High Middle Ages · South Asia · Culture

1130

Kalyani inscriptions of the Western Chalukyas

1130

At their southern capital of Basavakalyan in the Deccan, the Western Chalukya kings issued long Sanskrit and Kannada inscriptions recording royal grants to temples. Their reign was the last great age of south-central Indian stone temple carving before the Hoysalas and Yadavas rose. The inscriptions, engraved on polished stone slabs in elegant Devanagari and Halegannada scripts, preserve details of land tenure, irrigation, and religious endowment that illuminate medieval Indian society.