The Rashtrakutas and their Times c19.s1.7

c19.s1.7

The army headquarters were at the Imperial capital, Malkhed. The Salotgi inscription of Kṛṣṇa III⁵ describes Malkhed as 'sthiribhūta-kaṭake' i. e. a place where the military forces were located. There must have been provincial headquarters as well. Al Masudi has observed about the Gurjara-Pratīhāras that they used to maintain large army garrisons in the south and north, east and west in order to deal promptly with the prospective attacks on all the fronts.⁶ The army arrangements of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas were also similar. The army of the south was under the Banavasi viceroy and that of the north under the rulers of the Gujarat branch. The first had to carry operations against the Gangas, Noḷambas, Pallavas and the Cholas, and the latter had to guard the frontiers against the Gurjara Pratihāras and their allies and feudatories. Though not specifically mentioned in epigraphical records, there must have been an army of the east as well to deal with the Vengi and Vanga rulers. Any corps could be summoned in any direction in times of difficulty. Thus the southern army under the Banavasi viceroy was summoned by Amoghavarsha 1 to quell the rebellions in the central and northern portions of the empire.⁷ All these armies must have been mobilised for the memorable campaigns in the south and north of Dhruva, Govinda III, Indra III, and Kṛṣṇa III.