Hoysala

The Hoysalas rose as hill chiefs in the Malnad hills of Karnataka, serving the Western Chalukyas as feudatories around the year 1000. Their name comes from the Kannada legend of Sala, who struck down a tiger to save his Jain guru, the cry hoy sala giving the dynasty its name and the fight its royal emblem.

Vishnuvardhana, reigning from about 1108 to 1152, broke Chalukya tutelage and defeated the Cholas at Talakad in 1116, taking the title Conqueror of Talakad and making Belur and then Dvarasamudra his capital.

Malik Kafur sacked Dvarasamudra in 1311 and Muhammad bin Tughluq's armies sacked it again in 1327. Veera Ballala III fought on from Tiruvannamalai until killed at Madurai in 1343; his lands passed to Harihara I and the Vijayanagara Empire. The Hoysalas left star-shaped soapstone temples at Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura.