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Vikramaditya I restores the Chalukyas

VictorChalukyas of VatapiVikramaditya I, son of Pulakeshin II
655vs
Pallava occupiers and rival Chalukya princesNot named

For about thirteen years after Narasimhavarman I sacked Vatapi in 642, the Chalukya kingdom lay broken. Pulakeshin II’s son Vikramaditya I won it back and was crowned around 655.

Date: c. 654–655 CEWhere: Vatapi (Badami) and the Chalukya landsType: Campaign
Photo: Dey.sandip · CC BY 3.0
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Cite

MLA

“Vikramaditya I restores the Chalukyas.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/vikramaditya-i-restores-chalukyas/. Accessed .

APA

Hindu History. (2026). Vikramaditya I restores the Chalukyas. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/vikramaditya-i-restores-chalukyas/

Result

Vikramaditya drove the Pallavas from Vatapi, brought his brothers to heel and reunited his father’s kingdom.

01The horse Chitrakantha

The Chalukya grants of the next generations repeat a single proud line about him. Riding his best horse, Chitrakantha, and with his own sword, Vikramaditya won back the royal fortune of his ancestors that had been hidden by three kings, and made the whole kingdom his own again. The three kings are usually read as the Pallava Narasimhavarman and two others, perhaps his own brothers or the Pallava successors. The Pallava garrison at Vatapi was driven out.

02The brothers

Pulakeshin II’s death had left several sons ruling pieces of the kingdom. Vikramaditya brought them under his authority, and gave his loyal younger brother Jayasimha the governorship of Lata in Gujarat, where a branch of the family ruled for some generations. Within a few years he was strong enough to carry the war back into the Pallava country, beginning a struggle that lasted the rest of his reign.

Pulakeshin II
Person · Reigned c. 610–642 CEPulakeshin IIPulakeshin II won his throne from his uncle in a civil war, then conquered from Gujarat to Vengi and stopped Harsha at the Narmada. His deeds are carved in the Aihole inscription of 634 CE; he fell when the Pallavas took Vatapi in 642.Read →
Why it matters

It saved the Badami Chalukya line, which went on to rule another century and build Pattadakal.

People 2

Pulakeshin IIRuler
Reigned c. 610–642 CE

Pulakeshin II

Chalukya emperor of Badami, lord of Dakshinapatha

Narasimhavarman I MamallaRuler
Reigned c. 630–668 CE

Narasimhavarman I Mamalla

Pallava king who took Vatapi

Places 2

Badami (Vatapi)Standing
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Badami (Vatapi)

Vatapi, capital of the Chalukyas, set in red sandstone cliffs around the Agastya lake. Its four cave temples hold some of the earliest dated Hindu sculpture in the Deccan.

PattadakalStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Pattadakal

The coronation town of the Badami Chalukyas on the north-flowing Malaprabha, where northern and southern temple styles stand side by side. Its Virupaksha temple, raised by a queen to mark her husband’s victory over the Pallavas, is still in worship.

Places near the battlefield 3

Banashankari Temple, Cholachagudda (Badami)Rebuilt
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Banashankari Temple, Cholachagudda (Badami)

The Devi of the Tilakaranya forest near Badami, kuladevi of the Chalukya kings, worshipped as Shakambhari who fed the world with vegetables in a time of famine. Her January jatra is among the largest in north Karnataka.

Mahakuta TemplesStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Mahakuta Temples

A walled group of early Chalukya Shiva temples round a spring-fed tank in the hills near Badami, still in worship after fourteen centuries. A pillar inscription of about 600 CE records the grants of the Chalukya king Mangalesha.

AiholeStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Aihole

A village on the Malaprabha with over a hundred temples from the 6th century on, where Chalukya builders tried out the forms of the Hindu temple. On its hill, the Meguti inscription of 634 CE records Pulakeshin II’s victory over Harsha.