The early Chalukyas,
sworn enemies of the Pallavas of Kanchi, rose to power in Karnataka of the Kanarese-speaking
country in the 600 A.D. and had their first capital Vatapi, modern
Badami in the Bijapur district of Bombay Presidency.
The real founder of the
dynasty of Vatapi was Pulikesin I, who signalized his accession to power
by the performance of the horse-sacrifice.
He has defeated the Pallava king Mahendra Varman I. The Pallava king, Narasimha Varman I,
son and successor of Maahendra Varman I,
retrieved the disasters of his father’s reign, inflicting crushing defeats on
Pulikesin and destroying his capital Vatapi.
Then the Chalukya power
was revived by Vikramaditya I, son of Pulikesin II, who renewed
the struggle against his southern enemies.
His exploits were emulated and even surpassed by his great-grandson, Vikramaditya
II also called Chalukya Vikramaditya or Vikramanka Deva, who
actually entered the Pallava capital in the 11th Century A.D.
The renowned poet Bilhana
adorned the court of Chalukya Vikramaditya. Bilhana was born and educated in Kashmir
but he came to the south and became a court poet Chalukya Vikramaditya of
Kalyan. He has described the life of his patron Chalukya Vikramaditya
in Vikramanka Deva Charitam with 17 cantos. His account of King Vikramanka Deva and
his predecessors was not completed. In
the last canto the poet gives an account of himself and his family. There is more good poetry than history in
this work. Bilhana’s style is graceful and
his descriptions are graphic.
Bilhana
has also composed an interesting erotic poem titled ChauraPanchasika of
about 50 verses describing the love sports enjoyed by the poet in the company
of a beautiful princes with whom he had secret intimacy. The charming verses are in the form of
recollection of the pleasures he had enjoyed in the company of his beloved, by
hearing which stricken by the compassion, the king ordered to release him. In
the 19th Century A.D., this work was translated into Tamil
by BharatiDasan.
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