Researchers at the Pune-based Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) have shed new light on Shilabhattarika— the celebrated Sanskrit poetess of Ancient India by establishing her as a daughter of the Chalukyan Emperor, Pulakeshin II of Badami (in modern Karnataka).
Key points
- Following the decoding of inscriptions on copper plates, a scholar said it was now reasonably certain that Shilabhattarika was a Chalukyan princess, possibly the daughter of Pulakeshin II.
- Pulakeshin II ruled from 610-642 CE and had famously defeated Harshavardhan of Kanauj in a battle near the banks of the Narmada River in 618 CE.
- 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.
- Noted Marathi poetess, Shanta Shelke, too, has 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’).
- 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.
- The five copper plates discovered said to be dating from the reign of the Badami Chalukyan ruler Vijayaditya (696-733 CE) for decipherment.
- A primary reading of the plates revealed that Vijayaditya had donated the village of Sikkatteru in the Kogali Vishaya to a Vedic scholar named Vishnusharma in the month of Magha, Shaka year 638, corresponding to January-February 717 CE.
