SHILABHATTARIKA - ANCIENT HISTORY
News: Copper
plates bring into focus Shilabhattarika and her poetry
What's in the news?
● Researchers
at the Pune-based Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), which houses
South Asia’s largest collection of manuscripts and rare texts, recently
embarked on a grand adventure in detection after which they claim to have shed new light on Shilabhattarika - the
celebrated Sanskrit poetess of Ancient India by establishing her as a daughter
of the famed Chalukyan Emperor, Pulakeshin II of Badami (in modern Karnataka).
Key takeaways:
● The
Sanskrit poet-critic Rajashekhara
(who lived in the 9th-10th century CE) and was the court poet of the Gurjara-Pratiharas, has praised Shilabhattarika
for her elegant and beautiful compositions.
Findings from Copper Plates:
● The
decoding of the copper plates also marks a notable shift in the historiography
of Badami Chalukyas by placing Shilabhattarika as having lived in the 7th
century CE rather than the current theory which has her as a wife of the 8th
century Rashtrakuta ruler, Dhruva.
● Badami Chalukyan rulers
affixed the title of ‘Satyashraya’ (translated as “patron of truth”) to
their names, the only ruler to be known purely by this title was Pulakeshin II.
● The
Pallavas were the sworn nemesis of the Badami Chalukyas, with Pulakeshin II
being defeated (and possibly killed) in 642 CE in the invasion by the Pallava Narasimhavarman I.
● Badami
Chalukyas and the Western Gangas were great patrons of literature.
Shilabhattarika’s great-grandfather-in-law, Durvinita (noted ruler of the
Western Gangas), was himself a proficient composer, and had patronised Bharavi, the author of a classical epic
Kiratarjuniya.
Shilabhattarika:
● Shilabhattarika’s
works adhere to the Panchali style
that calls for a balance of the word with its meaning.
● She
inspired the Sanskrit poet-critic
Rajashekhara (who lived in the 9th-10th century CE) and was the court poet
of the Gurjara-Pratiharas.
● The
noted Marathi poetess, Shanta Shelke
drawn inspiration from Shilabhattarika’s verse to compose one of her most
iconic songs - toch chandrama nabhat (translated as ‘it is the same moon in the
sky’).
Pulakesin II:
● Pulakeshin
II was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya
dynasty of Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka). He ruled from 610-642 CE.
● He
defeated Harshavardhan of Kanauj in a battle near the banks of the Narmada River in 618 CE.