Aihole inscription

The Aihole inscription, also known as the Aihole prashasti, is a nineteen line Sanskrit inscription at Meguti Jain temple in Aihole, Karnataka, India. A eulogy dated 634–635 CE, it was composed by the Jain poet Ravikirti in honor of his patron emperor Pulakeshin II Satyashraya of the Vatapi Chalukya dynasty. The inscription is partly damaged and corrupted – its last two lines were added at a later date.

Since the 1870s, the inscription was recorded several times, revised, republished and retranslated by Fleet, Kielhorn and others. The inscription is a prashasti for the early Western Chalukyas. It is notable for its historical details mixed in with myth, and the scholarly disagreements it has triggered. It is also an important source of placing political events and literature – such as of Kalidasa – that must have been completed well before 634 CE, the date of this inscription.