The Rashtrakutas and their Times c11.4

c11.4

Kṛṣṇa II had to engage in wars with most of his neighbours. On the south, he had to fight with the Gangas and the Nolambas, on the east with the Vengi Chālukyas, and on the north with the Gujrat Rāṣṭrakūṭas and Gurjara-Pratīhāras. He was the son-in-law of Kokkala, the Chedi ruler,² and his son Jagaṭṭuṅga was married to Lakshmī, a daughter of his wife's brother Saṅkargaṇa alias Raṇavigraha. He derived considerable help from these Chedi relatives in times of need. The statement in the Bilahari inscription³ of Yuvarāja II that Kokkala had conquered the whole earth planting Bhojarāja and Kṛṣṇarāja as his columns of fame in the north and south respectively, is not to be interpreted and understood too literally to mean that Kokkala had defeated his son-in-law Kṛṣṇa II. It simply means that he had rendered assistance to him, an interpretation, which is supported by the Benares plates of Karṇadeva, (4) which simply say that Kokkala had extended protection to Kṛṣṇa and Bhoja. Kokkala's conquests are nowhere described, and it is not unlikely that he may have derived his importance from his family connections with the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and possibly with the Gurjara-Pratīhāras.