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Pulakeshin II

Indian king from Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ708370
Source-derived summary

Pulakeshin II (IAST: Pulakeśin; r. 609–642), popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the Chālukyan emperor from c. 609 to 642. During his reign, the Chalukya empire of Vatapi expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in peninsular India.

A son of the Chalukya monarch Kirttivarman I, Pulakeshin overthrew his uncle Mangalesha to gain control of the throne. He suppressed a rebellion by Appayika and Govinda, and decisively defeated the Kadambas of Banavasi in the south. The Alupas and the Gangas of Talakadu recognized his suzerainty. He consolidated the Chalukya control over the western coast by subjugating the Mauryas of Konkana. His Aihole inscription also credits him with subjugating the Latas, the Malavas, and the Gurjaras in the north.

The most notable military achievement of Pulakeshin was his victory over the powerful northern emperor Harshavardhana, whose failure to conquer the Chalukyan territories to the south is attested by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. In the east, Pulakeshin subjugated the rulers of Dakshina Kosala and Kalinga.

Editorial summary

“Pulakeshin II” enters the record as indian king from Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pulakeshin, Indian and king can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current 164-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0610. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Pulakeshin, Indian and king.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Pulakeshin II” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Pulakeshin, Indian and king provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q708370. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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  2. Expand the search: follow Pulakeshin II primary sources, Pulakeshin II archive and Pulakeshin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Pulakeshin II” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.