Part 36 - Purushottama (A.D. 1277-1307)

Purushottama had a reign of thirty years. His earliest inscriptions is from Srikurman dated A.D. 1277, mentioning him as Purushottama deva chakravarti, the son of Rajaraja deva. The next inscription is from Simhachalam dated A.D. 1287 mentioning Purushottama nay aka. The Srikurmam record dated A.D. 1298 mentions Purushottama, his brother Vijayarka and father Rajaraja. An undated record at Draksharama mentions Purushottama maharaja, who probably is Chalukya Purushottama. Though no records of Purushottama are available after A.D. 1298, his reign may have lasted up to A.D. 1307—the earliest date for his son and successor Visvanatha.

His Political Relations

The Eastern Ganga contemporary of Purushottama was Narasimha II, the son and successor of Bhanudeva I. His reign lasted from A.D. 1278 to 1306—for a period of twenty-eight years. Purushottama must have continued the Chalukya policy of allegiance to the Ganga though he did not date his records in the regnal years of Narasimha or the Ganga era. It has been said that from a copper plate grant of Narasimha II, we learn that his father Virabhanu I married Jakalladevi of the Chalukyan race and she was probably a relation of Vijayaditya II. But this supposition that Jakalladevi was a princess of the Chalukya family of Srikurmam is not supported by evidence.