Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c7.s5: Chapter XI. The Rāṣṭrakūṭas

Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarát c7.s5

Language: English

Chapter XI. The Rāṣṭrakūṭas

The Rāṣṭrakūṭa connection with Gujarāt lasted from Śaka 665 to 896 (A.D. 743-974) that is, 231 years. This connection includes three periods: A first of sixty-five years from Śaka 665 to 730 (A.D. 743-808) when the Gujarāt ruler was dependent on the main Dakhan Rāṣṭrakūṭa; a second of eighty years between Śaka 730 and 810 (A.D. 808-888) when the Gujarāt ruler was on the whole independent; and a third of eighty-six years Śaka 810 to 896 (A.D. 888-974) when the Dakhan Rāṣṭrakūṭas again exercised direct sway over Gujarāt.

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Information regarding the origin of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas is imperfect. That the name will continue to exist in the Dakhan in Śaka 665 (A.D. 743) is certain. It is not known who the Dakhan Rāṣṭrakūṭas originally were or where or when they rose to prominence. Whether the dynastic name of Rāṭor, Rāṭod, and Marāṭhā Rājpūts represents a later form of the word Rāṣṭrakūṭa, again considering the later inscriptions call the Rāṣṭrakūṭas Rāṭṭas, a word which, so far as form goes, is hardly a correct Sanskrit contraction of Rāṣṭrakūṭa. The Sanskritisation of tribal names is an exact, if the name Raṭṭa were strange it might be pronounced Raṭṭa, Raṭṭha, or Raṭṭhi. This last form seems to connect with the Kanarese caste name Redḍi, which, so far as information goes, would place the Rāṣṭrakūṭas among the tribes of pre-Sanskrit southern origin.

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If Raṭṭa is the name of the dynasty, Raṭṭa or Raṭṭi may be attributed meaning prominent. The combination Rāṣṭrakūṭa would then mean the chiefs or leaders as opposed to the rank and file of the Raṭṭas. The Raṭṭas seem to be the clan of the Rāṭors of Central and Marwār very greatly. According to a Jain account the Rāṭṭas, whose name is fancifully derived from the Raṭṭa or spine of Indra, are connected with the Yavanas through an ancestor Yavana prince of Paithan. The Raṭṭod genealogies trace their origin to Kusa son of Rāma of the Solar Race. The bards of the Solar Race hold them to be descendants of Hiranya Kaśipa by a demon or daitya mother. Like the other great Rājput families the Rāthods' accounts contain no date earlier than the fifth century A.D. when (A.D. 470, S. 526) Nain Pāl is said to have conquered Kāṇauj slaying its monarch Ajipāl.¹ The Dakhan Rāshṭrakūṭas (whose earliest known date is also about A.D. 450) call themselves of the Lunar Race and of the Yadu dynasty. Such contradictions leave only one of two origins to the tribe. They were either foreigners or southerners Brāhmanised and included under the all-embracing term Rājput.

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¹ Tod's Annals of Rājasthān, I. 38; II. 2.

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Of the rise of the Rāshṭrakūṭas no trace remains. The earliest known Rāshṭrakūṭa copperplate is of a king Abhimanyu. This plate is not dated. Still its letters, its style of writing, and its lion seal, older than the Garuda mark which the Rāshṭrakūṭas assumed along with the claim of Yādava descent, leave no doubt that this is the earliest of known Rāshṭrakūṭa plates. Its probable date is about A.D. 450. The plate traces the descent of Abhimanyu through two generations from Māṇāṅka. The details are:

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Māṇāṅka,

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Devārāja,

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Bhavishya,

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Abhimanyu.

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The grant is dated from Māṇapura, perhaps Māṇāṅka's city, probably an older form of Mānyakheṭa the modern Mālkheḍ the capital of the later Rāshṭrakūṭas about sixty miles south-east of Śolāpur. These details give fair ground for holding the Māṇāṅka family to be a family of Rāshṭrakūṭa rulers earlier than that which appears in the usual genealogy of the later Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty (A.D. 630-972).

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The earliest information regarding the later Rāshṭrakūṭas is from a comparatively modern, and therefore not quite trustworthy, Chālukya copperplate of the eleventh century found by Mr. Wathen. This plate states that Jayasiṁha I. the earliest Chālukya defeated the Rāshṭrakūṭa Indra son of Krishna the lord of 800 elephants. The date of this battle would be about A.D. 500. If historic the reference implies that the Rāshṭrakūṭas were then a well established dynasty. In most of their own plates the genealogy of the Rāshṭrakūṭas begins with Govinda about A.D. 680. But that Govinda was not the founder of the family is shown by Dantidurga's Ellora Daśāvatāra inscription (about A.D. 750) which gives two earlier names Dantivarmman and Indra. The founding of Rāshṭrakūṭa power is therefore of doubtful date. Of the date of its overthrow there is no question. The overthrow came from the hand of the Western Chālukya Tailappa in S'aka 894 (A.D. 972) during the reign of the last Rāshṭrakūṭa Kakka III. or Kakkala.

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The following is the Rāshṭrakūṭa family tree:

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1. Dantidurga (about A.D. 750).

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2. Indra I. (about A.D. 753).

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3. Govinda I. (about A.D. 780).

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4. Karka I. or Karka II. (about A.D. 800).

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5. Indra II. (about A.D. 820).

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6. Dantidurga (about A.D. 830).

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7. Krishna (about A.D. 840).

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8. Govinda II. (about A.D. 850).

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9. Karka III. (about A.D. 860).

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10. Dhruva. (about A.D. 870).

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11. Govinda III. (about A.D. 880).

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12. Karka IV. (about A.D. 890).

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13. Krishna II. (about A.D. 900).

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14. Govinda IV. (about A.D. 910).

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15. Amoghavarsha. (about A.D. 920).

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16. Govinda V. (about A.D. 930).

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17. Krishna III. (about A.D. 940).

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18. Khottiga. (about A.D. 950).

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19. Karka V. (about A.D. 960).

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20. Indra IV. (about A.D. 970).

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The earliest Gujarat Rāshṭrakūṭa grant is that of Karka 669 (A.D. 747), comes from Antroli-Chharoli in Surat. It is written on two plates in the Vatsabhatti style of composition and form of letters, and, as in Valsabhi grants, the date is at the end. Unlike Valsabhi grants the era is the Śaka era. The grant gives the following genealogy somewhat different from that of the known Rāshṭrakūṭa grants: