Bijjala II

Bijjala II 1130 - 1167 CE was the most famous of the southern Kalachuri kings and ruled initially as a feudatory of Chalukya Vikramaditya VI. He ruled as the "Mahamandalesvara" or chief and ruled over Karhada 4,000 and Tardavadi 1,000, designations given toterritories within the Chalukya kingdom.

Bijjala's Opportunism

After the death of Vikramaditya VI, seeing the weakening empire, Bijjala II declared independence.The "Chikkalagi" inscription refers to Bijjala as "Mahabhujabalachakravarti", which in Kannada literally means "king with powerful arms". By the time of Chalukya Taila III, Bijjala's attempts towardsindependence seems to have spread to other feudatories as well. Kakatiya Prola II broke free of Chalukya rulein the middle of the 12th century. By 1162 CE. Bijjala II had managed to drive Taila III out of Kalyani, the Chalukya capital. He assumed Chalukyan titles like "Sriprithvivallabha" and "Parameshvara". He shifted his capital from Mangalavada to Kalyani also known as Basavakalyan.

hort Lived Freedom

Bijjala's independence seems to have been short lived. He ruled only from 1162 CE. to 1167 CE. as asovereign ruler. During these years he successfully clashed with the Hoysala Narasimha I, Pandya chief of Uchchangi, Suena's and the Chola's, and the chieftens of Andhra and Kalinga.Though some literature written at that time indicates that he was a Jaina, epigraphal recordsshow he was a Hindu Shaiva. He however was an orthodox Shaivite and hence did not fully agree with
Basavannas revolutionary ideas.

Bloody End

His rule was marked with turbulence, both domestic and social. According the historian Dr. P.B. Desai,Bijjala II became very unpopular with the Virashaiva followers and was assassinated by them. Dr. Desai however does confirm that Basavanna himself was not responsible for this incident.

References

* Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat (2001). Concise History of Karnataka, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002)

Links

* [http://www.ourkarnataka.com/states/history/historyofkarnataka25.htm Brief history of Kalachuris]