The Rashtrakutas and their Times c12.s4.32

c12.s4.32

The struggle between Taila II and Karkka II was an intense one; for, the Managoli inscription (57) admits that it was with an exceedingly great effort that Taila acquired the sovereignty of the land. Karkka was supported by two of his Rāṣṭrakūṭa kinsmen, who were his generals, and who are described in the records of the conquering dynasty (58) as cruel, insolent and overbearing, and are compared to the moving feet of Kali incarnate. These two generals were killed in battle; but the fate of Karkka himself is not known with certainty. If he also were killed in the war, there is no reason why the Cālukya records should have kept silent over that incident. It would seem that he managed to fly to the south; two inscriptions from Sorab Taluka, Nos. 476 and 479, dated about 991 A.D., mention Mahārājādhirāja Parameśvara Paramabhaṭṭāraka Śrī-Kakkaladevas as the lord of the world. It is not unlikely that this Kakkala may have been the same as Karkka II, who may have managed to hold some local sway in the south of his empire for a few years, and may have been presumptuous enough to use his former imperial titles, even when he was the ruler of a petty state.