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Kumarapala’s war with the Shilaharas of the Konkan

VictorChaulukyas of GujaratKumarapala, through his general Ambada
1161vs
Shilaharas of the north KonkanMallikarjuna

Kumarapala sent his general Ambada against the Shilahara Mallikarjuna. Beaten the first time, Ambada came back with a larger army, killed Mallikarjuna in battle and made the Konkan tributary to Gujarat.

Date: c. 1160–1162 CEWhere: North Konkan, around ThaneType: Campaign
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Cite

MLA

“Kumarapala’s war with the Shilaharas of the Konkan.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/kumarapala-konkan-war/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Kumarapala’s war with the Shilaharas of the Konkan. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/kumarapala-konkan-war/

Result

After an initial defeat, Ambada returned, defeated and killed Mallikarjuna, and brought the north Konkan under Chaulukya overlordship.

01Two expeditions

Jain chronicles of the Chaulukya court, among them the Prabandhachintamani of Merutunga, tell that Mallikarjuna of the Konkan offended Kumarapala by taking a grand title. Ambada, son of the minister Udayana, was sent against him and was defeated on the first campaign. He returned with a stronger army, crossed the river Kalavini, and in the second battle killed Mallikarjuna. Chaulukya inscriptions confirm the victory over the Konkan king.

02The Shilaharas after

The Shilaharas were an old house that had ruled the Konkan coast, with Thane and the island of Puri, since Rashtrakuta times, and their temple at Ambarnath, built in 1060, still stands. They survived the defeat as Chaulukya tributaries, and the line continued into the next century until the Yadavas of Devagiri absorbed the coast. Kumarapala’s reach to the Konkan marked the widest extent of Chaulukya power.

Shilaharas
Dynasty · c. 800–1265 CEShilaharasThe Shilaharas held the Konkan coast and Kolhapur as feudatories of the Rashtrakutas and then the Kalyani Chalukyas. They traced their line to Jimutavahana, the Vidyadhara prince of the Nagananda.Read →
Why it matters

It carried Chaulukya power to its southern limit on the Konkan coast.

Places near the battlefield 8

Ambreshwar Shiva Temple, AmbernathStanding
The long resistance: Sindh to Tarain

Ambreshwar Shiva Temple, Ambernath

A dated Shilahara temple of 1060 on the edge of Mumbai, its walls crowded with carving and its sanctum sunk below ground level. Its own inscription names the king and the year.

Shri Siddhivinayak Temple, PrabhadeviRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Shri Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi

Mumbai’s best-loved Ganesh temple, founded in 1801 by a childless woman who asked that Ganapati grant children to other barren women. The small black-stone murti draws lakhs of devotees on Tuesdays and on Angarki Chaturthi.

Elephanta Caves (Gharapuri)Ruined
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Elephanta Caves (Gharapuri)

A Shaiva cave temple on Gharapuri island in Mumbai harbour, with the three-faced Sadashiva, about 6 m high, at its centre. The Portuguese named the island for a stone elephant; the damage to its panels dates from their time.

Mahalakshmi Temple, MumbaiStanding
Company rule and the war of 1857

Mahalakshmi Temple, Mumbai

The temple of the three Devis of the Devi Mahatmya on a rock above the Arabian Sea at Breach Candy. Its katha is tied to the building of the Hornby Vellard, the causeway that joined Bombay’s islands.

Mumba Devi Temple, BhuleshwarRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Mumba Devi Temple, Bhuleshwar

The Devi of the Koli fishermen, from whose name Mumbai takes its own. Her shrine stood near Bori Bunder until the 18th century, when it was rebuilt at Bhuleshwar beside a tank.

Babulnath Temple, MumbaiStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Babulnath Temple, Mumbai

A Shiva temple on the hillock above Girgaum Chowpatty, named for the babul tree under which the linga was found. Its tall spire was once among the highest points of the city.

Vajreshwari Yogini Devi TempleStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Vajreshwari Yogini Devi Temple

The Maratha general Chimaji Appa vowed a temple to Vajreshwari if he took Vasai fort from the Portuguese. He took it in 1739 and built this one, walled like a small fort, on a hill near the hot springs of the Tansa valley.

Walkeshwar Temple and Banganga TankRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Walkeshwar Temple and Banganga Tank

On the tip of Malabar Hill, a Shiva temple and a stepped tank tied to Shri Rama’s halt on the way to Lanka. Destroyed in the Portuguese period and rebuilt in 1715, it is the oldest continuously sacred spot in south Mumbai.