From the sixth to the ninth century CE, south India saw conflict between the Chalukyas of Badami (Vatapi), also called the Western Chalukyas, and the Pallavas of Kanchi, along with great advances in literature, art and architecture. The Bhakti movement, which impacted the entire sub-continent, originated in the Tamil country in this period.
1. Sources
- Inscriptions on copperplates, temple walls and pillars: Chalukya inscriptions in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit; Pallava inscriptions in Tamil and Sanskrit.
- Aihole inscription of Pulikesin II – composed in Sanskrit by his court poet Ravikirti (also spelt Ravikriti).
- Kannada: Kavirajamarga (poetics) and Pampa's Vikramarjuna-vijayam (Pampa-bharata); Telugu: Nannaya's Mahabharatam.
- Mathavilasa Prahasanam by Mahendravarman I in Sanskrit – an important source for the Pallava period.
- Kuram copper plates (Parameshwaravarman) and Velurpalayam copper plates (Nandivarman III) record military achievements.
- Buddhist Deepavamsa and Mahavamsa (in Pali); Chinese travellers Hiuen Tsang and Itsing; Arab writers Sulaiman, Al-Masudi and Ibn Hauka.
- Tamil literature: Azhwar poems compiled as the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam; Saiva literature canonized as the Panniru Tirumurai; Periyapuranam by Sekizhar.