The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c19.s2: (2) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of C. P. and C. I.

The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c19.s2

Language: English

v1.c19.s2.t1 (a) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura — 15 parts
v1.c19.s2.t2 (b) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Betul — 6 parts
v1.c19.s2.t3 (c) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Pathari — 10 parts

(2) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of C. P. and C. I.

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The Rāṣṭrakūṭa families of C. P. and C. I. may be conveniently grouped under the headings of (1) *Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura*, (2) *Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Betul*, and (3) *Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Pathari*.

(a) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura

The existence of this family is known from the *Undikavāṭikā grant* of the Rāṣṭrakūta Abhimanyu. The exact find-spot of this is unknown. It contains·22 lines, incised on 3 plates. It is not dated, but has been referred approximately to the 7th century A.D. on palaeographic grounds.² The seal contains the figure of a lion couchant facing the proper right, with jaws open and tongue protruding.³ The grant opens with *Oṁ svasti* and in the introductory portion gives the following genealogy of the donor:—

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² Fleet in *BG*, Vol. I, Part II, p. 386; *EI*, Vol. VIII, p. 163. Jackson referred the grant to about 450 A.D., see *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 120.

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³ The seals of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānyakheṭa contain the figure of a *Garuḍa*.

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``` Māna or Mānāṅka......ornament of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.

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Devarāja.

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Bhaviṣya. × ×

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| \ . . . . . /
| |
| (Names not given.)
|

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Abhimanyu. ```

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This last ruler, while residing at Mānapura¹ granted the small village of Uṇḍikavāṭikā² to the god Dakṣiṇa-Śiva, through Jaṭāvāra, a *Pāśupata* ascetic in charge of the temple situated at Peṭha-Paṅgaraka.³ The grant was made in the presence of Jayasiṁha, the Harivatsa-*Koṭṭa-nigraha*.⁴

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¹ Identified by Hultzsch with Manpur, near Bandhogarh, in Rewa, *EI*, Vol. VIII, p. 166; Bhagvanlal Indraji thought that it was an older form of the name Mānyakheṭa (mod. Malkheḍ), about 60 miles S.E. of Sholapur; *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 120. Fleet at first identified it 'with the modern Mânpur in Malwa, about 12 miles S. W. of Mhow,' in the Indore Residency, C.I. (*ibid*, Part II, p. 386; *IA*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 233-34), but later thought it not impossible that Mânpur may have been the older name of Shohagpur, or Sobhapur, which is a large village 6 miles on the N.E. of Shohagpur (*ibid*, Vol. XXX, p. 514).

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² Identified with the mod. village of Oontia, near Pagara; the latter is 4 miles N. of Pachmarhi in Hoshangabad district, C.P., *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 514.

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³ The Mahāśiva temple at Pagara, about 4 miles north of Pachmarhi, in Hoshangabad district, C.P., has been identified with this Dakṣiṇa-Śiva temple; *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 132; *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 511.

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⁴ Does it mean 'commandant of the fort of Harivatsa' ? *nigraha*=*pāla*? Its ordinary sense is, chastiser, but Fleet took *nigraha*=*pāla*, see *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 510. The inscription was first published by Bhagvanlal Indraji in *JBRAS*, Vol. XVI, pp. 88 ff., and critically examined by Fleet in *IA*, Vol. XXX, pp. 509 ff. It was noticed in the *BG* by both Jackson and Fleet, and finally edited by Hultzsch in *EI*, Vol. VIII, pp. 163-66.

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This land-grant of Abhimanyu seems to be the earliest inscription of the princes who designated their family as Rāṣṭrakūṭa. The lion-seal of the family of Mānāṅka may indicate that his line was quite distinct from the Malkheḍ family, who had the figure of Garuḍa on their seals. The town named Mānapura, from which the grant of Abhimanyu was issued, was probably founded by Mānāṅka. If its identification with Manpur near Mhow is accepted,⁵ we may infer that this family ruled over the valley of the Narbada from Mhow to Pachmarhi.

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⁵ Fleet rejected this identification, suggested by him (in *BG*, Vol. I, Part II, p. 386) on the ground that it was north of the Narbada. This does not appear to me to be a sufficient reason.

(b) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Betul

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The existence of this family is also known from a single grant, the *Multāi grant* of Nandarāja. It was found in the possession of a Gosain resident at Multāī, the chief town of the Multāī sub-division of the Betul district in the C. P.¹ It contains 31 lines of writing in Nāgarī characters, incised on 3 plates. The seal, which is a part of the ring itself, bears in outline the figure of *Garuḍa* and the legend *Śrī Yuddhāsuraḥ*. The record opens with *Oṁ svasti*, and then gives the following genealogy of the donor :

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¹ Fleet pointed out that the localities mentioned in the grant do not bear any resemblance to any villages in the Multāī district or in Hoshangabad or Jubbulpore. It is therefore not certain that the grant really belongs to the locality where it was found. 'All that can be said on this point is that the characters show that it belongs to some part of Central India or of the Central Provinces;' *IA*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 230-81.

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In the *Rāṣṭrakūṭānvaya*

Durgarāja
|
Govindarāja
|
Svāmikarāja
|
Nandarāja, *alias* Yuddhāsura.

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The object of the grant is to record the grant of the village of Jalaūkuhe to the Brahman Śrīprabha Caturveda. In line 29 we are told that the charter was written by the *Sāndhivigrahika* Naula in *Śaka-kāla-saṁvatsara* 631 (*c.* 709 A.D.).²

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² First published by Prinsep in *JASB*, Vol. VI, pp. 869 ff. Re-edited by Fleet, *IA*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 230-86.

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Fleet thought that this family was a feudatory line. The figure on the seal is similar to that on the seal of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Malkheḍ. It may indicate that two lines were connected, but the connection is not apparent.

(c) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Pathari

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The existence of this family is also known from a single inscription, the *Pathari stone pillar-inscription of Parabala*. This is incised on the northern face of a tall monolith with a bell-shaped capital, in Pathari (long. 78° 15′, lat. 23° 56′), the chief town of the State of the same name in the Bhopal Agency, C.I. It contains 36 lines. The characters resemble those of the Gwalior *praśasti* of Bhoja (V.S. 933). It opens with *Oṁ namaḥ* and four verses invoking the god Viṣṇu under the names of Murāri, Kṛṣṇa, and Hari, and then gives the genealogy of a line of kings as follows :

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The proper object of the inscription is to record that this last king founded a temple of Śauri (Viṣṇu), before which he erected the *Garuḍa-dhvaja* pillar on which it was engraved. The first part of the inscription (lines 1-31) ends here. The second part (lines 32-38), which appears to have been added as post-script, then seems to record the installation of an image of Viṣṇu.¹ The date, (V) *Saṁvat* 917 (A.D. 861), comes at the end of the first part (line 31).²

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¹ The inscription is damaged here.

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² Edited by Kielhorn, *EI*, Vol. IX, pp. 248-56.

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This inscription supplies some facts of considerable historical importance. Kielhorn had already pointed out that the unknown elder brother of Jejja, who is reported to have conquered Lāṭa after defeating the Karṇātas, must be placed in the period 757-812 A.D., during which we know little about Lāṭa.¹ It thus appears likely that he may have conquered portions of Gujarat by defeating the armies of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of the Deccan (*Karṇāṭas*) after the death of Kakkarāja, the local Rāṣṭrakūṭa ruler, in 757 A.D. The Nāgāvaloka defeated by Karkarāja has also been identified by Kielhorn with the Gurjara-Pratīhāra Nāgabhaṭa II (*c.* 815-33 A.D.).² The enmity between these Rāṣṭrakūṭas and the rising power of the Gurjara-Pratīhāras appears to have brought them into friendly alliance with the Pālas of Bengal and Bihar. This is shown by the probable identification of the Parabala of our inscription with the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Parabala of the Pāla records.³ The marriage of Raṇṇādevī, the daughter of Parabala, with Dharmapāla (*c.* 769-815 A.D.) must be accepted as the outward symbol of the close alliance between these two enemies of the Gurjara power. Another interesting fact is the mention of the *Pāli-dhvaja* banner in connection with the victories of Karkarāja and Parabala. The possession of this flag was claimed by both the Calukyas of Vātāpi⁴ and the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Malkheḍ.⁵

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¹ *Ibid*, p. 252; also *EI*, Vol. VII, Appendix II, p. 4. The period falls between *Mahārājādhirāja* Kakkarāja II (A.D. 757) and Indrarāja, the brother of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa Govinda III (*c.* 794-814 A.D.), for whose sons we have dates from 811 to 827 A.D.