Western Chalukya Empire

Western Chalukya Empire Kalyani Chalukya
975–1184[1]
Extent of Western Chalukya Empire, 1121 CE[2]
Status	Empire (Subordinate to Rashtrakuta until 973)
Capital	Manyakheta Basavakalyan
Common languages	Kannada Sanskrit
Religion	Hinduism Jainism
Government	Monarchy
King
• 957–997	Tailapa II
• 1184–1189	Someshvara IV
History
• Earliest records	957
• Established	975
• Disestablished	1184[1]
Preceded by Succeeded by Rashtrakuta dynasty Hoysala Kingdom Kakatiya dynasty Seuna (Yadava) dynasty

The Western Chalukya Empire (/tʃəˈluːkjə/ chə-LOO-kyə) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada-speaking dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the modern Bidar district of Karnataka state, and alternatively the Later Chalukya from its theoretical relationship to the 6th-century Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dynasty is called Western Chalukyas to differentiate from the contemporaneous Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, a separate dynasty. Before the rise of these Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta controlled most of the Deccan Plateau and Central India for over two centuries. In 973, seeing confusion in the Rashtrakuta empire after a successful invasion of their capital by the ruler of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa, Tailapa II, a feudatory of the Rashtrakuta dynasty ruling from Bijapur region defeated his overlords and made Manyakheta his capital. The dynasty quickly rose to power and grew into an empire under Someshvara I who moved the capital to Kalyani.

For over a century, the two empires of South India, the Western Chalukyas and the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur fought many fierce wars to control the fertile region of Vengi. During these conflicts, the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, distant cousins of the Western Chalukyas but related to the Cholas by marriage, took sides with the Cholas further complicating the situation. During the rule of Vikramaditya VI, in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Western Chalukyas convincingly contended with the Cholas and reached a peak, ruling territories that spread over most of the Deccan, between the Narmada River in the north and Kaveri River in the south.^[3][4][5][6] His exploits were not limited to the south for even as a prince, during the rule of Someshvara I, he had led successful military campaigns as far east as modern Bihar and Bengal.^[7][8][9] During this period the other major ruling families of the Deccan, the Hoysala Empire, the Seuna dynasty, the Kakatiya dynasty and the Kalachuris of Kalyani, were subordinates of the Western Chalukyas and gained their independence only when the power of the Chalukya waned during the later half of the 12th century.

The Western Chalukya architecture known today as a transitional style, an architectural link between the style of the early Chalukya dynasty and that of the later Hoysala Empire. Most of its monuments are in the districts bordering the Tungabhadra River in central Karnataka. Well known examples are the Kasivisvesvara Temple, Lakkundi, the Mallikarjuna Temple, Kuruvatti, the Kalleshvara Temple, Bagali and the Mahadeva Temple, Itagi. This was an important period in the development of fine arts in South India, especially in literature, as the Western Chalukya kings encouraged writers in their native language Kannada and in Sanskrit.