The Rashtrakutas and their Times c9.s3: Govinda III
The Rāṣṭrakūṭas and their Times c9.s3
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Govinda III
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Dhruva had a number of sons. The names of four of them are known,—Stambha Raṇāvaloka, (Kambarasa in Canarese), Karka Suvarṇavarsha, Govinda and Indra, and it is not unlikely that he may have had more. Stambha was a viceroy over the newly annexed province of Gangawadi, ²⁹ Karka Suvarṇavarsha was carrying on the administration of Khandesh, ³⁰ even before his father's accession; Govinda, who was selected by the father for succession and Indra, who was later put in the charge of southern Gujrat by Govinda, were probably co-operating with their father in the military expeditions. All these sons were grown up, able, and ambitious, and the old emperor must have realised that if a war of succession was to be avoided, some one among them must be selected for the throne and formally anointed as the heir-apparent. His choice fell upon Govinda, because he was the ablest and the worthiest among them, ³¹ well competent to protect the wide empire that he was to inherit. The selection was followed by a formal coronation, and Govinda was invested with a *kaṇṭhikā* or necklace which was the insignia of the heir-apparent.
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²⁹ E. C., IV, p. 93.
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³⁰ Dhulia plates of Govinda II, E. I., VIII, pp. 182 ff.
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³¹ यस्याकारमनुषं त्रिभुवनव्याप्तिक्षोचितम्ः ॥ कृष्णस्येव निरीक्ष्य यच्छति पितन्येकाधिपत्यं भुवः । आस्तां तात...इति पितरं युक्तं वचो योऽभ्यधात् ॥ Radhanpur plates, E. I., IV, pp. 242 ff.
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But the old emperor apprehended trouble in spite of the Yuvarāja coronation of his son Govinda, and proposed to abdicate in favour of the heir-apparent, as the verse quoted in the last footnote would show. Govinda, however, opposed this proposal. It is difficult at present to determine whether the proposed abdication did actually take place. The Paithan plates definitely state that Govinda obtained the kingdom from his father at a formal coronation ³² and their testimony is supported by v. 30 of the Surat plates of Karka, which states that Govinda obtained not Yuvarājaship but emperorship from his father. Cf.
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³² यश्च प्रभु...पितुस्सकाशात् मूर्धाभिषिक्तृपसम्मतमाशुराज्यम् आसेदिवान्...॥
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राज्याभिषेककलशैर्भिषिच्य दत्ताम् ।
राजाधिराजपरमेश्वरतां स्वपित्र ॥
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It is possible that the expressions ‘Rājyābhishekasamaya’ and ‘Rājyābhishekakalaśa’ may have been used rather loosely in these records with reference to Yuvarāja coronation.
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But it is equally probable that realising that installation as a Yuvaraja was no guarantee against a war of succession, as was shown by his own overthrow of his elder brother, Dhruva may have actually abdicated in favour of Govinda in spite of the filial protests of the latter. Govinda's actual installation as an emperor, he may have thought, may minimise the prospects of his succession being opposed after his death. In the present state of knowledge, therefore, it is difficult to decide whether Dhruva had actually abdicated towards the end of his career; it may, however, be safely assumed that Govinda was the de facto ruler in full charge of the administration when his father died.
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The accession of Govinda III took place peacefully, for the Paithan plates, issued within less than a year of the death of Dhruva, do not refer to any war of succession. But Stambha, who was an elder brother of Govinda, was smarting under the humiliation of his supercession, and soon formed a formidable confederacy of twelve kings to gain the throne to which he was legally entitled. The names of the allies of Stambha are not known, but we cannot be far wrong in assuming that they must have been some of the neighbouring and feudatory rulers (33) who must have been smarting under the treatment they had received from the dead emperor. The Sanjan plates inform us that a number of high officers of the state also joined the cause of Stambha.
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33. Such was the case with the Ganga ruler whom Govinda had released, probably with the intention of creating a rival against his brother, who was governing Gangawadi, the patrimony of the released king. S'ivamāra Muttarasa, the Ganga ruler, however, joined Stambha who, anticipating the imperial crown, may have promised Gangawadi to its legitimate ruler in order to get his assistance in the fight with Govinda. Fleet's suggestion that the glorious Kaṭṭiyira who is mentioned as reigning over the earth, while Dosirāja was governing Vanavasi 12000, may have been an ally of Stambha, would be plausible only if we assume that this Dosirāja was different from the Dosirāja who was governing portions of Karnatak under Kīrtivarman in 757 A.D. (E. I., VI, pp. 253 ff.)
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Govinda had anticipated the storm and was well prepared to meet it. By following a policy of conciliation he had endeared himself to a number of his feudatories, (34) who now stood by his side. His brother, Indra, helped him zealously, and it was probably in recognition of his services on this occasion, that he was appointed to the Gujrat viceroyalty. Besides, Govinda was himself a great soldier and skilful general. He, therefore, soon defeated Stambha and his twelve allies and made his position secure. A verse in the Sanjan plates claims (35) that Govinda treated his enemies leniently after the revolt was put down. Such really was the case, for the ring-leader of the confederacy, Stambha, was reinstated by Govinda in his Ganga governorship where he continued to govern at least till 802 A.D. (36)
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Stambha was governing Gangawadi during his father's life-time, and it is therefore very likely that the centre of campaign against him must have been south Karnatak. Govinda's expedition against the Ganga ruler must have been undertaken immediately thereafter. Seeing a war of succession impending, Muttarasa, the Ganga ruler, (c. 765 - c. 805 A.D.) assumed imperial titles soon after his release from the Rāṣṭrakūṭa captivity; (37) he may have very probably joined the side of Stambha, who may have promised to restore his kingdom to him when he would become the Emperor. We can, therefore, well understand why the Radhanpur plates call him haughty, (37) and the Sanjan plates ungrateful. (38) Govinda defeated him easily, for the Radhanpur plates observe that a mere frown was sufficient for the purpose. The defeated ruler was again imprisoned in c. 798 A.D., and Gangawadi was again annexed to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire. Stambha was reappointed to the Ganga viceroyalty which he continued to rule down to 802 A.D. at least.³⁹ Later on he was succeeded by Chākirāja, sometime before the issue of the Kadba plates in 814 A.D. Grown wiser by the fate of Ganga ruler, Charuponnera of Nolambawadi recognised the suzerainty of Govinda.⁴⁰
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³⁴ Sanjan plates of Amoghavarsha, v. 17, E. I., XVIII, p. 244.
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³⁵ Ibid, v. 18.
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³⁶ See note No. 39 below.
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³⁷ In his earlier inscriptions, as Fleet has pointed out, his title is simple Maharaja whereas, in his Holawadi record he assumes the imperial title Konguṇi Rājādhirāja Parames'vara S'rīpurusha E. I., V., pp. 156-158 ff.
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³⁷ Cf. दर्पविसरायः प्रातिकूल्ये स्थितः। E.I., VI, p. 242.
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³⁸ Cf. उपगताविकृतिः कृतघ्नगङ्गः ॥ v.
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¹⁸ E.I. XVIII p. 244.
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³⁹ A copper-plate grant from Manne, dated 802 A.D., mentions Ranāvaloka S'aucha Kambhadeva as the elder brother of Pṛthīvivallabha Prābhūtarasa Govindarājadeva who meditated on the feet of Dhāraravar-shadeva. This grant was made by Stambha with the permission of Govinda, a fact which clearly shows that Stambha had been pardoned by Govinda and reinstated in the Ganga viceroyalty after the imprisonment of the Ganga ruler. E. C. IX, Nelamangal No. 61.
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⁴⁰ Some records from Chitaldurga district show that Charuponnera of Nolawbalge was a feudatory of जगत्तुंग-प्रभूतवर्ष-गोविन्द. This Govinda is obviously Govinda III. E. C., XI, Nos. 33-34.
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Govinda next turned his arms to Kanchi. That kingdom had been already once attacked by his father, but Govinda found it necessary to invade it once more, probably because its ruler had sided with Stambha. The Kanchi ruler was defeated sometime before 803 A.D.; for we learn from the British Museum plates of Govinda III,⁴¹ that at the time when they were issued in 804 A.D., Govinda was encamped at Rameśvara Tīrtha, while returning from his victorious expedition against the Pallava king. Govinda's victory was not decisive, for towards the end of his reign, he had to attack the Pallavas once more.
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⁴¹ I. A., XI, p. 126.
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Freed from the worries in the south, Govinda turned his attention to the east. Viṣṇuvardhana IV and Vijayāditya Narendrarāja were his contemporaries, but since we have to place the expedition against Vengi later than 804 A.D., (42) his Chālukya opponent was very probably Vijayāditya, who is known to have ruled from c. 799 to 843 A.D. Govinda attacked him probably because of the old feud between the two houses. He was a new ruler and therefore a good target for an aggressive conqueror. The Vengi ruler was defeated; a verse in the Radhanpur plates states that he was compelled to prepare a compound for the conqueror's stables, and another in the Sanjan plates of Amoghavarsha I describes the humiliation to which he was subjected, when compelled to cleanse the floor of Govinda's camp. The war which broke out at this time between the two states, lingered for twelve years in which as many as 108 battles are said to have been fought; (43) during the lifetime of Govinda the victory seems to have been with the Rāshṭrakūṭa forces, but things changed with the accession of the boy emperor Amoghavarsha.
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After reducing to subjection almost all the important kings to the south of the Narmada, Govinda organised an expedition into northern India. Many new developments had taken place there since his father's retirement to the south. Taking advantage of the crushing defeat inflicted upon Vatsarāja by Dhruva, and of the preoccupation of Govinda III in the south, Dharmapāla had captured Kanauj and put his own nominee Chakrāyudha on its throne with the assent, genuine or forced, of most of the kings of Madhyadeśa and the Punjab. (44) But Dharmapāla did not enjoy his
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42. Govinda's armies were fighting against the southern powers down to 804 A.D.; and the defeat of the Vengi ruler is first mentioned in the Radhanpur grant of 809 A.D.
43. See Idara grant of Ammaraja I, I. A., XIII, pp. 56 ff.
44. जितेन्द्रराजप्रभृतीन्रातीन् । उपाजिता येन महोदयश्रीः ॥ दत्ता पुनस्सा . . . . . चक्रायुधायनतिथामनाय ॥ Bhagalpur grant. भोजैर्मत्स्यैस्समैः कुरुयद्यवनावन्तिगान्धारभूपैः । . . . . . साधु संगीयमाणः ॥ Khalimpur grant of Dharmapala, E. I., VI, pp. 248 ff.
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imperial supremacy in northern India for a long time. Nāgabhaṭa II, who had succeeded Vatsarāja on the Pratihāra throne, soon recovered his position. He formed an alliance, as Dr. R. C. Majumdar has pointed out, with the Mahomedans of Sindh, the Chalukyas of Vengi, and the local rulers in eastern and western C. P., and attacked Dharmapāla and Chakrāyudha.(45) His attack was successful and both Dharmapāla and Chakrāyudha were defeated.(46) He then subjugated the territory round Dholpur and led an expedition to the west defeating the chiefs in Malva and northern Gujrat.(47) Nāgabhaṭa II was thus at the height of his glory and power, when Govinda III decided to attack him sometime in 806 or 807 A.D.
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The northern expedition of Govinda was boldly planned and skilfully executed. He entrusted a number of his generals with the work of subduing or keeping in check the rulers of Vengi, Orissa, Kosala and Malva, his brother Indra was sent to attack the Gurjara-Pratihāras in their home province, and then he himself proceeded in the direction of the Doab and Kanauj to attack Nāgabhaṭa himself(48) sometime in 806 or 807 A.D.(49)
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⁴⁵ E. I., XVIII, pp. 87 ff.
46. जित्वा पराश्रयकृतस्फुटनीचभावम् । चक्रायुधं विनयनमवपुर्व्यराजत् ॥ निर्जित्य वङ्गपतिमाविरभूद्विस्वान् । Gwalior inscription of Bhoja, A. S. R., 1903-4.
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⁴⁷ Ibid, v. 8.
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⁴⁸ The Sanjan plates actually mention the name of the Gurjara-Pratihāra ruler as Nāgabhaṭa (v. 22). Before the publication of this record the name of the Gurjara opponent had to be inferred, since it was given in no Rāṣṭrakūṭa record. Buhler had proposed to identify him with some member of the Chavoṭaka house. (I. A., XII. p. 158,)
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⁴⁹ Since the Gurjara defeat is mentioned in the Radhanpur plates issued in August 809 A.D., and since Govinda was just completing his expedition against the Kanchi ruler in 804 A.D. the above conclusion about the date of this expedition will appear as very probable, when it is also remembered that the Vengi expedition was undertaken prior to the advance to the north.
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Apart from a few local reverses, (50) success seems to have attended Govinda's arms everywhere. The army under the Gujrat viceroy Indra was ultimately victorious; the Baroda plates of his son Karka, issued in 811-2 A.D., state that Indra was able to rout out single-handed the lord of the Gurjars. The expeditions against the central Indian rulers were equally successful. (51) After defeating the ruler of Chitrakūṭa Govinda himself marched into the Doab. He defeated Nāgabhaṭa II and apparently pressed right up to the Himalayan ranges. (52) Nāgabhaṭa's defeat was fairly decisive; he had to retire to the deserts of Rajputana. Chakrāyudha was a mere puppet and offered voluntary submission. Dharmapāla also is said to have done the same, (53) probably because he was shrewd enough to realise that it was politically wise to humour Govinda III, who had indirectly obliged him by overthrowing his greatest enemy, Nāgabhaṭa II. Govinda, he knew, would soon retire to the south, leaving him free to exploit the situation created by the defeat of the Gurjara-Pratihāra ruler.
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50. Bāhukadhavala, a contemporary and feudatory of Nāgabhaṭa II in Kathiawar, is said to have defeated a Karnataka army in a grant of his grandson Balavarman (E. I., IX, pp. 1 ff). This victory may have been a local success against the army of Indra, the Gujrat viceroy.
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51. The defeat of Kosala king, Chandragupta, is specifically mentioned in the v. 22 of the Sanjan record; v. 24 makes the general statement that all the central Indian kings were reduced to submission by the generals of Govinda. E. I., XVIII p. 245.
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52. V. 23 of the Sanjan record refers to the resounding of the Himalayan caves by the noise made at the time of the bath of the army of Govinda in the Ganges. It is possible, however, that this resounding of the Himalayan caves may be merely poetic, and the armies of Govinda may not have marched much beyond the Ganges-Jumna Doab. The Rāshṭrakūṭa records do not claim the conquest of Kanauj at this time; and since Kanauj was not conquered, it is not likely that Govinda could have gone in the close vicinity of the Himalayas.
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⁵³ स्वयमेवोपगतौ च यस्य महतस्तौ धर्मचक्रायुधौ। Sanjan plates, ibid.
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Govinda's expedition in northern India was merely of the nature of a *digvijaya*. He compelled both Nāgabhaṭa II and Dharmapāla, each of whom was seeking to make the titular king Chakrāyudha a puppet in his own hands, to recognize his suzerainty. He did not annex any portions of their normal kingdoms, though he must have exacted heavy tributes from them. The same was the case with the central Indian rulers, perhaps with the exception of Malva. We do not know who the Malva ruler was, who in the Wani-Dindori⁵⁴ plates is described as submitting to Govinda. He may possibly have been a feudatory governor of Nāgabhaṭa II, appointed to govern Malva when his master was preoccupied with the conquest of Kanauj. The statement in Baroda plates of Karka, issued in 812 A.D., that Karka was made a door-bolt to protect Malva against the Gurjara attack, suggests that Malva was almost assimilated to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dominions as a result of this expedition.
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⁵⁴ I. A., XII, p. 157.
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Govinda then marched westward and was welcomed by king Śarva at his capital Śribhavana or modern Sarbhon in Bharoch⁵⁵ district with the presents of the choicest heir-looms.
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⁵⁵ An inscription hailing from Gudigeri in Dharwar district (E. I., VI, p. 257) which, on palæographical grounds can be assigned to c. 800 A.D., refers to a glorious mahārāja, Mārāssaḷba by name, as ruling over that district, Fleet had opined (*Ibid*) that this ruler may be the same as king Māraś'arva, who, in the Rādhanpur plates, is described as submitting to Govinda at the mere news of his approach to the Vindhya regions. This view is, however, untenable. Māraś'arva was a petty ruler ruling at Sarbhon in Bharoch district as will become evident from the following reasons :—
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(i) The statement in the Wani-Dindori plates, that Māraś'arva hastened to present his heir-looms to Govinda, as soon as his spies reported to him the arrival of the conqueror in the vicinity of the Vindhyan ranges, makes it abundantly clear that his dominion must have been in the vicinity of that mountain; if he were really ruling in Dharwar district, the advent of Govinda in the Vindhyan regions would not have frightened him.
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Govinda spent the major part of the rainy season of 808 A.D. at his capital, maturing the plans of the campaigns against the kings of the south, who had shown signs of insubordination during his absence in northern India and formed a confederacy against him.(56) It was during his stay at Sarbhon that Amoghavarsha was born in the monsoon of 808 A.D.(57)
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(ii) The reference to the presentation of the choicest heir-looms by Māras'arva would show that before that time, he was an independent ruler. But Dharwar was in the very heart of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa empire under the direct imperial administration; no independent king could have survived there down to c. 808 A.D. Mārassalba of the Gudigeri record must have been a third-rate feudatory,—supposing that he belonged to this period—; for an inscription from the district of Shimoga shows that Rājdaityarasa was Govinda's governor over Banavāsī 12000, and that Chitravāhana was ruling over Alurakhed 6000 under him at this time. [ See E. C., VIII, Sorab Nos. 10 and 22 ].
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(iii) At the beginning of the monsoon of 808 A.D. Govinda's army had just returned after prolonged operations in Northern and Central India, and it is therefore very unlikely that he would have subjected it to a long march to the Tungabhadra. The fact that the Rādhanpur plates were issued from Mayūrakhindī in Nasik district in July 808 A.D. would also show that Govinda did not proceed to the south, immediately after his northern campaign but spent the rainy season in the north. S'rībhavana ought to be, therefore, identified with Sarbhon in Bharoch district, and not with Shiggaon, the headquarters of Bankapur Taluka in Dharwar district, about 30 miles north of the Tungabhadra, as Fleet has suggested. There is also some phonetic difficulty in identifying Shiggaon with S'rībhavan. The same difficulty is encountered in considering the view of Wathen that S'rībhavana, where Govinda was encamped, is modern Cowldurg in Mysore.
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(iv) The Sanjān plates of Amoghavarsha I, recently published, show conclusively that S'rībhavana is Sarbhon in Bharoch district. They describe the capital of Māras'arva, as situated in the Narmadā valley at the foot of the Vindhyas (v. 25). This description applies very accurately to Sarbhon in Bharoch district, and not to Shiggaon in Dharwar district. It need not be added that king S'arva of the Sanjān record is the same as king Māras'arva of the Rādhanpur plates.
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⁵⁶ Sanjān plates of Amoghavarsha, v. 30 E, I., XVIII, p. 246.
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From Sribhavana or Sarbhon he proceeded to the south to teach a lesson to the Dravidian kings who had formed an alliance against him. The members of this confederacy were the rulers of Gangawādi, Kerala, Pāṇḍya, Chola and Kāñchī kingdoms. These were all of them defeated.(58) Several battalions of the Ganga army, or perhaps some members of the royal family,(59) were put to the sword, Kāñchī was once more occupied, and the Chola and Pāṇḍya kingdoms were overrun. The fate of these states frightened the king of Ceylon who hurried to offer submission, sending his own statue and that of his minister to Govinda, while the latter was encamped at Kāñchī.(60) Govinda sent them on to Mālkhed to be put in front of a Śiva temple as columns of victory.
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The southern campaign, which was undertaken subsequent to the monsoons of 808 A.D., must have required at least two years and may have terminated sometime in 810 or 811 A.D. Govinda probably undertook no more expeditions; he was getting old, his end was approaching, and towards the close of his reign he must have been occupied in making some arrangements to ensure the succession of his only son, Amoghavarsha, who was born as late as in 808 A.D. Govinda was alive on the 4th of December 813 A.D. when the Torkhede plates(61) were issued by him. His death took place soon thereafter, for there is evidence to show that Amoghavarsha ascended the throne sometime in the next year.
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58. *Ibid*, v. 30
59. *Ibid*, v. 33.
60. *Ibid*, v. 34, Cf :— लङ्कातः किल तत्प्रभुप्रतिकृती काञ्चीमुपेतौ ततः । कीर्तिस्तंभनिभौ शिवायतनके येनेह संस्थापितौ ॥
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It is clear from this verse that the statues were transported from Kanchi to ‘here’ i e, Mālkhed from where the plates were issued. It is, besides, very unlikely that Govinda would have ever thought of erecting these *Kīrtistambhas* at Kāñchī which he had only temporarily occupied.
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Govinda was, perhaps, the ablest of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa emperors. He not only put down the confederacy that was formed to oppose his accession but also enhanced the prestige of his kingdom and added to its area. Mālva in the north and Gangawadi in the south were annexed to the empire. Both Nāgabhaṭa and Dharmapāla, who were aspiring to the imperial position in the north, were overthrown by him. The victorious march of his armies had literally embraced all the territory between the Himālayas and Cape Camorin. Even the king of Ceylon was terrified into submission. Never again did the prestige of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas reach this high level. Indra III, no doubt, conquered Kanauj but he could not proceed beyond the North Pennar in the south. Kṛṣṇa III had indeed conquered all the states defeated by Govinda III in the south but could not enter the Madhyadeśa and defeat the principal kings in north India. The statement of the Wani-Dindori plates that with the advent of Govinda III the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty became invincible to its enemies is no boast of a court panegyrist but a plain statement of fact.
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The success of Govinda was due to his bravery, statesmanship and power of organisation. He is compared to Pārtha in the Baroda plates of his nephew Karka, (62) and the Naosari plates (63) issued by the same ruler describe how Govinda was accustomed to plunge straightway into the thick of battle without caring to consider the odds against him. His fondness for sport (64) also attests to active habits and personal bravery. His successful campaigns in the north and the south attest to his generalship and power of organisation. His victory over Stambha at the beginning of his reign speaks volumes for his diplomacy. His creation of the Gujrat viceroyalty (65) under his brother Indra not only secured the northern boundaries of the empire, but enabled his child successor to regain the throne. For, both Indra, who predeceased him, and his son Karka, were loyal to the imperial throne (66) and defended it against internal and external enemies.
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⁶² I. A., XII, pp. 158 ff.
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⁶³ J. B. B. R. A. S., XX, pp. 135 ff.
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⁶⁴ I. A., XI, pp. 126 ff.
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⁶⁵ It is usually supposed that Gujrat was reconquered by Govinda and handed over to his brother Indra. But no record, contemporary