Kubja Vishnuvardhana I (reigned 624–641), also known as Bittarasa in

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 ...

, was the younger brother of

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 ...

Pulakeshin II Pulakeshin II (IAST: Pulakeśin r. –642 CE) popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the greatest Chalukyan Emperor who reigned from Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya empire expanded to cover ...

. Vishnuvardhana I ruled the

Vengi Vengi or Venginadu ( Telugu: వేంగి) is a historic region located in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India spread over the Godavari and Krishna river deltas. Its capital was located at Pedavegi, near Eluru. Vengi was a prominent city in a ...

territories in eastern

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

as the viceroy under Pulakeshin II from around 615. Eventually, Vishnuvardhana declared his independence and started the

Eastern Chalukya Eastern Chalukyas, also known as the Chalukyas of Vengi, were a dynasty that ruled parts of South India between the 7th and 12th centuries. They started out as governors of the Chalukyas of Badami in the Deccan region. Subsequently, they becam ...

dynasty in 624. The Eastern Chalukyas ruled the Vengi kingdom for nearly five centuries and had a very close relationship with the imperial

Cholas The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...

Origin of Eastern Chalukyas

Pulakeshin II (608–644), the greatest Vatapi

king, conquered the eastern

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 ...

, corresponding the coastal districts of

616, defeating the remnants of the

Vishnukundina The Vishnukundina dynasty (IAST: Viṣṇukuṇḍina, sometimes Viṣukuṇḍin) was an Indian dynasty that ruled over parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha and other parts of southern India between the 5th and ...

kingdom. He appointed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

. On the death of Pulakeshin II, the Vengi viceroyalty developed into an independent kingdom. The Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi outlived the main Vatapi dynasty by many generations.

Possible reason for the partition

Scholars are not in agreement as to why Vishnuvardhana declared himself king of the eastern Deccan territories of

. Partition of Vengi as a separate kingdom It has been tacitly assumed that this was a formal division and Pulakeshin II conferred independent sovereignty of Vengi on his younger brother. It was stated in the Kopparam plates that Kubja Vishnuvardhana was ruling only as a subordinate to his brother Pulakeshin II in the Vengi area. A revolution of Kubja Vishnuvardhana can be ruled out of account since the records indicate a good relationship between the brothers. Das Kornel posits that Pulakeshin II sent his younger brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as viceroy to the Vengi region. There, the latter was able to subdue the Vishnukundina King (possibly Janasraya Madhava Varman) and carve out a kingdom for himself. One possible reason is the turn of events around middle of the 7th century in the Badami Chalukyan kingdom. The last few ruling years of Pulakeshin II ended in disaster. The great

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...

king

Narasimhavarman I Narasimhavarman I was a Pallava emperor who reigned from 630 CE to 668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the works started by Mahendravarman in Mamallapuram. During his reign, the famous Pancha Rathas ...

, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Chalukyas and burnt Badami. Pulakeshin II lost his life in this encounter. The five sons of Pulakeshin fought among themselves in the period that followed, and tried to divide the kingdom into independent states. Pulakeshin's third son Vikramaditya I became the Chalukya king c. 642 and eventually restored order after defeating his brothers.

Vishnuvardhana's reign

Vishnuvardhana ruled over a kingdom extending from

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. He assumed the title of ''Vishamasiddhi'' (conqueror of difficulties). Vishnuvardhana participated in the wars between his brother

and the Pallava Narasimhavarma I and probably lost his life in a battle in 641. His son Jayasimha I succeeded him.

References

*{{cite book , author=Ganguly, Dhirendra Chandra , title=THE EASTERN CALUKYAS, url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.106160/page/n3/mode/2up?q=Bittarasa , year=1937 , publisher=Public Library of India * Durga Prasad, History of the Andhras up to 1565 A. D., P. G. Publishers,

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

(1988)
South Indian Inscriptions
* Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. (1955). A History of South India, OUP,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

(Reprinted 2002). 7th-century Indian monarchs Eastern Chalukya kings 641 deaths