The Rashtrakutas and their Times c7.s1.85

c7.s1.85

A survey of earlier history is necessary in order to decide whether the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Malkhed hailed from Mahārāṣṭra or Karṇāṭak. It is as early as the time of Aśoka that we first hear of the Raṭhikas, a term to which we have to trace the Raṭṭas and Rāṣṭrakūṭas of later centuries. There is no philological difficulty in postulating this derivation; the name is spelt as Riṣṭika at Girnar, Raṣṭika at Shahabazgarhi, and Raṭraka at Mansera, showing that all these terms are to be derived from the Sanskrit term Rāṣṭrika. It is true that there is no trace of the sibilant of the original word in the terms Raṭṭika or Raṭṭa, but the Mansera form Raṭraka shows that the term Rāṣṭrika assumed a form altogether devoid of any sibilant in some dialects. As a matter of fact the form Raṭraka of Mansera supplies us the link between Rāṣṭrika and Raṭṭika or Raṭṭa. Pischel besides quotes several cases of a Sanskrit ṣṭa becoming a simple ṭṭa in Prakrits. Cf. Skt. Iṣṭa; M., J. M. and Amg. Iṭṭa. Skt. Auṣṭrika; J. M. Uṭṭiya. Skt. Sandaṣṭa; M. Sandaṭṭa. (37)