The Rashtrakutas and their Times c15.10

c15.10

Yuvaraja. Usually the choice fell upon the eldest son, but he was not recognised as a Yuvaraja before he was formally annointed as such. Thus in the Talegaon plates of Kṛṣṇa I³ his eldest son is simply referred to as Govindarāja, whereas in the Alas plates issued two years later he is described as a Yuvaraja. Since the village in the Talegaon plates was granted at the request of Govindarāja, it is clear that he must have been a major by that time. And though the eldest son, he had not at that time received the coronation as an heir-apparent. It would appear that the heir-apparent had to attain a certain age, probably 24, before he could be formally annointed. If the king had no son, or if the one he had was a minor and the times were troubled ones, sometimes the younger brother was made the Yuvaraja. Thus a Palase Kadamba grant⁴ refers to Bhānuvarman, the younger brother of the ruling king, as Kanīyān nṛpaḥ or Yuvaraja. While the Ganga ruler Śivamāra was rotting in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa prison, his younger brother Vijayāditya was made Yuvaraja, and the Gattavadipur plates tell us that he refrained from enjoying the earth, knowing her to be his elder brother's wife.⁵