Ancient and Medieval Indian Rulers

 Someshwara - I is one of the important kings of this dynasty. He built a new city called Kalyana and made it his capital. This is today’s Basava Kalyana in Bidar district.

Keertivarman II was steadily undermined by the activities of Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga who was establishing the Rashtrakuta Empire and was therefore defeated by him.

Throughout their reign, the Pallavas were in constant conflict with both Chalukyas of Badami in the north and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas in the south. Finally. the Pallava king Nandivarman was finally defeated by the Chola ruler Vikramaditya II in the 9th century CE.

All the sovereign rulers of the Chalukya dynasty bore the title Sri Prithvivallabha, which means "the husband of the goddess of fortune and the Earth" (i.e: Vishnu).

For the purpose of administrative convenience, the kingdom was divided into Rashtra (Mandala), Vishaya, Nadu and Grama. 

1. The early Kalachuris of the south were Jains and encouraged Jainism in their kingdom. 
2. The first notable chief of the Kalachuri family of Karnataka was Uchita. 
3. While there were several kings who followed him ruling as feudatories of the Kalyani Chalukyas, it was Jogama who became an influential vassal of Vikramaditya VI, being related to the great Chalukya king by matrimony.

Basaveshwara was a saint. He preached in three forms: soft advice, harsh criticism, strict warning. He taught that surrendering oneself to Shiva with total devotion was the only path to salvation. He declared that work is worship. He established Anubhava Mantapa in 1162 C.E. He wrote his vachanas in simple Kannada that resembled the spoken language of the common people.

After the decline of the Chalukyas and Cholas, the Yadavas, Kakatiyas, Hoysalas, and Pandyas emerged as the dominant powers in South India.

The Rashtrakutas succeeded the Chalukyas of Badami in Western India during the 8th century.

The Kadamba is the first dynasty to be established in Karnataka. Their capital was Banavasi which is in today’s North canara district. Mayurasharma was the  founder and a great king of this dynasty. 

 When Mayura Sharma was insulted by the Pallava king, Shivaskanda Varma, he adopted the Kshatriya way of life and became Mayuravarma. He defeated the Pallavas in a war and established the Kadamba Empire. He is the pride of all Kannadigas. 

The Halmidi inscription, the earliest known epigraph that showed the early usage of Kannada script belongs to Kakusthavarma who ruled between the years 435 CE to 455 CE. The stone inscription found at Halmidi has been assigned to 450 CE. 

Talagunda inscription of Kadamba dynasty belongs to Santivarma. This is one of the earliest inscriptions. This inscription gives major information about the Kadamba dynasty especially about its founders.