EASTERN CHALUKYAS OF VENGI
The eastern chalukyas with
vengi as their capital city ruled andhra for over a period of 3 centuries from
7th century to 10th century AD.The importance of their
age is felt in the contribution made by them inpolitical,social,economic and
cultural spheres.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF EASTERN CHALUKYAS OF VENGI:
Politically,though they
were from kannada region,credit goes to them for maintaining polotical
stability in andhra during transition from ancient to medieval
times.Secondly,they were responsible for unifying andhra desa by founding a
vast empire consisting of present coastal andhra,rayalaseema and telangana
regions.Thus for the 1st time,the geographicla expression for andhra
desa was given.Thirdly,they effectively guarded andhra desa from the invasions
of rashtrakutas and kalyani chalukyas.
In the social
sphere,amalgamation of forest tribes into the mainstream of the society was achieved
by the eastern chalukyas.Panduranga,the commander of gunaga ijayaditya
conquered the tribal settlements called boyakottam and brought the Booyas into
the fold of the brahmanical society.secondly,the chalukyas founded educational
institutions called ghatikas for promoting education.Thirdly,though many sectarian faiths like
pasupathas,kalamukhas and kapalikas appeared in the society,chalukyas could
strike a perfect balance among the different sects and maintain communal
harmony.
In the economic sphere,expansion
of both agriculture and non-agriculture production took place.With their
extensive land grantthey substantially contributed for the growth of
agriculture.Similarly,by establishing contacts with china and suvarna
dweepa,they promoted the external trade.The dynamic and enterprising community
of traders called komatis entered andhra and made penukonda as their main
cente.They formed into merchant guilds called nagarams and carried out trade.It
was due to the efforts of the chalukyas that the currency system in andhr desa
was perfected.They were the 1st to issue gold coins called
madas,ghadwanas,silvercoins called ruka and copper coins called chinnam,With
their coinage tradition,they became path founders for kakatiyas.
The contribution of
chalukyas is quite profound in the cultural sphere,particularly in the field of
literature.Teluu emerged as an independent language during their times .Fine
arts like music and dance received equal patronage.
The
important literary developments of the age were:
1] Telugu as a spoken
language evolved under this dynasty.The gradual evolution of telugu is best
illustrated in the inscriptions issued by them from time to time.
In the Vipparla inscription
of jayasimha,we come across ,for the 1st time,the telugu prose.
In the panduranga’s Addanki
inscription,we come across Taravoja,the telugu prasa.
In the kandukuru
inscription,we find seesapadya and in Bezawada inscription,we find
Madhyakkara.Thus the basic requisites for the development of telugu literature
were introduced during this age.
2] The great translation
works started further enriching the telugu
literary tradition.The Adikavi
Nannayya’s translation of Mahabharatha set the trend.His other literary work ‘andhra
shabda chintamani’ markded a great development in telugu grammar.
With Nannechoda’s ‘kumarasambhavam’,a new
literary phase started in telugu literature.In his literary work,he used a
distinct telugu style called Janu telugu which
became the basis for his succeccor Palakurthi
somanna.Further,Kumarasambhavam became the basis for prabhandha yuga in telugu
literature.Nannechoda introduced the desi kavitha trend in telugu.
With the devoted shiva
kavis,the desikavitha movement started in telugu literature.All the great
classics in telugu literature were composed during this period.Palkurthi
somanna wrote Basavapuranam,panditaradhya charitamu and chaturveda
saram.Paditaradhya himself wrote
shivatatwa saaram which became one of the earliest satakas in telugu
literature.Thus sataka literary tradition as such started.
Other popular literary
works under the chalukya swere vemulavada bheemakavi’s ‘janasrayam’,and
‘Raghavapandaveeyam’, and pavuluri Mallana’s ‘Ganithasara sangraham’.Bhatti
Ramananda wrote Kavvyalankarasutramu.The literary tradtion became a model for
the great poets srinatha and allasani peddana in the later course of history of
literary development.
In the filed of fine arts
like music and dance,the age marked a great development.Chellavva,an exponent
in music and dance was patronized by chalukya bheema.The very fact that she was
given the title ‘gana gandhara visharada ‘ indicates the development of music
during this period.Anka Malika ,a opetic play also developed during this age.
The great sculptural
tradition of the age is found in the temples of Alampuram,Mahanandi and
Dachepalli.Credit goes to the chalukyas for introducing the Deccan style of
temple architecture in andhra and for buildingt the temples at
Draksharaman,Bheemeshwaram,samarlakota,amaravathi and
palakollu[pancharamas-5shiva shrines]. The navabrahma temple at alampuram and
Mahanandi temple at kurnool district also belong to their times.
The chalukyas thus kept
intact the great cultural traditions of andhra and passed them on to the
succeeding dynasties ,particularly the kakatiyas and reddyrajas.
SOCIETY UNDER EASTERN CHALUKYAS:
The social changes that took place under the chalukyas had a definite
bearing on the social changes that followed in andhra in the later course of
time.
Important social developments were :
1] the 4 fold caste system was well
estblished and caste based occupations were well crystallized.
2]The chaturda varna of sudras improved
theit social status by emerging as powerful agricultural community.
3] With the rise of virasaivism and vira
vaishnavism,there was a social awakening in andhra and attempts were made to
improve the position of the dalits.Brahmanaidu opened tha gates of
chennakeswara temple to dalits and adopted
a dalit as his son.
4]Komatis appeared as an enterprising
communtiy.They were actually from gouda desha and settled in penukonda.They
started the practice of worshipping kanyaka parameswari.
5]In the brahmin community,for the 1st
time,we find the community divided into 2 major sects namely vaidiki and
niyogi.On the basis of regional variations and occupations,the brahmin
community further divided into kammanadu,valanadu and palanadu subcastes.
6] Towards the end of chalukyan era,the
brahmin migration process started from andhra desa to tamilnadu
.However,kulottunga chola invited tamil brahmins to settle in coastal
andhra.These settled tamil brahmins were called arava dravidas.
7] The amalgamation of forest tribes into
the main stream of the society was completed when commander panduranga
conquered Boyakottams and brought them
under the influence of the brahmanic society.
8] with regard to education,the jain
sanghas and their educational centres
called ghatikas played an important role in promoting education.Bezawada
and Ramateertham were the main centres for educational activity,whereas
rajahmundry and amaravathi continued to be the main centres for brahmmanical
learning.For the maintenance of the centres,the chalukyas made liberal
grants.Sanskrit,grammar,medicine,mathematics and astronomy were the subjects
taught.
9] With regard to position of women,they
continued to enjoy freedom and liberty.Women like chellavva excelled in fine
arts like dance and music.However,,social evils like prostitution and Devadasi
system came to be justified in the society.
10]Abhilashateertha chintamani written by
chalikya someswara ,one of the most authentic sources on the chalukyan society
talks about whole range of hobbies,past times and entertainments for the people
of the age.Kolatam,and geyanatakam appeared as major entertainments of the age.
EASTERN CHALUKYAS
RELIGION:
Brahmanism strengthened with
shaivism,vaishnavism, and shaktism.The other popular religions like buddhism
lost its popularity and jainsim
continued to survive with less patronage.
Within brahmanism,shaivism became quite
predominant with the formation of
different shaiva sects like pasupathas,kalamukhas,kapalikas and veerashaivas.The
pasupatha sect was founded by Nakulin and was the earliest saiva sect.The
kalamukha sect was founded by kalasana,the disciplle of nakulisa.The kapalikas
worshipped shakti and shiva.They indulged in uncivilized practices like eating
food in skulls,cohabiting with deadbodies and followed panchamudras.
Srisailam,tripuranthakam,alampuram and
mahanandi were the main centres for the shaiva sects.
Towards the end of chalukyan era,we find
vaishnavism being promoted by Ramanujacharya with his philosophy of visishtadvaita.The
communal clashes between shaivites and vaishnavites started during this preiod
when kulottunga chola excommunicated Ramanujacharya from his native place
sriperumbudur for preaching vaishnavism.
As a religion,brahmansim experienced
great changes:
1] The concept of panchayatana started bt
Adishankaracharya assumed great importance,Under the concept,the five dieties
shiva,vishnu,surya,shakti and ganesha were worshipped together.This was an
attempt on the part of adishankara to
unite different sects within brahmanism into one common religion.
2]Temples became centres of
socio-religious and economic activity .The monasteries attached to the temples
called mattas came to shelter the sanyasis who inturn promoted religion of
brahmanism.
3]The practice of taking out god and
goddess out for a procession started.Festive gatherings called Jataras also
started.This was testified by Bezawada yuddhamalla's inscriptions which mention
about Mahasena's Jatara and Chejerla in guntur district.
4] Worshipping kanyaka parameswari as the
goddess of chastity and prosperity started as a practice in the vaishya
community.
5] The devadasi system under which
dancing girls were attached to temples also appeared for the 1st time.
6] Jainism received
relatively less patronage.Ayyana mahadevi,wife of kubja
visgnuvardhana,constructed the nidumbavasadi at bezawada and the king vimaladitya followed
jainism.Like brahmanism,jainsim also experienced formation of different sects like pustaka
gaccha,nandi gacha,and mesha pashana gaccha.In the history of andhras,it was
the last stage where jainsim was patronized.
