Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas and Yadavas of the Deccan

The six centuries between the Vakatakas and the arrival of the Delhi Sultanate in the Deccan can look like a blur of dynasties in a textbook. For Maharashtra, three of them stand out: the Chalukyas of Badami, the Rashtrakutas, and the Yadavas of Devagiri. Each left a mark you can still see — an inscription, a temple, a language.

The Chalukyas of Badami (6th–8th century)

The Chalukyas ruled from Vatapi (Badami) in present-day Karnataka, but their power extended across much of Maharashtra.

• Pulakeshin I founded the dynasty's power and performed the Ashvamedha.
• Pulakeshin II (early 7th century) was the greatest ruler.

Pulakeshin II and Harsha

Pulakeshin II's most famous achievement was checking Harshavardhana of Kanauj on the banks of the Narmada, preventing Harsha's expansion into the Deccan. This is recorded in the Aihole inscription (634 CE), composed by the court poet Ravikirti in Sanskrit.

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who travelled in India during this period, visited the Chalukya kingdom and wrote about the power of its king and the martial character of its people — an account often cited in the context of Maharashtra.

Pulakeshin II was later defeated by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who captured Badami. The Chalukyas recovered, but were eventually overthrown by their feudatories, the Rashtrakutas, in the mid-eighth century.

The Rashtrakutas (8th–10th century)

The Rashtrakutas were among the most powerful dynasties of early medieval India, and their origins are closely linked to Maharashtra — the Latur and Ellora region.

The tripartite struggle

For about two centuries, the Rashtrakutas, the Palas of Bengal and the Gurjara-Pratiharas of western India fought over Kanauj, the symbol of power in north India. The Rashtrakutas raided the north several times but did not hold it permanently.

The Kailasa temple at Ellora

The Kailasa temple (Cave 16) at Ellora is one of the greatest works of rock-cut architecture in the world. It was carved from the top down out of a single basalt hill — the builders removed a vast quantity of rock to leave a complete temple, with its shrine, halls, pillars and sculptures, standing in a courtyard.

• It is dedicated to Shiva, representing Mount Kailasa.
• It was built under Krishna I in the eighth century.
• It follows the Dravida style of temple architecture.

Ellora: three faiths

Ellora is a symbol of religious coexistence and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The Shilaharas

While larger dynasties ruled the plateau, the Shilaharas governed parts of the Konkan and Kolhapur as feudatories and later as independent rulers. The north Konkan Shilaharas are associated with the Ambernath Shiva temple, an important example of early medieval temple architecture near Mumbai.

The Yadavas of Devagiri (12th–14th century)

The Yadavas (also called Seunas) began as feudatories of the later Chalukyas of Kalyani and became independent in the late twelfth century.

• Bhillama V founded Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad, near Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) as the capital.
• Singhana was the most powerful ruler, extending the kingdom widely.
• Ramachandra (Ramadeva) was ruling when the Delhi Sultanate arrived.

A golden age of Marathi

The Yadava period is remembered as the time when Marathi literature flowered.

• Dnyaneshwar composed the Dnyaneshwari (a Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) in 1290, during Ramachandra's reign.
• Chakradhar Swami founded the Mahanubhava sect, whose followers produced early Marathi prose, including the Lilacharitra.
• Mukundaraja is associated with early Marathi philosophical poetry.

Hemadri (Hemadpant)

Hemadri, a minister of the Yadava kings Mahadeva and Ramachandra, is one of the most famous figures of the period.

• He wrote the encyclopaedic Sanskrit work Chaturvarga Chintamani.
• A style of temple architecture — the Hemadpanti style, using stone blocks fitted without mortar — is associated with his name.
• Tradition also credits him with introducing the Modi script for administrative writing, though historians debate this.

The fall of Devagiri

• In 1296, Alauddin Khalji, then governor of Kara, raided Devagiri and forced Ramachandra to pay a large tribute — the first major Sultanate expedition into the Deccan.
• Further campaigns under Malik Kafur followed.
• The Yadava kingdom was finally annexed around 1318 under Mubarak Shah Khalji, after the rebellion of Harapala.
• Later, Muhammad bin Tughlaq made Devagiri — renamed Daulatabad — a second capital and ordered the transfer of population there in 1327.

How these dynasties connect

Questions to practise

Prelims-style:

1. Who composed the Aihole inscription, and whose achievements does it record?
2. Under which ruler was the Kailasa temple at Ellora built?
3. Which Rashtrakuta ruler wrote the Kavirajamarga?
4. In whose reign was the Dnyaneshwari composed?
5. What was Devagiri renamed, and by whom?

Mains-style:

• "Ellora is a monument to religious coexistence." Discuss.
• Examine the contribution of the Yadava period to Marathi language and literature.

Together, these dynasties explain how the Deccan developed its own political and cultural identity — one that the Bahmani Sultanate and, later, the Marathas would inherit.