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.
Their Name.If Raṭṭa is the name of the dynasty kúṭa or kúḍa may be an attribute meaning prominent. The combination Ráshṭrakúṭa would then mean the chiefs or leaders as opposed to the rank and file of the Raṭṭas. The bardic accounts of the origin of the Ráthoḍs of Kanauj and Márwár vary greatly. According to a Jain account the Ráthoḍs, whose name is fancifully derived from the raht or spine of Indra, are connected with the Yavans through an ancestor Yavanaśva prince of Párlipur. The Ráthoḍ genealogies trace their origin to Kuśa son of Ráma of the Solar Race. The bards of the
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974.
Their Name. Solar Race hold them to be descendants of Hiraṇya Kaśipu by a demon or daitya mother. Like the other great Rájput families the Ráthoḍs’ accounts contain no date earlier than the fifth century a.d. when (a.d. 470, S. 526) Náin Pál is said to have conquered Kanauj slaying its monarch Ajipál.[1] The Dakhan Ráshṭrakúṭas (whose earliest known date is also about a.d. 450) call themselves of the Lunar Race and of the Yadu dynasty. Such contradictions leave only one of two origins to the tribe. They were either foreigners or southerners Bráhmanised and included under the all-embracing term Rájput.
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: