Ranaraga (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Raṇarāga) was an early 6th century ruler of the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

dynasty of

Vatapi Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from CE 540 to 757. It is famous for its rock cut monuments ...

(modern Badami) in present-day India. A

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

ruler, he was the father of the dynasty's first sovereign ruler, Pulakeshin I.

Reign

A 543 CE ( Shaka 465) inscription dated to the reign of Ranaraga's son Pulakeshin I has been discovered at

Badami Badami, formerly known as Vatapi, is a town and headquarters of a taluk by the same name, in the Bagalkot district of Karnataka, India. It was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from CE 540 to 757. It is famous for its rock cut monumen ...

. Assuming a reign of around 20 years for Ranaraga, historian Durga Prasad Dikshit dates Jayasimha's reign to c. 520-540 CE. Ranaraga succeeded his father Jayasimha, who was also a vassal ruler, possibly that of the Kadambas or the early Rashtrakutas of Manapura (not to be confused with the later imperial Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta). Jayasimha seems to have carved out a principality around modern

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...

after the decline of his overlords, and Ranaraga appears to have spent his reign stabilizing the Chalukya power in the area. Like his father, Ranaraga finds a mention in the

Aihole Aihole (pronounced "Eye-hoḷé"), also referred to as Aivalli, Ahivolal or Aryapura, is a historic site of ancient and medieval era Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments in Karnataka, India that dates from the sixth century through the twelfth cen ...

and Mahakuta inscriptions of the Vatapi Chalukyas. The Mahakuta inscription states that "his fondness for war elicited the affection of his own people and caused vexation of mind to his enemies." The dynasty's inscriptions do not credit Ranaraga with any military achievements. According to the Yevor inscription of the later

Kalyani Chalukyas The Western Chalukya Empire ruled most of the Deccan Plateau, western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada people, Kannadiga dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalya ...

, who claimed descent from the Vatapi Chalukyas, Jayasimha was a brave ruler, and bore a "stately and gigantic personality". The Kalyani Chalukya court poet Ranna calls him Raṇarāga-siṃha.

References

Bibliography

* * {{ref end Early Chalukyas 6th-century Indian monarchs