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The Western Chalukya Empire ruled
most of the western Deccan, South India,
between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannadiga 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. Prior to the rise of these Chalukyas,
the Rashtrakuta empire of Manyakheta controlled most of Deccan 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 Southern
India, the Western Chalukyas and the Chola
dynasty of Tanjore 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 Hoysalas, the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiya dynasty and
the Southern 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 Chalukyas developed an architectural
style 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 at Lakkundi, the Mallikarjuna Temple at
Kuruvatti, the Kallesvara Temple at
Bagali and the Mahadeva Temple at
Itagi. This was an important period in the
development of fine arts in Southern India, especially in literature as the
Western Chalukya kings encouraged writers in their
native language Kannada and Sanskrit. |
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