South Indian Inscriptions

KALCHURI OF TRIPURI

tion, clearly shows that it eulogized the achievements, not of Lakshmanarāja, but of his suzerain’s father Gōvinda III.¹ It is noteworthy that the line containing the name of the reigning Kalachuri king is relegated to the margin. Later on, the Rāshtrakūtas, from time to time, entered into matrimonial alliances with the Kalachuris of Tripurī² and thus made the Kalachuris kingdom a bulwark on the north of the Narmadā against any possible invasion of their territory by the Gurjara-Pratīhāras.

The Kārītalāi inscription of the reign of Lakshmanarāja I is dated K. 593 (841-42 A.C.). We may, therefore, place the Kalachuri king from circa 825 A.C. to 850 A. C.

Lakshmanarāja I was probably succeeded by Kōkalla I, who may have been his son. No inscription of this king has yet been found; but we get some account of him in two later records, the Bilhāri stone inscription³ and the Banaras plates of Karna.⁴ Kōkalla made some matrimonial alliances which increased his power and prestige. He himself married a Chandēlla princess named Nattādēvī. ⁵ From the Cambay plates we learn that the king Akālavarsha (i.e., the Rāshtrakūta Krishna II) married the daughter of Kōkalla, an ornament of the dynasty of Sahasrārjuna.⁶ She became his chief queen and bore him a son named Jagattunga. This latter prince also, as we shall see later, married two Kalachuri princesses.

The Bilhāri stone inscription and the Banaras plates describe the help that Kōkalla rendered to a number of his contemporaries. The former says that Kōkalladēva, after having conquered the whole earth, set up two pillars of victory, the well-known Krishnarāja in the south and Bhōjadēva, the store of royal fortune, in the north.⁷ The statement evidently means that Kōkalla established these princes firmly on their thrones. The Banaras plates state that Kokalla’s hand gave freedom from fear to Bhōja, Vallabharāja, Śri-Harsha, the lord of Chitrakūta, and the king Śankaragana.⁸ That this is no empty boast is shown by the records of the other dynasties also.

Krishnarāja who is figuratively called Kōkalla’s pillar of victory in the south is none other than the Rāshtrakūta king, Krishna II-Akālavarsha. He is identical with the Vallabharāja who received protection from Kōkalla; for, Vallabha or Śrī-vallabha was a title assumed by many Rāshtraküta kings.⁹ The Arabs called the Rāshtrakūtas by the name of Balharā,¹⁰ which is admittedly a corrupt form of Vallabharāia. As already shown, Krishna II was the son-in-law of Kōkalla. He must have sought his father-in-law’s help when he was engaged in a conflict with the contemporary Eastern Chālukya king Vijayāditya III (844-88 A.C.). We find references to these hostilities in many inscriptions of the Eastern Chālukyas. Thus
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¹ In line 9 it mentions the routing of Nagabhata (II), evidently of Govinda III.
² The aforementioned Karitalai inscription indicates that the Rashtrakuta Emperor Amoghavarsha used to visit the place to pay his respects to a saintly person there. Though Amoghavarsha I was forty-two years old at the time of this Karitalai inscription, it is doubtful if his son Krishna II was already married to Kokalla’s daughter at the time; for, the son is known to have reigned till 914 A.C. The inscription does not state when Amoghavarsha had gone to Karitalai. Perhaps, one of the objects of his visit was to seek Kokalla I’s help when he was deposed by his kinsman in the early of his reign.
³ No. 45.
⁴ No. 48.
⁵ No. 48, 1. 10.
⁶ Ep. Ind., Vol. VII, p. 38.
⁷ No. 45, 1. 8.
⁸ No. 48, 11. 8-9.
⁹ See the discussion of this matter by Fleet in Ep. Ind., Vol. VI, pp. 193 ff. The Bagumrā plates of the Gujarat Rāshtrakūta Krishna refer to a Vallabha-nripa who can be none other than the Rāshtrakūta Emperor Krishna II.
¹⁰ Ind., Ant., Vol. XII, p. 218.