India has fallen into anarchy following the collapse of the Gupta empire and decline of the Kadamba Dynasty.

The small states of the Deccan Plateau begin warring with one another for regional control, where one Jayasimha ("victory-lion") had established rule over a small kingdom, founding the Chalukya dynasty, with its capital in Badami.

The Chalukya dynasty begins pressuring to control territories on India’s northwest coast.

Jayasimha Vallabha (500 – 520) and his son, Ranaranga (520 – 540) must have been petty chiefs under the Kadambas, but we know little about their activities and achievements.

In 543, Ranaranga's son Pulakesi, an outsider and former petty chieftain who claims royal (Rajput) descent, earns the distinction of being the first independent king and the real founder of the dynasty.

Successfully defying the waning power of the Kadambas, he proclaims Chalukyan independence in 543.

He captures the hill fort of Vatapi (Badami), chooses it as his capital, and constructs a strong hill fortress on a defensible location surrounded by rivers and steep mountains.

He seizes territories between the western Deccan and the Western Ghats from their Vakataka rulers, giving him access to the valuable Arabian Sea trade routes.

South India’s Western Ganga Dynasty, with their capital in Talakad, had in 470 gained control over the Kongu region in modern Tamil Nadu, and the Sendraka (modern Chikkamagaluru and Belur), Punnata and Pannada regions (comprising modern Heggadadevanakote and Nanjangud) in modern Karnataka.

King Durvinita had ascended the throne in 529 after waging a war with his younger brother, who his father, King Avinita, had favored.

Some accounts suggest that in this power struggle, the Pallavas of Kanchi had supported Avinita's choice of heir and the Badami Chalukya King Vijayaditya supported his father-in-law, Durvinita.

It is known from the inscriptions that these battles had been fought in Tondaimandalam and Kongu regions (northern Tamil Nadu) prompting historians to suggest that Durvinita fought the Pallavas successfully.

Considered the most successful of the Ganga kings, Durvinita is well versed in arts such as music, dance, ayurveda, and the taming of wild elephants.

Some inscriptions sing paeans to him by comparing him to Yudhishtira and Manu—figures from Hindu mythology known for their wisdom and fairness.

During Durvinita's rule, the hostilities between the Pallavas and Gangas had come to the fore and the two kingdoms have fought several pitched battles, but Durvinita had defeated the Pallavas in the battle of Anderi.

Though the Pallavas had sought the assistance of the Kadambas to the north to tame Durvinita, the Gummareddipura inscription states that Durvinita had overcome his enemies at Alattur, Porulare and Pernagra.

It is possible that these victories enabled him to extend his power over the Kongudesa and Tondaimandalam regions of Tamil country.

He may have also made Kittur his capital.

Although the early Gangas are worshipers of Vishnu, Durvinita has a Jaina guru called Pujyapada and his court is attended by several Jaina scholars.

Pulakesi dies in 566; his Chalukya dynasty continues under his sons.

Kirttivarman, who ascends the Chalyuka throne in 567, extends his small Deccan kingdom on all sides through military conquest.

The Chalukyas (Calukyas) are the most significant of the myriad ruling families of the Deccan (i.e., peninsular India) between the fourth and seventh centuries—including the Nalas, the Kalacuris, the Gangas, and the Kadambas.

The Western Chalukyas’ rule as emperors in the Deccan began in 543 with Pulakesin I, a petty chieftain of Pattadakal in the Bijapur district, who had taken and fortified the hill fort of Vatapi (modern Badami) and seizes control of the territory between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers and the Western Ghats.

After military successes farther north, his son Kirtivarman I (reigned 566–597) secures the valuable Konkan coast, the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore.

The initial phase of the South Indian style of Karnataka temple architecture, as in Tamil Nadu, opens with the rock-cut Brahmanical and Jaina cave temples, featuring elaborate interior decorations.

Of the elaborate and richly sculptured group at Badami (known as Vatapi in ancient times and the first capital of the Chalukya kings), one cave temple is dated 578.

The Sangam literature mentions the early Pandya dynasty, which is believed to have gone into obscurity during the Kalabhra interregnum.

The dynasty is revived by Kadungon, who becomes king of the Pandyan Kingdom in about 590.

He is considered as the first important Pandya ruler.

Most of the scant knowledge of Kadungon comes from the Velvikudi (or Velvikkud) inscription of the Pandya king Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (also Nedunjadaiyan or Nedunchezhiyan).

According to this inscription, Kadungon defeated several petty chieftains and destroyed "the bright cities of unbending foes".

It describes him as the one who liberated the Pandya country from the Kalabhras and emerged as a "resplendent sun from the dark clouds of the Kalabhras".

His defeat of Kalabhras (who are probably Jains or Buddhists) is hailed as the triumph of Brahminism.

Kadungon's title is "Pandyadhiraja", and his capital is Madurai.

He is succeeded by his son Maravarman Avanisulamani.

Mangalesha agrees in 597 to serve as Chalukyan regent upon the death of his brother Kirtivarman until Kirtivarman’s son Pulakesi II attains a majority, but Mangalesha soon usurps the throne.

The Chalukyas begin pressuring to control territories on India’s northwest coast, invading the territories of Khandesh and Gujarat.

Mahendravarman, king of Kanchi, ascends the Pallava dynasty’s throne in Kanchipuram in 600, inheriting an extensive southeast Indian kingdom bounded by the Krishna River on the north and the Kaveri River on the south.

Pulakesi also launches a naval assault against Puri, the capital of the Mauryas of Konkana, captures the city, and incorporates Konkana into his rapidly expanding empire.

The rightful Chalukya ruler ascends the throne as Pulakesi II in 610 following a long and bloody fratricidal war against his usurping uncle, Mangalesha.

Assuming control of Chalukya domains much enlarged during the reign of his treacherous uncle, Pulakesi focuses on consolidating his kingdom.

Intent on controlling India’s northwest coast, he gains parts of Gujarat and Malawa with the voluntary submission to his overlordship of the Latas, the Malvas, and the Gujaras.

Pulakesin exterminates the Kadambas in western Deccan, retaining the Alupas and Gangas as vassals.