Chapter XI · THE RÁSHṬRAKÚṬAS (a.d. 743–974.)

Chapter XI. The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974. The Ráshṭrakúṭa connection with Gujarát lasted from Śaka 665 to 894 (a.d. 743–974) that is for 231 years. The connection includes three periods: A first of sixty-five years from Śaka 665 to 730 (a.d. 743–808) when the Gujarát ruler was dependent on the main Dakhan Ráshṭrakúṭa: a second of eighty years between Śaka 730 and 810 (a.d. 808–888) when the Gujarát family was on the whole independent: and a third of eighty-six years Śaka 810 to 896 (a.d. 888–974) when the Dakhan Ráshṭrakúṭas again exercised direct sway over Gujarát.

Their Origin.Information regarding the origin of the Ráshṭrakúṭas is imperfect. That the Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭas came from the Dakhan in Śaka 665 (a.d. 743) is known. It is not known who the Dakhan Ráshṭrakúṭas originally were or where or when they rose to prominence. Ráthoḍ the dynastic name of certain Kanauj and Márwár Rájputs represents a later form of the word Ráshṭrakúṭa. Again certain of the later inscriptions call the Ráshṭrakúṭas Raṭṭas a word which, so far as form goes, is hardly a correct Prakrit contraction of Ráshṭrakúṭa. The Sanskritisation of tribal names is not exact. If the name Raṭṭa was strange it might be pronounced Ratta, Ratha, or Raddi. This last form almost coincides with the modern Kánarese caste name Reddi, which, so far as information goes, would place the Ráshṭrakúṭas among the tribes of pre-Sanskrit southern origin.

Early Dynasty, a.d. 450–500.Of the rise of the Ráshṭrakúṭas no trace remains. The earliest known Ráshṭrakúṭa copperplate is of a king Abhimanyu. This plate is not dated. Still its letters, its style of writing, and its lion seal, older than the Garuḍa mark which the Ráshṭrakúṭas assumed along with the claim of Yádava descent, leave no doubt that this is the earliest of known Ráshṭrakúṭa plates. Its probable date is about a.d. 450. The plate traces the descent of Abhimanyu through two generations from Mánáṅka. The details are:

Mánáṅka.

Devarája.

Bhavishya.

Abhimanyu.

The grant is dated from Mánapura, perhaps Mánáṅka’s city, probably an older form of Mányakheṭa the modern Málkhed the capital of the later Ráshṭrakúṭas about sixty miles south-east of Sholápur. These details give fair ground for holding the Mánáṅkas to be a family of Ráshṭrakúṭa rulers earlier than that which appears in the usual genealogy of the later Ráshṭrakúṭa dynasty (a.d. 500–972).

The Main Dynasty, a.d. 630–972.The earliest information regarding the later Ráshṭrakúṭas is from a comparatively modern, and therefore not quite trustworthy, Chálukya copperplate of the eleventh century found by Mr. Wathen. This plate states that Jayasiṃha I. the earliest Chálukya defeated the Ráshṭrakúṭa Indra son of Kṛishṇa the lord of 800 elephants. The date of this battle would be about a.d. 500. If historic the reference implies that the Ráshṭrakúṭas were then a well established dynasty. In most of their own plates the genealogy of the Ráshṭrakúṭas begins with Govinda about a.d. 680. But that Govinda was not the founder of the family is shown by Dantidurga’s Elura Daśávatára inscription (about a.d. 750) which gives two earlier names Dantivarmman and Indra. The founding of Ráshṭrakúṭa power is therefore of doubtful date. Of the date of its overthrow there is no question. The overthrow came from the hand of the Western Chálukya Tailappa in Śaka 894 (a.d. 972) during the reign of the last Ráshṭrakúṭa Kakka III. or Kakkala.

Ráshṭrakúṭa Family Tree, a.d. 630–972.The following is the Ráshṭrakúṭa family tree:

1 Dantivarmman

(about a.d. 630).

2 Indra I.

(about a.d. 655).

3 Govinda I.

(about a.d. 680).

4 Kakka I. or Karka I.

(about a.d. 705).

5 Indra II. (about a.d. 730). Dhruva. 7 Kṛishṇa (about a.d. 765).

Govinda.

6 Dantidurga, Dantivarmman (Śaka 675, a.d. 753).

Kakka II. Śaka 669 (a.d. 747).

8 Govinda II. (about a.d. 780). 9 Dhruva, Dhárávarsha, Nirupama, Dhora, (about a.d. 795).

10 Govinda III. Prabhútavarsha Vallabhanarendra, Jagattuṅga Pṛithivívallabha, (Śaka 725, 728, 729, a.d. 803, 806, 807). I. Indra (founder of Gujarát Branch).

II. Karka (Śaka 734, 738, 743, a.d. 812, 816, 821). III. Govinda Prabhútavarsha, (Śaka 749, a.d. 827).

11 Amoghavarsha Śarvva, Durlabha Śrívallabha; Lakshmívallabha, Vallabha Skaṇḍa, (Śaka 773, 799, a.d. 851, 877).

Dantivarmman (?) IV. Dhruva I. Dhárávarsha, Nirupama, (Śaka 757, a.d. 835).

12 Akálavarsha Kṛishṇa II. Kannara (about a.d. 880–911).

VII. Akálavarsha-Kṛishṇa (Śaka 810, a.d. 888).

V. Akálavarsha Śubhatunga, (a.d. 867).

Jagattunga (did not reign.) VI. Dhruva II. (Śaka 789, 793, a.d. 867, 871).

13 Indra III. Pṛithivívallabha Raṭṭakandarpa, Kirttináráyana Nityaṃvarsha (Śaka 836, a.d. 914). 16 Baddiga

17 Kṛishṇa (Ś. 867, 878 a.d. 945, 956). 19 Kottiga. Nirupama.

14 Amoghavarsha 15 Govindarája Sáhasánka Suvarnavarsha. Kakkala or Karkarája (Śaka 894, a.d. 972).

Copperplates.The earliest Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭa grant, Kakka’s of Śaka 669 (a.d. 747), comes from Ántroli-Chároli in Surat. It is written on two plates in the Valabhi style of composition and form of letters, and, as in Valabhi grants, the date is at the end. Unlike Valabhi grants the era is the Śaka era. The grant gives the following genealogy somewhat different from that of other known Ráshṭrakúṭa grants:

Kakka.

Dhruva.

Govinda.

Kakka II. (Śaka 669, a.d. 747).

Dhruva I. a.d. 795.Dhruva was a mighty monarch whose conquests spread from South India as far north as Allahábád. During Dhruva’s lifetime his son Govinda probably ruled at Mayúrakhandi or Morkhanda in the Násik district and held the Ghát country and the Gujarát coast from Balsár northwards. Though according to a Kapadvanj grant Govinda had several brothers the Rádhanpur (a.d. 808) and Van-Dindori (a.d. 808) grants of his son Govinda III. state that his father, seeing Govinda’s supernatural Kṛishṇa-like powers, offered him the sovereignty of the whole world. Govinda declined, saying, The Kaṇṭhiká or coast tract already given to me is enough. Seeing that Mayúrakhandi or Morkhanda in Násik was Govinda’s capital, this Kaṇṭhiká appears to be the coast from Balsár northwards.

Karka I. a.d. 812–821.Indra was succeeded by his son Karka I. who is also called Suvarṇavarsha and Pátálamalla. Karka reversed his father’s policy and loyally accepted the overlordship of the main Ráshṭrakúṭas. Three grants of Karka’s remain, the Baroda grant dated Śaka 734 (a.d. 812), and two unpublished grants from Navsárí and Surat dated respectively Śaka 738 (a.d. 816) and Śaka 743 (a.d. 821). Among Doctor Bhagvánlál’s collection of inscriptions bequeathed to the British Museum the Baroda grant says that Karka’s svámi or lord, apparently Govinda III., made use of Karka’s arm to protect the king of Málava against invasion by the king of Gurjjara who had become puffed up by conquering the lords of Gauḍa and Vanga that is modern Bengal. This powerful Gurjjara king who conquered countries so distant as Bengal has not been identified. He must have been ruling north of the Mahí and threatened an invasion of Málwa by way of Dohad. He may have been either a Valabhi king or one of the Bhinmál Gurjjaras, who, during the decline of the Valabhis, and with the help of their allies the Chávaḍás of Aṇahilaváḍa whose leader at this time was Yog Rája (a.d. 806–841), may have extended their dominion as far south as the Mahí. As the Baroda plate (a.d. 812) makes no mention of Amoghavarsha-Śarvva while the Navsárí plate (a.d. 816) mentions him as the next king after Govinda III. it follows that Govinda III. died and Amoghavarsha succeeded between a.d. 812 and 816 (Ś. 734 and 738). This supports Mr. Fleet’s conclusion, on the authority of Amoghavarsha’s Sirur inscription, that he came to the throne in Śaka 736 (a.d. 814). At first Amoghavarsha was unable to make head against the opposition of some of his relations and feudatories, supported, as noted above, by Karka’s father Indra. He seems to have owed his Chapter XI. The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974. Karka I. a.d. 812–821. subsequent success to his cousin Karka whom an unpublished Surat grant and two later grants (Ś. 757 and Ś. 789, a.d. 835 and 867) describe as establishing Amoghavarsha in his own place after conquering by the strength of his arm arrogant tributary Ráshṭrakúṭas who becoming firmly allied to each other had occupied provinces according to their own will.

Karka’s Baroda plates (Ś. 734, a.d. 812) record the grant of Baroda itself called Vaḍapadraka in the text. Baroda is easily identified by the mention of the surrounding villages of Jambuváviká the modern Jámbuváda on the east, of Ankottaka the modern Ákotá on the west, and of Vaggháchchha perhaps the modern Vághodia on the north. The writer of the grant is mentioned as the great minister of peace and war Nemáditya son of Durgabhaṭṭa, and the Dútaka or grantor is said to be Rájaputra that is prince Dantivarmman apparently a son of Karka. The grantee is a Bráhman originally of Valabhi.

Karka’s Navsárí grant (Ś. 738, a.d. 816) is made from Kheḍá and records the gift of the village of Samípadraka in the country lying between the Mahí and the Narbadá. The grantee is a South Indian Bráhman from Bádámi in Bijápur, a man of learning popularly known as Paṇḍita Vallabharája because he was proficient in the fourteen Vidyás. The Dútaka of this grant is a South Indian bhaṭa or military officer named the illustrious Droṇamma.

Karka’s Surat grant (Ś. 743, a.d. 821) is made from the royal camp on the bank of the Vankiká apparently the Vánki creek near Balsár. It records the grant of a field in Ambápátaka village near Nágasárika (Navsárí) to a Jain temple at Nágariká, (Navsárí). The writer of the grant is the minister of war and peace Náráyana son of Durgabhaṭṭa. As this is the first grant by a Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭa of lands south of the Tápti it may be inferred that in return for his support Amoghavarsha added to Karka’s territory the portion of the North Konkan which now forms Gujarát south of the Tápti.

That Amoghavarsha’s long reign lasted till Śaka 799 (a.d. 877) is clear from the Kanheri cave inscription already referred to. His reign can hardly have lasted much longer; about Śaka 800 (a.d. 878) may be taken to be its end.

Though no materials remain for fixing how long after a.d. 914 Gujarát belonged to the Mányakheṭa Ráshṭrakúṭas, they probably continued to hold it till their destruction in Śaka 894 (a.d. 972) by the Western Chálukya king Tailappa. This is the more likely as inscriptions show that till then the neighbours of Gujarát, the North Konkan Śiláháras, acknowledged Ráshṭrakúṭa supremacy.

It is therefore probable that Gujarát passed to the conquering Tailappa as part of the Ráshṭrakúṭa kingdom. Further, as noted below in Part II. Chapter II., it seems reasonable to suppose that about Śaka 900 (a.d. 978) Tailappa entrusted Gujarát to his general Bárappa or Dvárappa, who fought with the Solaṅki Múlarája of Aṇahilaváḍa (a.d. 961–997).

The explanation that Kúṭa the second half of Ráshṭrakúṭa, means chief, has been accepted in the text. This is probably correct. At the same time the rival theory deserves notice that the name Ráshṭrakúṭa is formed from two tribal names Kúṭa representing the early widespread tribe allied to the Gonds known as Koṭṭas and Koḍs in the Central Provinces North Konkan and Delhi (Thána Gazetteer, XII. Part II. 414). In support of this view it may be noticed that Abhimanyu’s fifth century Ráshṭrakúṭa inscription (J. Bo. Br. R. As. XVI. 92) refers to the Koṭṭas though as enemies not allies of the Ráshṭrakúṭas. At the same time certain details in Abhimanyu’s grant favour an early Ráshṭrakúṭa settlement in the Central Provinces, the probable head-quarters of the Koṭṭas. The grant is dated from Mánapura and is made to Dakshiṇa Śiva of Peṭhapaṅgaraka which may be the Great Śiva shrine in the Mahádev hills in Hoshangábád, as this shrine is under the management of a petty chief of a place called Pagára, and as Mánpur in the Vindhya hills is not far off. Against the tribal origin of the word Kúṭa is to be set the fact that the northern Raṭṭas are also called Ráshṭrakúṭas though any connection between them and the Koṭṭa tribe seems unlikely.