The Rashtrakutas and their Times c3: Preface
The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times c3
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- English
Preface
c3.1
The reconstruction of Ancient Indian History has passed through several stages. In the beginning, almost everything appeared to be of the nature of a dim legend; hardly any historical data were available. When the key to the ancient Indian inscriptions was discovered, abundant historical material became available, and the energies of scholars were for some time directed towards the task of assorting it. The first generation of scholars was naturally engaged in determining the chronology and giving the frame-work of the political history. These problems became more or less settled in course of time. Owing to the commendable zeal of the Indian Government and of the various research societies, both in India and abroad, immense historical material became available in course of time. The discovery of the Arthaśāstra, which coincided with the political awakening in the country, gave a powerful impetus to the study of the political institutions of Ancient India. The material now available is, however, so ample that the historian need not longer be exclusively or mainly occupied with the court, but can give equal attention to the cottage.
c3.2
In this book, which substantially represents a thesis accepted for the D. Litt. degree of the Benares Hindu University, an attempt has been made to give a comprehensive history of the Deccan under the Rāṣṭrakūṭas (c. 750–1000 A.D.).
c3.3
The first Part (Chapters I–VI) deals with the political history of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty. More than 40 years have elapsed since the late Drs. R. G. Bhandarkar and Fleet wrote upon this subject. During this time, several new inscriptions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their contemporaries have been published, necessitating the rewriting of the history of the dynasty. Some idea of the new material, that has become subsequently available in this period, may perhaps be gained, when it is pointed out that in the present work, it was found necessary to devote about four times the space that was found more than sufficient by Bhandarkar and Fleet for narrating the political history of the house. Like a novel, political history cannot be all new or original. It is, however, hoped that scholars will find the history of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas expounded here much more fully than in any book so far published. Several new suggestions, viewpoints, and conclusions will be met with, and Chapter I, dealing with the predecessors of Dantidurga, will be found to be substantially new and original. The political relations of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas with their contemporaries and feudatories have been fully discussed. The history of the feudatories, however, has not been dealt with in detail as it was outside the scope of the present work.
c3.4
Part II (Chapters VII-XII,) contains a comparative study of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa administration. The books on the subject of Ancient Indian Politics are now so numerous, that the students of the subject may be inclined to feel some apprehension at the prospect of a new one being added to their number. It is, however, confidently hoped that a perusal of this part will show that epigraphical documents have a rich store of material bearing on the subject, which has been practically untouched to the present day. The information from the Rāṣṭrakūṭa inscriptions has been in several places compared to, contrasted with, and in some cases, where it seemed justifiable to do so, supplemented by the data supplied by the earlier, contemporary, and later inscriptions and works on the Nītiśāstra, Dharmaśāstra, and Arthaśāstra.
c3.5
Part III (Chapters XIII-XVII) attempts to delineate religious, social, literary, educational and economic conditions of the times. Here the back-ground had to be necessarily wider. The method in this part is also comparative. I have not only tried to show what the things were in the Deccan under the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, but also introduced comparisons with a view to illustrate the state of affairs in the earlier and later times. In this part the treatment has been mainly confined to the Deccan under the Rāṣṭrakūṭas; in a few cases evidence from Northern India is also considered with a view to emphasise the points of similarity and contrast. While considering the economic conditions, the data supplied by some Chola records had to be utilised, as it was necessary to do so in order to interpret properly the numerous Rāṣṭrakūṭa inscriptions, hailing from the northern districts of Tamil country. Epigraphical sources have been primarily relied upon, but at every step an effort has been made to show how far the realities of the situation, as disclosed by the inscriptions, confirm, modify or contradict the picture based upon the Smṛtis and Purāṇas. As social and religious customs and institutions do not change suddenly, the information in this part is in some cases supplemented by the data supplied by the 7th and the 11th century inscriptions also.
c3.6
The reader will thus find in this work not only the political history of the times, but also the religious, social, economic, literary and administrative history of the age. Unlike most of the books on the subject of Ancient Indian History, he will find here equal attention given to the cultural as well as to the political history. A perusal of the book will show that there hardly exists any work at present, which offers so complete and comprehensive a study of any period in Ancient Indian History.
c3.7
The main sources of the book are the inscriptions of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, their contemporaries, and their immediate decessors and successors. These are supplemented by accounts of the Arabic travellers and the valuable book of Alberuni. Contemporary works like Somadeva's Yas'astilaka and Nītivākyāmṛta, Pampa's Vikramārjunavijaya and later Smṛtis and Purāṇas have also been utilised. Later travellers like Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta, Bernier and Tavernier have also been consulted with a view to see whether they could throw any light on our period.
c3.8
For the purpose of Parts II and III, I have thoroughly studied the whole of the Dharmaśāstra, Nītiśāstra, and Arthaśāstra literature, and the relevant portions from the Purāṇas and the later Nibandhas. My principal aim is to find out how far the epigraphical data confirm, modify or contradict the conclusions based upon the theoretical works on the subject.
c3.9
In Part III the aim is merely to describe the social, religious and economic conditions of our period. No attempt is made to account for the changes that we witness taking place at this time. To a student of the Dharmaśāstra literature, the temptation to initiate this enquiry is almost irresistible, but that would have been beyond the scope of the present work and would have unnecessarily increased its size. I hope to write in course of time a few monographs on the origin, development and history of the various socio-religious institutions of the Hindus. The first of these, dealing with the history and development of Education in Ancient India, has been just published.
c3.10
In conclusion I would like to offer my hearty thanks to the Oriental Book Agency and its enterprising manager Dr. N. G. Sardesai for undertaking the publication of this work, and to Mr. S. R. Sardesai, the manager of the Samarth Bharat Press, for printing it neatly.
c3.11
Benares Hindu University, February 20, 1934. } A. S. Altekar