NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part I, Chapter 2

Chalukyas, Pallavas and Rashtrakutas

Between the sixth and the tenth centuries the Deccan and the far south were dominated by three dynasties - the Chalukyas of Badami, the Pallavas of Kanchi and the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta. Their long rivalry produced some of India's greatest rock-cut and structural temples.

The Chalukyas of Badami

• Their capital was Vatapi, modern Badami in Karnataka; Pulakeshin I established the line.
• Pulakeshin II is the greatest ruler. His Aihole inscription, composed by the Jain poet Ravikirti, records his victory over Harsha on the Narmada.
• He also received an embassy from the Persian king Khusrau II, a scene believed to be painted in one of the Ajanta caves.
• He was defeated and killed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who captured Vatapi and took the title Vatapikonda.
• Chalukya art centres are Badami (rock-cut cave temples), Aihole (the Durga and Lad Khan temples) and Pattadakal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where Nagara and Dravida styles stand side by side.

The Pallavas of Kanchi

• Their capital was Kanchipuram, and their chief port was Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram).
• Mahendravarman I was a poet and dramatist who wrote the Sanskrit farce Mattavilasa Prahasana, and began rock-cut temple building.
• Narasimhavarman I Mamalla defeated Pulakeshin II and built the monolithic rathas at Mahabalipuram, each carved from a single rock.
• Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha built the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram and the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchi - structural, not rock-cut.
• Pallava temple building moved through clear stages - cave temples, then monolithic rathas, then structural stone temples, which together form the beginning of the Dravida style.

The Rashtrakutas

• Dantidurga founded the dynasty in the eighth century, with the capital at Manyakheta.
• Krishna I had the Kailasa temple at Ellora cut out of a single rock from the top downwards - the largest monolithic structure of its kind.
• Amoghavarsha was a scholar-king who wrote Kavirajamarga, the earliest known literary work in Kannada, and patronised Jainism.
• The great Elephanta cave sculptures near Mumbai, including the three-headed Sadashiva, are associated with this period.
• The Rashtrakutas took part in the tripartite struggle for Kanauj and sacked the city more than once.

How the Kailasa temple at Ellora was made

Picture a hillside of solid basalt. Instead of building upward with blocks, the workers began at the top and cut downward, first carving two deep trenches to free a huge rectangular block of rock from the hill. Then they worked inward and downward on that block, cutting away stone to leave behind a full temple - tower, hall, gateway, courtyard, elephants and pillars - all of one piece, with nothing joined and nothing added.