The grant which is made from Anklesvar near Broach records the gift to two Bráhmans of the village of Kaviṭhasádhi the modern Kosád four miles north-east of Surat, described as situated in the Variávi (the modern Variáv two miles north of Surat) sub-division of 116 villages in the province of Konkan. The grant is said to have been written by the peace and war minister the illustrious Jajjaka son of Kaluka, the Dútaka being the head officer (mahattamasarvádhikári) the Bráhman Ollaiyaka.[22] This grant seems to imply the recovery by the local dynasty of some portion of the disputed area to the south of the Tápti. This recovery must have been a passing success. After Śaka 810 (a.d. 888) nothing is known of the Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭas. Main Line Restored, a.d. 888–974.And the re-establishment of the power of the Ráshṭrakúṭas of Mányakheṭa of the main line in south Gujarát in Śaka 836 (a.d. 914) is proved by two copperplates found in Navsárí which record the grant of villages near Navsárí, in what the text calls the Láṭa country, by king Indra Nityaṃvarsha son of Jagattuṅga and grandson of Kṛishṇa Akálavarsha.[23]
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.
Kṛishṇa Akálavarsha, a.d. 888–914.Amoghavarsha was succeeded by his son Kṛishṇa also called Akálavarsha, both his names being the same as those of the Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭa king of the same time (a.d. 888).[24] It has been noted above that, in consequence of the attempt of Karka’s son Dhruva I. (a.d. 835–867) to establish his independence, Amoghavarsha’s relations with the Gujarát Ráshṭrakúṭas became extremely hostile and probably continued hostile till his death (a.d. 877). That Amoghavarsha’s son Kṛishṇa kept up the hostilities is shown by Indra’s two Navsárí plates of Śaka 836 (a.d. 914) which mention his grandfather Kṛishṇa fighting with the roaring Gurjjara.[25] Regarding this fight the late Ráshṭrakúṭa Kardá plate (Ś. 891, a.d. 973) further says that Kṛishṇa’s enemies frightened by his exploits abandoned Kheṭaka, that is Kheḍá, with its Maṇḍala and its forepart that is the surrounding country. Probably this roaring Gurjjara or king of Gujarát, was a northern ally called in by some Ráshṭrakúṭa of the
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974.
Kṛishṇa Akálavarsha, a.d. 888–914. Gujarát branch, perhaps by Kṛishṇa’s namesake the donor of the a.d. 888 Bagumrá grant. The Dakhan Kṛishṇa seems to have triumphed over his Gujarát namesake as henceforward South Gujarát or Láṭa was permanently included in the territory of the Dakhan Ráshṭrakúṭas.[26]
At this time (a.d. 910) a grant from Kapadvanj dated Ś. 832 (a.d. 910) and published in Ep. Ind. I. 52ff. states that a mahásámanta or noble of Kṛishṇa Akálavarsha’s named Prachaṇḍa, with his daṇḍanáyaka Chandragupta, was in charge of a sub-division of 750 villages in the Kheḍá district at Harshapura apparently Harsol near Parántij. The grant gives the name of Prachaṇḍa’s family as Bráhma-vaka (?) and states that the family gained its fortune or Lakshmí by the prowess of the feet of Akálavarsha, showing that the members of the family drew their authority from Akálavarsha. The grant mentions four of Prachaṇḍa’s ancestors, all of whom have non-Gujarát Kánarese-looking names. Though not independent rulers Prachaṇḍa’s ancestors seem to have been high Ráshṭrakúṭa officers. The first is called Śuddha-kkumbaḍi, the second his son Degaḍi, the third Degaḍi’s son Rájahaṃsa, the fourth Rájahaṃsa’s son Dhavalappa the father of Prachaṇḍa and Akkuka. The plate describes Rájahaṃsa as bringing back to his house its flying fortune as if he had regained lost authority. The plate describes Dhavalappa as killing the enemy in a moment and then giving to his lord the Maṇḍala or kingdom which the combined enemy, desirous of glory, had taken. This apparently refers to Akálavarsha’s enemies abandoning Kheṭaka with its Maṇḍala as mentioned in the late Ráshṭrakúṭa Kardá plate (a.d. 973). Dhavalappa is probably Akálavarsha’s general who fought and defeated the roaring Gurjjara, a success which may have led to Dhavalappa being placed in military charge of Gujarát.[27] The Kapadvanj (a.d. 910) grant describes Dhavalappa’s son Prachaṇḍa with the feudatory title ‘Who has obtained the five great words.’ Dr. Bhagvánlál believed Prachaṇḍa to be a mere epithet of Akkuka, and took Chandragupta to be another name of the same person, but the published text gives the facts as above stated. The grantee is a Bráhman and the grant is of the village of Vyághrása, perhaps Vágrá in Broach.[28] The plate describes Akkuka as gaining glory fighting in the battle field. A rather unintelligible verse follows implying that at this time the Sella-Vidyádharas, apparently the North Konkan Śiláháras (who traced their lineage from the Vidyádharas) also helped Akálavarsha against his enemies,[29] probably by driving them from South Gujarát. The Śiláhára king at this time would be Jhanjha (a.d. 916).
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974.
Indra Nityaṃvarsha, a.d. 914. Indra Nityaṃvarsha, a.d. 914.Kṛishṇa or Akálavarsha had a son named Jagattuṅga who does not appear to have come to the throne. Other plates show that he went to Chedi the modern Bundelkhand and remained there during his father’s lifetime. By Lakshmí the daughter of the king of Chedi, Jagattuṅga had a son named Indra also called Nityaṃvarsha Raṭṭakandarpa. In both of Indra’s Navsárí copperplates (a.d. 914) Indra is mentioned as Pádánudhyáta, Falling at the feet of, that is successor of, not his father but his grandfather Akálavarsha.[30] One historical attribute of Indra in both the plates is that “he uprooted in a moment the Mehr,”[31] apparently referring to some contemporary Mehr king of North Káthiáváḍa. Both the Navsárí plates of Śaka 836 (a.d. 914) note that the grants were made under peculiar conditions. The plates say that the donor Indra Nityaṃvarsha, with his capital at Mányakheta, had come to a place named Kuruṇḍaka for the paṭṭabandha or investiture festival. It is curious that though Mányakheṭa is mentioned as the capital the king is described as having come to Kuruṇḍaka for the investiture. Kuruṇḍaka was apparently not a large town as the plates mention that it was given in grant.[32] At his investiture Indra made great gifts. He weighed himself against gold or silver, and before leaving the scales he gave away Kuruṇḍaka and other places, twenty and a half lákhs of dramma coins, and 400 villages previously granted but taken back by intervening kings. These details have an air of exaggeration. At the same time gifts of coins by lákhs are not improbable by so mighty a king as Indra and as to the villages the bulk of them had already been alienated. The fact of lavish grants is supported by the finding of these two plates of the same date recording grants of two different villages made on the same occasion, the language being the same, and also by a verse in the late Ráshṭrakúṭa Kardá plate (Ś. 894, a.d. 972) where Indra is described as making numerous grants on copperplates and building many temples of Śiva.[33] The date of Indra’s grants (Ś. 836, a.d. 914) is the date of his investiture and accession. This is probable as the latest known date of his grandfather Kṛishṇa is Śaka 833[34] (a.d. 911) and we know that Indra’s father Jagattuṅga did not reign.[35] Umvará and Tenna, the villages granted in the two investiture plates, are described as situated near Kammaṇijja the modern Kámlej in the Láṭa province. They are probably the modern villages of Umra near Sáyan four miles west of Kámlej, and of Tenna immediately to the west of Bárdoli, which last is mentioned under the form Váraḍapallikâ as the eastern boundary village. Dhruva II.’s Bagumrá plate (Ś. 789, a.d. 867) mentions Tenna as granted
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974.
Indra Nityaṃvarsha, a.d. 914. by Dhruva I. to a Bráhman named Dhoddi the father of the Nennapa who is the grantee of Dhruva II.’s a.d. 867 Bagumrá grant, whose son Siddhabhaṭṭa is the grantee of Indra’s a.d. 914 grant.[36] The re-granting of so many villages points to the re-establishment of the main Ráshṭrakúṭa power and the disappearance of the Gujarát branch of the Ráshṭrakúṭas.[37]
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 text does not carry the question of the origin of the Ráshṭrakúṭas beyond the point that, about the middle of the fifth century a.d., two tribes bearing the closely associated names Ráthoḍ and Raṭṭa, the leaders of both of which are known in Sanskrit as Ráshṭrakúṭas, appeared the first in Upper India the second in the Bombay Karṇáṭak, and that the traditions of both tribes seem to show they were either southerners or foreigners Bráhmanised and included under the all-embracing term Rájput. The Sanskrit form Ráshṭrakúṭa may mean either leaders of the Ráshṭra tribe or heads of the territorial division named ráshtra. The closely related forms Ráshṭrapati and Grámakúṭa occur (above page 82) in Valabhi inscriptions. And Mr. Fleet (Kánarese Dynasties, 32) notices that Ráshṭrakúṭa is used in the inscriptions of many dynasties as a title equivalent to Ráshṭrapati. Such a title might readily become a family name like that of the Sáhi Játs of the Panjáb or the Maráthi surnames Patel, Nadkarni, and Desái. It may be noted that one of the Márwár traditions (Rájputána Gazetteer, III. 246) connects the word Ráthoḍ with Ráshṭra country making the original form Ráshṭravara or World-blessing and referring to an early tribal guardian Ráshṭraśyena or the World-Falcon. It is therefore possible that the origin of both forms of the name, of Ráthoḍ as well as of Ráshṭrakúṭa, is the title ruler of a district. At the same time in the case of the southern Ráshṭrakúṭas the balance of evidence is in support of a tribal origin of the name. The Raṭṭas of Saundatti in Belgaum, apparently with justice, claim descent from the former Ráshṭrakúṭa rulers (Belgaum Gazetteer, 355). Further that the Ráshṭrakúṭas considered themselves to belong to the Raṭṭa tribe is shown by Indra Nityaṃvarsha (a.d. 914)
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974. calling himself Raṭṭakandarpa the Love of the Raṭṭas. The result is thus in agreement with the view accepted in the text that Ráshṭrakúṭa means leaders of the Raṭṭa tribe, the form Ráshṭra being perhaps chosen because the leaders held the position of Ráshṭrakúṭas or District Headmen. According to Dr. Bhandárkar (Deccan History, 9) the tribal name Raṭṭa or Ráshṭra enters into the still more famous Dakhan tribal name Maharátha or Mahrátta. So far as present information goes both the Raṭṭas and the Great Raṭṭas are to be traced to the Rástikas mentioned in number five of Aśoka’s (b.c. 245) Girnár edicts among the Aparántas or westerners along with the Peteṇikas or people of Paithan about forty miles north-east of Ahmadnagar (Kolhápur Gazetteer, 82). Whether the Rástika of the edicts is like Peteṇika a purely local name and if so why a portion of the north Dakhan should be specially known as the country or Ráshṭra are points that must remain open.[38]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.
The question remains were the southern Raṭṭas or Ráshṭrakúṭas connected with the northern Ráthoḍs or Ráshṭrakúṭas. If so what was the nature of the connection and to what date does it belong. The fact that, while the later southern Ráshṭrakúṭas
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974. call themselves Yádavas of the Lunar race, the northerners claim descent either from Kuśa the son of Ráma or from Hiraṇyakaśipu would seem to prove no connection did not Abhimanyu’s fifth century grant show that in his time the southern Ráshṭrakúṭas had not begun to claim Yádava descent. That the Márwár Ráthoḍs trace their name to the ráht or spine of Indra (Tod’s Annals, II. 2), and in a closely similar fashion the Ráth or Rattu Játs of the Sutlej (Ibbetson’s 1881 Census, page 236) explain their name as stronghanded, and the Raṭṭas of Bijápur (Bijápur Stat. Account, 145) trace their name to the Kánarese raṭṭa right arm, may imply no closer connection than the common attempt to find a meaning for the name Raṭṭa in a suitable word of similar sound. A legend preserved in the Rájputána Gazetteer (III. 246), but not noted by Tod, tells how Sevji, after (a.d. 1139) the Musalmáns drove his father Jaichand out of Kanauj (Tod’s Annals, I. 88) took Khergad from the Gehlots and went to the Karṇáṭak. where the Ráthoḍs had ruled before they came to Kanauj. From the Karṇáṭak Sevji brought the image of the Ráhtoḍ Ráshṭraśyena which is now in the temple of Nágána in Meváḍ. The account quoted in the text from Tod (Annals, I. 88) that the Ráthoḍs who rose to power in Márwár in the thirteenth century belonged to a royal family who had held Kanauj since the fifth century has not stood the test of recent inquiry. It is now known that about a.d. 470 Kanauj was in the hands of the Guptás. That about a.d. 600, according to the contemporary Śríharshacharita it was ruled by the Maukhari Grahavarmán who was put to death by a Málwa chief and was succeeded by Harsha. About a.d. 750, according to the Rájátaraṅginí, Kanauj was held by Yaśovarmán, and, in the next century, as inscriptions prove by the family of Bhoja. It was not till about a.d. 1050 that Kanauj was occupied by the Gáhadavála or Gáharwála family from whom the Ráthoḍs of Márwár claim descent.[39] If the legendary connection of the Márwár Ráthoḍs with Kanauj must be dismissed can the Márwár Ráthoḍs be a branch of the southern Ráshṭrakúṭas who like the Maráthás some 800 years later spread conquering northwards? Such a northern settlement of the southern Ráshṭrakúṭas might be a consequence of the victories of the great Ráshṭrakúṭa Dhruva who according to received opinions about a.d. 790 conquered as far north as Allahábád. It is beyond question that southerners or Karṇáṭas were settled in North India between the seventh and the eleventh centuries. Still the latest information makes it improbable that Dhruva’s conquests extended further north than Gujarát. Nor has any special connection been traced between the southern Ráshṭrakúṭas and the middle-age settlements of southerners or Karṇáṭas in North India.[40] Must therefore the North Indian tribe of Ráthoḍs be admitted to have its origin
Chapter XI.
The Ráshṭrakúṭas, a.d. 743–974. as late as the twelfth century, and further is the North Indian name Ráthoḍ not tribal but derived from the title head of a district. Several considerations make both of these solutions unlikely if not impossible. First there is the remarkably widespread existence of the name Ráhtor, Ratha, or Ratti, and endless variations of these names, in almost all parts of the Panjáb, among all castes from the Bráhman to the Baluch, among all religions Musalmán, Sikh, Jain, and Bráhmanic.[41] No doubt the practice of a waning tribe adopting the name of a waxing tribe has always been common. No doubt also the fame of the name during the last 600 years must have tempted other classes to style themselves Ráthoḍ. Still it is to be noted: first that (Ibbetson, page 240) the Ráthoḍs of the Panjáb though widespread are not numerous: and second that the list of sub-caste-names has this merit that with a few exceptions the holders of the sub-name are not known by it but by some general or craft name. The evidence of these sub-caste or tribal names seems therefore to support the view that some very large section of the Panjáb population represent an important tribe or nation of whom the least mixed remnant are perhaps the Ráthis or lower class Rájputs of Kángra and Chamba (Ibbetson, pages 219 and 251) and from some connection with whom the Márwár Ráthoḍs of the thirteenth century may have taken their name. Among other traces of northern Ráshṭras in the middle ages may be mentioned the twelfth and thirteenth century Ráshṭrakúṭas of Badaun in the North-West Provinces (Kielhorn in Epigraphia Indica, I. 61 and 63) and (a.d. 1150) in the Kumárapála-Charitra (Tod’s Western India, 182) the mention of Ráshṭra-deśa near the Sawálak hills. Among earlier and more doubtful references are the Aratrioi whom probably correctly (since at that time a.d. 247 one main Roman trade route to Central Asia passed up the Indus) the author of the Periplus (McCrindle, 120) places between Abhiria or lower Sindh and Arachosia or south-east Afghanistán that is in north Sindh or south Panjáb. Another earlier and still more doubtful reference is Pliny’s (a.d. 77) Oraturæ (Hist. Nat. VI. 23) whom Vivien de St. Martin (Geog. Greque et Latine de l’Inde, 203) identifies with the Ráthoḍs. The fact that while claiming descent from Ráma the Márwár Ráthoḍs (Tod’s Annals, II. 2 and 5) preserved the legend that their founder was Yavanaśwa from the northern city of Paralipur supports the view that the tribe to which they belonged was of non-Indian or Central Asian origin, and that this is the tribe of whom traces remain in the Ráthi Rájputs of the Kángra hill country and less purely in the widely spread Ráts, Rattas, and Rátis of the Panjáb plains. The examples among Panjáb caste names Rora for Arora (Ibbetson’s 1881 Census, page 297), Her for Ahir (Ditto, 230–275), and Heri for Aheri (Ditto, 310) suggest that the Panjáb Ráthors or Raṭṭas may be the ancient Araṭṭas whom the Mahábhárata (Chap. VII. Verse 44. J. Bl. Soc. VI. Pt. I. 387 and Vivien de St. Martin Geog. Greque et Latine de l’Inde, 149) ranks with Prasthalas, Madras, and Gandháras, Panjáb and frontier tribes, whose identification with the Báhikas (Karṇaparvan, 2063ff.) raises the probability of a common Central Asian origin. Remembering that the evidence (Kshatrapa Chapter, pages 22 and 33) favours the view that the Kshatrapa family who ruled the Panjáb between b.c. 70 and a.d. 78 were of the same tribe as Nahápana, and also that Sháhi is so favourite a prefix in Samudra Gupta’s (a.d. 380) list of Kushán tribes, the suggestion may be offered that Kshaharáta is the earlier form of Sháharaṭṭa and is the tribe of foreigners afterwards known in the Panjáb as Araṭṭas and of which traces survive in the present widespread tribal names Ráta, Ratta, Ratha, and Ráthor.]