The Rashtrakutas and their Times c11.34

c11.34

Soon after his accession and some time before 888 A.D., Kṛṣṇa II came into hostile contact with Bhoja I. The scene of war was Malva; a fragmentry Pratihāra inscription from Bhavānagar Museum, recently published, (22) refers to the Narmada in connection with Bhoja's attack on a king called Kṛṣṇarāja, who must be obviously Kṛṣṇa II; and the Begumra plates of Kṛṣṇa of the Gujrat branch, dated 888 A.D., (23) tell us how the grantor feudatory defeated the enemy at Ujjayinī, while king Vallabha was watching the army movements. Begumra plates of Indra III (24) inform us that old men vividly remembered in 914 A.D. (when the plates were issued) the brave feats of the late Rāṣṭrakūṭa emperor in the sanguinary wars with the Gurjaras. The crown prince Jagattunga also participated in these wars as also the Chedi ruler. (25) These wars seem to have profited neither party; they may have been of the nature of the frontier affrays. From Al Masudi, we learn that the Gurjara-Pratihāras used to maintain a strong force in the south to keep the Rāṣṭrakūṭas in check; (26) frontier clashes were therefore inevitable, and victory must have remained some time on one side and some time on the other. Kṛṣṇa was too weak to think of emulating the example of Dhruva I or Govinda III, and Bhoja was too old to undertake a serious expedition against his southern neighbour. (27)