Vinayaditya (r. c. 750-775 CE) alias Yuddhamalla I, was an Indian ruler from the Vemulavada Chalukya dynasty. He was most probably a vassal of the Rashtrakuta king

Dantidurga Dantidurga (reigned 735–756 CE), also known as Dantivarman II was the founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta. Reu (1933), p54 His capital was based in Gulbarga region of Karnataka. His successor was his uncle Krishna I who extended h ...

, and his capital was likely located at Podana (modern

Bodhan Bodhan town in Nizamabad district of the Indian state Telangana. Bodhan is primarily known for the Nizam Sugar Factory founded by a Nizam of Hyderabad, and some historical places such as The Chakreshwara Shiva Temple, The Renuka Temple, Bhee ...

); his successors moved the capital to Vemulavada.

Rule over Sapadalaksha

A Vemulavada inscription states that Vinayaditya ruled over the Sapadalaksha country, which could not be governed by others. The Sanskrit term "Sapadalaksha" (or "Savalakhkhe" in vernacular, literally "125,000 illages or revenue units) has been used to describe several distinct regions in the early medieval Indian records, including the

Sapadalaksha The Chahamanas of Shakambhari (IAST: Cāhamāna), colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar or Chauhans of Ajmer, were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of the present-day Rajasthan and neighbouring areas in India, between the 6th and 12th ...

area in present-day

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

. Some scholars, including Kolluru Suryanarayana and N Venkataramanayya identify the Sapadalaksha of the Vemulavada inscription with the Sapadalaksha of present-day Rajasthan. According to this theory, Vinayaditya probably accompanied his overlord

during the Rashtrakuta campaigns against the

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of th ...

s, and controlled a part of Rajasthan during the Rashtrakuta occupation of that territory. The Vemulavada inscription also credits Vinayaditya with conquering the reputedly inaccessible Chitrakuta fort, although other records of the dynasty, such as the ''Vikramarjuna Vijayam'' and the

Parbhani Parbhani (, IPA ) is a city in Maharashtra state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Parbhani District. Parbhani is one of the largest cities in Marathwada region. Parbhani is around away from regional headquarters of Aurangaba ...

copper-plate inscription, do not mention this conquest. According to Venkataramanayya, it is possible that the conquered fort was the modern

Chittor Fort The Chittorgarh (literally Chittor Fort), also known as Chittod Fort, is one of the largest forts in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was the capital of Mewar and is located in the present-day city of Chittorgarh. It sprawl ...

(originally called "Chitrakuta"), located in the ancient Sapadalaksha region. However, other scholars, including Madhusudan Dhaky and Jaisetty Ramanaiah, identify the Sapadalaksha of the Vemulavada inscription with Kosavalam Savalakhe, a historical region in present-day

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

. This region was centered around Podana (modern

), which was probably Vinayaditya's capital. The Vemulavada inscription states that Vinayaditya had his elephants bathed in a reservoir filled with oil, at Podana. Pampa's '' Vikramarjuna Vijayam'' similarly states that he had 500 elephants bathed in several ''dirghikas'' (ponds) filled with oil.

Purported conquests

The

Kollipara Kollipara is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Kollipara mandal in Tenali revenue division. And it was one of the capital for Pericchedi. Geography Kollipara is situated at . It i ...

copper-plate inscription attributed to Vinayaditya's son Arikesari I portrays him as a great conqueror, but this inscription is of doubtful authenticity. It states that Vinayaditya subjugated several kingdoms including Turushka,

Yavana The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit and Yavanar in Tamil, were words used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" ( grc, ...

Kashmira Kasmira was a kingdom identified as the Kashmir Valley along the Jhelum River of modern Jammu and Kashmir. During the epic ages this was one among the territories of the Naga race. The Kasmiras were allies of the Kuru king Duryodhana. Referen ...

, Kambhoja,

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

Malava Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also synony ...

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...

, Ganga, Pallava, Pandya, and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. These claims of conquests are grossly exaggerated, and other records of the dynasty ignore these supposed conquests. It is possible that Vinayaditya participated in the military campaigns of his overlord Dantidurga, whose Ellora Dashavatara cave inscription credits the Rashtrakuta king with defeating the kings of Kalinga, Malava, and other kingdoms.

Successors

Vinayaditya had two sons, Arikesari I and Biragriha; Arikesari succeeded him on the throne.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Chalukyas of Vemulavada Chalukyas of Vemulavada 8th-century Indian monarchs