Indian Epigraphy c16.s2.62

c16.s2.62

An interesting title of the Cālukya kings was *Śrī-Pṛthivī-vallabha* often contracted into *Śrī-vallabha* or *Vallabha*.⁵ They were therefore known as *Vallabha-rājas*. The same title was later adopted by their Rāṣṭrakūṭa successors who were known to the Arabs as the *Balharā* (Sanskrit *Vallabharāja*). The epithet seems to suggest that these rulers claimed to have been the incarnation of Viṣṇu, the husband of Śrī and Pṛthivī. The usual style of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas was *Paramabhaṭṭāraka Mahārājādhirāja Parameśvara*.⁶