The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most
of what is now Karnataka, India between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of
the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur but was later moved to Halebidu.
The Hoysala rulers were originally from Malenadu, an elevated region in the Western Ghats. In
the 12th century, taking advantage of the internecine warfare between the Western Chalukya
Empire and Kalachuris of Kalyani, they annexed areas of present-day Karnataka and the fertile
areas north of the Kaveri delta in present-day Tamil Nadu. By the 13th century, they governed
most of Karnataka, minor parts of Tamil Nadu and parts of western Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
in the Deccan Plateau.
The Hoysala era was an important period in the development of art, architecture, and
religion in South India. The empire is remembered today primarily for Hoysala architecture.
Over a hundred surviving temples are scattered across Karnataka.
Well known temples "which exhibit an amazing display of sculptural exuberance" include
the Chennakeshava Temple, Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, and the Chennakesava Temple,
Somanathapura. The Hoysala rulers also patronised the fine arts, encouraging literature to flourish
in Kannada and Sanskrit. History
Kannada folklore tells a tale of a young man, Sala, who saved his Jain guru, Sudatta, by
striking dead a tiger he encountered near the temple of the goddess Vasantika at Angadi,
now called Sosevuru. The word "strike" literally translates to "hoy" in Old Kannada, hence
the name "Hoy-sala". This legend first appeared in the Belur inscription of Vishnuvardhana
, but owing to several inconsistencies in the Sala story it remains in the realm of
folklore. The legend may have come into existence or gained popularity after King Vishnuvardhana's
victory over the Cholas at Talakadu as the Hoysala emblem depicts the fight between the
mythical warrior Sala and a tiger, the tiger being the emblem of the Cholas.
Early inscriptions, dated 1078 and 1090, have implied that the Hoysalas were descendants
of the Yadava by referring to the Yadava vamsa as the "Hoysala vamsa". But there are no early
records directly linking the Hoysalas to the Yadavas of North India.
Historians refer to the founders of the dynasty as natives of Malenadu based on numerous inscriptions
calling them Maleparolganda or "Lord of the Male chiefs" . This title in the Kannada language
was proudly used by the Hoysala kings as their royal signature in their inscriptions. Literary
sources from that time in Kannada and Sanskrit have also helped confirm they were natives
of the region known today as Karnataka.
The first Hoysala family record is dated 950 and names Arekalla as the chieftain, followed
by Maruga and Nripa Kama I . The next ruler, Munda , was succeeded by Nripa Kama II who
held such titles as Permanadi that show an early alliance with the Western Ganga dynasty.
From these modest beginnings, the Hoysala dynasty began its transformation into a strong
subordinate of the Western Chalukya Empire. Through Vishnuvardhana's expansive military
conquests, the Hoysalas achieved the status of a real kingdom for the first time. He wrested
Gangavadi from the Cholas in 1116 and moved the capital from Belur to Halebidu.
Vishnuvardhana's ambition of creating an independent empire was fulfilled by his grandson Veera
Ballala II, who freed the Hoysalas from subordination in 1187–1193. Thus the Hoysalas began as
subordinates of the Western Chalukya Empire and gradually established their own empire
in Karnataka with such strong Hoysala kings as Vishnuvardhana, Veera Ballala II and later
Veera Ballala III. During this time, the Deccan Plateau saw a four-way struggle for hegemony
– Pandyan, Kakatiya and Seuna being the other kingdoms. Veera Ballala II defeated
the aggressive Pandya when they invaded the Chola kingdom. He assumed the title "Establisher
of the Chola Kingdom" , "Emperor of the south" and "Hoysala emperor" . He founded the city
of Bangalore according to Kannada folklore.
The Hoysalas extended their foothold in areas known today as Tamil Nadu around 1225, making
the city of Kannanur Kuppam near Srirangam a provincial capital and giving them control
over South Indian politics that began a period of Hoysala hegemony in the southern Deccan.
Vira Narasimha II's son Vira Someshwara earned the honorific "uncle" from the Pandyas and
Cholas. The Hoysala influence spread over Pandya kingdom also. Toward the end of the
13th century, Veera Ballala III recaptured territory in the Tamil country which had been
lost to the Pandya uprising, thus uniting the northern and southern portions of the
kingdom.
Major political changes were taking place in the Deccan region in the early 14th century
when significant areas of northern India were under Muslim rule. Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan
of Delhi, was determined to bring South India under his domain and sent his commander, Malik
Kafur, on a southern expedition to plunder the Seuna capital Devagiri in 1311. The Seuna
empire was subjugated by 1318 and the Hoysala capital Halebidu was sacked twice, in 1311
and 1327.
By 1336, the Sultan had conquered the Pandyas of Madurai, the Kakatiyas of Warangal and
the tiny kingdom of Kampili. The Hoysalas were the only remaining Hindu empire who resisted
the invading armies. Veera Ballala III stationed himself at Tiruvannamalai and offered stiff
resistance to invasions from the north and the Madurai Sultanate to the south. Then,
after nearly three decades of resistance, Veera Ballala III was killed at the battle
of Madurai in 1343, and the sovereign territories of the Hoysala empire were merged with the
areas administered by Harihara I in the Tungabhadra River region. This new Hindu kingdom resisted
the northern invasions and would later prosper and come to be known as the Vijayanagara Empire.