The Rashtrakutas and their Times c24.4

c24.4

The Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire lasted for about 225 years. It is interesting to note that very few Hindu dynasties have ruled in their full glory for so long a period. The Mauryas, the Imperial Guptas, the early Chālukyas all collapsed in less than two centuries. The Āndhras no doubt ruled for about four centuries and a half, but it is not certain that the Pauranic list of the Āndhra kings belongs really to one dynasty. The Gurjara-Pratīhāra dynasty can certainly claim a longer career, but it had attained no imperial position before the time of Vatsarāja ( c. 775 A.D. ), and its empire was shorn of much of its glory after the severe blow given by Indra III in c. 916 A.D. Most of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa rulers were able ones; in a list of about 14 kings, only three are found to be vicious or inefficient. Dantidurga, Kṛṣṇa I, Dhruva, Govinda III, Indra III and Kṛṣṇa III form a galaxy of able and ambitious rulers, the like of which can hardly be claimed by any other dynasty.