page_title: Pulakeshin II
section_title: Inscriptions
hierarchical_section_title: Pulakeshin II / Inscriptions
caption_attribution_description: English: The Aihole Inscription of Ravi Kirti at the Meguti temple, a minister and poet in the court of Badami Chalukya King en:Pulakesi II, dated to 634 CE, is in Sanskrit language and old Kannada script. It is considered one of the finest pieces of extant poetry in the Sanskrit language and is a eulogy of King Pulakesi II and his conquests.(Ref:Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1, p.252, Gaṅgā Rām Garg, Concept Publishing Company, 1992, India, ISBN 81-7022-374-1; Portraits of a Nation: History of Ancient India: History, Kamlesh Kapur, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, Chapter 35, The Chalukyas of Badami, Brief history of the Chalukyas, New Delhi, ISBN 978 81 207 5212 2). At the end of the inscription is an endorsement in the Kannada language of slightly later date (ref:Indian Epigraphy, p.48, D.C. Sircar, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1965, New Delhi, ISBN 81-208-1166-6
context_page_description: Pulakeshin II was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi. During his reign, the Chalukya kingdom expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India.
  A son of the Chalukya king Kirttivarman I, Pulakeshin overthrew his uncle Mangalesha to gain control of the throne. He suppressed a rebellion by Appayika and Govinda, and decisively defeated the Kadambas of Banavasi in the south. The Alupas and the Gangas of Talakadu recognized his suzerainty. He consolidated the Chalukya control over the western coast by subjugating the Mauryas of Konkana. His Aihole inscription also credits him with subjugating the Latas, the Malavas, and the Gurjaras in the north.
  The most notable military achievement of Pulakeshin was his victory over the powerful northern emperor Harsha-vardhana, whose failure to conquer the Chalukya kingdom is attested by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. In the east, Pulakeshin subjugated the rulers of Dakshina Kosala and Kalinga. After defeating the Vishnukundina ruler, he appointed his brother Vishnu-vardhana as the governor of eastern Deccan; this brother later established the independent Eastern Chalukya dynasty of Vengi.
context_section_description: Following inscriptions from Pulakeshin's reign have been discovered:
  The Yekkeri rock inscription, which was probably issued in Pulakeshin's first regnal year, contains land records in certain towns said to be owned by the god Mahadeva.
  The Hyderabad copper-plate grant inscription is dated to the Shaka year 532 (expired), and was issued during Pulakeshin's 3rd regnal year. It was issued during the solar eclipse on the Amavasya of the Bhadrapada month, which corresponds to 23 July 613. It records a village grant.
  The Maruturu grant inscription records the grant of the Maruturu village at the instance of the Aluka vassal ruler, and notices the occupation of Pishtapura.
  The Satara grant inscription of Vishnu-vardhana refers to him as the crown-prince.
  The Lohner (Nashik district) inscription is dated to the year 552 of an unspecified calendar era, which must be the Shaka era. It registers grant of the Goviyanaka village to a Brahmana named Dama Dikshita.
  The Kopparam copper-plate inscription, dated to Pulakeshin's 21st regnal year, records the grant of a village in Karma-rashtra region to a Brahmana.
  The Aihole prashasti inscription, composed by Pulakeshin's court poet Ravikirtti, records the construction of a Jinendra temple by Ravikirtti, and lists Pulakeshin's military achievements.
  The undated Tummeyanaru grant inscription of Pulakeshin bestows the title Paramaveshvara on him.
  The Chiplun copper-plate inscription record the grant of the Amravatavaka village in Avaretika vishaya (province) to a Brahmana named Maheshvara. It refers to Pulakeshin's maternal uncle and vassal king Shrivallabha Sena-nanda-raja, who belonged to the Sendraka dynasty.
  The Nerur inscription.
  The fragmentary Badami rock inscription refers to the "victorious metropolis" of Vatapi.
  The Hirebidri (Dharwar district) stone inscription records a land grant by Tiraka.
  A Kannada-language inscription from Bellary district "specifies the land measure and the coin to be used at Kurumgodu".
  The undated Peddavaduguru Ishvara temple stone inscription records Pulakeshin's grant of the Elpattu Simbhige village after his subjugation of Ranavikrama. The defeated ruler was probably a king of the Bana dynasty; alternatively, he may be identified with Mangalesha, who bore the title Ranavikrama.
  The Bijapur-Mumbai copper-plate grant inscription records a land grant to Nagasharman of Kaushika gotra, and includes a prashasti (praise) of the dynasty and its kings. The granted land was located in the Brahmana-Vataviya villages situated on the banks of the Godavari River (identified with modern Brahmangaon and Wadvali, east of Paithan, in Aurangabad district). The copper plates were purchased by Raghuvir Pai of Mumbai from a scrap-vendor of Bijapur in the 1990s. The inscription was unreadable because of corrosion, but Shreenand L. Bapat of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute cleaned it and published it in 2017. It is written in Sanskrit language and inscribed in a southern variety of the Brahmi script. It was issued on the occasion of a lunar eclipse on a full-moon day in the Vaishakha month of Pulakeshin's ninth regnal year, which corresponds to 4 April 619 CE.
  Following inscriptions are attributed to Pulakeshin's reign, but are considered spurious by modern scholars:
  The Kandalgaon copper-plate inscription, dated to Pulakeshin's 5th regnal year, records the grant of the Pirigipa village on Revati island. It is considered spurious because its script features irregular characters and its language is very inaccurate. Additionally, its seal and opening matter are different from other Chalukya inscriptions, and it contains a faulty description of Pulakeshin.
  The Lakshmeshvara inscription records the grant of a field to the chaitya of Shankha Jinendra. It is considered spurious because of "late script and irregular dating".
  The Pimpalner copper-plate inscription, considered spurious for the same reasons as the Lakshmeshvara inscription, records the grant of the Pippalanagara to Nagarasvami Dikshita.
caption: The Aihole inscription composed by Pulakeshin's court poet Ravikirtti
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