyanaka, Kalanju

were issued;

Orthodox Hindu religion with Shaivism and

Vaishnavism were practised, Buddhism had

almost declined, one remarkable development

was the rise of Veerashaivism, Basaveshwara

propagated it with great vigour. The period

also marked a significant development in

Kannada literature in the form of

Vachanasa-

hitya.

The

vachanas

are the sayings of the

Veerashaiva

Sharanas

(Saints) in poetic prose,

Jedara Dasimayya, Basaveswara, Akkama-

hadevi, Allamaprabhu and Madivala Macha-

yya were important

vachana

writers of the pe-

riod. We come across over 30 female compos-

ers of Vachana;

Sati

system existed, Jain prac-

tice of

Sallekhana

(starve to death) was prac-

ticed; both Kannada and Sanskrit writers

flourished.

Decline

The rule of Kalachuris was short lived

(1162-1183); their territory was captured by

the Seunas (northern part) and Kakatiyas and

the Hoysalas (rest of their territory); By 1189,

Somashekara IV of Chalukyas of Kalyana lost

his empire and sought shelter under Ka-

damba feudatory of Goa.

Chahamanas 11th - 12th c A.D.

Tribhandapura

Ajayanoru

The dynasty flourished in Rajasthan in 11-

12th centuries. The capital was Ranthambhor.

The most famous king of this dynasty was

Hammira who reigned during the time of

Alaud-din Khilji. He had given shelter to

some of the discontented Mussalmans which

offended Alaud-din Khilji. In A.D. 1299 the

Sultan sent an expedition under the command

of his brothers Ulugh Khan andNusrat Khan.

Nusrat Khan was killed. On hearing of this,

Alaud-din marched in person towards Ranth-

ambhor.

He captured Ranthambhor in 1301 with

considerable difficulty, after one year's siege.

Hamir Deva or Hammira was put to death.

Yadavas 1187-1318 A.D.

Gajapatis 1470-1497 A.D.

They were the descendents of the Cha-

lukyan kingdom; they ruled at Devagiri and

Nasik; Bhillama III founded the Devagiri

city and in 1187 seized north-eastern por-

tion of the kingdom of Chalukyas under

Somesvara but was killed in 1191 A.D.; he

was succeeded by his son Jaitugi I. The

Yadava dynasty came to an end after the

capture and execution of its king Sankara in

•1312 and his brother-in-law Harapala in

1318 A.D. by Malik Kafur.

Chronology

Bhillama III

Jaitugi I

Singhana

Krishna

Mahadeva

Ramachandra

Sankara

Harapala

(1187-1191)

(1191-1210)

(1210-1247)

(1247-1260)

(1260-1271)

(1271-1310)

(1310-1312)

(1312-1318)

They were rulers of Orissa in middle 15th C.

They ruled for more than a century.

Kapilendra

: Founder of the dynasty; was endowed

with considerable ability; restored the prestige of the

Gangas which was low during the reign of the later

Gangas; suppressed the powerful rebels in his own

country, fought successfully with the Bahmanis

of Bidar and the rulers of Vijayanagara succeeding

in extending his kingdom from the Ganges to the

Kaveri; took possession of Udayagiri, the seat of a

Vijayanagar viceroy and Conjeevaram.

Purushottama

(1470-1497) : During his reign the

Vijayanagar kings captured his territory south of the

Krishna and the Bahmanis seized the Godavari-

Krishna doab. T owards the end of his reign he recov-

ered the doab and regained a part of the Andhra

country as far as the modem Guntur district.