“There is not, was not, nor will ever be a city on this Earth like Kalyana,” proclaimed Vijnaneshvara, a renowned Deccan scholar, in the late 11th century. He was referring to the vast metropolis where he dwelt: a place of grand political tumult; of marvellous cultural production in Sanskrit and old Kannada; of trade with the farthest corners of the world. It was studded with markets and temples and palaces built by generations of kings — members of a dynasty known as the Chalukyas.
For nearly 500 years, Kalyana, located today in Karnataka’s Bidar district, cast a shadow over the Deccan, a landmass nearly the size of Germany and many times more populous. Today, most Indians would be hard-pressed to point to this once great metropolis on a map.
