Possible Reason For The Partition
Scholars are not in agreement as to why Vishnuvardhana declared himself king of the eastern Deccan territories of Pulakesi II. What was the necessity for the partition of Vengi as a separate kingdom from the Badami Chalukyan empire? Hitherto it has been tacitly assumed that this was a formal division and Pulakesi II conferred independent sovereignty of Vengi on his younger brother. It is improbable that a great warrior like Pulakesin II could not have administered Vengi as part of his kingdom and felt the need for a separate king. Kopparam plates make it clear that Kubja Vishnuvardhana was ruling only as a subordinate to his brother Pulakesin II in the Vengi area. A revolution of Kubja Vishnuvardhana can be ruled out of account since he seems to have been very loyal and affectionate towards his brother.
One possible reason could be the turn of events around middle of the 7th century in the Western Chalukyan kingdom. The last few ruling years of Pulakesin II ended in disaster. The great Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Chalukyas and burnt Badami. Pulakesin II lost his life in this encounter. There was a period of confusion following these events. The five sons of Pulakesi fought among themselves and tried to divide the kingdom into independent kingdoms. Pulakesin's third son Vikramaditya I became the Chalukya king c. 642 and eventually restored order after defeating his brothers.
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