Durvinita () is seen as the most successful ruler of 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 (mo ...

. Son of the previous ruler,

Avinita Avinita (469–529 CE) was 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 Ea ...

, Durvinita's accession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of the

Pallavas The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahanas, Satavahana dynasty, with whom they ...

and Kadambas. There are Nallala and Kadagattur inscriptions that refer to this dispute. However, Durvinita managed to grab the throne by virtue of his valour.

Hostilities with Pallavas and Kadambas

During Durvinita's rule, the hostilities between the Pallavas and Gangas came to forefront and several pitched battles were fought by the two kingdoms. Durvinita defeated the Pallavas in the battle of Anderi. Though the Pallavas sought the assistance of the Kadambas to the north to tame Durvinita, the Gummareddipura inscription hails that Durvinita overcame his enemies at Alattur, Porulare and Pernagra. It is possible that these victories enabled him to extend his power over Kongudesa and Tondaimandalam regions of Tamil country.

Ties with Chalukyas

Durvinita was a clever king. In order to keep the Pallavas at bay, he gave his daughter to

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 ...

Vijayaditya Vijayaditya (696–733 CE) followed his father, Vinayaditya on to the Chalukya throne. His long reign was marked by general peace and prosperity. Vijayaditya also built a number of temples. He fought against the Pallavas and extracted tribu ...

or from the Nagara record to

Pulakesi II Pulakeshin II (IAST: Pulakeśin, r. c. 610–642 CE) was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya kingdom expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in p ...

, though the latter is unlikely owing to the difference in their eras. The Chalukyas were an emerging power at this time. When the Pallavas attacked the Chalukyas, he fought on the Chalukya side and cemented a long lasting friendship with the Chalukyas that lasted through the rule of both the Badami Chalukyas,

Rashtrakutas Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

and Kalyani Chalukyas, covering a period of over 600 years. The Gummareddipura and the Uttanur plates describe Durvinita as the ''Lord of Punnata''.

Religion and literature

Durvinita had a

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

a guru called

Pujyapada Acharya Pujyapada or Pūjyapāda (464–524 CE) was a renowned grammarian and ''acharya'' (philosopher monk) belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. It was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on the account of his vast scholarship ...

and his court was adorned with several Jain scholars. This tolerance was common among later Ganga kings, who actually took to Jainism in the later centuries. Durvinita was an able warrior as well as a man of letter and the fine arts.

Kavirajamarga ''Kavirajamarga'' ( kn, ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗ) (850 C.E.) is the earliest available work on rhetoric, poetics and grammar in the Kannada language.Kamath (2001), p 90Narasimhacharya (1988), p 2 It was inspired by or written in part by ...

, the 850 CE Kannada classic hails him as one of the early writers in

Kannada language 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 sp ...

prose, though his Kannada writings are not available. The renowned Sanskrit poet

Bharavi Bharavi () was a 6th century Indian poet known for his epic poem '' Kirātārjunīya'', one of the six ''mahakavyas'' in classical Sanskrit. Time and place As with most Sanskrit poets, very few concrete details are available about Bharavi's life ...

is known to have visited the Western Ganga court during this period. Durvinita wrote a commentary on the fifteenth ''canto'' (chapter) of Bharavi's '' Kiratarjuniya''. He translated into Sanskrit ''Vaddakatha'' or ''

Brihatkatha ''Bṛhatkathā'' (Sanskrit, "the Great Narrative") is an ancient Indian epic, said to have been written by Guṇāḍhya in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work no longer exists but several later adaptations — the ''Ka ...

'' written originally by

Gunadhya Guṇāḍhya is the Sanskrit name of the sixth-century Indian author of the '' Bṛhatkathā'', a large collection of tales attested by Daṇḍin, the author of the ''Kavyadarsha'', Subandhu, the author of ''Vasavadatta'', and Bāṇabhaṭ� ...

in the Paishachi language. He also authored a writing called ''Sabdavatara''. His prowess in the battle field, knowledge of war instruments and arms, political science, medicine, music and dance has been eulogized in the Nallala grant inscription.

Legacy

Durvinita is mentioned as a notable Kannada prose writer in one of the works of Amoghavarsha. Durvinita belonged to Vokkaliga Communi

Notes

References

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External links

History of Karnataka by Dr.Arthikaje

{{Karnataka topics 6th-century Indian monarchs History of Karnataka Kannada-language writers 529 births 579 deaths People of the Western Ganga dynasty Indian Sanskrit scholars 6th-century Indian scholars 6th-century Indian writers