Shivamara II was the son of Sripurusha and ruled the

Western Ganga Dynasty Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1000 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over Kalinga (m ...

from 788 – 816 C.E. He was also a noted scholar in

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 ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

. He succeeded to the Ganga throne during a time when the Rashtrakuta were the empire on the rise in South India and the Deccan.

Conflict with Rashtrakuta

The Rashtrakuta monarch

Dhruva Dharavarsha Dhruva (ruled 780–793 CE) was one of the most notable rulers of the Rashtrakuta Empire. He ascended the throne after replacing his elder brother Govinda II. Govinda II had become unpopular among his subjects on account of his various miscondu ...

defeated Shivamara in Mudagunduru and took the Ganga king captive. The Rashtrakuta then took direct control of the Gangavadi with the appointment of Kambharasa, son of Dhruva Dharavarsha as its governor. He was later released, only to be imprisoned again during the rule of

Govinda III Govinda III (reign 793–814 CE) was a famous Rashtrakuta ruler who succeeded his illustrious father Dhruva Dharavarsha. He was militarily the most successful emperor of the dynasty with successful conquests-from Kanyakumari in the south to Kan ...

when he refused to pay the Rashtrakuta tribute. Shivamara II again was released only to defy the Rashtrakuta yoke by waging wars. He died fighting them in 816. Manne near Bangalore was one of his capitals during this time. In spite of being imprisoned on multiple occasions and being at constant war, he found the time to write literary works, including ''Gajashtaka'' in

, ''Gajamathakalpana'' in

and ''Sethubandha'' in

. According to historian Kamath, he is considered to be one of the famous kings of the Western Ganga Dynasty.

References

* Suryanath U. Kamat, ''Concise History of Karnataka'', 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprint 2002)

External links

History of Karnataka by Dr.Arthikaje

816 deaths 8th-century Indian monarchs 9th-century Indian monarchs People of the Western Ganga dynasty Kannada-language writers Year of birth unknown 8th-century Indian writers 9th-century Indian writers {{India-royal-stub