Tailapa claimed descent from the earlier imperial Chalukyas of Vatapi (Badami), and initially ruled as a Rashtrakuta vassal from the Tardavadi-1000 province in the present-day Vijayapura district of Karnataka.

The records of Tailapa's dynasty trace his patrilineal ancestry to the Chalukyas of Vatapi, and also connect him to the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta and the Kalachuris of Chedi through matrilineal descent.

[1] The Chalukya court poet Ranna provides the following genealogy connecting Tailapa to the earlier Chalukya dynasty:[2] The 11th century inscriptions of Tailapa's descendants (such as the Kauthem grant) provide a similar genealogy, but they state that Vikramaditya III was the son of Taila I and that Bhima II was the son of Vikramaditya.

The differences between the genealogies provided by Ranna and the later inscriptions also cast doubt on the claim that Tailapa's family was connected to the earlier Chalukya royals.

The 965 inscription calls him Maha-samantadhipati Ahavamalla Tailaparasa of Satyashraya family (Satyashraya-kula-tilaka), and states that Krishna had granted him the fief of Tardavadi-1000.

In 972, the Paramara ruler Siyaka, who had earlier served as a feudatory to the Rashtrakutas in Malwa, invaded and sacked their capital Manyakheta.

[8] The records of Tailapa's dynasty suggest that Karka was a weak ruler, and that the vicious nature of two of his principal ministers had led to dissatisfaction among his subjects.

Tailapa defeated them decisively: both men ultimately retired as Jain monks, and died by sallekhana (death by starvation) - Marasimha in 975, and Indra in 982.

[8][12] Gradually, many former Rashtrakuta feudatories accepted his suzerainty: Gadayuddha, composed by the Chalukya court poet Ranna, states that by Tailapa's order, prince Satyashraya chased the Konkaneshvara (the Shilahara ruler of Konkan) to the sea.

[13] Tailapa's conflict with the Paramara ruler Munja (Siyaka's successor) finds a mention in several inscriptions and literary works.

[13] Ultimately, Munja decided to launch a decisive war against Tailapa, and against the advice of his prime minister Rudraditya, crossed the Godavari River to invade the Chalukya kingdom.

[14] While Merutunga's account may not be entirely accurate from a historical perspective, there is little doubt that Munja was killed in Deccan in the mid-990s, as a result of his campaign against Tailapa.

[13] At that time, the Chola king was Uttama, and it is possible that his attempts to recover the territories captured by Krishna brought him into conflict with Tailapa.

[16] Tailapa's 992 Kogali inscription states that he stayed at a military camp at Rodda (in present-day Anantapur district) after defeating the Chola king and seizing 150 war elephants from the enemy.

[13] The Chalukya court poet Ranna composed his Gadayuddha during the reign of Ahavamalla, who is identified as Tailapa II by some scholars.

[20] The Kalleshvara temple complex at Bagali, originally consecrated during the late Rashtrakuta rule, was completed during Tailapa's reign.