[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Rashtrakutas and their Times](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934) › c8.3 # The Rashtrakutas and their Times c8.3 The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times c8.3 - **Language:** English ### [c8.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8.3) A bird's-eye-view of the political condition of India in general, and the Deccan in particular, in the first half of the 8th century would be necessary to understand properly the rise of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa house. The history of Kashmir need not be considered, for after the death of Lalitāditya Muktāpīḍa that kingdom did not come into contact with the kingdoms in the rest of India for a long time. We do not know who was occupying the imperial throne of Kanauj after Yaśovarman. It would appear from the \*Chachnāmā\*¹ that Rai Hari Chander was ruling there in c. 715 A.D., but this king is yet a mere name to us. The same is the case of Vajrāyudha, who is supposed to have been the predecessor of Chakrāyudha by some writers. Bengal was just recovering from anarchy under the leadership of Gopāla I. In the Deccan itself the Chālukya empire was powerful, but its strength was being wasted in hereditary wars with Pallavas. The precise extent of the Chālukya kingdom at the time of its overthrow is not easy to determine. Its southern boundary line must have been a changing one, as the wars with the Pallavas were being continuously fought with varying success. A subordinate branch, related by blood-relationship to the main line, was no doubt ruling at Vengi; but it had become practically independent of the main line at this time, though the imperial title Mahārājādhirāja Parames'vara Parama-bhaṭṭāraka was not assumed by its rulers before the time of Vijayāditya II. The northern boundary of the Chālukya kingdom was probably the Kim in southern Gujrat; beyond that river stretched the kingdom of the Gurjaras of Bharoch (or rather of Nāndīpurī, to be precise) which embraced the territory between the Kim and the Mahi. How much further east of the Kim valley the sway of the Chālukyas extended is difficult to determine, for the history of the Central Province of this period is still shrouded in mystery. Portions of this province must have passed under the Chālukya sway with the overthrow of the Kalachuri prince S'ankaragaṇa by Mangalis'a towards the end of the 6th century A.D., but whether they continued to be ruled by the Chālukyas by the beginning of the 8th century is not known. Portions of Berar were being ruled by the ancestors of Dantidurga; the Multai and Tivarkhed records² do not mention the name of the suzerain ruler, but it is almost certain that he must have been the Chālukya king upon the throne. From the Udayendiram plates of doubtful authenticity³ it would appear that there was a fairly powerful king in the Vindhya regions at this time named Pṛthvīvyāghra, who is claimed to have been defeated by the Pallava ruler Nandivarman. Who this Pṛthvīvyāghra was, and how far he had encroached upon the Chālukyan kingdom, we do not know. It is, however, possible that Pṛthvīvyāghra may have been another name of Jayavardhana of S'ailodbhava dynasty who, in his Ragholi plates, which on palæographical grounds have been assigned to the middle of the 8th century by Rai Bahadur Hiralal, (4) styles himself \*Paramamāhes'vara Sakalavindhyādhipati Mahārājādhirāja Parames'vara\*. Whether this identification is true or not, it is clear that the Chālukyas must have lost a portion of their dominions in the north by the rise of Jayavardhana. In the eastern Kos'ala, there was kingdom at Sirpur near Raipur, where king Udayana was ruling by the middle of the 8th century. In Rājputānā and Mālvā there ruled two Gurjara houses, one at Bhinmal and another at Ujjain. Both these, along with the kingdoms of Valabhi and Nandīpurī, were being considerably harassed by the raids of the Arabs of Sindh in the second quarter of the 8th century A.D. - [Previous: c8.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8.1) - [Next: c8.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8.4) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8) ## Linked texts (1) - [Chachnāma](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.conquest.chachnama) — ʿAlī b. Ḥāmid al-Kūfī --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.altekar-1934.c8.3) · Pramāṇa