The old capital of the Gangas of Kuvalala and the centre of the dry eastern plain of tank villages and granite hills.
The Kolaramma temple has Chola inscriptions of Rajendra I and later; the Someshvara temple is a Chola-Hoysala work. The gold workings south of the town are old and small. The town lies on the road from the plateau to Tamil country and the Telugu Choda lands, which makes it a frontier town in a time of peace.
Who holds it
- Name
- A Hoysala governor by title; the Chola court's claim lives on in the temple records; the governor is not named in anything we read
- Title
- lord or governor
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
A Hoysala governor by title; the Chola court's claim lives on in the temple records; the governor is not named in anything we read
What the town holds
Hoysala claim from Vishnuvardhana's reign; the Chola claim from Rajendra I.
Allies and rivals
Peace between Hoysala and Chola; Velanati and Telugu Choda chiefs to the east.
How things stand that morning
Hoysala by title and Chola by memory; the peace of 1187-88 holds. Telugu Choda chiefs press from the east, and Kolar's holder on this morning is not pinned.
Communities
Temple Brahmins of the Kolaramma and Someshvara temples; Telugu and Kannada merchants; Jains
Militia
Village tank-headmen; no numbers
Walls and castle
A temple town with a mud fort; no stone wall in our sources
Trade and crafts
Gold-washing (small), tank farming, weaving, the eastern road toll
Places of note
- Kolar gold workings: old gold workings south-east of Kolar (position approximate)
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board entry shows Kolar Hoysala 'likely'; we draw it contested because the Chola temple record and the Telugu Choda pressure make it a march.
Evidence: The shape of the position is clear; the holder is not named in our sources.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
Sources and studies
- Kolar district, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
- Hoysala Empire, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
- Kulottunga Chola III, Wikipedia (read for this sheet)
- OMNIA board notes for the place (a lead, checked against the other sources)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.