Indian Antiquary Vol 20

SR No.: 032512
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 486
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

Page 109

MARCH, 1891.)
THE EASTERN CHALUKYA CHRONOLOGY.
95
territory, in the same capacity of Yuvarája. And then, - whether it came to pass through a formal division of the kingdom by mutual consent, because it was too extensive to be managed as a whole; or whether there was a distinct act of rebellion on the part of the younger brother, - in no great length of time, – at any rate before A. D. 632, — Vishnuvardhana I. became established on the eastern coast as an independent sovereign, and founded there the Eastern Branch of the family, which held that part of the country for five centuries at least, and remained distinct from and independent of the Western Branch, down to the latest times of both the dynasties.
The successive members of the Eastern Branch of the family, taken for the most part in the order in which they followed each other on the throne, irrespective of their actual places in the genealogy were as follows:
1.- Vishnuvardhana I.; Kubja-Vishnuvardhana.
Eighteen years; A. D. 615 to 633. He was a younger brother of the Western Chalukya king Satyásraya-Pulikêśin II.; his father was-Kirtivarman I. His name occurs as simply Vishnuvardhana in his own grants (A. and B.), and in D. and E.; as Kubja-Vishnuvardhana, - (the word kubja means 'hump-backed;' also 'a curved sword, a scimitar), - in K. and all the subsequent grants, except in two (0.and U.), in which he is called Kubja-Vishņu; and as Biţtarasa, 'king Bitti or Bitta,' on the seal of A. Probably the latter, a Prakrit form, is the name that was given to him at his birth; and it was expanded into its Sanskrit form, Vishnuvardhana, at the time of his installation as Yuvardja." He had the epithet of bripfithivivallabha, favourite of fortune and of the earth' (in A.); and the biruda of Vishamasiddhi (in A. and B.), which is explained in B. as being due to his achieving "success (siddhi) against fortresses, difficult of access (vishama), on the plains, in the water, in the woods, and on hills," and which is used to denote him in c. His titles were, at first Yuvaraja (in A.), and afterwards Maharaja ; the latter, in addition to being used in one of his own grants (B.), is attached to his name in D. and E.; for its value, in this period, as a paramount title, see ante, Vol. XIX. p. 305 ff. K. and all the subsequent grants agree in stating that he reigned for eighteen years; but M. is the first grant which specifically states that the locality of his rule was the Vengi country. As we have seen from the dates examined in the preceding portion of this paper, the initial point of his years, – whether it is taken as being in the month Vaisakha, or as being the immediately preceding Chaitra sukla 1, - lies in A. D. 615, in Saka-Samvat 638 current; and his regnal years run, not from the date of his assumption of independent sovereignty, but from the earlier time when he was installed as Yuvaraja by his elder brother (see page 5 above).
L. mentions a follower of his, named Kalakampa, of the Pattavardhini family, who, “ with his permission," killed in battle a king named Daddara, and seized his insignia.
Of his time we have two records : -
A. – A copper-plate grant from Satârâ in the Bombay Presidency; edited by me with a lithograph, ante. Vol. XIX. p. 303. - It gives the name of the family as Chalikya ;10 and describes the members of the family as meditating on the feet of the god Svami-Mahasena
Speaking of Beta, otherwise called Vijayditya V., a Godavari grant says, Tadap-clich Atitô yêbhůd Annabhupila-Dandadah kanthikA-dyutimat-kanthó játô Béta-mahipatih. This distinctly seems to imply that he was first named Beta, "he was born (as) Bita ;" and so, that he received the name of Vijayaditya, when he was invested with the kanthiha. So also w. shows thnt Kulôttunga-Chokladeva I. was first called Rajendra-Chola, and received the name of Kulottungadeva when he was anointed to the Choda sovereignty. - The explanation must be the same in the case of Amma I., otherwise called Vishnuvardhana VI. ; of Chalukya-Bhima IL, otherwise called Vishnuvardhana VII., and in some other instances. In some cases, e. g. those of Mangi-Yuvardja aud Kokkili, we evidently have only the personal names, conferred at birth.
10 The variants of the family name in this series of documente, in the preamble of each, are, - Chalikya, here; Chalukya, in B., O., D., K., L., M., and S.; Chalukya, with the Dravidian l fin E., F., G., and H.; Chalukya, with the long vowel & in the first syllable, in J., N. to L., and T. to X.; and Chukya, with the long and the Dråvidian ), in I.