North Indian Inscriptions

THE SILAHARAS OF KOLHAPUR

born to his father by the grace of Mahālakshmī) sent presents of excellent rubies to Chāmunḍarāja, the Chaulukya king of Gujarāt (c. A.D. 995-1008), evidently to seek his alliance. This king of Kōllāpura was probably Jatiga II.

.. Gōṅka, the son and successor of Jatiga II, is described in the grant of his son Mārasiṁha as the ruler of Karahāṭa-Kuṇḍi region, the Miriñja-dѐśa, and the whole of the large country of Kōṅkaṇa. Karahāṭa is modern Karhāḍ in the Sātārā District. Kuṇḍi was a part of the Beḷgaon District. Miriñja is, of course, Miraj. Kōṅkaṇa was probably South Koṅkaṇ. Gōṅka was a contemporary of the Later Chālukya king Jayasiṁha. From the Miraj plates of the latter dated in A.D. 1024 we learn that the he had by then conquered South Koṅkaṇ, and was encamped at Kolhāpur “in the course of his campaign in the north.’[1] Gōṅka, seems to have helped the Chālukya king in the conquest of South Koṅkaṇ, and may have been asked by Jayasiṁha to govern the country. Thereafter the Śilāhāras of Karahāṭa appear to have become the īoyal feudatories of the Later Chālukyas and to have taken an active part in their wars with the Chōlas. Gūhala, who is described as the lord of Khiḷigiḷa (Panhāḷā) fort, may have been placed in charge of the region around Kolhāpur during the reign of his elder brother Gōṅka.

.. The Tāḷale plates[2] of Gaṇḍarāditya mention Gūvala (I), also called Gūhala, and Kīrtirāja as brothers of Gōṅka, and since they describe both of them as kings, they are supposed to have succeeded Gōṅka one after the other. Gūhala is said to have become favourite with Satyāśraya, evidently the Later Chālukya king of that name. The Kolhāpur plates of Vijayāditya mention a third brother of Gōṅka named Chandrāditya. It appears very doubtful if these brother of Gōṅka ruled as kings; for no grant of any of them has yet been discovered. If they ruled actually one after another, we shall have to suppose that all of them died sonless, and their nephew Mārasiṁha had to wait until the close of the reign of his youngest uncle. This does not appear plausible. The three brothers of Gōṅka appear to have been called kings in later records because they belonged to the royal family, and were ruling over some portion of Śilāhāra kingdom.

.. Goṅka was thus probably succeeded by his son Mārasiṁha, who issued his Miraj plates[2] in Śaka 980 (A.D. 1058). He mentions therein his title Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara, but does not name his suzerain. This shows that though he had not actually proclaimed his independence, he wielded considerable power.

.. Like his predecessors, Mārasiṁha seems to have taken part in the conflict of the Later Chālukyas with the Chōlas. This provoked the Chōla king Rājarāja to invade the Kolhāpur territory. In 1054, in the course of his invasion of Raṭṭapāḍī seven and a half lakh country of the Later Chālukyas, he pressed as far as Kōppam, ‘a famous tīrtha on the bank of a great river’. The Chālukya king Sōmēśvara I advanced to meet him. In the fierce battle which took place there, Rājarāja, who was fighting from the back of an elephant, was pierced by an arrow, and succumbed to the injury. There was chaos and confusion in the Chōla army as his riderless elephant ran amuck, being frightened by the fury of the battle. Then the king’s brother Rājēndradēva, who had been waiting behind, pressed forward, shouting “Fear not”, and threw all his forces into the fight. Then the tide of the battle turned against the Chālukyas. Several of their Sāmantas and generals were killed. Sōmēśvara-Āhavamalla, the Chōla records say, filed, trembling vehemently, with dishevelled hair, turning his back, looking round, and tiring his legs, and was forced to plunge into the western ocean. The Chōlas are said to have captured many elephants, horses, camels, the Boar banner of the Chālukyas and two queens, Sattiyavvai and Saṅgappai with several women. Then Rājēndra crowned himself king on the
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[1] Ind. Ant., Vol. VIII, p. 18.
[2] No. 45.

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