The Rashtrakutas and their Times c11.s2.7

c11.s2.7

death within a year could not have been entirely due to his deep love for his father prompting him to go to heaven as soon as possible, as the Karhad plates of Kṛṣṇa III would make us believe. The Cambay and the Sangli plates of Govinda IV state that he neither treated his elder brother cruelly,—though he had power to do so,—nor acquired ill-fame by committing incest with his brother's wives. That Govinda should go out of his way in refuting these charges shows that there must have been ugly rumours current about his treatment of his elder brother and his wives; that these rumours had some foundation is made clear by an unpublished grant of the S'ilāhāra ruler Chhadvaideva, now in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. This S'ilāhāra ruler was a contemporary of Kṛṣṇa III and his grant says that Govinda IV, who was overthrown by Amoghavarsha, was himself guilty of injustice.⁵⁹ It thus becomes clear that Govinda was suspected of having dealt unfairly with his brother. He may have peacefully superseded him, sparing his life, or may have brought about or hastened his death. 836 S'aka or 916-17 A.D. is the latest known date of Indra⁶⁰ and S'aka 840 or 918-19 A.D. is the earliest date of Govinda IV.⁶¹ So the short reign of about a year of Amoghavarsha II probably took place in 917-18 A.D.