Pulakeshin II - Reign and Campaigns against the Pallavas ¦¦ Documentary

Indian subcontinent has witnessed some of the greatest emperors and empires that the world has ever seen. While much of the attention is usually focused towards medieval and post-medieval empires of the north, the south has seen some extraordinary rulers throughout the history. While most of them have been reduced to only a side note in our academic history books, but their fame still lingers after centuries. One such emperor was Pulakeshi II, the greatest ruler among his clan, the Chalukyas of Badami. Chalukyas had a long line of great kings like his father Kirtivarman I who subverted Nalas, Mauryas and trounced the Kadambas completely. After his death, his brother Minglesa, who was possibly a regent, conquered the Kalacharis and added Raiptadvipa to his kingdom, in the concluding part of his reign, he had to fight his nephew Pulakeshi, plunging the Chalukyas into a fratricidal war. Minglesa wanted to secure the throne for his own son, ignoring the rightful claims of Pulakeshi and his brothers. Pulakeshi came out victorious in this fratricidal war and acceded the throne. Pulakeshi launched an extensive scheme of conquest to reaffirm his claim to the territories conquered by his predecessors. He marched against the Kadamba ruler of Banavasi and besieged his capital, as this southern king, formerly owing allegiance to the Chalukyas, had become indifferent in the period of turmoil between Minglesa and Pulakeshi. After extermination of the Kadambas, the Aihole inscription narrates the subjugation of the Ulupas and the Gangas. Then he attacked the territory of the Mauryas of Konkan, who were earlier feudatories of the Chalukyas but were anxious to regain their independence during Chalukyan internal conflict. Pulakeshi, however, immediately after consolidating his hold, besieged the Mauryan capital Puri on the western coast. After the capture of Puri, the inscription narrates the submission of the Ladas, the Malvas and the Gurjars of Broach. After these successful campaigns, around 612 AD, Pulakeshi's paths crossed with another great ruler, Hersh-Berdinur Harsha of Thanisswar, the ruler of the north, who headed south to expand his kingdom, while Pulakeshi also harbored the hopes of heading north and achieve which none of his ancestors did. The two armies met on the banks of Narmada and Harsha was stopped in his tracks by Pulakeshi's army and had to abandon his plans of expansion and retreated. We only have account of Harsha's defeat from Chalukyan records because Bonpat, Harsha's historian and writer of Harshachurita, manages to keep this defeat out of his account, just like the result of Harsha's unsuccessful campaign against Sasanka, the ruler of Gauda, which has an interesting backstory and deserves a video of its own. Aihol inscription mentions in the dynastic records that after achieving this victory, Pulakeshi adopted the title of Permesvar. The clash between these two contemporary rulers for supremacy might not have been decisive, but the bed on the other side of the river Narmada was so effectually protected by the Chalukyas that Harsha had no alternative but to accept it as the frontier line between the two. Next, Pulakeshi marched against the rulers of Kasala and Kalinga, who easily submitted to him without offering any resistance. Soon, Pulakeshi made himself master of Vengi which was then under the Pulavas and established his brother Kubja Vishnu Virdhan as his viceroy and his descendants afterwards became independent, making him founder of the Eastern Chalukya dynasty. It was in the course of his southern campaign that Pulakeshi came into conflict with the Pulavas of Kanchipuram. The Pulavas were feudatories of the Satvahanas in the Andhradesa. After the fall of Satvahanas, they declared independence and expanded up to Kanchi. It has been noted by historians that they were strangers to the Tamil country, unrelated to the ancient lines of Cheras, Pandyas and Cholas. Mahendravarman Pulava was the contemporary of Pulakeshi. He is called the king with the beautiful Tondai garland and the Dalavinar cave inscription. Simha Vishnu, father of Mahendravarman, who defeated the Kalabras and re-established the Pulava kingdom, was the founder of the line of the great Pulavas of Kanchi and is also said to have completely vanquished the Simhala king of Ceylon who was proud of the strength of his arms. According to tradition, Mahendravarman was originally a Jain and persecuted the followers of other faiths. His turnaround was brought about by Saivite saint Uppar otherwise known as Taruna Vukoraker. Uppar was one of those who is believed to have been persecuted by him, but his wonderfully miraculous powers, especially the manner in which he escaped the tortures to which he was subjected by the Jains, moved the Pulava king to embrace Saivism. When Pulakeshi came knocking at their door, the Pulavas, under Mahendravarman, fought a series of wars in the northern Bengi region. It appears that Pulakeshi had made elaborate arrangements for his expedition against the of Kanchi, utilizing his six-fold army consisting of hereditary troops filled with heroism and energy. He was successful against the Pulavas who were forced to go behind the walls of Kanchipuram. They were, however, not fully subjugated and Pulakeshi did not attempt to cross the Kaveri for strategic reasons and communication difficulties. Some Pulava grants also suggest that Mahendravarman decimated his chief enemies at Pulalur. Although Mahendravarman saved his capital, he lost the northern provinces to Pulakeshi. As soon as Pulakeshi returned to his capital, the Pulavas were not slow to take the initiative in befriending their neighbors and put up a joint force against the Chalukyan ruler of Batapi. After his widespread military exploits, as per Aihole inscription, Pulakeshi became the sovereign ruler with an extensive empire, bounded by oceans on its three sides and crowned by the Vindus in the north. Since it was not physically possible to administer this vast empire directly from the headquarters, Pulakeshi had to parcel out his empire amongst the members of his family as well as loyal feudatories. The indecisive nature of the first campaign against the Pulavas and Pulakeshi's return to the capital, followed by Nursimhavarman's accession to the throne due to the demise of Mahendravarman, prompted Pulakeshi to measure his strength once again with the southern powers, especially the Pulavas. Even his further push in the south was uneventful in the sense that it did not involve permanent annexation or domination over the territories of the Cholas, Cheras and the Pandyas. The occasion was, therefore, ripe for him to avail himself of another opportunity to extend his area of conquest, consequent to the death of his old adversary. Pulakeshi first started against the Banas, who were the feudatories of the Pulavas. After overrunning their kingdom, he moved against the Pulavas and once again threatened their capital. It appears more probable that Nursimhavarman too was interested, as is natural, in regaining control over the territory lost to the Chalukyas in the time of his father. In the clash between the two at several places, prominently at Periyala, Suramara, and Manimangala, about 20 miles to the east of Kanchipuram the Pulavas appeared to have had an upper hand over the Chalukyas. This was only the beginning of the Pulava's victory over the Chalukyas. Nursimhavarman's success in these three battles helped him in his offensive campaign against the Chalukyas. It is not known where the final battle was fought, but it is evident from the Pulava records that Pulakeshi was probably killed in action resulting in the capture of Badami by the Pulava general Sirithondur Paranjyoti. In this clash, the Pulava ruler was also assisted by Manavarman of Ceylon. The Pulava conquest and capture of the Chalukyan capital is confirmed by the title of Vatapi Kanda meaning victor of Vatapi or taker of Vatapi, accorded to Nursimhavarman in the Pulava inscriptions. Moreover, the Pulava records also describe that Nursimhavarman had written the word victory on the back of the Chalukyan army, visible while fleeing from the battlefield. The Pulava victory is further corroborated from an inscription recorded at the back portion of Malikarjuna temple at Vatapi belonging to AD 642-43, probably engraved after the capture and burning of the Chalukyan metropolis to avenge the humiliation suffered by the Pulava king Mahendravarman at the hands of Pulakeshi. Vatapi was ruled by the Pulavas for the next 12 years and would never become a capital ever again. The Sinhalese prince Manavarma who helped Nursimhavarman crush his enemy Pulakeshi was returned the favor and Nursimhavarman helped him twice with an army to invade Ceylon. The second attack was successful. Manavarma occupied Sri Lanka, over which he is supposed to have ruled from AD 691-726. Pulakeshi was not only the greatest Chalukyan monarch of Badami, but also a distinguished warrior who transformed the Chalukyan kingdom into an extensive empire. At the time of his death, his empire included practically the whole of the Trans-Vindhyan regions of India except the territory of the Pulavas and that of a few southern powers further south. As for Nursimhavarman, he came to be known as Mahamulla, meaning the great wrestler, and Mammalapuram, now known as Mahabalipuram was named after him. He is claimed to be one of the 12 Indian kings who never lost on the battlefield to their enemies. Please like, comment and share the video and subscribe to the channel to support us. Until next time.