Badami Chalukyas

Overview

Major Deccan dynasty centered on Vatapi (Badami). Founded by Pulakesin I in 543 CE; imperial peak under Pulakesin II (r. 611-642) who defeated Harsha at the Narmada, hosted Xuanzang (641-642), corresponded with Khosrau II of Persia, and commissioned the Aihole Prashasti (634 CE, Ravikirti). Killed at Narasimhavarman I Pallava's sack of Vatapi in 642; Pallava interregnum until c. 655 when Vikramaditya I recovered the capital. Late peak under Vikramaditya II who conquered Kanchipuram three times and spared the Kailasanatha Temple; Queen Lokamahadevi built the Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal c. 740 (UNESCO WHS 1987). Ended 753 CE when Dantidurga Rashtrakuta defeated Kirtivarman II. Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi forked off in 624 under Kubja Vishnuvardhana.

Territory Phases

1. Badami Chalukyas (Founding + Consolidation)543 CE – 615 CE

   Founding and consolidation phase under Pulakesin I (c. 543-566), Kirtivarman I (c. 566-592), and Mangalesa (c. 592/597-610). Pulakesin I established the dynasty at Vatapi (Badami) with the Badami Cliff Inscription of 543 CE (Shaka 465), recording his Ashvamedha sacrifice and the title Vallabheshvara. Kirtivarman I is praised in the later Aihole prashasti as 'the night of doom' for the Nalas of Chhattisgarh/Bastar, the Mauryas of Konkan (centered on Puri/Elephanta), and the Kadambas of Banavasi. His brother Mangalesa served first as regent and then as ruler, completing the Konkan campaign and fighting the Kalachuris. Mangalesa dedicated Cave 3 at Badami to Vishnu in Shaka 500 (578/579 CE) — the most securely dated of the Badami cave temples. A succession crisis c. 609-610 ended with Pulakesin II's accession.

2. Badami Chalukyas (Pulakesin II Imperial Peak)610 CE – 645 CE

   Imperial peak under Pulakesin II (r. c. 609/611-642), one of the greatest Indian rulers of the 7th century. He recovered Banavasi and subjugated the Alupas, the Gangas of Talakad, and the reconquered Mauryas of Konkan, then pushed north subjugating the Latas, Malavas, and Gurjaras. He defeated the emperor Harshavardhana of Kannauj at the Narmada river (c. 618-630 CE — the exact date is debated; modern scholarship brackets it between 612 and 630, with the Aihole inscription of 634 as the firm terminus ante quem), fixing the Narmada as Harsha's permanent southern frontier. In the south he defeated Mahendravarman I Pallava at Pullalur near Kanchipuram (c. 618-620) and conquered Vengi (coastal Andhra, ex-Vishnukundin), where he installed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as viceroy in 624 — the founding of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, thereafter a separate polity. He exchanged embassies with Khosrau II of Persia c. 625 CE (attested in al-Tabari). The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang visited his court in 641-642 CE and described 'Pu-lo-ki-she' in the Da Tang Xiyu Ji. The Aihole Prashasti, commissioned in 634 CE (Shaka 556) and composed by the Jain court poet Ravikirti, is his great epigraphic monument. Pulakesin II was killed in 642 CE when Narasimhavarman I Pallava sacked Vatapi, ending the imperial peak and opening the Pallava interregnum. Titles: Satyashraya, Sri-Prithvi-Vallabha, Parameshvara, Maharajadhiraja.

3. Badami Chalukyas (Pallava Interregnum)642 CE – 660 CE

   Catastrophic interregnum after Narasimhavarman I Pallava sacked Vatapi and killed Pulakesin II in 642 CE. The Pallavas held Vatapi for approximately 13 years. Chalukya authority collapsed to a small rump in northwest Karnataka. Adityavarman and Abhinavaditya, sons of Pulakesin II, held fragments of the kingdom; resistance consolidated gradually under Vikramaditya I, the heir. This phase is represented by a deliberately small, low-confidence polygon reflecting the Chalukya rump during the occupation; the core at Badami itself was Pallava-held during this window.

4. Badami Chalukyas (Recovery: Vikramaditya I – Vijayaditya)655 CE – 740 CE

   Recovery and consolidation under Vikramaditya I (c. 655-680), Vinayaditya (c. 680-696), and Vijayaditya (c. 696-733). Vikramaditya I expelled the Pallavas from Vatapi c. 655 CE, recovered the Chalukya core, and took the retaliatory title Ranarasika ('lover of war') — later inscriptions refer to Vatapi as 'Ranarasika's city.' He campaigned against Mahendravarman II and Paramesvaravarman I Pallava, took Kanchipuram 'after 670 CE' but did not destroy it, and suffered a setback at Peruvallanallur (674) against a Pallava-Pandya coalition. Vinayaditya and especially Vijayaditya presided over a long, peaceful consolidation phase with extensive temple construction at Badami, Aihole, Mahakuta, and Alampur (Telangana). Vengi had by now become the fully separate Eastern Chalukya polity; the Badami Chalukya eastern frontier shrank to the Krishna-Tungabhadra region. Vijayaditya's ~37-year reign (696-733) was the high-water mark of Chalukya temple patronage.

5. Badami Chalukyas (Late Peak and Fall)733 CE – 757 CE

   Final late peak under Vikramaditya II (r. c. 733-744/746) and decline under Kirtivarman II (r. c. 744/746-753). Vikramaditya II conquered Kanchipuram three times — first as crown prince under Vijayaditya, then as emperor c. 735-740, and then again with his own crown prince Kirtivarman II. He famously spared the Rajasimheshvara (Kailasanatha) Temple at Kanchipuram and restored its wealth rather than looting it — an act of architectural restraint commemorated by a Chalukya inscription on the temple itself. His queen Lokamahadevi built the Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal c. 740 CE to commemorate the Kanchi victory; her sister Trailokyamahadevi built the adjacent Mallikarjuna Temple. Together with the Sangameshvara (under Vijayaditya) and the Papanatha, these Pattadakal temples represent the Nagara-Dravida architectural synthesis that defines Karnata Dravida style. Vikramaditya II also repelled an Arab (Umayyad) incursion into southern Gujarat via his governor Avanijanasraya Pulakesin. Kirtivarman II was defeated by the Rashtrakuta Dantidurga in 753 CE (recorded in Dantidurga's Samangad and Ellora plates), ending the Badami Chalukya dynasty and inaugurating the Rashtrakuta imperium. A southern Chalukya remnant persisted until c. 757 (Vakkaleri copper plates).

Key Rulers

Related Civilisations

Sources

1. Dikshit, Durga Prasad (1980) Political History of the Chalukyas of Badami(Standard modern monograph on the Badami Chalukya dynasty. Comprehensive political history from Pulakesin I through Kirtivarman II. Widely cited in Wikipedia bibliographies and modern Chalukya scholarship.)
2. Ramesh, K.V. (1984) Chalukyas of Vatapi(Authoritative epigraphist's reference on the Badami Chalukyas. Focused on the inscriptional record.)
3. Mahalingam, T.V. (1969) Kanchipuram in Early South Indian History(Essential for the Chalukya-Pallava succession chronology and the repeated Chalukya raids on Kanchipuram under Vikramaditya I and Vikramaditya II.)
4. Hardy, Adam (1995) Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation — The Karnata Dravida Tradition(The authoritative work on Karnata Dravida temple architecture. Argues that the Pattadakal complex is the defining moment of the Nagara-Dravida synthesis, with both styles built side-by-side on one royal ceremonial site.)
5. Badami Cliff Inscription of Pulakesin I (Shaka 465 = 543 CE)(The dynasty-founding inscription. Records Pulakesin I's Ashvamedha sacrifice and his assumption of the title Vallabheshvara at Vatapi. Provides the firmest anchor for the 543 CE founding date.)
6. Badami Cave 3 Inscription of Mangalesa (Shaka 500 = 578/579 CE)(Inscription inside Cave 3 (the largest of the four Badami cave temples) recording its Vaishnava dedication by Mangalesa. The most securely dated of the Badami cave temples and the anchor for the dating of the other caves.)
7. Mahakuta Pillar Inscription of Mangalesa (c. 602 CE)(Records early Chalukya dynastic genealogy and Mangalesa's military achievements. Located at the Mahakuta temple complex ~6 km east of Badami.)
8. Vakkaleri Copper Plates of Kirtivarman II (c. 757 CE)(Late-dynasty copper plate grant issued by Kirtivarman II after the 753 defeat by Dantidurga, demonstrating that a Chalukya remnant persisted in the south for about four more years before final extinction.)
9. Samangad Copper Plates of Dantidurga (Shaka 675 = 753/754 CE)(Rashtrakuta copper plate inscription dated Shaka 675 (753/754 CE) recording Dantidurga's defeat of Kirtivarman II — the event that ended the Badami Chalukya dynasty and inaugurated the Rashtrakuta imperium. Published by J.F. Fleet in Indian Antiquary XI (1882).)
10. Aihole Inscription of Pulakesin II (634 CE)(Sanskrit prasasti composed by the court poet Ravikirti, inscribed at the Meguti Jain temple at Aihole. Records Pulakesin II's victory over Mahendravarman I at Pullalur (c. 618-619). Chalukya-side counterpart to the Pallava copper plates.)
11. Xuanzang, Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Records of the Western Regions, 646 CE), tr. Beal 1884(Chinese Buddhist pilgrim's account of his travels in India (630-643 CE), including detailed descriptions of Kannauj, Harsha's character, the Kannauj religious assembly, and the Prayaga Mahamoksha Parishad. English translations: Samuel Beal, Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, 2 vols., Trubner, London, 1884; Li Rongxi, The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions, BDK, 1996.)