[1] His titles indicative of his military power include Rana-rasika ("lover of war"), Anivarita ("unopposed"), and Raja-malla ("royal wrestler").
Vikramaditya was one of the several sons of the powerful Chalukya Emperor Pulakeshin II, as attested by the contemporary records of the family.
[3] During her regency, Vikramaditya appears to have risen to prominence as the supreme commander of the Chalukya army, becoming the de facto ruler in the process.
[4] The inscriptions of Vikramaditya state that he obtained the "regal fortune of his father which had been concealed by three kings", and thus "made the entire burden of royalty rest upon one person".
According to this theory, the Chalukya kingdom was divided among the three brothers and the Pallavas after Pulakeshin's death, and Vikramaditya united it by subjugating the others.
In his support, Sastri cited the undated Kurnool copper-plate inscription which states that Vikramaditya ascended the throne after "conquering all his kinsmen".
[7] Based on these evidences, scholars such as D. C. Sircar theorize that Vikramaditya fought against the Pallavas as a subordinate of his brothers, and ascended the throne only after their deaths.
[3] Vikramaditya, with the help of his maternal grandfather Bhuvikarma or Durvineet of Western Ganga Dynasty set himself the task of repelling the Pallava invasion and restoring the unity of his father's empire.
The Pallava Paramesvaravarman gathered a large army and went into battle with the Chalukya ally Ganga Bhuvikrama at a place called Vilande.