Chalukyas of Vatapi (An Old and Rare Book)

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THE PRESENT Work on the History of the Chalukyas of Vatapi has resulted from the author's conviction that there was a need for re examining the old records of the Chalukyas of Vatapi as well as to undertake a critical study of the fresh epigraphical discoveries. The. present work incorporates the results of the author's intensive study of almost all the available Chalukya records. The value of this book is considerably enhanced by the full utilisation of the interesting information provided by such recent epigraphical discoveries as the Tembhurni plates of Vikramaditya I, the Alampur Prasasti of Vijayaditya and the B.N. Jalihal Tomb temple Inscription of Vikramaditya II.

Besides, our knowledge of the history of the Chalukyas of Vatapi has been considerably altered and improved by the re-examination and re-ascription of some of the important Chalukya records by the present author. An attempt has been made to rationalise the present-day names of many of the Chalukya temples with the help of the epigraphical data and to ascribe them to the different reigns in which they may have been built.

THE TIME is not yet ripe for writing a comprehensive chronological cum-political history of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi or, for that matter, of any of the Indian ruling houses of the past. Inspite of nearly one hundred years of sustained epigraphical collection and research, there are many gaps which can be filled up only by conjectural arguments and assumptions. Nevertheless, the present work on the history of the Vatapi Chalukyas has been written because it was felt that even a critical re-examination of the already available Chalukya records and a study of their newly discovered inscriptions considerably improve our knowledge of their history. The reascription of such important Chalukya inscriptions as the Yekkeri Rock inscription and the Măruţūru grant, the critical re-examination of many records of this family such as the Badami cliff inscription of Polekesi, the Mahakūta pillar inscription, the Ravalaphaḍi cave label inscription, and the Aihole inscription of Polekesi II, and the full utilisation of the new information contained in fresh epigraphical discoveries such as the Tembhurni plates, the Alampur Prasasti of Vijayaditya and the Tomb Temple inscription of Vikramaditya II in the present work have considerably altered and improved our knowledge of the history of the Chalukyas. The information contained in the grant portions of the Chalukya records have been brought into greater use than in the previous histories of the family though, for reasons of lack of running information, no attempt has been made to study, in detail, their socio-economic implications.

**Contents and Sample Pages**