Alupas

Who he is

Name

not known for 1 January 1200

Title

Alupa king (Alupendra), a feudatory of the Hoysalas

Since

not pinned

Born

not known

Family

Alupa (Alupendra) house of Tulunadu, Jain and Shaiva in patronage, with marriage links to the Santaras (both Jain) and, at a date we could not pin, to the Hoysalas

Confidence

low

Wikipedia (Alupas) names no king for the later twelfth century. Fixed points: the oldest Tulu inscription (1159) at the Kulashekhara temple, Mangalore; coins with the double-fish emblem; a Kunda Alupa inscription at Ezhimala (1075). The name Kulashekhara Alupendra is attached to the Mangalore temple but we cannot place the reign.

Overlord

Veera Ballala II (Hoysala), lightly

What it holds

• Mangalore (Mangalapura) at the Netravati and Gurupura mouths
• Barkur (Barakuru) on the Sita, Udayavara and Udupi
• the Tulu rice and coconut country between the ghat foot and the sea
• mints at Mangalore and Udupi (coin legends)

How it was acquired

Hereditary since the early centuries (a gana of Pashupati is named in a Halmidi inscription of 450, Wikipedia); under Hoysala overlordship since the dynasty reached the coast.

Allies and rivals

Overlord Ballala II; Kadambas of Goa to the north; the Kolathiri to the south across the Chandragiri; Santaras of Humcha and Kalasa as in-laws.

How things stand that morning

A vassal house whose own king is not named for this year; the overlordship is real but light.

Wealth

Pepper and areca shipped through Mangalore and Barkur; the Arab and Jewish trade of the coast (the Cairo Geniza merchant Abraham Ben Yiju lived at Mangalore in the 1130s and 1140s on the common reading); coin.

Military

Nair-like local levies and coast boats; no numbers.

Threats

• Hoysala demands
• Kolathiri pressure on the Kasaragod march

Places of note

• Kulashekhara temple, Mangalore (1159 inscription): oldest Tulu inscription

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign board entry lists Mangalore and Barkur under the Kadambas of Goa; they are Alupa towns and Hoysala-lordship ground, not Kadamba.
• The campaign board entry says the Hoysala overlordship is real but light; Wikipedia ties the Alupa-Hoysala marriage to Ballala III, not Ballala II.

Evidence: Wikipedia lists no 1200 ruler; the coinage and the 1159 inscription give the family but not the man.

"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.

On the map: The Tulunadu province carries the full coast.

Primary sources for Hoysala kingdom

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
• Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online
• South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online