Cholas

As regards the Cholas, references have already been made above to the occasional occupation of Nolambavadi by the Cholas in the course of the Chola-Chalukya conflicts. Apart from this, there appears to have existed a branch line of the Cholas, often heard in connection with Nidugal and the neighbouring parts; their inscriptions are found in the Tumkur, Chitradurga and Bellary districts. This Chola line has been represented in this district by a few records belonging mainly to the 12th and 13th centuries. In an inscription95 from Kasavagondanahalli in the Challakere taluk, there is Maha-mandaleshvara Irungola Chola Maharaja ruling in 1106. But in another inscription96 from Mahadevapura in the same taluk, we have his son Mahamandaleshvara Tribhuvanamalla Mallideva Chola Maharaja ruling in 1108. Perhaps the same ruler has been called Vira-Norramba Jagadekamalla Malladeva Chola Maharaja in the Obalapura inscription, 97 dated 1147 (as he was then a vassal of the Chalukya king Jagadekamalla II (1138-1151), which speaks of him as ruling the Rodda, Sire, Haruve and Kaniyakal nads. Then, we come across another Irungola-deva, with the title Danava Murari, ruling in Nidu (modern Nidugal) in 1247 98 . He was the son of a Govinda Raya, who is referred to in a small inscription, dated 1207, from Roppa.99 According to another inscription,l00 dated 1278, from Siddapura, Irungola ruled with the Heddore (the Krishna) as his boundary; his son was Bhoga and grandson Bamma; Bamma took under his protection Rodda, Kani­yakal and Siru-nad and further attracted to himself : several other parts including Nonambavadi and Ramadi; his minister was Bicha who built an impregnable line of Fortifications connecting the fort of Haneya and that of Nidugal. Bamma had four sons; Bijjana, Baira, Irungola and BavantigalOl ; but his successor is not known. This period of darkness is coeval with the capture of Nidugal in 1285 by the Hoysala king Narasimha II. The Hoysalas, who were the enemies of the imperial Cholas, did not prove friendly to the Cholas of Nidugal either. Vishnuvardhana, who drove the Cholas out of Mysore territories, did not leave the local chief of Nidugal unattended to for a long time. In an inscription coming from Nagamangala taluk, he is said to have captured the power­ful Irungola's fort. Narasimha I is described as the breaker of Irungola's pride. In 1218, Ballala II had encamped at Nidugal. In 1267, Irungola made a raid into the Hoysala territory and in 1276, he joined the Sevuna army in its invasion of Dorasamudra. Finally in 1285, Narasimha II marched against Nidugal and reduced it.

We, however, have two other Chola records belonging to a later period: one dated 1410 referring to Deva Raya and the other dated 1554 referring to Sadashiva Raya of Vijayanagara102. In the former, we have one Gopa Chamupa ruling the great Nidugal hill-fort and in the latter, a Papaideva Chola Maha-arasu ruling the Rayadurga kingdom.

Courtesy : Gazetteer of India, Chitradurga District, 1967.