Vira Narasimha II ( kn, ಇಮ್ಮಡಿ ವೀರ ನರಸಿಂಹ) (r. 1220–1234) was a king of the

Hoysala Empire The Hoysala Empire was a Kannada people, Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially loca ...

. During his reign the Hoysalas gained much influence in the affairs of the Tamil country. He defeated the

Kadava Kadava was the name of a Tamil ruling dynasty who ruled parts of the Tamil country during the thirteenth and the fourteenth century. Kadavas were related to the Pallava dynasty and ruled from Kudalur near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Hiranyavarman, t ...

s and Pandyas and levied a tribute. He acted as a support to

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

king

Rajaraja Chola III Rajaraja Chola III succeeded Kulothunga Chola III on the Chola throne in July 1216 CE. Rajaraja came to the throne of a kingdom much reduced in size as well as influence. With the rise of the Pandya power in the south, the Cholas had lost most ...

, who was possibly his son-in-law, against Pandya incursions. During his rule, Vira Narasimha made Kannanur Kuppam near

Srirangam Srirangam, is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first amon ...

his second capital, with an intent to maintain close watch and control over affairs in Tamil country. Later he fought for the Chola cause again and marched all the way to

Rameswaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilo ...

. The

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

poet Sumanobana was the court poet of King Vira Narasimha II.

Wars with Pandyas

During the rule of Vira Narasimha II, a Hoysala army was stationed at

Kanchi Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

possibly to avert any incursion from the

Telugu Chodas of Nellore Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, the

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. Th ...

Warangal Warangal () is a city in the Indian state of Telangana and the district headquarters of Warangal district. It is the second largest city in Telangana with a population of 704,570 per 2011 Census of India, and spreading over an . Warangal ser ...

and the Pandyas of

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

. The Chola monarch Rajaraja III defied the Pandyas by not paying their annual tribute. Sundara Pandya went on the offensive and routed the Cholas in the battle of Tellaru. Vira Narasimha II rushed to the aid of the Cholas, defeated the

South Arcot South Arcot District was a district in the Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Viluppuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The district was divided into eight tal ...

chiefs and captured

. Magadai Mandalam was invaded again in 1220–1238. The Hoysala commanders Appanna and Samudra-Gopayya then reached

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

, routing on their way the Kopperunjinga chiefs who were a Pandya ally, in the battle of Perumbalur. Finally, receiving news that the Kopperunjinga chiefs were willing to set free the Chola monarch Rajaraja III from Sendamangalam where he was held captive and consider the Cholas a free kingdom, the Hoysalas escorted the Chola monarch back to Kanchi in 1231. At the same time, Vira Narasimha II himself had defeated Sundara Pandya in the battle of Mahendramangalam. At

, Narasimha II built a ''mantapa'' (''mandapam'') in the temple during his halt there en route the march against the Pandya. The ''Koyilolugu'' recording the history of the Srirangam temple mentions the Kannada king Vira Narasimharaya II to have built the ''mantapa'' in the temple and is said to have set up a pillar of victory at Setu (

References

* Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, MCC, Bangalore, 2001 (Reprinted 2002) OCLC: 7796041 * K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, History of South India, From Prehistoric times to fall of Vijayanagar, 1955, OUP, New Delhi (Reprinted 2002), 1235 deaths Hoysala kings Hindu monarchs Year of birth unknown 13th-century Indian monarchs 13th-century Hindus {{india-royal-stub