The Aihole Inscription, also known as the Aihole prashasti, is a nineteen line Sanskrit inscription at Meguti Jain temple in Aihole, Karnataka, India. An eulogy dated 634–635 CE, it was composed by the Jain poet Ravikirti in honor of his patron king Pulakesin Satyasraya (Pulakeshin II) of the Badami Chalukya dynasty. The inscription is partly damaged and corrupted – its last two lines were added at a later date. Since the 1870s, the inscription was recorded several times, revised, republished and retranslated by Fleet, Kielhorn and others. The inscription is a prashasti for the early Western Chalukyas. It is notable for its historical details mixed in with myth, and the scholarly disagreements it has triggered. It is also an important source of placing political events and literature – such as of Kalidasa – that must have been completed well before 634 CE, the date of this inscription. Location and history The Aihole inscription of Ravikirti, sometimes referred to as the Aihole Inscription of Pulakesin II, is found at the hilltop Meguti Jain temple, about southeast of Aihole town's Durga temple and archaeological museum. The Aihole inscription is found on the eastern side-wall of the Meguti Jain temple. Aihoḷe – also known as Ayyavole or Aryapura in historic texts – was the original capital of Western Chalukyas dynasty founded in 540 CE, before they moved their capital in the 7th-century to Badami. Under the Hindu dynasty of the Badami Chalukyas, the Malprabha valley sites – such as Aihole, Badami, Pattadakal and Mahakuta – emerged as major regional center of arts in early India and a cradle of Hindu and Jain temple architecture schools. They patronized both Dravida and Nagara styles of temples. Meguti Jain temple is one among the hundreds of temples built in that era, but one built many decades after the famed Badami cave temples and many others. Fleet was the first to edit and publish a photo-lithograph of the Aihole inscription in 1876. However, errors led to another visit to Aihole and then Fleet published an improved photo-lithograph, a revised version of the text with his translation in 1879. The significance of the inscription and continued issues with reconciling its content with other inscriptions, attracted the interest of other scholars. In 1901, the Sanskrit scholar Kielhorn re-edited the inscription at the suggestion of Fleet. He published yet another improved version of the photo-lithograph. Description The inscription has 19