The Kalachuris of Tripuri and Ratnapura

Who rules

Name

Vijayasimha at Tripuri; Ratnadeva III or his heir Pratapamalla at Ratnapura

Title

Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara Paramabhattaraka (Tripuri); Maharaja (Ratnapura)

Since

Vijayasimha about 1188 (reconstruction); the Ratnapura change of reign is put at about 1200 by convention, not by a dated record

Born

not known

Family

Tripuri line: Gayakarna, Narasimha (1153 to 1163), Jayasimha (1163 to 1188), Vijayasimha (1188 to 1210), then Trailokyamalla (last known in 1212). Ratnapura line: Ratnadeva III (1178 to 1200) and Pratapamalla (1200 to 1225).

Confidence

medium

Reign spans are the Wikipedia reconstruction from inscriptions dated in the Kalachuri (Chedi) era, which begins in 248 or 249 CE. All spans are estimates.

What the realm holds

• Tripuri (Tewar) and the Dahala plain
• Bheraghat on the Narmada and the Chausath Yogini temple
• Bilhari, Karanbel, Nohta, Bahuriband, Mandla and the Narmada loop
• Baghelkhand to the Kaimur scarp (Sohagpur, Maihar, Bandhogarh), loosely
• Ratnapura, Tummana (Tuman), Pali, Malhar, Kharod, Sheorinarayan, Rajim and the Mahanadi plain of Chhattisgarh (Ratnapura branch)

How it was acquired

Inherited; the Ratnapura branch became independent in stages under Jajalladeva I (1090 to 1120) and Ratnadeva II (1120 to 1135).

Allies and rivals

Rivals: the Chandelas (Paramardi beat Jayasimha), the Paramaras (peace through Gayakarna's marriage into the Paramara house, old), the Yadavas of Devagiri to the south. Ratnapura against the Eastern Gangas (Kalinga) over Kosala and Trikalinga. One feudatory in the north, Sallakshana, tried to throw off Tripuri's overlordship under Vijayasimha and failed.

The realm that morning

Both houses reigning. The Tripuri king is a diminished overlord of the Dahala plain; the rest of the claim (Baghelkhand, the Gond hills) is thin. The Ratnapura throne is held by Ratnadeva III or, from about this year by convention, Pratapamalla: the man in the hall cannot be named.

Wealth

Narmada rice and wheat, the iron of the Dahala forests, forest produce of the Maikal and the Kaimur, the Mahanadi rice of Chhattisgarh, salt and cloth brought by the Mahanadi road; the Narmada pilgrim circuit and the Amarkantak source; temple towns at Bheraghat, Rajim and Sheorinarayan.

Military

A cavalry and elephant tradition of the eleventh century now thinly kept; hill forts at Bandhogarh and Mandla; Gond and Kol auxiliaries. No numbers survive.

Threats

• Chandela pressure on the Baghelkhand border
• Yadava raids from the south
• Gond chiefs of the hills going their own way
• Eastern Ganga pressure on Ratnapura

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. about 1200Ratnapura changes reign from Ratnadeva III to Pratapamalla (convention; no dated record).Depends on: Natural succession.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1210 to 1212Vijayasimha is succeeded at Tripuri by Trailokyamalla, who calls himself lord of Kanyakubja; last known in 1212; how the line ends is not recorded.Depends on: Natural succession.

Places of note

• Tripuri: capital of the Tripuri line
• Ratnapura: capital of the Chhattisgarh branch

Where the sources disagree

• The assignment names a "Prithvideva III" at Ratnapura. The Wikipedia list of the Ratnapura house (Prithvideva I and II, Jajalladeva I and II, Ratnadeva I, II and III, Jagaddeva, Pratapamalla) has no Prithvideva III, and we found no source for one; we have not used the name.
• Board: Ratanpur "coloured with Tripuri for kinship; takes no orders from there". Agreed.

Evidence: Reigns are reconstructed from a few Kalachuri-era dated stones; the court, ministers and army of both houses are barely known.

On the map: The Dahala outline is four modern districts. The Gond hills (Mandla, Dindori, Seoni) and Baghelkhand are drawn in the king's own record as claimed or contested. The Chhattisgarh outline is the plain; the hill rim (Surguja, Koriya, Jashpur) is tributary or free.

Primary sources for this realm

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 Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Various, edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 7th to 13th centuries; edited 1955). Collects every known record of the Kalachuris of Tripuri (Dahala) and of Ratnapura (south Kosala), with text, translation and a long historical introduction. Read online
• Inscriptions of the Paramaras, Chandellas, Kachchhapaghatas and two minor dynasties, Various, edited by H. V. Trivedi (inscriptions of the 9th to 14th centuries; edited 1978 to 1991). The collected records of the Paramaras of Malwa (parts 1 and 2) and of the Chandelas of Jejakabhukti (part 3), re-edited from Epigraphia Indica and earlier journals with new finds.