Durvinita () is seen as the most successful ruler of the

Western Ganga dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 999 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Eastern Gangas who in later centuries r ...

. Son of the previous ruler, Avinita, Durvinita's accession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of the Pallavas and Kadambas. There are Nallala and Kadagattur inscriptions that refer to this dispute. However, Durvinita managed to grab the throne by virtue of his valour.

Hostilities with Pallavas and Kadambas

During Durvinita's rule, the hostilities between the Pallavas and Gangas came to forefront and several pitched battles were fought by the two kingdoms. Durvinita defeated the Pallavas in the battle of Anderi. Though the Pallavas sought the assistance of the Kadambas to the north to tame Durvinita, the Gummareddipura inscription hails that Durvinita overcame his enemies at Alattur, Porulare and Pernagra. It is possible that these victories enabled him to extend his power over Kongudesa and Tondaimandalam regions of Tamil country.

Ties with Chalukyas

Durvinita was a clever king. In order to keep the Pallavas at bay, he gave his daughter to

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 ...

Vijayaditya Vijayaditya (696–733 CE) followed his father, Vinayaditya on to the 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. Durin ...

or from the Nagara record to Pulakesi II, though the latter is unlikely owing to the difference in their eras. The Chalukyas were an emerging power at this time. When the Pallavas attacked the Chalukyas, he fought on the Chalukya side and cemented a long lasting friendship with the Chalukyas that lasted through the rule of both the Badami Chalukyas,

Rashtrakutas 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 Indian inscriptions, inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing th ...

and Kalyani Chalukyas, covering a period of over 600 years. The Gummareddipura and the Uttanur plates describe Durvinita as the ''Lord of Punnata''.

Religion

Durvinita was a disciple of the Jain monk

Pujyapada Acharya Pujyapada or Pūjyapāda (464–524 CE) was a renowned grammarian and ''Acharya (Jainism), acharya'' (philosopher monk) belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jainism, Jains. It was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on the ac ...

, and his court had several Jain scholars. Such tolerance was common among later Ganga kings, who actually took to Jainism in the later centuries. A 977 CE inscription states that Durvinita commissioned the construction of a

Jain temple A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings ge ...

(''basadi''); the inscription records a grant by Indrakirti Munindra to this temple.

Literature

Durvinita was a scholar and patronized several learned men, including his tutor

. According to ''Avanti-sundari-katha-sara'', a work attributed to Dandin, Durvinita's court hosted the Sanskrit poet Bharavi for some time. The Nallala grant inscription, issued during the 40th year of his reign, states that he was an expert at composing poetry, stories, dramas, and commentaries. Durvinita was well-versed in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

languages. Amoghavarsha's Kannada-language text '' Kavirajamarga'' hails Durvinita as one of the early writers in Kannada prose, though no Kannada works by him survive. According to multiple Ganga grant inscriptions, such as the Gummareddipura inscription, Durvinita wrote a Kannada-language commentary on Canto 15 of Bharavi's '' Kirātārjunīya''. The Gummareddipura inscription and other Ganga inscriptions also suggest that he composed a Sanskrit version of '' Brihatkatha'' (''Vadda-katha''). These inscriptions also describe him as ''Shabdavatara-kara'', suggesting that he composed the ''Shabdavatara'' (a work on grammar). However, ''Shabdavatara'' is a work of his tutor Pujyapada.

References

Bibliography

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External links

History of Karnataka by Dr.Arthikaje

{{Karnataka topics 6th-century Indian monarchs History of Karnataka Kannada-language writers 529 births 579 deaths Western Ganga kings Sanskrit writers 6th-century Indian scholars 6th-century Indian writers Panchatantra