Bhillama II (r. c. 985–1005 CE) was a ruler of the
Seuna (Yadava) dynasty
The Seuna, Sevuna, or Yadava, Yadavas of Devagiri (IAST: Seuṇa, –1317) was a medieval Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a realm stretching from the Narmada River, Narmada river in the north to the Tungabhadra river in the south, in th ...
of
Deccan
The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...
region in India. He was a vassal of the
Kalyani Chalukya
The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...
ruler
Tailapa II
Tailapa II (r. c. 973-997) also known as Taila II and by his title ''Ahavamalla'', was the founder of the Western Chalukyas, Western Chalukya Empire in peninsular India. Tailapa claimed descent from the earlier imperial Chalukyas of Vatapi (Bad ...
, and played an important role in Tailapa's victory against the
Paramara king
Munja.
Early life
Bhillama was a son and successor of the Yadava chief Dhadiyasa, who was a
Rashtrakuta
The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapu ...
feudatory. He married the Rashtrakuta princess Lakshmi. When the
Kalyani Chalukya
The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...
chief
Tailapa II
Tailapa II (r. c. 973-997) also known as Taila II and by his title ''Ahavamalla'', was the founder of the Western Chalukyas, Western Chalukya Empire in peninsular India. Tailapa claimed descent from the earlier imperial Chalukyas of Vatapi (Bad ...
overthrew the Rashtrakutas, Bhillama transferred his allegiance to Chalukyas.
An inscription of the contemporary
Shilahara
Shilahara was a royal dynasty that established itself in northern and southern Konkan in 8th century CE, present-day Mumbai and Southern Maharashtra ( Kolhapur) during the Rashtrakuta period. The founder of the Shilahara dynasty, Sanaphulla, ...
ruler
Aparajita
Aparajita was an able Shilahara ruler of north Konkan branch from 975 CE – 1010 CE.
Chhadvaideva was followed by his nephew Aparajita, the son of Vajjada. Aparajita was an ambitious king. He sought to extend his sphere of influence by ...
states that he granted protection to a king named Bhillama. It is possible that this is a reference to some sort of alliance between Aparajita and Bhillama when they were both Rashtrakuta vassals.
Military career
Bhillama appears to have played an important role in
Chalukya
The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...
-
Paramara war, which resulted in the defeat and death of the Paramara king
Munja. His 1000
Sangamner
Sangamner is a city and a municipal council located in the Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra state in India.
It derives its name from the site of the ''sangam'' (confluence) of three rivers in the area: the Pravara, Mhalungi, and Adhala.
Sa ...
inscription poetically boasts that he thrashed the goddess of prosperity
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...
on the battlefield because she had sided with Munja, and forced her to become an obedient housewife in the palace of the Chalukya king Tailapa.
The Chalukya king rewarded Bhillama by adding the present-day
Ahmednagar
Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...
area to his hereditary fief. The Sangamner inscription describes Bhillama as a ''
Maha-samanta'' ("great feudatory"), and mentions his epithets ''Pancha-maha-shabada'', ''Aratini-sudana'', ''Kandukacharya'', ''Sellavidega'', and ''Vijayabharana''.
Legacy
Bhillama erected the Vijayabharneshvara temple at Sangamner. He was succeeded by Vesugi, who married Nayilladevi, the daughter of a Chalukya feudatory of Gujarat.
See also
*
Dhadiyasa II
*
Vesugi I
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{Seuna (Yadava) dynasty
Seuna (Yadava) dynasty
Seuna (Yadava) kings