Kadambas of Goa
Encyclopedia
The Kadambas ruled Goa over 10th to 14th century AD. In the beginning they ruled only Sashti
and a small part of Konkan. They ruled from Chandor, over a large part, but the port of Gopakpattana was not a part in the beginning. The Goa Kadambas were the later scions of the main Kadamba dynasty, whose modern descendants still live in Goa.
origin, descending from certain Mayurasharma. There are many myths as far as their origin is concerned. It can be seen that they are of Dravidian origin later included in the Vedic Brahaminical fold.
. According to the Savai vere inscription, the Kadambas as an alliance of the Chalukyas, aided them to defeat the Rashtrakutas. Later Shashthadeva conquered the city of Chandrapur
from the Shilahara
s, and established Goa Kadamba dynasty in 960 AD.
, Bengal
, Gujarat and Sri Lanka
(mentioned as Zaguva,Gauda,Gurjara,Simhala in the Sanskrit text).The city has been described in the contemporary records not only as aesthetically pleasing but spiritually cleansing as well.On account of its commercial nature, Gopakapattna possessed a cosmopolitan look.The capital was served by an important highway called as Rajvithi or Rajpath which linked it with Ela
, ruins of whose glory can still be seen.For more than 300 years it remained a neucleus of intra-coastal and trans-oceanic trade, from Africa to Malaya Goa became a known destination. Later in the 14th century the port was looted by Khilji
general Malik Kafur
, the headquarters were shifted to Chandor and back to Gopakapattna because of Muhammad bin Tughluq
's attack on Chandor.
temples as they were devote Shaivites.they assumed titles like Konkanadhipati, Saptakotisha Ladbha Varaveera, Gopakapura varadhishva, Konkanmahacharavarti, Panchamahashabda. The kings had matrimonial relationships with the Kings of Saurashtra,and even the local chieftains.the kings patronized Vedic religion
and performed major fire sacrifices like the horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha
. They popularised Shaivsm in Goa.(see:Goa through ages) They are also known for patronising Jainism
in Goa.
Though their language of administration was Sanskrit
and Kannada they also patronized Konkani and Marathi
.They introduced Kannada language to Goa, influence of which was very profound on the local tongue.Nagari script
, Kadamba script
, Halekannada script and Goykanadi
scripts were very popular.
It is known from another inscription of Kadamba Tribhuvanamalla, saka 1028 i.e. AD 1106 that he established a Brahmapuri at Gopaka. Brahmapuris were ancient universities run by the Brahmins where Vedas, astrology,philosophy,medicine etc. were taught.(see:Gazetteer of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu: district Volume 1).Such Brahampuris were found in many places in Goa, Savoi verem, Gauli moula,and other places.
Kadambas having ruled Goa for more than 350 glorious years, lost in power to Devagiri Yadavas, further with the Muslim invasions the once magnificent dynasty was lost forever. Ruins of the palaces, mansions,temples and markets can be still seen in Chandor village.
Salcette
Salcette , is a taluka of South Goa District in the Indian state of Goa. Its administrative and economic headquarters is Margao. It is largely coterminous with a region called Sashti , which comprised, by local tradition, sixty-six villages, hence the name. However, it also includes the taluka of...
and a small part of Konkan. They ruled from Chandor, over a large part, but the port of Gopakpattana was not a part in the beginning. The Goa Kadambas were the later scions of the main Kadamba dynasty, whose modern descendants still live in Goa.
Origins
According to the Talagunda inscription found in Shimoga in Karnataka,a they are of BrahminBrahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
origin, descending from certain Mayurasharma. There are many myths as far as their origin is concerned. It can be seen that they are of Dravidian origin later included in the Vedic Brahaminical fold.
Establishment of a separate dynasty
As a feudatory of the Chalukyas, Kadamba Shasthadeva was appointed as Mahamandaleshwara of Goa by Chalukya king Tailapa IITailapa II
Tailapa II had titles Nurmadi Taliapa and Satyashraya Kulatilaka. He re-established the Western Chalukya dynasty after a period of 220 years during which time they had been in eclipse. The revived Chalukya kingdom rose to its height of power under Vikramaditya VI. The revived dynasty came to be...
. According to the Savai vere inscription, the Kadambas as an alliance of the Chalukyas, aided them to defeat the Rashtrakutas. Later Shashthadeva conquered the city of Chandrapur
Chandor
Chandor is a village in South Goa district, Goa, India, on the banks of the river Kushavati, 10 km east from Margao.-History:...
from the Shilahara
Shilahara
The Shilahara Dynasty was a feudal clan that established itself in northern and southern Konkan and southern Maharashtra during the Rashtrakuta period...
s, and established Goa Kadamba dynasty in 960 AD.
The port of Goapakapattna
King Shashthadeva conquered the island of Goa i.e., port Gopakpattana and Kapardikadvipa, and annexed a large part of South Konkan to his kingdom,and made Gopakpattana as his secondary capital. The next King Jayakeshi I further expanded the Goan kingdom. Sanskrit Jain text Dvayashraya mention the extend of his capital. Port Gopakapattna had trade contacts with ZanzibarZanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Gujarat and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
(mentioned as Zaguva,Gauda,Gurjara,Simhala in the Sanskrit text).The city has been described in the contemporary records not only as aesthetically pleasing but spiritually cleansing as well.On account of its commercial nature, Gopakapattna possessed a cosmopolitan look.The capital was served by an important highway called as Rajvithi or Rajpath which linked it with Ela
Old Goa
Old Goa or Velha Goa is a historical city in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. The city was constructed by the Bijapur Sultanate in the 15th century, and served as capital of Portuguese India from the 16th century until its abandonment in the 18th century due to plague...
, ruins of whose glory can still be seen.For more than 300 years it remained a neucleus of intra-coastal and trans-oceanic trade, from Africa to Malaya Goa became a known destination. Later in the 14th century the port was looted by Khilji
Khilji dynasty
The Khilji Sultanate was a dynasty of Turko-Afghan Khalaj origin who ruled large parts of South Asia from 1290 - 1320. They were the second dynasty to rule the Delhi Sultanate of India...
general Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
, the headquarters were shifted to Chandor and back to Gopakapattna because of Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was daughter of the raja of Dipalpur...
's attack on Chandor.
Administration
During the rule of Kadambas,the name and fame of Goapuri had reached it zenith.Goa's religion, culture, trade,arts flourished under the rule of these kings. The pious Kings and their queens built many ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
temples as they were devote Shaivites.they assumed titles like Konkanadhipati, Saptakotisha Ladbha Varaveera, Gopakapura varadhishva, Konkanmahacharavarti, Panchamahashabda. The kings had matrimonial relationships with the Kings of Saurashtra,and even the local chieftains.the kings patronized Vedic religion
Vedic religion
Vedic religion may refer to:*the historical Vedic religion- Vedic Hinduism **Vedic mythology*Shrauta, surviving conservative traditions within HinduismIn wider meanings of the term "Vedic"*Vedanta*Hinduism in general...
and performed major fire sacrifices like the horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha
Ashvamedha
The Ashvamedha was one of the most important royal rituals of Vedic religion, described in detail in the Yajurveda...
. They popularised Shaivsm in Goa.(see:Goa through ages) They are also known for patronising Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
in Goa.
Though their language of administration was Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Kannada they also patronized Konkani and Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
.They introduced Kannada language to Goa, influence of which was very profound on the local tongue.Nagari script
Nagari script
The Nāgarī script is the ancestor of Devanagari, Assamese, Bengali and other variants, and was first used to write Prakrit and Sanskrit. It was in vogue from before the 10th century...
, Kadamba script
Kadamba script
The Kadamba script marks the birth of a dedicated Kannada script that was used for Kannada language. It is a descendant of the Brahmi script. The Kadamba script was developed during the reign of the Kadambas in the 4th - 6th centuries. The Kadamba script is also known as Pre-Old-Kannada script...
, Halekannada script and Goykanadi
Goykanadi
' is an extinct script used in the territory of Goa .This script was also called as and .This script was similar to the Halekannada and Kadamba script and was extensively used to write Konkani and sometimes Marathi. Similarly this was used by the trading Saraswat and Daivajna families along with...
scripts were very popular.
It is known from another inscription of Kadamba Tribhuvanamalla, saka 1028 i.e. AD 1106 that he established a Brahmapuri at Gopaka. Brahmapuris were ancient universities run by the Brahmins where Vedas, astrology,philosophy,medicine etc. were taught.(see:Gazetteer of the Union Territory Goa, Daman and Diu: district Volume 1).Such Brahampuris were found in many places in Goa, Savoi verem, Gauli moula,and other places.
Kadambas having ruled Goa for more than 350 glorious years, lost in power to Devagiri Yadavas, further with the Muslim invasions the once magnificent dynasty was lost forever. Ruins of the palaces, mansions,temples and markets can be still seen in Chandor village.