Epigraphia Indica Vol 27

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 28

No. 2] BADAMI INSCRIPTION OF CHALIKYA VALLABHESVARA: SAKA 465 7 For, the Birür plates of Kadamba Vishņuvarman' (A.D. 495-520) inform us that the Sindhuthayarāshtra (perhaps modern Sindagi taluk in the Bijapur District) and the Karnņēsaka river (probably the Krishņā) were included in the Kadamba territory. The Sangolli plates of Harivarman (A.D. 538-570) which, according to the calculation of Rao Bahadur K. N. Dikshit, are dated in A.D. 545, September 21, Thursday, were issued by the king from his capital Vaijayanti, whereas the Benpūr plates of Kțishmavarman II (A.D. 545-570) of the collateral branch which ruled from Triparvata, record a gift when the king had started on an expedition against Vaijayanti.. This would clearly show that, at this period, the Kadamba power was undermined by internecine wars. This apparently afforded an excellent opportunity for a strong person to spring on the scene and establish an independent kingdom. It is possible to surmise that Pulikēsin I availed himself of this opportunity and established himself at Vätäpi prior to A.D. 543, the date of the present inscription, and, in token of his unchallenged position, performed a horse-sacrifice. There is, however, no definite evidence forthcoming to postulate that Pulikēsin I or his father was subordinate to the Kadambas. The Undikavätikä grant of Abhimanyu, on the other hand, mentions a certain Jayasingha as the commander of Harivatsakõtta and if Avidhēya, son of Dēvarāja and grandson of Mānāöka, who was the donor of the Pāņdarangapalli grant, could be connected with Abhimanyu, son of Bhavishya, who was one of the three sons of Dēvarāja, son of Mānāňka, it may plausibly be suggested that Jayasimha, the grandfather of Pulikēsin I, was identical with his namesake mentioned above and that in the course of time, Pulikēsin I seized the territory round about Bādāmi from a successor of Avidhēya. But this surmise is based on the assumption that the latter wielded political administration south of the Bhimā up to the confines of the Kadamba territory including Bādāmi, which is not likely, in view of the statements contained in the Birur plates mentioned above. Further, Jayasingha of Harivatsakotta belonged to the Rewa State in Central India, whereas the grandfather of Pulikēģin I is not known to have any political connection with that part of the country. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that Pulikēsin seized the northern part of the Kadamba kingdom from Harivarman or his successor, sometime before A. D. 543.
Harivatsakõtta has not been identified vet. Since the grant recorded in the plates refers to a temple of Dakshina-Siva at Petha-Pangaraka, identified with Pagara about 4 miles north of Pachmarhi® and the village granted, namely, Undikavätikä is surmised to be one of the two
Ep. Carn., Vol. VI, Kadur No. 162, with plate. The plates are considered to be spurious on account of the orthographical errors and a slightly irregular alphabet. But the geographical details and the events attributed to Vishnuvarman may be relied upon.
Above, Vol. XIV, p. 163. Rao Bahadur Dikshit informs me on the date of the Sangolli plates as follows: "I have given both 526 A.D. and 545 A.D. as likely dates of this phenomenon (i.e. Vishuva). It now appears to me that 526 A.D. is the more probable date. This would bring Harivarman's accession to 519 A.D. up to which the reign of Ravivarman is likely to have extended ". This change in the date of Harivarman does not affect the statement that there was internal trouble in the Kadamba house-hold at the time of Krishnavarman, which is evident from his attack on Vaijayanti.
It is clear from a synchronistic study of the Kadamba history at this period, that Harivarman of the main branch was a contemporary of Kộishnavarman II of the Triparvata branch as both were removed from the common ancestor Kākusthavarman by five generations. Further, from the contemporaneity of Kpishṇavarman I with the Ganga king Madhava II whose dato is arrived at to fall between 470-495 A.D. by calculating backwards from certain definite landmarks in the Ganga chronology, viz., the Halkūr stone inscription of Sripurusha and the Penukonda plates of Mädbara III assigned to A.D 475, etc., the date of Krishṇavarman II is fixed between 545 and 670, which is approximately the period of Harivarman.
Ep. Carn., Vol. V, Bl. 245. The king is described in the plates by the expression Vaijayanti-vijaya-yatrams abhiprasthitah.
See p. 6 n. 4 above. . Above, Vol. VIII, p. 163. * See the Myaore Arch. Report, 1929, p. 208, where a possible suggestion of their indentity has been made.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XXX, p. 511 and note 16.