THE EASTERN CHALUKYAS (OF VENGI)
(8TH TO 10TH CENTURY)
Vishnuvardhana was the founder of the
dynasty of the eastern Chalukyas of Vengi.
Pulakesin II of Badami subdued the king of
Pishtapura (Pitapuram in the Godavari district)
and the vishnukundin king and appointed his
younger brother, Vishnuvardhana, vicerory of
the newly conquered territories. Very soon, the
Viceroyalty developed into an independent
kingdom and Vishnuvardhana became the
founder of dynasty known as the eastern
Chalukyas of Vengi (Vijayawada). This is the
earliest reference of Jainism in the telugu country.
Vishnuvardhana himself was a Bhagavata.
Vishnuvarkhana was succeeded by his son
Jayasimha I. His fater, Jayasimha was also a
Bhagavata. He was succeeded by
Vishnuvardhana II, Vijayasiddhi, jayasimha II,
Vikramaditya, Vishnuvardhana III and then by
Vijayadity one after another. His reign withessed
a great political revolution in the Deccan when
the imperial Chalukyas were overthrown by the
Rashtrikutas who began a protracted struggle
against the eastern Chalukyas.
Vijayaditya was succeeded by his brother’s
son Bhima. His succession was disputed by his
uncle, Yaddamalla, who seized Vengi with the
help of the Rashtrakuta king, Krishna II. The
Chalukyan nobles, however, succeeded in
restoring the kingdom to its lawful master after
defeating Krishna II. He was a devotee of Siva
and built the temples of Bhimavaram and
Draksharamam in the east Godavari district.
THE YADAVAS (OF DEVGIRI)
(12TH TO 13TH CENTURY)
The first member of the dynasty was
Dridhaprahara. However, Seunachandra I, the
son of Dridhaprahar, was the first to secure
feudatory status for his family from the
Rashtrakutas. The importance of this chief can
be assessed from the fact that the territory ruled
by the Yadavas came to be known as Seunadesa.
Meanwhile, the great Chalukyan power
was already on the read to decline. The Yadavas
naturally took advantage of the situation and
asserted their independence. Bhillama, thus, laid
the foundationof the yadava Empire which
endured for about a century.
Simhana was the most powerful ruler of the
family. As the Hoyasalas proved a great obstacle
to the further expansion of the kingdom in the
south, Simhana launched a successful campaign
against them. Elated by his successes in the
south, Simhana waged war against his
hereditary enemies in the north-the Paramaras
of malwa and the Chalukyas of Gujarat. He
defeated and killed the Paramara king
Arjumavarman. Thus, the Yadava kingdom
reached the zenith of its glory and power in the
reign of Simhana. Many among the Hoyasalas,
the Kakatiyas, the Paramaras and the Chalukyas
dared to challenged his supremacy in the Deccan.
Simhana was not merely a wirrior, but was
also a patron of music and literature.
Singitaratnakara of Sarangadeva, an important
work on music, was written in his court.
Anantadeva and Changadeva were the two
famous astronomers who also adorned his court.
Changadeva established a college of astronomy
at Patana in Khandesh in memory of his
illustrious grandfather, Bhaskaracharya.
Anantadeva wrote a commentary on
Bharahmagupta’s Brahmasphhutra Siddhanta
and Varahamihira’s Brihat Jataka.
Sankaradeva was probably the last of the
Yadava rulers. After his accession, hi
immediately repudiated the authority of
Alauddin. Malik kafur easily defeated
Kankaradeva, put him to death and annexed the
Yadav kingdom.
The period between the 9th and 11th century
saw the energence of warrior castes-military
ruling clans which ultimately coalesced into a
single caste, that of the Rajputs, the term being
derived, from the Sanskrit word rajaputra. The
four Rajput clans that claimed a special status
during his time were the Prathiharas, the
Chalukyas, the Chauhans (also called
Chahamanas) and the Dolankis.
Western and Central India provide us with
example of a fresh spurt in the emergence of local
states. For example, the Rajput clans such as the
Gujarara, Prathihar, Guhila, Paramara,
Chahamana as well as the Kalachuriwa and
Chandella exploited political uncertainties of the
post-Gupa era in western and central India. They
donimated the political scene for centuries,
especially during the period exending from the
eighth to the thirteenth centuries. The picture of
the political processes that resulted in the
replacement of old dynasties by new Rajput
powers of uncertain origin is not clear.
Nonetheless an attempt has been made to work
out some essential traits of the nature of the
distribution of political authority. Unlike
northern and eastern India, the region showed
some influence of Iineage-at least in some parts
of the region. Even in these parts, the dispersal
of administrative and fiscal powers along with
the changes in the bureaucratic set-up-all based
on new landholding-set the tome of fedual
polity.
The problem of the origin of Rajput dynasties
is highly complex and controversial. Their
gotrochhara makes them Kshatriyas of the
Lunar family (somavamshi) while on the basic
of old davyas some maintain that they were of
the solar race. The myths of solar origin regard
them as Kashtriya created in Kaliyuga to wipeout
the mlecchas (foreigners). Rajasthani bards
and chroniclers regard them as fire-born
(agnikula). According to the agnikula myth
recorded by a court poet, the founder of the
house of the Paramaras originated form the
firepit of sage Vasistha on Mount Abu. The man
who thus sprang out of the fire forcibly wrested
the wish-granting cow of sage Vasishtaha form
sage Vishwamitra and restored it to the former.
Sage Vasistha gave him the fitting name of
paramara-slayer of the enemy. From him sprang
a race, which was regarded with high esteem
by virtuous kings. The Parakara inscription also
declare th origin of the Paramaras form the
firepit of sage Vasishtha on the Mount Abu. The
Rajasthani bards went a step further and
described the five origin not only to the
Paramaras but also to the Prathiharax, the
Chalukyas of Gujarat and the Chahamanas. The
practice of new social groups claiming Dshatriya
status become widespread in the early medieval
period. Kshatriya status was one of the various
symbols that the emergent social groups sought
for the legitimation of their newly acquired
power. The early medieval and medieval Rajput
clans, representing a mixed caste and
constituting a fairly large section of petty chiefs
holding estates, achieved political eminence
gradually, There was a direct relationship a
Kshatriya lineage. In this context, it is important
to note that these dynasties claimed descent from
ancient Kshatriyas long after their accession to
power.
A preliminary idea of the processes idea of
the processes involved may be formed by trying
to defind the term rajput. In the early medieval
period too, as in other periods, it may not be at
all easy to distinguish the Rajputs from the non
Rajputs, despite the clear evidence regarding
certain recognisable clans and frequent
references to the Rajaputras in inscriptions and
literature. If the early medieval and medieval
references to the Rajputras in general are taken
into account, they represented a mixed caste and
constitited a fairly large section of petty chiefs
holding estates. The criterion for inclusion in the
list of Rajput clans was provided by the
contemporary status of a clan at least in the early
stages of the crystallisation of Rajput power.
There are two important pointers to the
process of the emergence of the Rajputs in the
earyl medieval records. As these records suggest,
at one level the process may have to be has to be
traced not only in the significant expansion of
the number of settlements but also in some
epigraphic references, suggesting an expansion
of an agrarian economy.
However, to conceive of the emergence of the
Rajputs only in terms of colonisation would be
to take a wrong view of the total process
involved, and here we come to the second pointer
provided by the records. The fact that the mobility
to the Kshatriya status was in operation
elsewhere in the same period, prompts one to
look for its incidence also in Rajasthan, The cases
of two groups who are included in the list of
Rajput clans are significant in this context. One
is that of the Medas who are considered to have
reached the Rajput status form a tribal
background. The other is that of the Hunas. The
inclusion of these two groups in the Rajput clan
structure is sufficient to believe that the structure
could be composed only of such groups as were
initially closely linked by descent, ‘foreign’ or
‘indigenous’.
