The Rashtrakutas and their Times c12.s3: Khottiga Nityavarsha Amoghavarsha IV
The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times c12.s3
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Khottiga Nityavarsha Amoghavarsha IV
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⁴⁰ Kyasnur records show that Khottiga had very likely the epithet of Amoghadeva. See E. I., XVI, p. 284.
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Kṛṣṇa III had a son, who was the father of Indra IV. But he seems to have predeceased his father, and his son being too young, Khoṭṭiga, a younger brother of Kṛṣṇa III, succeeded to the throne early in 968 A.D. The Deoli grant of Kṛṣṇa III was made in 940 A.D. for the spiritual benefit of Jagattuṅgadeva, a younger brother of Kṛṣṇa, who was dearer to him than his own life. It is possible that this Jagattuṅga may be the same as Khoṭṭiga; for the Deoli plates state that Jagattuṅga was extremely beautiful and we know from the Adargunchi inscription⁴¹ that "Raṭṭakandarpa" was one of the epithets of Khoṭṭiga. If Jagattuṅga was not the same as Khoṭṭiga, he may have been another brother of Kṛṣṇa III.
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⁴¹ I. A., XII, p. 256.
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It was in the reign of Khoṭṭiga that the Rāṣṭrakūṭa power began to decline. The first blow was given by the Paramāras from the north. Arthuna inscription of Paramāra Chāmuṇḍarāya, dated 1079 A.D.,⁴² refers to king Srī Harsha's wars with the lord of the Karṇātas. That the opponent of Harsha was not Tailapa or Karka III is proved by the Udaipur pras'asti of the kings of Malva⁴³, which distinctly says that Harshadeva captured the royal glory and splendour of Khoṭṭigadeva. The first land grant of Vākpati II, the successor of Sīyaka or Srī-Harsha is dated in 974-75 A.D., and that of Karka III, the successor of Khoṭṭiga, in September 972 A.D. Harsha and Khoṭṭiga were thus contemporary rulers, and the statement of the Udaipur pras'asti, therefore, may be accepted as correct. It is further corroborated by Dhanapāla, the author of Pāiyalachchhī, who informs us in v. 276 that his work was written at Dhārā in Vikrama Saṃvat 1029 i. e. 972-73 A.D., when Mānyakheṭa was plundered by the king of Malva.⁴⁴ Śravaṇa-Belgola epitaph of Mārasimha II states that the scenes of his victories were the banks of the Tapti, the Vindhya forests, Mānyakheṭa, etc. The victory at Mānyakheṭa presupposes the presence of an enemy in that place. This record, therefore, indirectly confirms the statements in the Paramāra records that the Rāṣṭrakūṭa capital was plundered by Sīyaka.
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⁴² E. I., XIV, p. 299.
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⁴³ Cf. श्रीहर्षदेव इति खोट्टिदेवलक्ष्मीम् जग्राह यो युधि... | E. I., I, p. 235.
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⁴⁴ E. I., XIII, p. 180;
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We have seen that Khoṭṭiga was alive early in 972 A.D., when Mānyakheṭa was sacked; he seems to have died during the war with the Paramāras, for we find his successor issuing the Kharda plates⁴⁵ in September of the same year. Sorab inscription No. 455 is dated in 972, and refers to Karka as the ruling emperor. We may, therefore, place the death of Khoṭṭiga and the accession of Karka II, in the middle of 972 A.D.
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⁴⁵ E. I., XII, p. 263,