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HISTORY |
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SILAHARAS OF KOLHAPUR
OF THE THREE SILAHARA HOUSES ruling in western
India, the one ruling over the territories now comprised mostly of
Satara and Belaganv districts and the former State of Kolhapur rose
into prominence towards the end of the 10th century. Their rule
extended over these territories for over a little more than two
centuries. The Silaharas of Kolhapur, are described as Kashtatriyas
in an inscription found at Kolhapur. The Kolhapur records also
reveal that they hailed from the city of Tagara which is probably
Ter about 95 miles from Paithan (J.R.A.S. 1901, pp. 537). The
predecessors of the Silahara family seem to have migrated to
Kolhapur from the territory round Ter.
The records of this house mention Kolhapur, Panhala,
fort and Valavade as capitals. There is a reference to the marriage
of the Calukya emperor Vikramaditya VI with Vidyadhara i.e. Silahara
princess Candaladevi or Candralekha having taken place in her
father's capital at Karthatak or modern Karad which suggests that
Karad may have been their capital. However, as most of the records
of this house are found in Kolhapur and as the Goddess Mahaaksmi of
Kolhapur was their deity, Kolhapur was the chief headquarters of
their administration and Karad a provincial headquarter.
Genealogy of the
Silaharas of Kolhapur.
The first three personages in the above genealogy
are mentioned only in the Talale plates of Gandaraditya and omitted
by latter plates. This indicates that they had not achieved the lull
status of kings during, the period (940 to 1000 A.D.). They are
described as kings by their descendants only when the latter
attained a royal status.
The first ruling king of this dynasty was Jatiga II.
[A. S. Altekar-The Silaharas of Western India, 1936, page 419.] His
reign can be placed between 1000 to 1020 A.D. as his grandson King
Marasinha is known to be ruling in 1058 A.D. The records of King
Marasinha mention him as Tagranagara Bhopalaka and
Pamaladurgadrisinha which indicate that he had defeated the Calukyas
who were formerly ruling over portions of Kolhapur State, and held
the fort of Panhala, thus establishing his rule over the area.
During the reign of Gonka, the Calukyas conquered Kolhapur, under
their king Jayasinha (before 1024 A.D.) The Silaharas had to submit
to the Calukyas in order to retain their kingdom. In the records,
Gonka is described as conqueror of Kahada (Karad), Mairiage (Miraj)
and Konkan. It is probable that Gonka might have extended his rule
over these territories as an agent for or with the consent of his
over-lords. Gonka was succeeded by his not very ambitious son
Marasinha who in a copper plate grant describes the fort of Kilagila
as his capital. Guvala II succeeded his father in 1057. However,
till 1110 the history of the Silahara family becomes complicated as
all princes are mentioned as kings. On the death of Guvala in 1055
A.D., Bhallala and Bhoja must have ruled the kingdom. Acugi II, the
Sinda ruler of Yelburga, is said to have repulsed a certain Bhoja
who can be only the Silahara Bhoja. Bhoja was succeeded by
Gandaraditya [A. S. Altekar-The Silaharas of Western India, 1936,
page 422-423.] who claims to be the undisputed king of Konkan.
During the later period of his regime, his son Vijayaditya defeated
Jayakesin II of Goa who had ousted the Silahara ruler of Thana.
Gandarditya executed various public works. At Irukudi in Miraj
district he built a lake called Gandusamudra on the bank of which he
built temples in honour of Buddha, Jina and Sankara. Gandaraditya
was succeeded by his son Vijayaditya. He joined in a conspiracy
which was being formed by Bijjala, a minister of his feudal Lord
Taila III, and in the revolution that ensued the Calukya supremacy
came to an end. The Satara plates of his son claim that Vijayaditya
reinstated the fallen lords of Sthanaka and Goa. Vijayaditya had to
fight hard to wrest independence from Bijjala, the new sovereign but
it was only after the death of Bijjala that Vijayaditya could assume
full sovereignty. The last of the family was Bhoja II. [A. S.
Altekar-ibid, page 424.] He appears to have assumed the
imperial titles from the beginning of his rule and was determined to
retain the imperial glory so strenuously won by his father. His
greatness is described in one of his own inscriptions as follows: -"
fear of the edge of Bhoja's sword caused Colaraja to take a spear on
his head and frightened other kings; but by the favour of
Mahalaksmi, Bhoja was worshipped by the kings; he was a Vikram of
the Kali age". The fortunes of Bhoja however, received a crushing
defeat at the hands of Singhana, the king of the newly rising power
of Yadavas in 1212 A.D. He had to run away in disgrace. The kingdom
was annexed by the Yadavas and thus ended the career of the
Silaharas of Kolhapur.
With the exception of what has been noted above in
connection with Vijayaditya, the inscriptions of Gandaraditya and
his successors give no historical details. But as regards the
termination of their power, there has been no trace of any member of
the family after Bhoja II; and, in Sak 1135 (A.D. 1213-14),
Srimukha samvatsara, the Devgiri-Yadav king Singhana II was
in possession of the country round Miraj, as is proved by his
Khedrapur inscription [Jour. Bom. Br. Roy. As. Soc. XII 7.] which
records the grant by him of the village of Kudaladamavada, the
modern, Kurundavad,. in the Mirinji country; and as inscriptions of
Singhana II shortly after that date are found at Kolhapur itself
[Graham's Kolhapur, 428-436.], it would seem that Bhoja II was the
last of his family and that he was overthrown and dispossessed by
Singhana II in or soon after Sak 1131 (A.D. 1209-10) Sukla
samvatsara, which was the commencement of Singhana's reign It is
said that Singhana defeated Silahlra Bhoja at Umalvad in A.D. 1210.
[Ibid, Sankalift and Dikshit, p. 5.] This is borne out by one
of Singhana's inscriptions dated Sak 1160, [P. S. and 0. 0.
Inscription No. 112,1. 10.11.] which speaks of him as having been "a
very Garuda in putting to flight the serpent which was the mighty
king Bhoja, whose habitation was Panhala."
[Pannala-nilara-prabala-Bhojabhnpala-vyala-vidravana-Vihatngaraja.]
An inscription of Saka 1194 indicates that the first king of
the Yadava dynasty, Simha, had his original seat of power near
Kolhapur at Mirijaya (Miraj), while two earlier inscriptions of the
kings Mahadeva and Narayana, dated Saka 1162 and 1172 respectively
refer to the temple of Mahalaksmi at Kolhapur and the district (Desa
or Visaya) of the same name. The Yadavas held the place and the
adjacent country for at least 15 years more until Saka 1187
(A.D. 1265) as is shown by an inscription of Mahadeva. [Sankalia and
Dikshit, p. 5 Mahadeva referred to last, must obviously have been
the grandson of Simha or Sindhava.] It may be assumed that the
territory remained part of the dominions of the Yadavs of Devagiri,
till the very end of their rule (A.D. 1306-7) when it was conquered
by Malik Kafur, though probably the connection of the rulers was
merly nominal as the hilly part of the country was occupied by
Maratha palegars.
Before we turn to the history of Kolhapur in the
Musalman period it is necessary to summarise the results of the
legendary, Puranic and epigraphical accounts given so far. It
would appear that the site of the modern Kolhapur, long before the
city grew up on the banks of the river known at present as
Pancganga, was called " Kollapura", probably after the goddess
Kolla" referred to by Sarasvatipurana and Karavir
mahatmya. She might have been so called because she was the
deity of aboriginal tribes such as Kols or Kolis, mentioned in the
legend cited by Graham. So from very early times the site came to be
known as a seat of Mother Goddess (Matrkasthana, Ksetra, or pitha).
It grew in importance when another goddess Mahalaksmi, was installed
in the city and when a temple was built there during the Rastrakuta
period (C.A.D. 800). The earliest epigraphical and literary records
known hitherto cannot take us before the 9th century; the temple
architecturally also is of about that period and not earlier. All
the records call the city Kollapura and describe the goddess
Mahalaksmi. She is, however, regarded not as the consort of Vishnu
but as the avatar or incarnation of Parvati, the consort of
Siva, and is more popularly called Ambabai. [Khare's Marathi Mss. in
print, Maharashtrachi Panch Daivaten] It is
significant that Harivamsa makes no reference to Kolla or
Mahalaksmi. It merely mentions Karvirapura and it is difficult to
say definitely that Karvirpur refers to Kollhapura and to none else.
For, it might as well be Karhataka which has the first syllable
Kara. Kolhapur seems to have been hit upon, because the king Srgala
of the city was turned into the Prakrt Kolha (from Sanskrit Krostr)
and his city later called Kolhapura. It was Karvir-mahatmya
which definitely put the two together and identified Karvirpura with
Kollapura or Kolhapura. The original word was Kol or Kolla or
Kholla. It may be a non-Aryan, Dravidian or Austric word. Khare
compares it with some other words like Kolla, Kholla,
Golla, meaning low ground and suggests that it may be from
Kannada. [Sources of the Mediaeval History of the Deccan III, p.
20-21.] It is pointed out that this interpretation would suit the
topographical features of the place. [ Sankalia and Dikshit, p. 8.]
Whatever the origin of the word and the place, it
appears from the inscriptional evidence and archaeological
excavations, that Kolhapur had so far two periods of prosperity. The
first was under the Satavahanas, who turned it into a city having
well built brick houses out of a modest village. After an interval
of some centuries the Silaharas built magnificent temples there.
These Continued to be patronised by the Yadavas. [ Khare's
Maharastrachi Panch Daivaten,-unpublished.]
From the references in Brhaspatisutra, which roughly belongs to the
12th or 13th century, it appears that the place was regarded
as a Mahaksetra by the Saktas; but Chakradhara the founder of
the Mahanubhava sect flourishing during this period has definitely
banned any visit by his followers to Matapur and Kolhapur. [This
discussion as regards the derivation of the word ' Kolhapur' and its
early site is taken from the report on the Excavations at
Brahmapuri (Kolhapur) by Dr. Sankalia and Dr. Dikshit, p. 7-8.]
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