Karnataka > Chalukyas of Badami (C. 540-757)
It is the Chalukyas of Badami who brought the whole of Karnataka under a single rule. They are also remembered for their contributions in the field of art. Their monuments are concentrated at Badami, Nagaral, Aihole, Pattadakal, old and new Mahakuta in Karnataka and at Alampur, Gadwal, Satyavolal and Bichavolu in Andhra Pradesh. They are both rock-cut and structural, with wonderful sculptures wrought in hard red sandstone. Their Shiggaon copper plates, speaks of 14 tanks in Haveri district. The first great prince of the dynasty was Pulikeshi I (c. 540-66 A.D) who built the great fort of Badami and performed Ashwamedha Yaga (horse sacrifice) as elucidated in his Badami cliff inscription of 543 AD (so far the earliest saka dated (Saka 465) inscription of Karnataka) after subduing many rulers including the Kadambas. His grandson, Pulikeshin II (c.608-42) built a vast empire which extended from the Narmada in the north, to the Cauvery, in the south. In the east, he overthrew the Vishnukundins and appointed his younger brother Vishnuvardhana, as the Viceroy of Vengi. This prince founded the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty which ruled for five centuries in Andhra. (A later prince of this Vengi line, Kulottunga, even succeeded to the Chola throne in 1070). Harsha of Kanauj was defeated by Pulikeshin II. The Chalukyan army has been called 'Karnatabala' and described as invincible in contemporary inscriptions. He exchanged embassies with Persia and the Chinese piligrim Hiuen Tsiang visited his court. Ultimately, the Pallavas conquered Badami in c. 642 A.D. after defeating Pulikeshin II's army. Later his son Vikramaditya I (655-81} reconquered the Chalukyan capital and reorganised his father's empire and restored the fame of their army 'Karnadbala' as 'invincible' The representative carving of a measuring rod of 18 spans of his period found at Kurugodu in Bellary Taluk, an unique example is even now visible.
Vikramaditya I's son Vinayaditya (681-96) defeated the ruler of Kanauj, who claimed to be the paramount lord of the North (Sakalottarapathanatha). He even sent an expedition to Cambodia. He was succeeded by Vijayaditya (696-733). The Arabs who had conquered Sindh (711) under the leadership of Mohamed Khasim, tried to make inroads into the Deccan. They were defeated by the Chalukya feudatory in South Gujarat called Avanijashraya Pulikeshin in 739. The Arabs were forced to leave Sindh after this defeat. The Chalukyan empire included not only the whole of Karnataka and Maharashtra, but the greater part of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra, and also parts of Orissa and Tamilnadu. Vikramaditya II (733-744) in the line, defeated the Pallavas and entered the Pallava capital Kanchi victorious. But he did not loot Kanchi as the Pallavas had done at Badami in 642. Instead after inspecting its Jewels and Treasure, he redonated them to the Rajasimheshwara temple of Kanchi, as elucidated in a kannada inscription found carved on one of the pillars of the above said temple of Kanchi. His queens Lokamahadevi and Trailokyamahadevi built the Virupaksha and Mallikarjuna temples at Pattadakal to commemorate this victory. But the Chalukyan power was weakened in the long run by its frequent wars with the Pallavas.
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