The Rashtrakutas and their Times c12.s3.4

c12.s3.4

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.