Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/405

 PULIKESIN II, THE ENEMY OF HAESHA 353 proves, or goes a long way toward proving, that the Ajanta school of pictorial art was derived directly from Persia, and ultimately from Greece. The wonderful caves in the Ajanta valley were duly admired by Hiuen Tsang, who visited the court of Puli- kesin H, probably in the year 640 A. D. The pilgrim was profoundly impressed by the military power of Pulikesin, who was obeyed by his numerous subjects with " perfect submission." But his prosperity was not destined to last much longer. In 642 A. D., the long-continued war, which, since the year 609 A. D., had been generally disastrous to the Pallavas of Kanchi, took a new turn, and brought ruin and death upon Pulikesin. The Pallava king took and plundered his capital, and presumably put him to death. For thirteen years the Chalukya power, which Pulikesin had laboured so hard to exalt, was in abey- ance, while the*Pallavas dominated Southern India. In 655 A. D. Vikramaditya I, a son of Pulikesin, restored the fallen fortunes of his family by inflicting a severe defeat upon the Pallavas, whose strongly forti- fied capital, Kanchi, was captured. Victory inclined now to one side, and now to the other. During this reign a branch of the Chalukya dynasty succeeded in establishing itself in Gujarat, where in the next century it offered vigorous opposition to the Arabs. The main feature of the succeeding reigns was the never ending conflict with the Pallavas, whose capital was again taken by Vikramaditya II about 740 A. D. In the middle of the eighth century, Dantidurga,