The Senvaras: A Jaina Family

Summary

The article chronicles the history of the Senavara or Senvaras, an indigenous Kannada‑speaking family who followed Jainism and emerged as one of the minor royal dynasties of south‑western India. Drawing on inscriptions, the author notes that the family is referred to by several variants – Senavara, Senavalla, Senavara, Sendvara and Senamalla – and first appear as the fief holders of the Alupa king Citravahana around 690 CE. By the early eighth century they had risen to the status of Māhamaṇḍaleśvaras, comparable to provincial governors. In an inscription from Hāromucādi in Shimoga district, Bhūvarakke Arkēsari is found ruling Mugundanāḍu as a feudatory of the Calukya monarch Vinayāditya, while another record shows his son Dosiyara (Dosiyara Arasa) succeeding him as chief during the reign of Kokkuli (Kirtivarman II). The dynasty remained important in the western Deccan and continued to serve later Calukyan rulers. A copperplate and other inscriptions describe Dosiyara’s descendants Marakke Arasa and later Senavara chiefs such as Jīvitāvara and Marasimha. The Senvaras repeatedly shifted their allegiance to survive political turbulence. Marakke Arasa, for instance, switched from the defeated Calukyas to the victorious Rāṣṭrakūṭas and was rewarded by Kṛṣṇa I with the governorship of Banavasi province. Later inscriptions from Haveri, Udupi and Chikkamagalur districts show that the family continued to hold office, sometimes as feudatories of the Calukyas of Kalyana and at other times as ministers under Vikramāditya VI in the eleventh century. The article also draws attention to the clan’s iconography and religious affiliations. They carried the phanidhvaja, a serpent banner associated with the Naga deities, and used the lion emblem mṛgendra lāñcana, symbolizing Mahāvīra. They styled themselves Kiḍalīrū‑pura‑varādhiśvaras and Khacara Trinetra, “lords of Kiḍalīrū” and “three‑eyed Khacara.” They were devotees of the goddess Padmāvatī, consort of the 23rd Tīrthaṅkara Pārśvanātha, and described themselves poetically as “bees at the lotus‑feet of Padmāvatī.” The article suggests that the Senavara dynasty eventually declined with the fall of the Calukyas and may have been ancestral to the Sena dynasty of Bengal. Through careful collation of fragmentary epigraphic evidence, the essay reconstructs the political career of a little‑known Jain royal house, illustrating how local rulers adapted to shifting imperial fortunes while retaining their regional identity and religious devotion. By weaving together data from multiple inscriptions and scholarly references, the narrative offers a rare window onto the dynamics of feudal politics in Karnataka and the role of Jain‑aligned families in sustaining regional culture.