The Rashtrakutas and their Times c15.19

c15.19

When a king was a minor, usually a male relative was appointed to act as the regent. During the minority of Amoghavarsha I his cousin Karkka was appointed to carry on the administration on behalf of the emperor. The claims of Indra IV were being pushed forth by his maternal uncle Mārasimha, who was his regent. It is interesting to note that we nowhere come across queens or princesses as regents or governors in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa administration. Under the Western Chalukyas queen governors were not unknown; thus Vijayabhaṭṭārikā, the senior wife of Chandrāditya, the elder brother of Vikramāditya I was a governor, if not a regent.¹⁰ Under the later Chālukyas of Kalyani also, we have several examples of queens being appointed to important government offices. Thus Mailādevī, one of the wives of Someśvara, was the governor of Banavasi 12,000 in 1053 A.D. Ketalādevī, another wife of the same monarch, was the governor of the agrahāra of Ponnavada.¹¹ Akkādevī, an elder sister of Jayasimha III, was governing Kinsukad 70 in 1022 A.D. Kumkumadevī, an elder sister of Vijayāditya was administering Purigere 300 in 1077 A.D.¹² Lakshmīdevī, the chief queen of Vikramāditya VI, was in charge of 18 agrahāras in 1095 A.D. That lady governors should have been so common under the Chālukyas and altogether unknown under the Rāshṭrakūṭas is indeed strange. Can we explain this fact on the assumption that the latter Chālukyas, unlike the Rāshṭrakūṭas belonged to a stock which was considerably under the influence of matriarchy?