Karnataka > Gangas of Talakad(C.350-C.1024)
The Gangas seems to have started their rule in c. 350 from Kolar and later their capital is said to have been shifted to Talakad (Mysore district).
Elephant was their royal insignia. Till the advent of the Badami Chalukyas, they were almost a sovereign power. Many Ganga princes were not only scholars and writers, but also great patrons of scholarship. Later they continued to rule over Gangavadi (which comprised major parts of South Karnataka) till the close of 10th century as subordinates of the Badami Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas. It is the Gangas who withstood the onslaught of the Pallavas and the Cholas, who tried to subjugate South Karnataka. Durvinita (c.529-579) was one of the great kings of this dynasty. He, being a scholar wrote both in Kannada and Sanskrit. The Sanskrit poet Bharavi is said to have lived in his court for some time. The ancient Punnata Kingdom (the modern Heggadadevanakote taluk region) was merged in his Kingdom. His great grandson Bhuvikrama (c.654-79) was a strong ally of the Chalukyas, and at the Battle of Vilande (c.670) which was fought between the Chalukyas and the Pallavas, he helped the former to gain victory over Pallava Parameshwara Varman and snatching as a war trophy, the Pallava ruler's necklace called Ugrodaya for himself. Mankunda in Channapatna taluk is said to have been his royal residence for sometime.
A later prince of this family, Sripurusha (c.725-88) was not only a strong ally of the Chalukyas, but also resisted the Rashtrakutas who tried to subdue him, after the overthrow of the Chalukyas of Badami by them in 753. Sripurusha, as a Chalukyan ally killed Pallava Nandi Varman II at Vilande in 731 and assumed the Pallava ruler's title Permanadi. This great ruler also wrote a Sanskrit work Gajashasthra, a treatise on elephants. He shifted his capital to Manne (Manyapura) in Nelamangala Tq. His son Shivamara II (788816) and grandson Rachamalla I (816-53) continued to resist Rashtrakuta power. In the end, Rashtrakuta Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga I (814-78) sought reconciliation with the Gangas by marrying his daughters to the Ganga princes. At a later date, when the Cholas became strong, the Ganga king Butuga II (938-61) allied himself with the Rashtrakutas against the Cholas, and helped Rashtrakuta Krishna III (939-67) to humiliate the Cholas by killing the Chola crown prince Rajaditya in the battle held at Takkolam (949) as elucidated in Atkur inscription, a unique memorial stone erected to commemorate the demise of Kali, a hound, while fighting against a wild boar, now displayed in the Bangalore Visveswaraya museum. Finally their territory came to be subdued by the Cholas in 1004, and thus the Ganga rule ended. A branch of the Gangas ruled from Orissa from 496 A.D. and became celebrated in history as the Eastern or the Kalinga Gangas. Among their feudatories, the Nalambas played a vital role in the regional politics in accordance with the political vicissitudes of the day. Gangas dotted the country with many tanks. Kolar, said to be the core country of their initial rule, and Mysore district have many irrigational sources of their times. Their fine temples are seen at Kolar, Talakad, Begur, Nagavara, Gangavara, Nandi, Aretippur and Narasamangala. The last named has wonderful stucco figures of remarkable beauty. They also built Jaina bastis at Kambadahalli and Shravanabelagola. The Gommata monolith at the last named place, 58ft. in height is the creation of their minister Chavundaraya in c. 982 A.D.
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