Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 3.djvu/356

KOMATI Bishop Whitehead.* "The story," he writes, " goes that, in ancient days, there was a bitter hatred between the Kōmatis, who claim to belong to the Vaisya caste, and the Mlechas or barbarians. When the Kōmatis were getting worsted in the struggle for supremacy, they requested Parvati, the wife of Siva, to come and deliver them. It so happened that about that time Parvati was incarnate as a girl of the Kōmati caste, who was exceedingly beautiful. The Mlechas demanded that she should be given in marriage to one of their own people, and the refusal of the Kōmatis led to severe fighting, in which the Kōmatis, owing to the presence of the avatar of Siva among them, were completely victorious, and almost exterminated their enemies. After their victory, the Kōmatis entertained doubts as to the chastity of the girl, and compelled her to purify herself by passing through fire. This she did, and disappeared in the fire, resuming her real shape as Parvati, and taking her place beside Siva in heaven. Her last words were a command to the Kōmatis to worship her, if they wished their caste to prosper."

It is impossible to identify with certainty the Vishnu Vardhana of the Purāna. There are as many as eleven individuals of that name known in Eastern Chalukyan history. The Purāna refers to Vishnu Vardhana, the son of Vijayarka, who had his capital at Rājamundry. His son, according to the same authority, was Rāja Rāja Narēndra. According to the Mackenzie manuscripts, the town of Rājamundry was founded by a king named Vijayāditya Mahēndra, who has not been identified. Dr. Fleet is of opinion that Vishnu Vardhana VI, who ruled between 918 and 925 A.D., was the first to