Hoysala Kingdom
The Hoysala Kingdom was a prominent South Indian dynasty that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, as well as parts of Tamil Nadu and southwestern Telangana, between the 11th and 14th centuries CE. The capital was initially located at Belur and was later moved to Halebidu.
The origins of the Hoysala dynasty are traced to the Malnad region of Karnataka. Initially, the Hoysalas served as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyana. The dynasty gained prominence under King Vishnuvardhana particularly after the defeat of the Cholas in the Battle of Talakad, which consolidated Hoysala authority in the Deccan. Taking advantage of the conflict between the Western Chalukyas and the Kalachuris of Kalyani in the 12th century, the Hoysalas expanded their domain, eventually controlling large parts of Karnataka, and parts of northwestern Tamil Nadu and western Andhra Pradesh.
The Hoysala period was a significant era for the development of South Indian art, architecture, and literature. Over 100 temples from this period survive, showcasing intricate Hoysala architecture. Well-known temples which exhibit what the historian Sailendra Sen has called "an amazing display of sculptural exuberance" include the Chennakeshava Temple in Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu, and the Chennakesava Temple in Somanathapura. These three temples were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2023. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts encouraging the literature to flourish in Kannada and Sanskrit with notable contributions made by Jain and Brahmin poets.
History
Origin of the clan
Early inscriptions, dated 1078 and 1090, have implied that the Hoysalas were descendants of the Yadu by referring to the Yadava vamsa as the "Hoysala vamsa". But there are no early records directly linking the Hoysalas to the Yadavas of North India.Legendary beginnings
Kannada folklore tells a legend of a young man, Sala, who saved his Jain guru Sudatta by killing a tiger that they encountered whilst in a forest, at "Sosevur" located at present-day Angadi Village in Chikkamagaluru district, the original home of the Hoysala family. The word strike translates to "hoy" in Old Kannada, hence the name 'Hoy-sala'. The legend purporting to show how Sala became the founder of the Hoysala dynasty is shown in the Belur inscription of the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, dated, but owing to several inconsistencies in the story it remains in the realm of folklore. Their inscriptions refer to the founders of the Hoysala dynasty as Maleparolganda, which makes their original home the Malenadu region of modern southern Karnataka. Vishnuvardhana achieved a victory over the Cholas at Talakadu in 1116, and the legend may have arisen or gained popularity after this event, as the Hoysala emblem depicts Sala fighting a tiger, the tiger being the emblem of the Cholas.Establishment of the Kingdom
The earliest record of the Hoysala family dates to about c. 950 CE, naming Arekalla as a local chieftain. He was succeeded by Maruga, Nripa Kama I, and Munda. Nripa Kama I is described with the title Permanadi indicating an early alliance with the Western Ganga dynasty. The Hoysalas emerged from the Malnad region in the Western Ghats as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani, gradually expanding their territory during the conflict between the Chalukyas and the Cholas and eventually gaining independence as the Chalukya power declined.Wars with the Cholas and Chalukyas
During the reign of King Vishnuvardhana, the Hoysalas fought decisive campaigns against the Cholas. Chola incursions into Gangavadi reportedly included the destruction of Jain Basadis around Talakadu. Vishnuvardhana’s general Ganggaraj led the counter-offensive defeating the Chola general Adiyamma near Talakadu and recovering lost territory. After this victory Vishnuvardhana earned the title "Talakadugonda", while inscriptions highlighted Gangaraja’s leading role in these campaigns.King Vishnuvardhana fought the Western Chalukyas in Nolambavadi asserting his independence from them. In a second Chola campaign, the Hoysala armies chased the Chola forces to Vellore which was deep inside Tamil territory. For these victories, Vishnuvardhana made significant land grants to his general at Kambadahalli which would become an important center for Jainism. These campaigns weakened Chola influence and consolidated Hoysala power in the Deccan, and historians credit the successes of King Vishnuvardhana as pivotal in establishing Hoysala independence and the military leadership of his general Gangaraj as a major factor in these victories.
Vishnuvardhana's grandson Veera Ballala II further strengthened the kingdom and expanded its influence. He declared war against the Yadavas and defeated the Kadambas. He declared independence in 1193. During the establishment of the Hoysala Kingdom, the Deccan Plateau saw a four-way struggle for hegemony between four dynasties: the Hoysalas, the Pandyans, the Kakatiyas, and the Seunas. In 1217, Veera Ballala II defeated the aggressive Pandya after they invaded the Chola Kingdom, helped to restore the Chola king on his throne and assumed the title Dakshina Chakravarthi.
Increased influence and later eclipse
The Hoysalas extended their foothold in modern-day Tamil Nadu around 1225, making the city of Kannanur Kuppam near Srirangam a provincial capital and taking control over the southern Deccan region. Vira Narasimha II's son Vira Someshwara earned the honorific Mamadi from the Pandyas and Cholas. From 1220 to 1245 the dynasty's hegemony increased southwards to cover both the Chola and Pandya Kingdoms. Toward the end of the 13th century, Veera Ballala III recaptured territory in the Tamil country which had been lost during a Pandya uprising, thus uniting the northern and southern portions of the Kingdom.In the early part of the 14th century, major political changes took place in the Deccan region during a period when large areas of northern India were under Muslim rule. Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, was determined to control southern India. In 1311 he sent his commander Malik Kafur on an expedition to plunder Devagiri, the capital city of the Seuna Kingdom By 1318 the Seuna Kingdom had been subjugated. The Hoysala capital Halebidu was besieged and sacked twice, in 1311 and 1327. By 1336, the Sultan had conquered the Pandyas of Madurai, the Kakatiyas of Warangal and the tiny Kingdom of Kampili. The Hoysalas were the only remaining Hindu Kingdom who resisted the invading armies. Veera Ballala III stationed himself at Tiruvannamalai and offered stiff resistance to invasions from the north and the Madurai Sultanate to the south. Then, after nearly three decades of resistance, Veera Ballala III was killed at the battle of Madurai in 1343, and the sovereign territories of the Hoysala Kingdom were merged with the areas administered by Harihara I in the Tungabhadra River region. This new Hindu Kingdom resisted the northern invasions and would later prosper and come to be known as the Vijayanagara Empire.
Economy
The empire consisted of the valleys of three main rivers, the Krishna, the Tungabhadra, and the Kaveri, whose systems facilitated the growth of crops and generated an agricultural output that was immense. The highlands with its temperate climate was suitable for raising cattle and the planting of orchards and spices. Paddy and corn were staple crops in the tropical plains. As agricultural land was scarce, forests, waste land and previously unfarmed land was reclaimed, and new settlements were established. Large areas of forest were cleared to bring lands under cultivation and build villages. The Hoysala kings gave grants of land as rewards for service to the heads of families, who then became landlords to tenants who worked on the land and in the forests. The praja gavunda had a lower status than the wealthier prabhu gavundaThe Hoysala administration supported itself through revenues from an agrarian economy. Land was assessed as being wet land, dry land or garden land for the purposes of taxation, and judged according to the quality of the soil. Taxes on commodities as well as produce are noted in village records. The Hoysalas encouraged people to move to newly-built villages by means of land grants and tax concessions.
Taxes, collected in the form of cash, from trade and commerce generated considerable wealth for the Hoysala state, and enabled it to buy armaments, elephants, horses and precious goods. The state and the merchant class became interdependent, with some more prosperous merchants being known as Rajasresthigal, officially recognised on account of their wealth. They were seen as puramulasthamba. The increased prosperity and prestige of some merchants encouraged them to open markets and weekly fairs, with some becoming Pattanaswami, who had the authority to collect tolls on goods that entered the town. Merchants engaged in minting activities, sometimes producing the coins and supplying them to the state.
Tanks were created at the expense of the state. The Hoysalas put resources into repairing breached tanks and broken sluices, easily damaged by heavy rainfall. They collected taxes on irrigation systems, canals and wells, all of which were built and maintained at the expense of local villagers. Repairs were undertaken by the landlords as well as their workers; such repairs were considered to be a duty and a pious act.
Importing horses for use as general transportation and in army cavalries of Indian Kingdoms was a flourishing business on the western seaboard. Song dynasty records from China mention the presence of Indian merchants in ports of South China, indicating active trade with overseas Kingdoms. South India exported textiles, spices, medicinal plants, precious stones, pottery, salt made from salt pans, jewels, gold, ivory, rhino horn, ebony, aloe wood, perfumes, sandalwood, camphor and condiments to China, Dhofar, Aden, and Siraf.