The Bellál Dynasty. "Boasting of his elephants, his horses, and his men, Balam Nrapa exclaimed, 'Who dare oppose me?" "Belál, mounting his single elephant, urged it onwards, and trampling down his army, pursued him and slew "him, chasing him from Surtur to Lokigonda," &c. After this, or probably about this period, the royal residence was removed from Dwára Samoodra to Lokigonda, now Lukhoondee, near Dumbal, or it may have been the northern capital only; and at Hookoor on the Tumboodra, Mr. Walter Elliot found traces of an immense encampment, with erect stones to which elephants or horses were fastened. This prince reigned from S. 1114, A.D. 1192, to S. 1133, A.D 1211, and the locality of his grants, for which inscriptions exist, is confined to the area between the Malpurba and the Tumboodra, a very limited space certainly: but it may be assumed that in those distracted times of almost constant war, the Bellál prince, finding no molestation from the southern kingdom of Chola, preferred to watch the movements of the Devagiri Yádavas from the northern portion of his own frontier. Of his son Narasinha II. only one inscription is mentioned by Mr. Walter Elliot, which is at Hungul, and relates to transactions to the southwards. Nor are there any records of succession after Narasinha. The resistance and defence made by Veer Bellál against the Devagiri Yádavas was not continued by Narasinha, for Sinha Déva, of Dévagiri, grandson of Ballam, obtained a great victory over the Belláls, "rooting up the power "of the 'Hoisála,' 'Bellála,' &c, and again, as has been quoted (ante), his general Hôn Bômma, governor of Nul- "goond, presented his prince with fourteen elephants, the best of the spoil which he had taken with great bravery "from Narasimha Nrassa." In these transactions the dates of the Bellála and Yádava record-inscriptions confirm each other in a remarkable manner. Dwára Samoodra, the capital of the Bellálas, possession of the family in S. 1294, A.D. 1310, when Mullik Kafoor and Khwaja Hajy marched southwards, "where they heard there "were temples very rich in gold and jewels." "Among others," writes Ferishta, "they engaged Bilál (Bellál) Déo, "Rajah of the Carnatic, and, defeating him, took him prisoner and ravaged his territory. They found in the "temples prodigious spoils, such as idols of gold adorned with precious stones, and other rich effects, consecrated to "Hindoo worship." The city of Dwára Samoodra was built in A.D. 1133, according to a poem quoted by Colonel Wilks, and as it was destroyed in 1310, it had existed 177 years, which probably marks the reign of the most powerful period of the dynasty. How the family in their reduced circumstances existed in after times there is no record: but it may be inferred that for a while it remained a feudatory of the Beejanuggur kingdom; for Colonel Wilks records that a branch of it was allowed to exercise a nominal authority at "Tonoor" until A.D. 1387. Tonoor, ten miles from Seringapatam, was then one of the provinces of the ancient Bellál kingdom, all others northward having been gradually absorbed by the kings of Beejanuggur; and in this obscurity the Bellál dynasty, eventually absorbed by that of Beejanuggur, became extinct. At the best period of its existence the princes of the Bellála dynasty were Jains, which may account for the number of beautiful temples which remain monuments of their sway. That at their capital of Dwára Samoodra in particular, which is Hindoo, and marks the period of the dynastic change of faith, will be illustrated in the present volume.
OF THE GREAT FAMILIES OF THE KUNTALA DES.
THE acknowledged Hindoo dynasties anterior to the Mahomedan invasion of the country, of which the pictorial illustrations of this volume exist, have been traced in order; and it remains only to mention those great hereditary feudatories, or semi-independent chieftains, who existed contemporaneously, and to whom, especially those who professed the Jain faith, most of the ancient temples, wells, tanks, and other great public works, are to be attributed; they are not, however, numerous. Inscriptions relating to four only are quoted in the Elliot collection; but these are, no doubt, of the most powerful families, who were attached to, or dependent upon, the great Chalúkya dynasty. The first in rank of these were the Kálabhúryas, who have been before noticed; but besides the branch which finally subverted the Chalúkyas, there was another whose estate or principality seems to have been on the Malpurbah river, near Rône. The inscriptions, however, are merely grants, and, with the family, have no particular historical interest.
The Silharas were Mahá Mundléshwurs, or nobles, of the highest rank in the Chalúkya kingdom, whose possessions lay at and about Kolapoor. The inscriptions in which their genealogies are enumerated are dated S. 1057, A.D. 1135, and S. 1065, A.D. 1143, and give a list of twelve heads of the family, up to the founder, Ama-
