The Rashtrakutas and their Times c11.24

c11.24

Emboldened by these successes Vijayāditya and his nephew, Yuvaraja Bhīma, must have tried to throw off the Rāṣṭrakūṭa yoke, especially since Kṛṣṇa II had just ascended the throne. With this end in view Vijayāditya led some daring raids in the north-eastern portions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire. The passages quoted in foot-notes Nos. 6, 9, 10 and 11 make it clear that Kṛṣṇa and Sankila, who were the opponents of Vijayāditya, could only have been Kṛṣṇa II of Malkhed and his brother-in-law Sankula or Saṅkaragaṇa of the Chedi house. The passage in the foot-note No. 9 stinctly says that Sankila was a ruler of Dahāla and the Sangli plates (16) of Govinda IV inform us that the wife of Kṛṣṇa II was a younger sister of Sankula, a son of Kokkala. Sankila of the passages quoted in foot-notes Nos. 6, 9 & 11, is obviously the same as Sankula of the Sangli plates. This conclusion is further supported by the localities mentioned in connection with this raid. The passage in the foot-note No. 11 refers to the burning of Chakrakūṭa and this is the same as the fort of Chakrakotya in the centre of Bastar state. (17) Kiraṇapura (18) which was subsequently besieged or burnt has not yet been identified, but I think that it is the same as Kiranpur, a small town in Baleghat district of C. P. about 150 miles to the north of Chakrakūṭa or Chakrakottya. By construing together the verses in foot-notes Nos. 6, 10 and 11, it becomes clear that Kiraṇapura was not a capital of Sankila or Kṛṣṇa, but that these rulers were for the time being staying in that city. Kṛṣṇa, the ally of Sankila, can be none other than his brother-in-law Kṛṣṇa II. Jouveau Dubreuil's theory that he may be the Ganga-Pallava Prithvī-Kṛṣṇa cannot be accepted, since both Chakrakūṭa and Kiraṇapura lay far away from the Ganga-Pallava principality. He cannot be Kṛṣṇa of the Gujrat Rāṣṭrakūṭa branch. The epithet "Ugravallabha" given to Sankila's ally, (19) shows that he was a great ruler and not a petty feudatory. Besides, Sankila