South Indian Kingdom
Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas
Chalukyas-
The Chalukyas were importabt ruler is south during 6th to 8th century
There were three main branches of the Chalukyas:
(i) The Chalukyas of Badami or the early Western Chalukyas
(ii) The Later Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
(iii) The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
Out of these The Chalukyas of Badami or the early Western Chalukyas were most important
(i) The Chalukyas of Badami or the early Western Chalukyas
Pulakesin I, The Founder-
Pulakesin I was the founder of the Chalukya dynasty.
He established a small kingdom with Vatapi or Badami as its capital.
He assumed the title of Ranavikram and Shreeprithvi — Vallabha
Kirti Varman I -
He was also known as Puga Verman and Kattiyarasa
Mangalesa-
An Aihole inscription shows that he had secured victory over Kalachurei and Revati island
He built a beautiful cave temple of Vishnu at Badami
Pulakesin II-
The most important ruler of this dynasty was Pulakesin II
The Aihole inscription issued by him gives the details of his reign
He was a contemporary of Harsha of Kannauj
Conquests of Pulakesin II-
Defeat of Kadambs and Gangas-
He fought with the Kadambas of Banavasi and the Gangas of Mysore and established his suzerainty
Defeat of Harshavardhan-
He deated Harshavarhan ,the king of Kannauj on the bank of The Narmada
This victory was mentioned in Aihole inscription
After defeating Harsha Pulakesin assumed the title of 'Parameshwara'
Other-
He defeated the Latas of Gujarat, Gangas of Mysore, Alupas of Malabar, Mauryas of North Konkan, the Malwas and Gurjaras of Brigu-Kacha etc.
He had good relation with Cholas, Keralas and Pandayas
War with Pallavas-
In his first expedition against the Pallavas, Pulakesin II emerged victorious and defeated Mahendre Verman I
Later on Narsimha Verman son and successor of Pallava Mahendre Verman I attacked back and deated Pulakesin II
Hiuen Tsang’s visit-
Hiuen Tsang visited Chalukyas kingdom during the reign of Pulakesin II
Pulakesin II had sent his ambassador in the fort of the Persian king Khusruo II.
Vikramaditya I-
He was son of Pulakesin II
He defeated the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, Mahendravarman II and Parmeshwar I and also captured the city of Kanchi
He also shattered the power of the cholas, Pandyas and the Keralas, and cample them to accept his overlord ship
There was rift between Pallavas and chalukyas and Parmeshwar I the king of pallavas ,finally defeated Vikramaditya I
Other rulers-
Vijayaaditya assumed the title of Shri Prithvi — Vallabha and he got constructed a beautiful Shiva temple at Kanchi.
Kirtivarman II was the last ruler of the Chalukyas of Badami.
(ii) The Later Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
This dyansty was founded by Taila of Tailapa and he defeated last ruler of Chalukya
(iii) The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
Kubja Vishnuvardan,the brother of Pulakesin II had control over this area and later on this area become independent
Administration under the Chalukyas-
The king assumed high titles like ‘Parmeswara’, Param Bhattaraka’, etc.
The king had the ultimate and all major powers
The Chalukya administration was highly centralized unlike that of the Pallavas and the Cholas.
Village autonomy was absent under the Chalukyas
Religion in the period of Chalukyas-
The Badami Chalukyas were Brahmanical Hindus but they gave respect to other religions
They performed many yagyas like Ashvemedha yagya performed by Pulakesin I
A number of temples in honour of Vishnu, Siva and other gods were also built during this period
Buddhism-
According to Hiuen Tsang there were about 100 Buddhist monastries and 5000 Buddhist monks but overall Buddhism was in decline during this period due to rise of Hinduism
Jaina religion-
Along with Buddhism ,the Jain religion was also practiced in the society
Ravikitri the general of Pulkesin II who composed the inscription of Aihole was a jain and built `Jinendra temple at Aihole
Art and Architecture of Chalukyas-
Temples-
The Chalukyas developed vesara style of temples
They built temple at Aihole and Badami
They are divided into 2 stages
1st stage-
Temples at Aihole-
There are more than 700 temples at Aihole and some of the important temples are
Ladh Khan temple-
It has a simple hall, which is open in the front and enclosed by walls on three sides.
The hall contains two square groups of pillars, which are caused with the Kalasha motifas and Ganga and Yamuna images.
Durga temple
This temple resembles a Buddha Chaitya
Huchimalligudi temple-
It is a Hindu temple
It stands on an elevate platform
The Jain temple at Meguti-
This temples have square structure similar to closed mandapa
Temples at Badami-
Muktheeswara temple
Melagutti Sivalaya etc.
Rock cut caves at Badami-
There is a group of four rock-cut temples at Badami
The walls and pillared halls are adorned by beautiful images of gods and human beings
2nd stage-
The second stage is represented by the temples at Pattadakal
There are ten temples
Four in the northern style and the remaining six in the Dravidian style
It also have rock-cut temples.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Also among these nine are Hindu temples and one is Jain temple
Some of these temples-
The Sangamesvara, Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna temple at Patakal exhibit to a large degree the southerly elements in their vimanas.
The Sangamesvara was built by Chalukya Vijayaditya
The Virupaksha was built by the queen of Vikramaditya
Literature-
Bilhan and Gyaneshwar were the famous scholars in the court of Vikramditya II.
Bilhan wrote the ‘Vikramadevcharit
Gyaneshwar composed the ‘Mitantera’
Other-
There are some paintings in Ajjanta and Ellora that are during the reign of Chalukyas
The Rashtrakutas-
Initially they were subordinates of Chalukyas of Badami.
But the powerful Rashtrakuta chief, Dantidurga defeated the Chalukya king Kirtivarman II and established the Rashtrakuta kingdom
Danti Durga-
He defeated The Pallavas, Arabs, Gurjaras, Malwa, Kalinga, South Kosala etc.
Danti Durga performed `Hiranyagarbha' ceremony at Ujjain
He assumed the titles like Maharajadhiraja, Parameswara, Paramabhattaraka
Krishna I-
He defeated the Gangas and the eastern Chalukyas of Vengi
During his time the whole of Hyderabad state was incorporated in the Rashtrakuta Empire
He built the famous rock-cut monolithic Kailasa temple at Ellora
Govind II-
He defeated Vishnuvardhan IV of Vengi and some some North Indian kingdoms
Amoghavarsha I-
He was a liberal, patron of literature. His court full of many famous Hindu and Jain writers
Jivasen, Mahaviracharya and Sankatayan got patronage from him
He became Jain and liberally patronized the Digambara sect
He had also built the Rashtrakuta capital, the city of Malkhed or Manyakheda
He wrote a book of Ethic's called "Kavirajmarga"
Abu sulaiman , the Arab traveler visited his capital in 851CE
Krishna III-
He had an expedition against Bundelkhand, Malwa, and Ujjain. He constructed many temples
He marched against the Cholas and defeated them at Takkolam and he also captured Tanjore.
He went as far as Rameswaram and occupied it for sometime
Administration of Rashtrakutas-
The administrative stricture of Rashtrakutas was decentralized-
Rashtras means province headed by rashtrapatis
Vishayas means District headed by vishayapatis
Bhukti means Subdivision headed by Bhoghpati or Bhogika
Gram means village headed by Gramapati
Religion and Economy-
There were development of hinduism during that time
But along with hinduism ,Buddhisma and Jainism was also there
There was harmony among various religions
Economically they were also prosperous and there was also trade with Arabs etc.
Literature-
The development of literature during Rashtrakutas times saw development in 3 domains that is Sanskrit,Jain and Kannada literature-
Sanskrit Literature-
Trivikrama wrote Nalachampu and Mandalasachampu
Halayudha wrote ‘Mrita-Sanjivani’ and ‘Kavirahasya a dhathupatha’
Somadevasuri wrote ‘Yashatilaka champu’ and ‘Neetivaky amrita
Mahaveer wrote ‘Ganithasarasangraha’ and ‘Shakatayana Amothavritts’
Jinasena wrote Harivamasha and Aadipurana
Jain literature-
Jinasena composed Parsvabhudaya, a biography of Parsva in verses
Gunabhadra wrote the Adipurana, the life stories of various Jain saints
Pampa wrote Adipurana and pam Bharati or Vikramarjuna Vijaya
Pushpadanta wrote Mahapurana, Jasaura Charju and Nayakumara Charju
Sri Vijaya wrote Kavirajamasga
Kannada literature-
Amogavarsha’s Kavirajamarga was the first poetic work in Kannada language
Pampa and poona were kannada scholar
Art and Architecture-
The greatest contribution of Rashtrakuta dynasty in the field of Art and Architecture is rock- cut shrines at Ellora and Elephanta
Kailasa Temple at Ellora-
It was built by the 8th century Rashtrakuta King Krishna I
The Entrance-
The entrance to the temple courtyard features a low gopuram
Most of the deities at the left of the entrance are Shaivaite while on the right hand side the deities are Vaishnavaites
The Gateway-
A two-storeyed gateway opens to reveal a U-shaped courtyard.
The courtyard-
The courtyard is edged by a columned arcade three stories high.
Within the courtyard, there is a central shrine dedicated to Shiva, and an image of his mount Nandi
The Central Shrine-
The central shrine housing the lingam features a flat-roofed mandapa supported by 16 pillars, and a Dravidian shikhara.
The sculptured panels of Dasavatara, Bhairva, Ravana shaking the mountain dancing Shiva, Vishnu and Lakshmi listening to music carved at base relief are the excellent piece of the creativity of the artist.
Dasavatar temple (Cave no. 15)-
Dashavatara temple is the only Brahmanical example in storeys
It is the largest as well as simplest, depicting both the Vaishnava and Siva temple
It has cells and a layout plan that are similar to Buddhist Caves.
It also indicates presence of non-Buddhist features, such as a Nrtya Mandapa at its entrance.
Large sculptural panels between the wall columns on the upper floor illustrate a wide range of themes, including the ten avatars of Vishnu
Elephanta cave-
It is located near Mumbai at a island which is also called as Gharapuri island
The Portuguese after seeing the large figure of an elephant named it Elephanta
It is a group of 7 caves
It is a UNESCO world heritage site
The date of the famous Elephanta Caves is still very much debated and varies from the 6th century to the 8th century
The sculpture made by Rashtrakutas as one of the finest sculptures
The three faced shiva(Trimurti), sculptured relics of Nataraja and Sadasiva are such examples