Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/402

 352 THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN tween the Krishna and Godavari, and established his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana there as viceroy in 609 A. D. A few years later, about 620 A. D., while Pulikesin was fully occupied by the war with Harsha of Kanauj, this prince set up as an independent sov- ereign, and founded the line of the Eastern Chalukyas. All the southern kingdoms, the Chola, Pandya, and Kerala, as well as the Pallava, were forced into conflict with the ambitious King of Vatapi, who was undoubt- edly the most powerful monarch to the south of the Narmada in 630 A. D. Ten years before that date he had successfully repelled the attack on his dominions led in person* by Harsha, the lord paramount of the north, who aspired to the sovereignty of all India. The fame of the King of the Deccan spread beyond the limits of India, and reached the ears of Khusru II, King of Persia, who, in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, 625 - 6 A. D., received a complimentary embassy from Pulikesin. The courtesy was reciprocated by a return embassy sent from Persia, which was Deceived with due honour at the Indian court. A large fresco painting in Cave No. 1 at Ajanta, although unhappily mutilated, is still easily recognizable as a vivid repre- sentation of the ceremonial attending the presentation of their credentials by the Persian envoys. This picture, in addition to its interest as a contem- porary record of unusual political relations between India and Persia, is of the highest value as a landmark in the history of art. It not only fixes the date of some of the most important paintings at Ajanta, but also