The Rashtrakutas and their Times c9.s3.1

c9.s3.1

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.