Bijjala II (1130–1167 CE) kn, ಇಮ್ಮಡಿ ಬಿಜ್ಜಳ was the Mahamandaleshwara of the Kalyani Chalukyas. He was the most famous of the southern Kalachuri kings who ruled initially as a vassal of Chalukya

Vikramaditya VI Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory.Sen ...

. He ruled as the ''Mahamandalesvara'' (chief or governor) over Karhada-4000 and Tardavadi-1000 provinces, designations given to territories within the larger Western Chalukya kingdom. He revolted against the

Western Chalukya Empire 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 ...

, assumed imperial titles in 1157, and ruled along with his successors, the

Deccan Plateau The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by th ...

for a quarter of a century.

Bijjala's opportunism

After the death of Vikramaditya VI, seeing the weakening empire, Bijjala II declared independence. The ''Chikkalagi'' inscription refers to Bijjala as ''Mahabhujabalachakravarti'', which in Sanskrit literally means ''the great great (maha) unopposed ruler (cakravartin) with strong (bala) arms (bhuja)''. By the time of Chalukya Taila III, Bijjala's attempts towards independence seems to have spread to other feudatories as well. Kakatiya Prola II broke free of Chalukya rule in the middle of the 12th century. By 1162 CE. Bijjala II had managed to drive Taila III out of Kalyani, the Chalukya capital. He assumed Chalukyan titles like ''Sriprithvivallabha'' and ''Parameshvara''. He shifted his capital from Mangalavada to Kalyani also known as

Basavakalyan Basavakalyana is a city and municipal council in the Bidar District of the Indian state of Karnataka. History Before India's independence, Basavakalyan was called Kalyani. After independence and division of states on linguistic basis in 1956 ...

Bloody end

His rule was marked with turbulence, both domestic and social. According to the historian Dr. P.B. Desai, Bijjala II became very unpopular with the followers of Basavanna and was assassinated by them. Dr. Desai however does confirm that

Basavanna Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chal ...

himself was not responsible for this incident. He was succeeded by his younger son Sovideva to the throne.

References

Bibliography

* Dr. Suryanath U. Kamat (2001). ''Concise History of Karnataka'', MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bijjala 02 12th-century Indian monarchs History of Karnataka