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JAINISM AND KALACHURIS. 113 overthrown by the Kalachuris in 1126 A.D. These in their turn had only an ephemeral existence (1126 A.D.-1186 A.D.); •yet, the short period of Kalachuri sway furnishes some points of interest to the student of Jain history. We find that Vijjala, the greatest Kalacburi prince, was a Jain by faith. This period is remarkable for the revival of the worship of Siva and for the rise of the Lingāyat sect which, under the leadership of a treacherous minister of Vijjala, Basava, persecuted the Jains.
Whatever the expounders of Basava Purāna might say, the fact seems to be beyond doubt that this Basava brought about the assassination of his own master, the Jain king, Vijjala. According to Vijalarāja Charita, Basava was hunted out of the country and in despair he threw himself into a well. But, he soon obtained martyrdom at the hands of his followers who, flooded the country with literature written in elegant and simple prose, expository of their new creeď, Lingāyatism. Myths and legends gathered round the name of Lingāyat leaders, which helped considerably the extermination of the Jains in the Kalachuri Empire. One such legend is noted by Sir Ramakrishna Bhandarkar in an undated inscription of the time of Mahāmandalēswara Kāmadēva (1181 A.D.-1203 A.D.). The story runs thus :
God Siva and Pārvati with a host of Saiva Extirpation saints were enjoying themselves at Kylāsa, when the Kalachuri
Empire: Nāræda came and informed the assembly of the
