The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the modern Bidar district of Karnataka state, and alternatively the Later Chalukya from its theoretical relationship to the 6th-century Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dynasty is called Western Chalukyas to differentiate from the contemporaneous Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, a separate dynasty. Before the rise of these Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta controlled most of the Deccan Plateau and Central India for over two centuries. In 973, seeing confusion in the Rashtrakuta empire after a successful invasion of their capital by the ruler of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa, Tailapa II, a feudatory of the Rashtrakuta dynasty ruling from Bijapur region defeated his overlords and made Manyakheta his capital. The dynasty quickly rose to power and grew into an empire under Someshvara I who moved the capital to Kalyani.
For over a century, the two empires of South India, the Western Chalukyas and the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur fought many fierce wars to control the fertile region of Vengi. During these conflicts, the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, distant cousins of the Western Chalukyas but related to the Cholas by marriage, took sides with the Cholas further complicating the situation. During the rule of Vikramaditya VI, in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Western Chalukyas convincingly contended with the Cholas and reached a peak, ruling territories that spread over most of the Deccan, between the Narmada River in the north and Kaveri River in the south. His exploits were not limited to the south for even as a prince, during the rule of Someshvara I, he had led successful military campaigns as far east as modern Bihar and Bengal. During this period the other major ruling families of the Deccan, the Hoysala Empire, the Seuna dynasty, the Kakatiya dynasty and the Kalachuris of Kalyani, were subordinates of the Western Chalukyas and gained their independence only when the power of the Chalukya waned during the later half of the 12th century.
The Western Chalukya architecture known today as a transitional style, an architectural link between the style of the early Chalukya dynasty and that of the later Hoysala Empire. Most of its monuments are in the districts bordering the Tungabhadra River in central Karnataka. Well known examples are the Kasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi, the Mallikarjuna Temple, Kuruvatti, the Kalleshvara Temple, Bagali and the Mahadeva Temple, Itagi. This was an important period in the development of fine arts in South India, especially in literature, as the Western Chalukya kings encouraged writers in their native language Kannada and in Sanskrit.
History
Knowledge of Western Chalukya history has come through examination of the numerous Kannada language inscriptions left by the kings (scholars Sheldon Pollock and Jan Houben have claimed 90 percent of the Chalukyan royal inscriptions are in Kannada),Pollock, 2006, pp. 288–289, 332Houben, 1996, p. 215 and from the study of important contemporary literary documents in Western Chalukya literature such as Gada Yuddha (982 CE) in Kannada by Ranna and Vikramankadeva Charitam (1120) in Sanskrit by Bilhana.Kamath, 2001, pp. 10–12, 100 The earliest record is dated 957, during the rule of Tailapa II when the Western Chalukyas were still a feudatory of the Rashtrakutas and Tailapa II governed from Tardavadi in present-day Bijapur district, Karnataka.The province of Tardavadi, lying in the very heart of the Rashtrakuta empire, was given to Tailapa II as a fief (provincial grant) by Rashtrakuta Krishna III for services rendered in war. (Sastri, 1955, p. 162)Kamath, 2001, p. 101 The genealogy of the kings of this empire is still debated. One theory, based on contemporary literary and inscriptional evidence plus the finding that the Western Chalukyas employed titles and names commonly used by the early Chalukyas, suggests that the Western Chalukya kings belonged to the same family line as the illustrious Chalukya dynasty of the sixth century,Bilhana's 12th-century Sanskrit work Vikramadeva Charitam and Ranna's Kannada work Gadayuddha (982) and inscriptions from Nilagunda, Yevvur, Kauthem and Miraj claim Tailapa II was son of Vikramaditya IV, seventh in descent from Bhima, brother of Badami Chalukya Vikramaditya II. (Kamath, 2001, p. 100)Kings of the Chalukya line of Vemulavada, who were certainly from the Badami Chalukya family line used the title "Malla" which is often used by the Western Chalukyas. Names such as "Satyashraya" which were used by the Badami Chalukya are also name of a Western Chalukya king. (Kamath, 2001, p. 100) while other Western Chalukya inscriptional evidence indicates they were a distinct line unrelated to the early Chalukyas.Unlike the Badami Chalukyas, the Kalyani Chalukyas did not claim to be Harithiputhras of Manavysya gotra in lineage. The use of titles like Tribhuvanamalla marked them of as a distinct line. (Kamath, 2001, p. 100)
The records suggests a possible rebellion by a local Chalukya king, Chattigadeva of Banavasi province (c. 967), in alliance with local Kadamba chieftains. This rebellion was unsuccessful but paved the way for his successor Tailapa II.Moraes, 1931, pp. 88–93 A few years later, Tailapa II re-established Chalukya rule and defeated the Rashtrakutas during the reign of Karka II by timing his rebellion to coincide with the confusion caused in the Rashtrakuta capital of Manyakheta by the invading Paramaras of Central India in 973.Later legends and tradition hailed Tailapa as an incarnation of the God Krishna who fought 108 battles against the race of Ratta (Rashtrakuta) and captured 88 fortresses from them. (Sastri, 1955, p. 162)According to a 973 inscription, Tailapa II helped by Kadambas of Hangal, destroyed the Rattas (Rashtrakutas), killed the valiant Munja (of the Paramara kingdom), took the head of Panchala (Ganga dynasty) and restored the royal dignity of the Chalukyas. (Moraes, 1931, pp. 93–94) After overpowering the Rashtrakutas, Tailapa II moved his capital to Manyakheta and consolidated the Chalukya empire in the western Deccan by subjugating the Paramara and other aggressive rivals and extending his control over the land between the Narmada River and Tungabhadra River.Sastri, 1955, p. 164 However, some inscriptions indicate that Balagamve in Mysore territory may have been a power centre up to the rule of Someshvara I in 1042.A minor capital of Jayasimha II. (Cousens, 1926, pp. 10, 105)
The intense competition between the kingdom of the western Deccan and those of the Tamil country came to the fore in the 11th century over the acutely contested fertile river valleys in the doab region of the Krishna and Godavari River called Vengi (modern coastal Andhra Pradesh). The Western Chalukyas and the Chola dynasty fought many bitter wars over control of this strategic resource. The imperial Cholas gained power during the time of the famous king Rajaraja Chola I and the crown prince Rajendra Chola I. Chola Emperor Rajaraja Chola I conquered parts of Chalukya territory in present-day Southern Karnataka by subjugating the Western Ganga dynasty of Gangavadi. The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi were cousins of the Western Chalukyas but became increasingly influenced by the Cholas through their marital ties with the Tamil kingdom. As this was against the interests of the Western Chalukyas, they wasted no time in involving themselves politically and militarily in Vengi. When King Satyashraya succeeded Tailapa II to the throne, he was able to protect his kingdom from Chola aggression as well as his northern territories in Konkan and Gujarat although his control over Vengi was shaky. In 1007 Chola crown-prince Rajendra Chola I invaded Western Chalukyas and had a battle with Western Chalukya Emperor Satyashraya at Donur in Bijapur district of Karnataka. According to an inscription of Satyasraya from Dharwad, Rajaraja Nittavinoda Rajendra Vidyadhara, ornament of the Chola race, Nurmudi-Chola (one-hundred-crown Chola) invaded the Western Chalukya Empire in 1007 AD with an army of 900,000 soldiers, carrying fire and sword throughout the region. The invading troops advanced as far as Donur in Bijapur district on their way to the Chalukya capital Manyakheta, where they were met by the Chalukya army under Satyashraya. The Tanjore big temple inscriptions and Hottur inscriptions state that Rajendra Chola I destroyed the Western Chalukya capital.The result of the battle was Cholas conquered Gangapadi and Nolambapadi. Satyashraya's successor, Jayasimha II, fought many battles with the Cholas in the south around c. 1020–21 when both these powerful kingdoms struggled to choose the Vengi king.Sen, 1999, p. 383Jayasimha's choice was Vijayaditya VII while the Cholas sought to place Rajaraja Narendra, son-in-law of Rajendra Chola I. (Kamath, 2001, p. 102) Shortly thereafter in c. 1024, Jayasimha II subdued the Paramara of central India and the rebellious Yadava King Bhillama.