Veera Ballala II

His successes against the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Southern Kalachuris, the Pandyas of Madurai and the waning Western Chalukya Empire, and his domination over the diminishing Cholas of Tanjore took the Hoysalas to the peak of their power.

[7] Ballala II's ascendancy to the Hoysala throne in c. 1173 was preceded by his successful rebellion against his weak father Narasimha I with the help of some malnad chiefs, such as the Chengalvas and the Kongalvas.

Around c. 1168, the Kalachuri King Bijjala II had gained control of the Chalukyan capital Basavakalyan (then called Kalyani, in modern Bidar district of Karnataka state).

Taking advantage of this uncertainty, Ballala II led several expeditions to Banavasi against the exiled Chalukya King Someshvara VI and defeated him by c. 1190.

A record of his dated c. 1196 claims him victorious over several minor ruling families including those of Banavasi, Hangal, Halashi, Nolambavadi (Nolamba dynasty), Bagalkot, and Gulbarga (Yelburgi) indicating he had complete control over the rich Tungabhadra-Krishna River region.

[11][12][13][14][15] In words of historian John Keay, "Gloriously if briefly the Hoysalas were paramount throughout most of the Kannada speaking Deccan, and could pose a arbiters in the lusher lands below the Eastern Ghats".

He wrote Lilavati Prabandha (about c. 1170), the earliest available romantic true fiction in Kannada, and an unfinished Jain epic called Neminathapurana at the instance of Ballala II's minister.

[20][21] Ballala II's rule saw the proliferation of the temple construction adhering to the Vesara architecture, a style first made popular by the Western Chalukyas.

[25] Nanjedevaragudda stone inscription of 1192 CE describes the donations by Hoysala rulers and subjects for Jain monks at Abhinava Shantideva temple at Somepur, Hassan district.