Probably the king assumed the title Tribhuvanamalla which he might have taken because he thought that he had himself reached a political stature which earned the title for him. Vinayaditya II was the first ruler to be known and remembered as a great Hoysala king. In fact some historians would consider him the founder of the dynasty, second only to the mythical Sala.

This king was an adventurous type of person and he lost no opportunity to assert himself in the politics of South Karnataka. He ruled for more than 30 years and then it was a very long reign period. His net achievement was the acquisition of a considerable chunk of Ganga territory.

The later inscriptions dealing with his achievements give him credit for more than he achieved. For example, one of the inscriptions mentions his ruling over the entire territory between the Konkan on the western sea coast to Talakad.

It is difficult to say whether he succeeded in really curbing the power of the Kadambas or the Gangas. His influence over the Santara country was considerable though it cannot be said he conquered that territory. One Ammana-deva Santara married a Hoysaladevi supposed to be a daughter of Vinayaditya. The fact that he held the title Vikrama Ganga show that he had largely succeeded against the Gangas too.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

These activities did not escape the attention of the Chalukyan emperor but there was no attempt on the part of Kalyani to punish Vinayaditya II. In spite of this obviously unlicensed exhibition of local prowess Vinayaditya II was clever enough to accept Chalukyan overlordship and achieve also his local objectives without appearing to be insubordinate to the emperor.

During the reign of Vikramaditya VI he accepted fully the Chalukyan overlordship. In fact he had earlier supported Somesvara II. In some of the campaigns of Vinayaditya II his able son Ereyanga helped him greatly.