Pulakeshin II

History glossary

Topic: Southern Dynasties: Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"

Meaning

Pulakeshin II (reigned c. 610–642 CE) was the greatest king of the Chalukyas of Badami (Vatapi). He stopped Harsha of Kannauj from moving south at the Narmada river, and was in the end defeated by the Pallavas. [2]

He matters because his reign shows India split between two big powers in the 7th century: Harsha in the north and Pulakeshin II in the south. He is also known from two strong sources, Ravikirti's Aihole prashasti and the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang.

Explanation

Background: from a fort to a Deccan power

His grandfather Pulakeshin I founded the dynasty. His reign began in 543 CE. [2]
Pulakeshin I took the hill fort of Vatapi and built walls around it. From there he won the land between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra rivers, up to the Western Ghats. [2]
So when Pulakeshin II came to the throne, he took over a young kingdom that was strong but still unsettled.

A hard start: civil war

Pulakeshin II spent his first years fighting a civil war (a war inside the ruling family for the throne). [2]
After he won:
he took back land the kingdom had lost; [2]
he made unruly under-chiefs (smaller local rulers under the king) obey him again. [2]
Under him, Chalukya power reached its highest point. [2]

Main achievements

He stopped Harsha at the Narmada.
Harsha ruled north of the Vindhyas. Pulakeshin II ruled south of them.
The Narmada became the border between him and Harsha of Kannauj. [2]
Britannica adds that he also won parts of Gujarat and Malwa. [2]
He created the Eastern Chalukya branch.
Around 624 CE he took the Vengi country (coastal Andhra) from the Vishnukundins. [2]
He gave it to his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana, who became the first Eastern Chalukya ruler. [2]
This one act started a branch of the family that lasted for centuries.
Xuanzang praised his rule. The Chinese pilgrim wrote that his subjects obeyed him "with perfect submission".

The end: war with the Pallavas

The Chalukyas of Badami and the Pallavas of Kanchipuram fought each other again and again over the southern Deccan.
Pulakeshin II was in the end defeated by the Pallavas.
According to the usual textbook account, the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I captured Vatapi around 642 CE. Pulakeshin II probably died in this war.
The dynasty survived this defeat. It ended in the Deccan only in the mid-8th century, when the Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga overthrew it.

Time, place and evidence

Period: early 7th century CE (c. 610–642 CE). [2]
Dynasty: Chalukyas of Badami. NCERT dates the dynasty to c. 543–753 CE. Britannica ends this first phase in 757 CE. Use 543–753 for the exam. [2]
Capital: Vatapi, which is modern Badami in Karnataka. It was the first Chalukya capital and is known for its Hindu and Jain cave temples (6th–7th centuries). [2]
Region: the western Deccan, between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra, with control reaching north to the Narmada and east to Vengi. [2]
Key people: Pulakeshin I (grandfather), Kubja Vishnuvardhana (brother), Harsha (northern rival), the Pallavas (southern rivals), Ravikirti (court poet).
How we know about him:
Aihole inscription: a Sanskrit prashasti (a poem written to praise a king) by his court poet Ravikirti. It is carved on a 7th-century Jain temple on Meguti Hill at Aihole (old name Aryapura / 'Ayyavole').
- It is a key source, but it exaggerates. Other inscriptions contradict some of its "facts". Court poets were paid to praise, so historians check it against other records.
Xuanzang's account: a foreign traveller's view, which praises his strong rule.
Other inscriptions of the time, used to cross-check the prashasti.

Don't confuse with

Pulakeshin I — the founder of the Badami Chalukyas (reign from 543 CE) and grandfather of Pulakeshin II. He took the Vatapi fort. He did not fight Harsha. [2]
Kubja Vishnuvardhana — Pulakeshin II's brother, who ruled Vengi as the first Eastern Chalukya king. He was not a ruler of Badami. [2]
Ravikirti vs Banabhatta — Ravikirti wrote the Aihole prashasti for Pulakeshin II. Banabhatta was the court poet of his rival, Harsha.
Western Chalukyas of Kalyani — a later, 10th-century revival of the family with its capital at Kalyani (Basavakalyan). Pulakeshin II belongs to the earlier Badami line.

Prelims Hooks

Pulakeshin II — Chalukyas of Badami, reigned c. 610–642 CE. He was the grandson of Pulakeshin I. [2]
Narmada river = the border between Pulakeshin II and Harsha of Kannauj. [2]
Aihole prashasti — author Ravikirti, carved on a Jain temple on Meguti Hill, Aihole (Karnataka).
Vengi was taken from the Vishnukundins c. 624 CE and given to Kubja Vishnuvardhana, who started the Eastern Chalukyas. [2]
Xuanzang praised Pulakeshin II's rule, saying his subjects obeyed "with perfect submission".
Trap: Vatapi = Badami (Karnataka), not Vengi. Pulakeshin II lost to the Pallavas, not to the Rashtrakutas. Dantidurga (Rashtrakuta) ended the dynasty about a century later.

Mains Points

Two-power India after the Guptas. The Narmada line between Harsha and Pulakeshin II shows that no single empire ruled India in the 7th century. The Vindhyas worked as a real political wall. This fits the GS-I theme of the rise of regional kingdoms.
Using prashastis with care. Ravikirti's Aihole inscription is a first-rate source on Pulakeshin II, but it is paid praise and other inscriptions contradict parts of it. A good answer uses it, checks it against Xuanzang and other inscriptions, and says why that check is needed.
Conquest that shaped later history. Pulakeshin II's grant of Vengi to his brother (c. 624 CE) created the Eastern Chalukyas. [2]
Vengi later became a prize in Chola–Western Chalukya wars.
His own defeat by the Pallavas began the long Chalukya–Pallava rivalry over the southern Deccan.

Related concepts

The Chalukyas of Badami and their branches

Sources

1Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries" (primary)
2Chalukya dynasty; Pulakeshin II; Badamibritannica.com · tier 3