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Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarat c8: Chapter XI.

Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I, Part I: History of Gujarát c8

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English

Chapter XI.

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THE RĀṢṬRAKŪṬAS, A.D. 743-974.

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Kakka II. A.D. 747.

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The plate notices that Kakka the grantor was the son of Govinda by his wife the daughter of the illustrious Nāgavarman. Kakka is further described by the feudatory title ‘Samadhigata-pañcha-mahāśabdaḥ’ Holder of the five great names. At the same time he is also called Paramabhaṭṭāraka-Mahārāja Great Lord Great King, attributes which seem to imply a claim to independent power. The grant is dated the bright seventh of Āśvayuja, Śaka 669 (A.D. 747). The date is almost contemporary with the year of Dantidurga in the Sāmangaḍ plate (A.D. 758). As Dantidurga was a very powerful monarch we may identify the first Kakka of this plate with Kakka I. the grandfather of Dantidurga and thus trace from Dhruva Kakka's son a branch of feudatory Rāṣṭrakūṭas ruling in Mālwā or Gujarāt, whose leaders were Dhruva, his son Govinda, and Govinda's son Kakka II. Further Dantidurga's grant shows that he conquered Central Gujarāt between the Mahī and the Narbadā while his Elura Daśāvatāra inscription (A.D. 750) shows that he held Lāṭa and Mālava. Dantidurga's conquest of Central Gujarāt seems to have been signalised by grants of land made by his mother in every village of the Mātri division which is apparently the Matar tāluka of the Kaira district. It is possible that Dantidurga gave conquered Gujarāt to his paternal cousin's son and contemporary Kakka, the grantor of the Antroli plate (A.D. 747), as the representative of a family ruling somewhere under the overlordship of the main Dakhan Rāṣṭrakūṭas. Karka's Baroda grant (A.D. 812) supports this theory. Dantidurga died childless and was succeeded by his uncle Kṛishṇa. Of this Kṛishṇa the Baroda grant says that he assumed the government for the good of the family after having rooted out a member of the family who had taken to mischief-making. It seems probable that Kakka II. the grantor of the Antroli plate is the mischief-maker and that his mischief was, on the death of Dantidurga, the attempt to secure the succession to himself. Kṛishṇa frustrated Kakka's attempt and rooted him out so effectively that no trace of Kakka's family again appears.

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From this it follows that, so far as is known, the Rāṣṭrakūṭa conquest of Gujarāt begins with Dantidurga's conquest of Lāṭa, that is South Gujarāt between the Mahī and the Narbadā, from the Gurjjara king Jayabhaṭa whose latest known date is A.D. 736 or seventeen years before the known date of Dantidurga. The Gurjjaras probably retired to the Rājpīpla hills and further east on the confines of Mālwa where they may have held a lingering sway. No Gujarāt event of importance is recorded during the reign of Kṛishṇa (A.D. 765) or of his son Govinda II. (A.D. 780) who about As Govinda III. handed Gujarāt to his brother Indra about Śaka 730 (A.D. 808) and as the grant of Indra's son Karka is dated Śaka 734 (A.D. 812) Indra's reign must have been short. Indra is styled the ruler of the entire kingdom of Lāṭeśvara,¹ the protector of the mandala of Lāṭa given to him by his lord. An important verse in an unpublished Baroda grant states that Indra chased the lord of Gurjjara who had prepared to fight, and that he honourably protected the multitude of Dakhan (Dakṣiṇāpatha) feudatories (mahāsāmantas) whose glory was shattered by Śrīvallabha (that is, Sarvva or Amoghavarṣa) then heir-apparent of Govinda. That is, in attempting to establish himself in independent power, Indra aided certain of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa feudatories in an effort to shake off the overlordship of Amoghavarṣa.

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² Ind. Ant., XI, 112.

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³ Bombay Arch. Sur. Separate Number, 10, 94.

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⁴ This verse which immediately follows the mention of Govinda's conquests on the banks of the Mahī and the Narbadā panningly explains the name of the Matar tāluka as meaning the Mother's tāluka.

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⁵ Ind. Ant., XII, 156.

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⁶ The Khandesh Reve and Bore Gujars of Chopḍa and Raver in the east, and also over most of the west, may be a remnant of these Gujars of Broach who at this time (A.D. 740), and perhaps again about sixty years later, may have been forced up the Narbadā and Tāpti into South Mālwa and West Khandesh. This is doubtful as their migration is said to have taken place in the eleventh century and may have been due to pressure from the north the effect of Mahmūd Ghaznavi's invasions (A.D. 1000-1025).

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¹ The kingdom is not called Lāṭa in the copperplate but Lāṭeśvara-maṇḍala. An unpublished Baroda grant has śāstā pratāpaśayataḥ pṛthivyāṃ sarvvasya lāṭeśvarasya. The ruler famous by glory, of the whole kingdom of the king of Lāṭa. Other published grants, record Govinda's gift of Gujarāt to Indra as varadattarājyabhāraḥ. Of him (Indra) to whom the kingdom of the lord of Lāṭa had been given by him (Govinda). Ind. Ant. XII. 162.

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Indra was succeeded by his son Karka I. who is also called Suvarṇavarṣa and Pātālamalla. Karka reversed his father's policy and loyally accepted the overlordship of the main Rāṣṭrakūṭas. Three grants of Karka's remain, the Baroda grant dated Śaka 734 (A.D. 812), and two unpublished grants from Navsārī and Surat dated respectively Śaka 738 (A.D. 816), and Śaka 743 (A.D. 821). Among Doctor Bhagvānlāl's collection of inscriptions bequeathed to the British Museum the Baroda grant says that Karka's svāmi or lord, apparently Govinda III. made use of Karka's arm to protect the king of Mālava against invasion by the king of Gurjjara who had become puffed up by conquering the lords of Gauḍa and Vaṅga that is modern Bengal. This powerful Gurjjara king who conquered countries so distant as Bengal has not been identified. He must have been ruling north of the Mahī and threatened an invasion of Mālwa by way of Dohad. He may have been either a Valabhī king or one of the Bhinmāl Gurjjaras, who, during the decline of the Valabhīs, and with the help of their allies the Chāvaḍās of Aṇahilavāḍa whose leader at this time was Yog Rāja (A.D. 806-841), may have extended their dominion as far south as the Mahī. As the Baroda plate (A.D. 812) makes no mention of Amoghavarṣa-Sarvva while the Navsārī plate (A.D. 816) mentions him as the next king after Govinda III. it follows that Govinda III. died and Amoghavarṣa succeeded between A.D. 812 and 816 (S. 734 and 738). This supports Mr. Fleet's conclusion, on the authority of Amoghavarṣa's own inscription, that he came to the throne in Śaka 736 (A.D. 814). At first Amoghavarṣa was unable to make head against the opposition of some of his relations and feudatories, supported, as noted above, by Karka's father Indra. He seems to have owed his A.D. 795 was superseded by his powerful younger brother Dhruva.

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² Ind. Ant. XII. 160; unpublished Baroda grant. Śrīvallabha appears to mean Amoghavarṣa who is also called Lakṣmīvallabha in an inscription at Sirūr in Dhārwār (Ind. Ant. XII. 215).

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Dhruva was a mighty monarch whose conquests spread from South India as far north as Allahâbâd. During Dhruva's life-time his son Govinda probably ruled at Mayūrakhaṇḍī or Markhaṇḍa in the Nâsik district and held the Ghât country and the Gujarat coast from Balsâr northwards. Though according to a Kapadvanj grant Govinda had several brothers the Râdhanpur (A.D. 808) and Van-Dindori (A.D. 808) grants of his son Govinda III. state that his father, seeing Govinda's supernatural Krishna-like powers, offered him the sovereignty of the whole world. Govinda declined, saying, "The Kanthika or coast tract already given to me is enough." Seeing that Mayūrakhaṇḍī or Markhaṇḍa in Nâsik was Govinda's capital, this Kanthika appears to be the coast from Balsâr northwards.

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According to Gujarat Govinda's (A.D. 827-835) Kavi grant (A.D. 827), finding his power threatened by Stambha and other kings, Dhruva made the grant to Govinda, independently fixing his own kingdom. This suggests that while Dhruva continued to hold the main Râshṭrakūṭa sovereignty in the Dekhan, he probably invested Govinda with the sovereignty of Gujarat. The fact the Kavi grant (A.D. 827) finding a favourit grant would hardly mention while it would not find a place in the Râdhanpur (A.D. 808) and Van-Dindori (A.D. 808) grants of the same Râshṭrakūṭas. Of the chiefs who opposed Govinda the chief was Stambha who may have some connection with Cambay as, during the time of the Anahilavâḍa kings, Cambay came to be called Stambha-tīrtha instead of by its old name of Gâmbhuṭa. According to the grants the allied chiefs were no match for Govinda. The Gurjaras fled through fear, not returning even in dream, and the Mâlwa king submitted. Who these Gurjaras were is hard to say. He may have belonged to some Gurjara dynasty that rose to importance after Dantidurga's conquest or the name may mean a ruler of the Gurjara country. In either case some North Gujaratarâṭra is meant whose conquest opened the route from Broach to Mâlwa. From Mâlwa Govinda marched to the Vindhyas where the king apparently of East Mâlwa named Marâ Śarva submitted to Govinda paying tribute. From the Vindhyas Govinda returned to Gujarat passing the rains at Śrībhavana, apparently Sâbhôn in the Aned taluka of Broach, a favourite locality which he had ruled during his father's lifetime. After the rains Govinda went south as far as the Tungabhadrâ, in starting for the south Govinda handed Gujarat to his brother Indra with whom begins the Gujarat branch of the Râshṭrakūṭas. Several plates distinctly mention that Indra was given the kingdom of the lord of Lâṭa by his brother Govinda. Other Gujarat grants, apparently with intent to show that Indra won Gujarat and did not receive it in gift, after mentioning Śarva Amoghavarsha as the successor of Govinda (A.D. 818), state that the king (apparently of Gujarat) was Śarva's uncle Indra.

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¹ Ind. Ant. VI, 65; Jour. B. A. Soc. V. 550.

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² Ind. Ant. VI, 65.

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subsequent success to his cousin Karka whom he re-established Surat grant and two later grants (S. 757 and S. 789, A.D. 835 and 867) describe as establishing Amoghavarsha in his own place after conquering by the strength of his arm arrogant tributary Rashtrakutas who becoming firmly allied to each other had occupied provinces according to their own will.

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Karka's Baroda plates (S. 734, A.D. 812) record the grant of Baroda itself Vadanadrake in the text. Baroda is easily identified by the mention of the surrounding villages of Jambu-sar, Vila the modern Jalarvas on the east, of Ankottaka the modern Akota on the west, and of Vaggachchha perhaps the modern Vaghodiya on the north. The writer of the grant is mentioned as the great minister of peace and war Nannaiya son of Durgabhata, and the Dutaka or grantee is said to be Rajaputra who is called Dantivarman apparently a son of Karka. The grantee is a Brahmana originally of Valabhi.

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Karka's Navsari grant (S. 738, A.D. 816) is of a farm Khare-khel records the gift of the village of Sanipellaka in the country lying between the Mahi and the Narmada. This grant is a south Indian Brahmana from Badami in Bijapur, a man of learning popularly known as Chandu. Velubharage he also was proficient in the fourteen Vidya. The Dutaka of this grant is a south Indian Mara or military officer named the illustrious Dronamma.

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Karka's Surat grant (S. 743, A.D. 821) is made from the royal camp on the bank of the Vanki apparently the Vanki creek near Balsar. It records the grant of a field in Anna petaka village near Nagasarika (Navsari) to a Jain temple at Nagasarika (Navsari). The writer of the grant is the minister of war and peace Nannaiya son of Durgabhata. As it is the first grant by a Gujarat Rashtrakuta of lands south of the Tapti it may be inferred that in return for his support, Amoghavarsha by adding to Karka's territory the portion of the North Konkan which now forms Gujarat south of the Tapti.

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According to Karka's Baroda plate (S. 734, A.D. 812) Karka had a son named Dantivarman who is mentioned as the named Dutaka of the plate. The fact of being a Dutaka implies that Dantivarman was then of age. That Dantivarman was a son of Karka is supported by Akalavarsha's Bagumra plate (S. 810, A.D. 888) where, though the plate is badly composed and the genealogy is faulty certain useful details are given regarding Dantivarman, who is clearly mentioned as the son of Karka. Karka had another son named Dhruva, who, according to three copperplates, succeeded to the throne. But as Dantivarman's son's grant is dated S. 810 or seventy-six years later than the Baroda plate some error seems to have crept into the genealogy of the plate. Neither Dantivarman nor Dhruva seems to have succeeded their father as according to Govinda's Kavi grant (A.D. 827) their uncle Govinda succeeded his brother Karka. The explanation may be that Dantivarman died during his father's lifetime, and that some years later, after a great yearning for a son, probably in Karka's old age, a second son Dhruva was born, during whose minority, after Karka's death, Govinda appears to have temporarily occupied the throne.

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¹ Several copperplates give Karka the epithet Putriyatamanas Son-yearning.

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This Govinda, the brother and successor of Karka, was also called Prabhūtavarsha. One plate of Govinda's Kāvī grant is dated Śaka 749 (A.D. 827). It gives no details regarding Govinda. The grant is made from Broach and records the gift of a village to a temple of the Sun called Jayāditya in Kotipur near Kapikā that is Kāvī thirty miles north of Broach. The writer of the grant is Yogēśvara son of Avalokita and the Dūtaka or grantor was one Bhaṭṭa Kumuḍa. As it contains no reference to Govinda's succession the plate favours the view that Govinda remained in power only during the minority of his nephew Dhruva.

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This Dhruva, who is also called Nirupama and Dhārāvarsha, is mentioned as ruler in a Baroda grant dated Śaka 757 (A.D. 835). He therefore probably came to the throne either on attaining his majority in the lifetime of his uncle and predecessor Govinda or after Govinda's death. Dhruva's Baroda grant (Ś. 757, A.D. 835) is made from a place called Sarvvamaṅgalā near Khedā and records the gift of a village to a Brāhmaṇ named Yoga of Badavadhi apparently Borsad. The writer of the grant is mentioned as the minister of peace and war, Nārāyaṇa son of Durgabhaṭṭa, and the Dūtaka or grantor is the illustrious Devarāja. Dhruva seems to have abandoned his father's position of loyal feudatory to the main Rāshṭrakūṭas. According to a copperplate dated Śaka 832 (A.D. 910) Vallabha that is Amoghavarsha, also called the illustrious great Skanda, sent an army and besieged and burned the Kaṇṭhikā that is the coast tract between Bombay and Cambay. In the course of this campaign, according to Dhruva II.'s Bagumrā grant (Ś. 789, A.D. 867), Dhruva died on the field of battle covered with wounds while routing the army of Vallabha or Amoghavarsha. This statement is supported by a Kanheri cave inscription which shows that Amoghavarsha was still alive in Śaka 799 (A.D. 877).

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Dhruva was succeeded by his son Akālavarsha also called Subhatuṅga. A verse in Dhruva II.'s Bagumrā grant (Ś. 789, A.D. 867) says that Akālavarsha established himself in the territory of his father, which, after Dhruva's death in battle, had been overrun by the army of Vallabha and had been distracted by evil-minded followers.⁵

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⁵ Ind. Ant. XII. 184. The verse may be translated 'By whom before long was occupied the province handed down from his father which had been overran by the forces of Vallabha and distracted by numbers of evil-minded followers.'

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Akālavarsha was succeeded by his son Dhruva II. also called Dhārāvarsha and Nirupama. Of Dhruva II. two copperplates remain, the published Bagumrā grant dated Śaka 789⁶ (A.D. 867) and a

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¹ All village and boundary details have been identified by Dr. Bühler. Ind. Ant. V. 148.

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² Ind. Ant. XIV. 199.

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³ This donee is said to have been given the name of Jyotishika by the illustrious Govindarāja apparently the uncle and predecessor of the granting king.

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⁴ Ind. Ant. XII. 179.

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⁶ Ind. Ant. XII. 179.

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THE RASHTRAKUTAS.

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unpublished Baroda grant dated Saka 793 (A.D. 871). Both plates record that Dhruva crushed certain intrigues among his relatives or bandhavas, and established himself firmly on the throne. Regarding the troubles at the beginning of his reign the Bagumra plate states that on one side Vallabha the head of the Rashtrakutas was still gainsaid; on another side Dhruva had to face an army of Gurjaras instigated by a member of his own family; thirdly, he was opposed by certain of his relatives or bandhavas; and lastly he had to contend against the intrigues of a younger brother or sons. It further appears from Dhruva II.'s Bagumra plate that he checked an inroad by a Mihira king with a powerful army. This Mihira king was probably a chief of the Kathiawad tribes who on the downfall of the Valabhis spread their power across Gujarat. In all these troubles the Bagumra grant notes that Dhruva was aided by a younger brother named Govindaraja. This Govindaraja is mentioned as appointed by Dhruva the Dutaka of the grant.

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Dhruva II. Bagumra (A.D. 867) grant was made at Bhrigukachchha or Broach after bathing in the Narmada. It records the gifts to a Brahman of the village of Plehaka, probably the village of Palsana twelve miles south east of Bagumra in the late Navsari division of the Gaikwar's territory of Surat and Navsari. Dhruva's Baroda grant (A.D. 871) was also made at Broach. It is a grant to the Kapilesvara Mahadeva of the village of Kapilesvara, likely being the one mentioned as close to the south bank of the Mahi. The facts that the Bagumra grant (A.D. 867) transfers a village so far south as Balesar near Navsari and that four years later the Baroda grant (A.D. 871) mentions that Dhruva's territory lay between Broach and the Mahi seem to prove that between A.D. 867 and 871 the portion of Dhruva's kingdom south of Broach passed back into the hands of the main Rashtrakutas.

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The next and last known Gujarat Rashtrakuta king is Akalavarsha-Krishna son of Dantivarman. A grant of this king is also found in Bagumra, dated Saka 810 (A.D. 888). The composition of the grant is so bad and the genealogical verses attached are so confused that it seems unsafe to accept any of

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the plate was in Dr. Bhagvanlal's possession. In editing the plates bequeathed to the British Museum, Dr. Bhandarkar (I. A. S., II. XVIII. 235) mentions another grant dated A.D. 758 (A.D. 867) by Dhruva's mother Dantivarman. This may be either the one he refers to as the one of Gurjaras, as in this case the term Gurjara does not refer to the tribe but to the country. There is little reason to doubt the reference is to the Gurjaras of Gujarat or perhaps the people acting through their overlords the Chahudas or Anahilavada who then held the country north of the Mahi. It is possible that the Gurjaras and other local tribes were then establishing almost with certainty that the Chahudas or Chavotakas are of the Gurjara race.

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The identification is not satisfactory. Except the Bachesara settlement of Kotenca, perhaps the well known village in Brahman settlement of Mota, which is mentioned as being to the west of the village on the north-east, none of the boundary villages can be identified in the neighbourhood of Palsana. It is quite of the year Palsana in close vicinity to Bagumra where the grant was found make this identification.

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¹ Ind. Ant. III. 63.

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its details except its date which is clearly Śaka 810 (A.D. 888). It seems also improbable that the son of Dantivarman who flourished in Śaka 734 (A.D. 812) could be reigning in Śaka 810 (A.D. 888) seventy-six years later. Still the sixty-three years' reign of the contemporary Mānyakheṭa Rāshṭrakūṭa Amoghavarsha (Ś. 736-799, A.D. 814-877) shows that this is not impossible.

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The grant which is made from Anklesvar near Broach records the gift to two Brāhmans of the village of Kavithasthal the modern Kosād four miles north-east of Surat, described as situated in the Variāvi (the modern Variāv two miles north of Surat) sub-division of 116 villages in the province of Konkan. The grant is said to have been written by the peace and war minister the illustrious Jejaka son of Kalaka, the Dūtaka being the head officer (mahāsāndhivigrahika) the Brāhman Ollaiyaka.¹ This grant seems to imply the recovery by the local dynasty of some portion of the disputed area to the south of the Tāpti. This recovery must have been a passing success. After Śaka 810 (A.D. 888) nothing is known of the Gujarat Rāshṭrakūṭas. And the re-establishment of the power of the Rāshṭrakūṭas of Mānyakheṭa of the main line in south Gujarat in Śaka 836 (A.D. 914) is proved by two copperplates found in Navsāri which record the grant of villages near Navsāri, in what the text calls the Lāṭa country, by king Indra Nityavarsha son of Jagattunga and grandson of Kṛishṇa Akālavarsha.²

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¹ Ind. Ant. XIII. 65-69.

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² These were among Dr. Bhagvānlāl's copperplates, and seem to be the same as the two grants published by Dr. Bhāndārkar in B. B. R. A. S. J. XVIII. 253.

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That Amoghavarsha's long reign lasted till Śaka 799 (A.D. 877) is clear from the Kanheri cave inscription already referred to. His reign can hardly have lasted much longer; about Śaka 800 (A.D. 878) may be taken to be its end.

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Amoghavarsha was succeeded by his son Kṛishṇa also called Akālavarsha, both his names being the same as those of the Gujarat Rāshṭrakūṭa king of the same time (A.D. 888).³ It has been noted above that, in consequence of the attempt of Karka's son Dhruva I. (A.D. 835-867) to establish his independence, Amoghavarsha's relations with the Gujarāt Rāshṭrakūṭas became extremely hostile and probably continued hostile till his death (A.D. 877). That Amoghavarsha's son Kṛishṇa kept up the hostilities is shown by Indra's two Navsāri plates of Śaka 836 (A.D. 914) which mention his grandfather Kṛishṇa fighting with the roaring Gurjjara.⁴ Regarding this fight the late Rāshṭrakūṭa Kardā plate (Ś. 891 A.D. 978) further says that Kṛishṇa's enemies frightened by his exploits abandoned Kheṭaka, that is Khedā, with its Mandala and its forest that is the surrounding country. Probably this roaring Gurjjara or king of Gujarat, was a northern ally called in by some Rāshṭrakūṭa of the

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³ See above page 127.

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⁴ The text is: उदयोदितरत्नजालजटिलव्याकृहमोदभृतुः । कृष्णेनापि वैरिभिरिह सामैवं विमुक्ताः द्वाराः । भारतारिणी सेन्द्रचापवलये पश्येत्य मण्डलंमथ वञ्जरं वञ्जर-सगरव्यतिकरं पौर्गजनः शंसति.

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THE RĀṢṬRAKŪṬAS

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Gujarāt branch, perhaps by Kṛṣṇa's namesake the donor of the A.D. 888 Bagumrā grant. The Dakhan Kṛṣṇa seems to have triumphed over his Gujarāt namesake; henceforth South Gujarāt or Lāṭa was permanently included in the territory of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.

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At this time the 810 A.D. grant from the son of dated S. 832 (A.D. 910) and published in Ep. Ind. I, 52ff. states that a noble Adhavala or Adhruva of Karka's family, a feudatory of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas, was in charge of a sub-division of 700 villages in the Kheṭaka district in Lāṭa, and was a feudatory near Pāramī. The grant gives the name of Karka's family as Bhaṭṭāraka and states that the family gained the favour of Lakṣmī by the prowess of the arm of Akālavarṣa, although all the members of the family drew their authority from the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. This grant mentions four of its members, all of whom have non-Gujarāt names or look like names of the rulers of the rulers Pracaṇḍa's ancestors and to have been high Rāṣṭrakūṭa officers. The first is named Kakkala; the second his son Dhavala; the third Dhruva; the fourth, Rājāditya, son of Dhavala, the father of the donor, Karka. The plate describes Rājāditya as having brought to his house by living fortune as if he had regained lost authority. The plate describes Dhavala as killing the enemy in a moment and a son of his, Karka, the Maṇḍala or kingdom which he could not enjoy portions of glory, Adhavala. Thus, a city referred to as Karka's permanent residence, Kheṭaka with the Maṇḍala is mentioned in the late Rāṣṭrakūṭa Kārīā plate (No. 123). Dhavala was probably a Rāṣṭrakūṭa's general who fought and defeated the leading Maṇḍala, because which may have led to Dhavala's being placed in authority over Gujarāt. The Karādī grant (A.D. 910) grant describes Dhavala's son Pracaṇḍa with the feudatory title, and describes the great words. Dr. Burgess believed Pracaṇḍa to be a lager brother of Akālavarṣa, and that Candra was his another name or the same person, but the published text gives the date as 810 as stated. The grant is a Brahman and the owners of the village of Vyāghrā, perhaps Vāghra in Broach. The plate describes Kakkala as gaining victory fighting in the battle field. A rather unintelligible verse follows implying that the Salla, the Salla-Vidyādhara apparently the North Konkan Kadamba who ruled from the Konkan area, his Vidyādhara rivals helped Adhavala's son in his enemies, probably by driving them from South Gujarāt. The Āhāra king at this time would be Karkarāja (A.D. 910).

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It will be noted that in Saka 836 (A.D. 914) Karka's grant mentions 700 or 800 resumed villages, many of which were perhaps resumed at this time by Karka as it does that some of Dhavala's ancestors had some connection with Surat.

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Dr. Hultzsch (Ep. Ind. I, 52) testified that the Salla-Vidyādhara, one of them, the lingual's amount in the grant was based on a Sanskrit text for the administration of Karkarāja.

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The text of [Sanskrit text] Dr. Hultzsch takes the Salla-Vidyādhara being named the brother of Poshanda and Arkuka. The verse is corrupt.

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Krishna or Akālavarsha had a son named Jagattunga who does not appear to have come to the throne. Other plates show that he went to Chedi the modern Bundelkhand and remained there during his father's lifetime. By Lakshmī the daughter of the king of Chedi, Jagattunga had a son named Indra also called Nityavarsha, Raṭṭakandarpa. In both of Indra's Navsāri copperplates (A.D. 914) Indra is mentioned as Pādānudhyāta, falling at the feet of, that is successor of, not his father but his grandfather Akālavarsha. One historical attribute of Indra in both the plates is that "he oppressed in a moment the Mehe," apparently referring to some contemporary Mehe king of North Kāthiāwād. Both the Navsāri plates of Saka 836 (A.D. 914) note that the grants were made under peculiar conditions. The plates say that the donor Indra Nityavarsha, with his capital at Mānyakheṭa, had come to a place named Kurundaka for the paṭṭabandha or investiture festival. It is curious that though Mānyakheṭa is mentioned as the capital the king is described as having come to Kurundaka for the investiture. Kurundaka was apparently not a large town as the plates mention that it was given in grant. At his investiture Indra made great gifts. He weighed himself against gold or silver, and before leaving the scales he gave away Kurundaka and other places, twenty and a half lākhs of dramma coins, and 400 villages previously granted but taken back by intervening kings. These details have no air of exaggeration. At the same time gifts of coins by kings are not improbable by so mighty a king as Indra and as to the villages the bulk of them had already been alienated. The fact of lavish grants is supported by the finding of these two plates of the same date recording grants of two different villages made on the same occasion, the language being the same, and also by a verse in the late Rāshṭrakūṭa Karḍā plate (S. 894, A.D. 972) where Indra is described as making numerous grants on copperplates and building many temples of Siva.¹ The date of Indra's grants (S. 836, A.D. 914) is the date of his investiture and accession. This is probably the latest known date of his grandfather Krishna is Saka 833 (A.D. 911) and we know that Indra's father Jagattunga did not reign.² Umrā and Tenna, the villages granted in the two Navsāri plates, are described as situated near Kammanijja the modern Kamlej in the Lāṭa province. They are probably the modern villages of Umrā near Sāyun four miles west of Kamlej, and of Tenna immediately to the west of Bardoli, which last is mentioned under the form Vāradapallikā as the eastern boundary village. Dhruva II's Begumra plate (S. 789, A.D. 867) mentions Tenna as granted calling himself Raṭṭakandarpa, the Love of the Raṭṭas. The result is thus in agreement with the view accepted in the text that Rāshṭrakūṭa means leaders of the Raṭṭa tribe, the form Rāshṭra being chosen because the leaders held the position of Rāshṭrakūṭas or District Headmen. According to Dr. Bhandarkar (Deccan History, 19) the tribal name Raṭṭa or Rāshṭra enters into the still more famous Dakhan tribal name Mahārāṭhī or Mahraṭṭa. So far as present information goes both the Raṭṭas and the Great Raṭṭas are to be traced to the Rāṭṭikas mentioned in rock-edicts of Asoka (p. c. 215) Girnar edicts among the Aparāntas or westerners along with the Peṭenikas or people of Paithan about forty miles north-east of Ahmadnagar (Bombay Gazetteer, 82). Whether the Rāṭṭikas of the edicts is like Peṭenika a purely local name and if so why a portion of the north Dakhan should be specially known as the country of Rāshṭra are points that must remain open.¹

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¹ The Kāṭorapan grant makes this clear by passing over Indra's father Jagattunga in the genealogy and entering Indra as the grandson and successor of Akālavarsha. Jour. B. B. R. A. S. I. 217.

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² The text has Halamahilāma to chime with the poetical allusion and figure about Indra. By Meru no doubt Meru or Mehe is meant.

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³ Kurundaka may be the village of Kurund in the Thāna district or some miles north of Bulwār. It was a village given away in grant and cannot therefore be any large town. Kurundvāḍ at the holy meeting of the Krishna and Pañchgangā in the Southern Marāṭha Country close to Narsinh-Vāḍi seems a more likely place for an investiture.) J. R. A. S. III. 91. Ind. Ant. XI. 108.

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¹ [Text of the note missing in original scan]

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The explanation that Kūṭa the second half of Rāshṭrakūṭa, means chief, has been accepted in the text. This is probably correct. At the same time the rival theory deserves notice that the name Rāshṭrakūṭa is formed from two tribal names, one representing the early widespread tribe allied to the Gonds known as Koṭṭas and Koṭṭas in the Central Provinces North Konkan and Delhi (Thana Gazetteer, XII. Part II. 414). In support of this view it may be noticed that Abhimanyu’s fifth century Rāshṭrakūṭa inscription (J. Bo. Br. As. XVI. 92) refers to the Koṭṭas though as enemies not allies of the Rāshṭrakūṭas. At the same time certain details in Abhimanyu’s grants favour an early Rāshṭrakūṭa settlement in the Central Provinces, the possible head-quarters of the Koṭṭas. The grant is dated from Manapura and is made to Dakshina Sira of Peṭhanapārakā which may be the Great Siva shrine in the Mahadeo hills in Hoshangabad, as this shrine is under the management of a petty chief of a place called Pagara, and as Manpur in the Vindhya hills is not far off. Against the tribal origin of the word Kūṭa is to be set the fact that the southern Raṭṭas are also called Rāshṭrakūṭas though any connection between them and the Koṭṭa tribe seems unlikely.

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The question remains were the southern Raṭṭas or Rāshṭrakūṭas connected with the northern Raṭṭas or Rāshṭrakūṭas. If so what was the nature of the connection and to what date does it belong. The fact that, while the later southern Rāshṭrakūṭas

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It seems doubtful whether the Kanarese Raṭṭas the Belgaum Raṭṭa and the Telugu Raṭṭas could have been Mahārāṭhīs in the ninth century. The widespread Raṭṭa tribe from whom (1890) Sir’s Encyclopedia of India, III. 459 to Rajamandri about thirty miles from the mouth of the Godavari. A tradition of a northern origin prevails among some of the Raṭṭas. The Tont-arya Raṭṭas (Madras J. Lit. and Science, 1888, page 156 note 90) call themselves Āndra Raṭṭas and assert that Delhi is the native country of their tribe. The late Sir George Campbell (J. A. Soc. Ben. Part II. 320) has recorded the notable fact that the fine handsome Raṭṭas of the north of the Dakhan country are like the Jāts. With this personal resemblance may be compared the Raṭṭa custom of polyandry (Balfour’s Encyclopedia, III. 250) in accordance with which the wife of the eldest brother is common to the adult males of the family, a practice which receives further support from Mr. Elphinstone in Indian Ant. VII. 30 and Dr. Muir in Ditto VI. 318) both of whom trace the northern or Scythian conquerors of Upper India during the early centuries of the Christian era as a northern Raṭṭa element later than Asoka’s Rāshṭikas the following may also be noted. That the Kushāns or Kushāras seem to which the great northern conquerors Kanishka and his kin belonged should disappear from the Dakhan seems unlikely. Kanishka’s Mahābhārata (Ind. Ant. XV. 47, quoted in Wilson’s Works VI. 178) for Kanishka as the Kushān conqueror and Nahapāna’s conquest of the Dakhan and that the name of the holy place on the Krishna and Godavari to give it a resemblance to the name of the conqueror’s tribe. That, perhaps after their overthrow by Gautamiputra Sātakarṇi (A.D. 140), the Kushāras may have established a local ruling at Banavāsi at the meeting of the Krishṇa and the Panchgangā may be the explanation why A.D. 874, centuries after Mangalesha or Mākhet had become their capital, the Rāshṭrakūṭas inscribe should record for themselves as Karṇāṭakas, which, though this is doubtful, may the Kushāras. The parallel case of the Khazars or Khasas the Pallavas who passed across the north of India and by intermarriage have in the Pallas assumed the characteristics of a northern tribe gives some probability to the existence of a northern Kushāra or Raṭṭa element in the southern Rāshṭrakūṭas and Raṭṭas which the facts at present available would not otherwise justify.

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as late as the twelfth century, and further is the North Indian name [Rathor] not tribal but derived from the title head of a district. Several considerations make both of these solutions unlikely if not impossible. First there is the remarkably widespread existence of the name Rahtor, Ratha, or Ratti, and endless variations of these names, in almost all parts of the Panjab, among all castes from the Brahman to the Chamar, and in religions Musalman, Sikh, Jain, and Brahmanic.¹ No doubt the practice of a waxing tribe adopting the name of a waning tribe has always been common. No doubt also the fame of the name during the last 600 years must have tempted other tribes to style themselves Rathor. Still it is to be noted that (Ibbetson, page 259) variations of the Panjab though widespread are not numerous; and second that the list of such names has this merit that with a few exceptions the holders of the names are not known by it but by some general or craft name. The evidence of this inter-caste tribal name seems therefore to support the view that some very early tribe in the Panjab population represents an important tribe or nation of which we have some residual and perhaps the higher class Rajputs of Kangra and Chamba (pages 249 and 251) and from some connection with whom the Marwar Rathors of the thirteenth century may have taken their name. Among other traces of non-Aryan Rashtras in the middle ages may be mentioned the twelfth and thirteenth century Rashtrakutas of Badaun in the North-West Provinces (E. Thomas in *Journal R. Asiatic Soc.*, I. 51 and 52) and (A.D. 1150) in the Kumarapala Charitra (Forbes' *Râs Mâlâ*, 1878) the mention of Rashtra-kuta near the Sivalik hills. Among other and more doubtful references are the Arattas whom probably correctly (indeed from time A.D. 247 one main trade route to Central Asia passed up the Indus) the author of the *Periplus* (McCrindle, 120) places between Ablaris or lower Sindh and Arachosia or south-east Afghanistan that is in north Sindh or south Panjab. Another and still more doubtful reference is Pliny's (A.D. 77) Oraturs (Hist. Nat. VI. 53) who in V. de St. Martin (Geog. Grecque et Latine de l'Inde, 303) is identified with the Rathors. The fact that while claiming descent from Rama the Marwar Rathors (Tod's *Annals*, II. 2 etc.) preserved the legend that their founder was Shes-naga from the northern city of Kanauj supports the view that the tribe to which they belonged was one of non-Indian or Central Asian origin, and that this is the tribe of which we remain in the Rathi Rajputs of the Kangra hill country and less purely in the Wattu, Rathi, Rara, Rattas, and Ratis of the Panjab plains. The examples among Panjab caste names for Arora (Ibbetson's 1881 Census, page 297), Har or Har-Tinan, (236-275), and Hari for Aheri (Ditto, 310) suggest that the Panjab Rathors or Rattas may be the ancient Arattas whom the Mahabharata (Chap. XLIV. Karn. P. J. R. Soc. VII. Pt. 1. 387 and Vivien de St. Martin Geog. Grecque et Latine de l'Inde, 149) ranks with Prasthalas, Madras, and Gandharas, Panjab and frontier tribes whose identification with the Rathors (Karnatravan, 20838) rests on probability, a common Central Asian origin. Remembering that the evidence (Rathors Chapter, pages 23 and 33) favours the view that the Kshatrapa family who ruled the Panjab between A.D. 70 and A.D. 78 were of the same tribe as Sahasanka, and also that Shahi is so favourite a prefix in Samudra Gupta's (A.D. 280) list of Panjab tribes, the suggestion may be offered that Rishabrata is the earlier form of Shah-ratra and is the tribe of foreigners afterwards known in the Panjab as Ratta and of which traces survive in the present widespread tribal names Rata, Rathi, Ratha, and Rathor.

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¹ with the Palas of Bengal (A.D. 800-1100), mentioned above (Page 132 Note 1) the Rathors and also with the Kalachuris of Tripuri near Jabalpur (Cunningham's Arch. Surv. Reports, IX. 80). The details compiled from the excellent index and tables in the Panjab Census Field for following leading groups: 37 sub-castes named Rathor, Rator and other close variants; 18 Rathi and 4 Rathi; 50 Ratas, Ratti, or other close variants. Compare Bakht the name of a people at Mount Abu (Rajputana Gazetteer, III. 118) and the Rati tract in the north-west of Alwar (Ditto, 119).

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the Mhers had a fight. This fight is probably the historical contest in which the Mhers fought with and overthrew the Gupta Viceroy of Kathiawada.

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The Kathiawada Mhers are a peculiar tribe whose language dress and appearance mark them as foreign settlers from Upper India. Like the Malyas, Jats, Gurjaras, and Pahlavas, the Mhers seem to have passed through the Panjab Sindh and North Gujarat into Kathiawada leaving settlements in Ajmir, Badner, Jesalmir, Kolhapur, and Marvada. How and when the Mhers made these settlements and entered Kathiawada is not known. It may be surmised that they came with Toramana (A.D. 470-512) who overthrew the Guptas, and advanced far to the south and west in the train of some general of Toramana’s who may perhaps have entered Surashtra. This is probable as the date of Toramana who overthrew Budhagupta is almost the same as that of the Maitrakas mentioned as the opponents and enemies of Bhatarka. In the time of Bhatarka (A.D. 509-520?) the Mhers were firmly established in the peninsula, otherwise they would not be mentioned in the Valabhi grants as enemies of Bhatarka, a tribe or mandala wielding incomparable power. As stated above in Chapter VIII, some time after the Mher settlement and consolidation of power, Bhatarka seems to have come as general of the fallen Guptas through Malwa and Broach by sea to East Kathiawada. He established himself at Valabhi and then gradually dislodged the Mhers from Sorath until they retired slightly to the north settling eventually at Morbi, which the Jethvas still recognize as the earliest seat of their ancestors. At Morbi they appear to have ruled contemporarily with the Valabhis. In support of this it is to be noted that no known Valabhi plate records any grant of lands or villages in Halar, Machhakantha, or Okhamandal in North Kathiawada. As the northernmost place mentioned in Valabhi plates is Venuhati known as Vania’s Vanthali in Halar it may be inferred that the Valabhis but the Mhers ruled the north coast of Kathiawada, probably as feudatories or subordinates of the Valabhis. On the overthrow of Valabhi about A.D. 770 the Mhers appear to have seized the kingdom and ruled the whole of Kathiawada dividing it into separate chiefships grouped under the two main divisions of Bardai and Gohelvadia. About A.D. 860 the Mhers made incursions into Central Gujarat. A copperplate dated Saka 789 (A.D. 847) of the Gujarat Rashtrakuta king Dhruva describes him as aided by a powerful Mihira king whom he defeated.¹ At the height of their power the Mhers seem to have established their capital at the fort of Bhumli or Ghumli in the Barda hills in the centre of Kathiawada. The traditions about Ghumli rest mainly on modern Jethva legends of no historical interest. The only known epigraphical record is a copperplate of a king named Jachikadeva found in the Morbi district. Unfortunately only the second plate remains. Still the seal mark on the plate, the locality where it was found, and its date leave little doubt that the date 461 refers to the Kalachuri-Chedi era, and that the date 461 corresponds to A.D. 710. The date 461 of the Kalachuri era is equivalent to A.D. 710-711. The Abhiras are the descendants of the Abhiras of the Puranas. Such is the history of the Abhiras, who, about 200 years after the destruction of Valabhi, at the time at which the form of the letters agrees.

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¹ Ind. Ant. XII. 279. Ind. Ant. II. 267.

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A similar copper plate inscription which the king gave to the Brahmans is in a slightly different form, and this was found at Dalauda in the Gwalior territory. The first one had it bearing the date 461. This inscription is in the same form of characters as that of the Surat one, and gives the same titles of the king, Bhartrivaddha. Mahasamanta is the title that this Lord had. The King of Kings these big titles which imply a little extent and independence of power. The date 461 is the date on the occasion of a solar eclipse, one month, Vaisakha, around 709. It is in the constellation, the name of which is not fully legible. It is this would be a date of the 8th century. The Abhiras are the Abhiras of the Puranas. This plate, instead of being for a grant, is a 8th century title, a book rather than a grant of the land. This is a special plate. As nothing the day of the week is mentioned, the date is not worked out exactly. The Abhiras had a place to be a legacy of the eleventh century, perhaps some of the Abhiras had a full-marked copper plate such as this dated in the era. It should however be about the time of the letters, and there is which the plate can be given, in an air of the Abhiras. Whether the plate is or is not, it is no doubt, true that there was a great independent power of the Abhiras. Though the names of the other kings of the dynasty are mentioned, the Abhiras had but the names of the kings and a few. It may be added that the history is still obscured by the Puranic accounts. Though at present details are opened no real small empire of Abhiras has been found, and the date is seen to all historians who have been found, it is the case that no careful search has been made also of the list.

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Early is also worth noting that the Abhiras from Sindh seemed to have spread over Kutch and Kathiawar. Such Chudasama tribes were the descendants of Kutch and the Chudasama of Sorath, who like the Abhiras had been the rulers of the Yadavas stock. Historically the Abhiras had been found in the vicinity of the Abhiras as they are mentioned as one of the with the Abhiras and as the descendants of whatever one of these kings is the Abhiras in the Puranas is to the heart of some local pride, and part of any ancient kings. Further in the local traditions as well as Puranic stories the Abhiras are still commonly called Ahir-rachas. The position of Abhiras in Ptolemy (A.D. 150) are as to those that in the second century the Ahiras were settled between Sindh and the Sabarmati. Similarly it may be suggested that Ahir is a corruption of Abhir-rashtra.

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Chapter XII.

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