The Rashtrakutas and their Times c23.s2.15

c23.s2.15

Hindu Sanskrit writers, having any compositions of permanent value to their credit, are indeed few in our period. The colophon of the Benares edition of the *Karpūramañjarī* of Rājaśekhara describes the author as the crest jewel of Mahārāṣṭra, but this province can hardly claim that poet since he spent most of his life at Kanauj or Tripuri. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar has shown that Trivikrama, the author of the *Nalachampū*, is identical with the Trivikrama, who has composed the Begumra plate of Indra III, dated 915 A.D.³³ The *Nalachampū* is the earliest of the extant champūs, and therefore, the Deccan may perhaps claim to be the first in that field. The *Kavirahasya* of Halāyudha was composed in the reign of Kṛṣṇa III. The poem is really a *dhātupāṭha* explaining the conjugational peculiarities of roots having the same form, but the verses also contain a eulogy of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa emperor Kṛṣṇa III.³³ The work, therefore, belongs to the class of *Bhaṭṭikāvya* and *Rāvaṇārjunīya*. The *Udayasundarīkathā* of Soḍhala, a Kāyastha from Valabhi, was composed towards the close of our period under the patronage of Mummunirāja, a king of Konkan.³⁴ These are the only Hindu Sanskrit works that can be undisputedly ascribed to the Deccan of our period. The output is indeed poor both in quantity and quality.