CHALUKYAS: VEMULAWADA

Chalukyas of Vemulawada (cALukyas of vEmulavADa) (ವೇಮುಲವಾಡದ ಚಾಳುಕ್ಯರು) constitute yet another branch of the famous Chalukya dynasty. It had its base in Vemulawada of Andhrapradesh. Their rule extended over the present day Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts of Andhrapradesh. This dynasty is of some relevance to Karnataka because of Arikesari a king and his association with Pampa one of the very great poets of Kannada. The dynasty ruled with Vemulawada as its capital from 753 A.D. to 973 A.D. This place is referred to as ‘vEmulavATikA’ in many documents. This kingdom was a feudatory of the Rashtrakoota Empire all through its existence. Yuddhamalla, Vinayaditya-1, Arikesari-1, Narasimha-1, Bhadradeva-1, Yuddhamalla-2, Bhadradeva-2 (baddega). Yuddhamalla-3, Narasimha-2, Arikesari-2, Bhadradeva-3 and Arikesari-3 are the monarchs that constitute this dynasty. Most of the information that we possess about them is gleaned from the copper plate inscriptions of Kollipara and Parabhani by Arikesari-1 and Arikesari-3 respectively and the stone inscriptions at kuruvagaTTa, vEmulavADa, karImnagara and rEpAka. Abundant information is available in the literary works ‘Vikramarjuna Vijaya’ by Pampa and ‘Yashastilaka’ by SOmadEva sUri. N. Venkataramanaiah, MuLiya Timmappayya, and Kolluru Suryayanarayana have researched in to the details of this dynasty.

Arikesari -2 who ruled during the former half of the tenth century was the royal patron of Pampa and he is immortalized by the poet in his epic ‘Pampa Bharata’. Arikesari is equated with Arjuna the major protagonist of that work. (NAyaka) Pampa makes a number of positive observations about this benevolent king and many of the events in the epic are perhaps imaginative reconstructions of historical events,

Sri Rajarajeshvara temple in Vemulawada was built during the reign of Narasimha-1 and it continues to attract legions of devotees even to this day.

The presence of these dynasties in the heart of Andhrapradesh is an indication of the fact that linguistic realities and political realities need not necessarily be in the same wavelength. Ancient and medieval India was not fragmented on the basis of language. Kings were catholic as far as sensitive issues like religion and language were concerned.

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