Alupa dynasty
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2016) |
Alupa Dynasty | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200–1444 | |||||||||
 Coinage of the Alupas. Uncertain ruler, Chattopadhyaya Type II. Legend śri pa/ndya dhana/jaya in Devanagari. 14th century CE
| |||||||||
 Extent of the Alupa Kingdom | |||||||||
| Capital | Mangalore, Udyavara, Barkur | ||||||||
| Common languages | Kannada[1]
Sanskrit
Tulu[2] | ||||||||
| Religion | Shaivism and Shaktism (Hindu Bunt), Jainism (Jain Bunt). | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 200 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1444 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Alupa dynasty (ಅಳುಪೆರ್, ಆಳ್ವೆರ್) (circa 2nd century C.E to 15th century C.E)
Etymology and origin
The name of the dynasty is variously recorded in inscriptions as Alupa, Aluva, Alva, Aluka and Alapa
In the Tulu language, ಆಳ್ಪು (Alup) means 'to rule', ಆಳ್ಪುನು (Alupunu) means 'ruling', ಆಳುಪೆ / ಆಳ್ಪೆ / ಆಳ್ಪುನಾಯೆ (Alupe) means 'ruler' (one who rules). According to B. A. Saletore, the name Alupa may be derived from its variant Aluka which is an epithet of the divine serpent Shesha of Hindu epics.[11] Fleet has suggested that the name Aluka may possibly denote the
Historian P. Gururaja Bhat states that the Alupa royal family were possibly of local origin who were followers of "Shaivism" and later 10th century they accepted Jainism, Bunt-Nadava caste.[12] Whereas, B. A. Saletore mentions that the title Alupa (Alva) survives till this day in the Bunt community .[13]
The rule over Uttara Kannada region, with Banavasi as its capital was by
Land
Although Alupas controlled part of Uttara Kannada and Shimoga of Karnataka and northern part of Kerala during the zenith, the core region consisted of the Old Dakshina Kannada district which comprises Modern Dakshina Kannada district and Udupi district. In the ancient times, the region was referred as Alvakheda and during the later part of the reign, the region between swarna and chandragiri river was referred as Tulunadu. The term Tulunadu is still practised today while referring to the region.
1. Alvakheda
TURKS
The term Alvakheda could be seen in several of ancient inscriptions of the Alupas. The region of Alvakheda encompassed the modern Tulunadu, northern and central part of Udupi district and part of Uttara Kannada up to Ankola on the coastal north and Banavasi on the interior west of Uttara Kannada District. Also, the region of Humcha in the Shimoga district, and the land of Kasaragod in Kerala up to the Payasvini river was the boundary in the south. The term Alvakheda is not seen in the inscriptions during the Vijayanagara period, when the region of Barakuru and Mangalore were two separate provinces under the administration of Governors who started controlling the territory without interfering in the autonomy of the Alupas.
2. Tulunadu
The region stretches from Mangalore in the south all the way to swarna river in the north. On the west is the Arabian sea and on the east is the
An
Political history
The history of clan emerges from obscurity during the rise of
Alupas rule confined to the modern districts of Udupi, Mangalore and parts of Shimoga and Uttara Kannada districts in the state of Karanataka and part of northern Kerala (Kasaragod district) up to Payashvini river. In the history of India, no other single dynasty has ever ruled for over thousands years. The record that breaks this exception goes to the Alupas who ruled their territory for nearly thousand years. Alupas though originated as a ruler to the coastal region of Karnataka around the beginning of the Christian era, it is only around the 5th century they made their debut as a dynasty as witnessed in the epigraph of Halmidi. The last ruler's name that we see in the epigraph of Venupura (Moodubidre), belong to the 14th century CE. There are over two hundred stone epigraphs left behind this dynasty and only about one hundred and twenty epigraphs have been read and deciphered so far. The finest record of the early Kannada script is seen in the 7th century CE copper plate of Belmannu. There is yet another set of five copper plates that surfaced in the beginning of 2007, but no information is known about the ruler, provenance within the district of Udupi or its content.
Alupas put coins into circulation in 8th century CE and continued the tradition till 14th century CE. Their coins carried the dynastic emblem of "Two fishes over a spread Lotus flower, below a royal umbrella". Nearly 180 unique coins have been known so far, of which around 175 coins are published in the book written by Prabhu and Pai. The detailed history, with proper reference pointers is also seen in the same book.
Epigraphs
The earliest known
The first known epigraph that talks about the possession of Banavasi Mandala (Banavasi kingdom of Uttara Kannada District) by the Alupas, belongs to the reign of Western Chalukya king Vinayaditya. The Alupas built some fine temples in their area of rule. The Panchalingeshwara temple at Barkur, Brahmalingeshwara temple at 
Chronology
Ruler's name
Year of reign
Relation
Pashupathi
450 CE
To be known
500 – 7th century CE
Aluvarasa I
Early 7th century
Father-in-law of Pulakeshin II
Gunasagara
660–630 CE
Chitravahana
663–730 CE
Husband of
Aluvarasa II
Incurred the wrath of the Chalukyas
Chitravahana II
Ranasagara
Pritvisagara
Marama
Vimaladitya
Alva Rananjaya
Dattalupa
Kundavarma
960–980 CE
Jayasimha
980–1010 CE
Bankideva Alupendra
Pattiyodeya
Pandya Pattiyodeya
1080–1110 CE
Kavi Alupendra CE
Pattiyodeya Kulashekara Alupendra
1160–1220 CE
Kundana
1220–1230 CE
Vallabhadeva Duttalupa
Virapandya
1250–1275 CE
and Nagadevarasa
1275–1285 CE
Bankideva II
Soyideva
Kulashekara
1335–1346 CE
Son of
and Alupa princess Chikkayitayi
Bankideva III
Kulashekara III
1355–1390 CE
Virapandya II
Art and architecture
1. Sri Rajarajeshwari Temple, Polali
In modern Mangalore District, Polali Rajarajeshwari Temple is one of the oldest temple that has the earliest inscription of the Alupa dynasty, written in 8th century Kannada. The temple is dedicated to Sri Rajarashewari, and Alupa kings enriched this temple during throughout their rule.
2. Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple, Kadri
In modern Mangalore district, Kadri has the other important and old temple that belonged to the era of Alupas. The temple has several finest bronze statues installed by the King Kundavarma, which bears inscriptions of him dated 968 CE. In the inscription of Lokeshwara statue, king Kundavarma is compared to Arjuna in bravery.
3. Sri Mahishamardini Temple, Neelavara
In times, Alupas changed their capital from Mangalore to Udyavara, Udyavara to Mangalore and then again to Barkur depending on the political situation and demand. To be in centre to their ruling place, they even shifted their capital to Barakur from where they could look after the vast territory which spread up to Ankola in the North Kanara (Uttara Kannada District). During this period, they patronised several temples in the surrounding areas of Barakuru (which was their capital). Neelavara Kshetra is one such a holy place where Mahishasuramardini temple has several Alupa inscriptions of later period.
4. Sri Panchalingeshwara Temple, Vittla
This temple is one of the oldest temple of Alupa territory, built during 7th century CE. The architecture of the temple is in line with that of Sri Ananteshwara temple which is the oldest temple built by the Alupas. The architecture is unique and is an innovation of 7th century. The Havyaka Brahmins of Uttara Kannada were attracted during 7th century CE by the Alupas and were given Agraharas for imparting Vedic knowledge to the people of Alvakheda. The Alupas built many temples and allowed these Brahmins to take care of it. The legend says that there were hundreds of temples that every day there is a festival in one or other temple of the region. The temple of Vittla Panchalingeshwara is one of the oldest structure which was renovated by the later local dynasties such as Heggades.
5. Sri Anantheshwara Temple, Udupi
Diagonally opposite to the main entrance of the Sri Krishna Mutt, and adjacent to the Chandramouleeshwara Temple, stands one of the oldest Alupa temple namely
Both Sri Vittla Panchalingeshwara and Sri Udupi Anantheshwara Temple have Elephant-back type curvilinear structure. Another temple of similar architecture is also seen in Aihole Durga temple, appears to be a structure of 7th century CE. So, tagging it to any architectural style is ruled out unless more detailed study or research is done on this topic. The unique noteworthy feature of the architecture of South Canara temples is their roof. Being in a landscape of high rainfall, the temple roofs evolved from grass, clay tiles and eventually with the copper-plates.
Coinage and Religion
The Alupas as a feudatory of the
This paragraph is about the inscription found at Neelavara temple of Udupi district. This is all about the grant in "Gadyana" denomination. The Alupas while ruling from Barakuru showed great interest in the development of temple. This record is of the Alupa ruler Veerapandyadeva, dated 1258 CE mentions about his instruction to "neeruvara munnuru" i.e. Neeruvara-300, the modern Neelavara village Assembly. It states that after paying 100 gadyanas (coins) to the palace and 30 gadyanas to Adhikari, remaining 30 gadyanas, should be used by the village assembly for its expense. Yet another inscription of Veerapandyadeva's queen Ballamahadevi, the next ruler is also seen here. The record mentions that when Ballamahadevi was ruling her kingdom with the help of samastapradanas, Deshi purushas, Bahattara niyogis and Rishi Purohita, she gave a grant to Niruvara Bhagavati, out of 100 honnus that is paid to the palace. This inscription was written by Keshava Senabhova as mentioned in the epigraph.
The Alupas were one of the three dynasties that issued gold coins as early as 8th century CE. The gold that used to mint coins came from trade with the Romans, Arabs and from the adjacent kingdom of
The people of Alupa Dynasty were the followers of Shaivism and Jainism as well as local cults of Nagas, Bhutas and influence of Vajrayana Buddhism were also seen.
Notes
- ^ Prabhu, Ganesh (22 July 2015). "Alupa inscription found at Mangodu temple". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ Prabhu, Ganesh (5 March 2015). "Tulu pillar inscription found in Kota". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7530-047-7.
- ^ "Polali's famed shrine echoes the heroics of the Alupa kings". Deccan Chronicle. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ The Hoysaḷa Dynasty. Prasārānga, University of Mysore. 1972. pp. 95–96.
- ^ Kāmat, Sūryanātha (1973). Karnataka State Gazetteer: South Kanara Gazetteer of India Volume 12 of Karnataka State Gazetteer. Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Govt. Press. p. 38.
- ^ Saletore, Bhasker Anand (1936). Ancient Karnāṭaka, Volume 1 Issue 53 of Poona oriental series Ancient Karnāṭaka, Bhasker Anand Saletore. Oriental Book Agency. p. 154.
- ^ Journal of Indian folkloristics, Issue 1. Folklore Fellows of India by Geetha Book House. 1978. p. 5.
- ^ Thurston, Edgar; Rangachari, K. (1909). Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 1. Madras: Government Press. pp. 147–172.
- ^ "The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore)". The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. 93. Bangalore, India: The Mythic Society: 22. 2002.
- ^ a b c d Saletore, Bhaskar Anand (1936). Ancient Karnāṭaka, Volume 1. Oriental Book Agency. pp. 59–61.
- ^ Bhatt, P. Gururaja (1969). Antiquities of South Kanara. Prabhakara Press. p. iii. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
- ^ Saletore, Bhaskar Anand (1936). Ancient Karnāṭaka, Volume 1. Oriental Book Agency. p. 154.
- ^ a b Kamath (2001), p94
- ISBN 0226742210.
- ^ a b c Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 483.
- ^ a b c d Kamath (2001), p97
- ^ Journal of the Institute of Indian Studies, 1978 May Vol#1
References
- Dr. Suryanath U. Kamath, A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present, Jupiter books, 2001, MCC, Bangalore (Reprinted 2002)
- Govindraya Prabhu S, Nithyananda Pai M, "The Alupas, Coinage and history", 2006, ISBN 81-7525-561-7(Hardbound), Manipal Printers, Published by SG Prabhu, Sanoor, 2006, 500 copies.
- Thulunaadina Shaasnagalu ... By K T Shaila Verma.
- Tjhulunaadina Jaina Arasu Manethanagalu published by Hampi University... under Edition Of Chinnaswamy Sosale.