The reconstruction of History, particularly that of the Ancient World where sources are few and far, is often likened to detective work.
Researchers at the Pune-based Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), which houses South Asia’s largest collection of manuscripts and rare texts, recently embarked on a grand adventure in detection after which they claim to have shed new light on Shilabhattarika— the celebrated Sanskrit poetess of Ancient India by establishing her as a daughter of the famed Chalukyan Emperor, Pulakeshin II of Badami (in modern Karnataka).
Following the decoding of inscriptions on copper plates earlier this month, noted Sanskrit scholar Dr. Shreenand Bapat, registrar and curator at BORI, said it was now reasonably certain that Shilabhattarika was a Chalukyan princess, possibly the daughter of Pulakeshin II, who ruled from 610-642 CE and had famously defeated Harshavardhan of Kanauj in a battle near the banks of the Narmada River in 618 CE.
