Skip to content
ಮThe Complete History of Mysore

Chapter 4 · c. 543 – 1116 CE

Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Cholas

Imperial powers of the Deccan repeatedly contested southern Karnataka, leaving temple architecture, Kannada literature and a durable administrative template.

4.1The Badami Chalukyas

The Chalukyas of Badami (c. 543–753) unified much of the Deccan and asserted overlordship over the Gangas of Gangavadi. Pulakeshin II (r. 610–642) checked Harshavardhana on the Narmada and campaigned deep into the Tamil country; his reign is documented by the Aihole inscription of 634 CE.[1]

Their patronage produced the rock-cut and structural temples of Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — where the Dravida and Nagara idioms were experimentally combined, a synthesis that later shaped Hoysala and Vijayanagara building in the Mysore region.[2]

4.2Rashtrakutas and the Kalyani Chalukyas

The Rashtrakutas (753–973), described by the Arab traveller Sulaiman as one of the great empires of the world, ruled the Deccan from Manyakheta and continued Ganga subordination while patronising Kannada literature; the Kavirajamarga (c. 850) is the earliest extant work of Kannada literary criticism.[3]

The Western (Kalyani) Chalukyas restored Chalukya rule from 973 to 1189 and fought the Cholas along the Tungabhadra for over a century. Their era produced the Vachana movement's precursors, Basava's Lingayat reform in the twelfth century, and a distinctive temple style at Lakkundi and Itagi.[4]

4.3Chola interlude in Gangavadi

Between roughly 1004 and 1116 the Cholas held Gangavadi, garrisoning Talakadu and renaming it Rajarajapura. Chola inscriptions in the Mysore region record temple endowments and revenue arrangements, and Chola administrative vocabulary entered local usage.[5]

Chola rule ended when the Hoysala general and king Vishnuvardhana captured Talakadu in about 1116 — a victory commemorated in his title Talakadugonda and one of the founding events of Hoysala power in the south.[6]

References and footnotes

  1. [1]"Chalukya dynasty", Wikipedia. Link
  2. [2]UNESCO World Heritage Centre, "Group of Monuments at Pattadakal". Link
  3. [3]"Rashtrakuta dynasty" and "Kavirajamarga", Wikipedia. Link
  4. [4]"Western Chalukya Empire", Wikipedia. Link
  5. [5]Burton Stein, Peasant State and Society in Medieval South India, on Chola provincial arrangements.
  6. [6]"Vishnuvardhana (Hoysala)", Wikipedia. Link