that their king Vijayapala broke the pride of Gangeyadeva in a battle. Gangeyadeva seems to have extended his control over the sacred cities of Prayaga and Varanasi, in the Ganga-Yamuna valley. According to the Kalachuri records, he died in Prayaga. The writings of the Muslim chronicler Baihqui indicate that Varanasi was under Gangeyadeva's control in 1033-1034 CE. Varanasi had earlier been under the Pala rule, at least until 1016 CE (the Sarnath stone inscription from Mahipala is dated to this year). According to the Muslim chronicle, when Ahmad Niyaltigin (the Ghaznavid governor of Punjab) invaded Varanasi in 1033 CE, the city was under the rule of Ganga (that is, Gangeya-deva). The Ghaznavids plundered the city until noon, when they retreated, probably on the approach of the Kalachuri army. Kalachuri inscriptions also credit Gangeyadeva with successful campaigns in Anga and Kira. Anga was ruled by the Palas. Kira (or Kara) is identified with the Kangra Valley. The Kangra Valley was held by the Ghaznavids, and Kalachuri claim of success in Kira appears to be a reference to Gangeyadeva's repulsion of the Ghaznavid attack. The colophon of a Ramayana manuscript states that it was copied in Tirhut (in present-day Bihar), during the reign of Gangeyadeva. The manuscript describes the king as garuda-dhvaja, an epithet that seems to suggest that the king was a devotee of the god Vishnu, whose vahana is the mythical bird Garuda. English scholar Cecil Bendall wrongly read the term as gauda-dhvaja, based on which some scholars such as R. C. Majumdar wrongly theorized that the epithet indicated the Kalachuri king's conquest of the Gauda region in present-day Bengal. Historian V. V. Mirashi theorizes that the Gangeyadeva mentioned in the colophon was not a Kalachuri king at all: he belonged to a Rashtrakuta branch. Last days Gangeyadeva installed a shivalinga at Piawan, which suggests that he was a Shaivite. Kalachuri records state that Gangeyadeva attained salvation under the Akshayavata (sacred banyan tree) at Prayaga. His hundred wives are said to have committed suicide by immolation on his funeral pyre. He was succeeded by his son Lakshmikarna (alias Karna). Karna's 1042 CE Varanasi inscription, issued on the occasion of his father's first annual shraddha (death anniversary ritual) suggests that Gangeyadeva died on 22 January 1041 CE. Coinage Gangeyadeva issued coins featuring his name on one side, and a figure of goddess Lakshmi on the other side. This design was imitated