Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s10: 10. Rāṣṭrakūṭas or Raṭṭas
Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8.s10
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10. Rāṣṭrakūṭas or Raṭṭas
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The Rāṣṭrakūṭas or Raṭṭas may have existed in the Dekhan from very early times. They were perhaps connected with the Rājput Raṭhōrs, and are supposed to be represented by the modern Reḍḍis.¹ Their territory is called Raṭṭavāḍi, or, in Tamil, Iraṭṭapāḍi, and was a Seven-and-a-half Lakh country. Their capital, at first Mayūrakhaṇḍi (Mōrkhaṇḍ in the Nāsik District), was early in the ninth century established at Mānyakhēṭa (Mālkhēḍ in the Nizām's Dominions, about ninety miles west by south of Haidarābād). The earliest decided mention of them describes Indra, the son of Krishna, as overcome by the early Chalukya king Jayasimha. Then we have a Gōvinda repulsed by Pulikēśi I. But the connected table of kings is as follows:—
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¹ The Rāṣṭrakūṭa family was in all likelihood the main branch of the race of Kshattriyas named Raṭṭhas who gave their name to the country of Mahārāṣṭra, and were found in it even in the times of Aśōka the Maurya. The Rāṣṭrakūṭas were the real native rulers of the country, and were sometimes eclipsed by enterprising princes of foreign origin, such as the Śātavāhanas and the Chalukyas who established themselves in the Dekhan and exercised supreme sovereignty, but were never extirpated (Bhandarkar, *EHD*. 62).
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Dantivarmma
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Indra (I)
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Gōvinda (I)
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Karkka, Kakka (I)
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Indra (II)
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1. Dantidurga, 754 Dantivarmma, Khaḍgāvaloka, Vairamēgha
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2. Krishna (I), Kannara, Akālavarsha, Śubhatunga
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3. Gōvinda (II), 779, 783 Prabhūtavarsha, Pratāpāvalōka
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4. Dhruva, Dhōra, Nirupama, Dhārāvarsha
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Kambha, 802 Stambha, Raṇāvalōka
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5. Gōvinda (III), 794-814 Gōyinda, Prabhūtavarsha, Jagattunga
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Indra, founded Gujarat branch
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6. Amōghavarsha (I), Nripatunga, Atiśaya-dhavala
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7. Krishna (II), 884-913 Kannara, Akālavarsha, Śubhatunga
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Jagattunga
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8. Indra (III), 915-917 Nityavarsha
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11. Baddega, Vaddiga, 937, 939 Amōghavarsha (III), Gabhindara
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9. Amōghavarsha (II)
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10. Gōvinda (IV), Prabhūtavarsha, Suvarṇṇavarsha
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12. Krishna (III), 939-968 Kannara, Iriva-Kannara, Akālavarsha
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15. Indra (IV), died 982
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13. Khottiga, 968-971 Nityavarsha
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14. Kakka (II), 972-973 Kakkala, Amōghavarsha (IV) Nripatunga
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These kings very commonly had the title Vallabha, taken from the Chalukyas. In its Prākrit form of Ballaha, which is often used in their inscriptions in Mysore,¹ without any name, it furnishes the key by which to identify the powerful dynasty called Balharās by Arab travellers of the tenth century, and described by them as ruling from Mānkīr (Mānyakhēṭa).
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¹ Their inscriptions are often on cruciform stones, very artistic in appearance, and quite different from any others. The upper arm is deeply bevelled, and from one end to the other of the cross tree is engraved a large plough, a characteristic symbol of *rāṣṭra-kūṭas* or rural headmen.
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Indra II is said to have married a Chalukya princess, but Dantidurga, who left no heir, and Krishna I, his uncle, who therefore came to the throne after him, were successful in overcoming the Chalukyas and establishing the supremacy of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas. The beautiful Kailāsa temple of Elurā (Ellore) was probably erected by Krishna (see Gb 61).
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The earliest Rāṣṭrakūṭa inscriptions in Mysore are Cl 33 and 34. They are of the time of Jagattunga Prabhūtavarsha Pratāpāvalōka Śrīvallaha, which titles denote a Gōvinda. And the fact that he is called Akālavarsha’s son shows that it was Gōvinda II. The Jain *Harivamśa*, composed in 783, says that Vallabha, the son of Krishna (Akālavarsha), was then ruling over the South, and this was the same person. In the above inscriptions he has the Pallava Nolamba king Singapōta’s son and daughters as rulers under him. Singapōta, we know from Cl 8, was contemporary with the Ganga king Śivamāra Saigotta. The latter, having assisted Gōvinda, was seized and imprisoned by Gōvinda’s younger brother Dhruva Nirupama, who had ousted his elder brother. The reason of this supersession is said in certain later grants to have been that Gōvinda was addicted to sensual pleasures, and so let the kingdom slip out of his hands. But the Paithan grant of 794 (*EI*. iii. 104), nearer to his own time, says that he brought in even the hostile Mālava and other kings to help him, who were joined by the Kāñchī, Ganga, and Vengi kings. Nevertheless Dhruva defeated him, and drove these enemies away on the east and north. He then took possession of the whole kingdom, “leaping over” his elder brother.
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The Rāṣṭrakūṭa invasion of Mysore at the close of the eighth century by Dhruva Nirupama profoundly disturbed the even tenor of the Ganga sovereignty, which had been maintained on the whole unimpaired for 600 years. The Gangas, it is expressly said, had never been conquered before. But now they suffered the ignominy of seeing their king (Śivamāra) led away into captivity, and their country placed under the rule of a foreign hostile prince. A motive for this procedure on the part of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king has been suggested above, but resentment at the Ganga having sided with his rival elder brother must have been a primary cause.
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RĀṢṬRAKŪṬA STONE AT MĀVALI.
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We thus come to Hg 93, in which we have Dhārāvarṣa Śrīvallabha as the supreme ruler, and Kambharasa ruling the Ninety-six Thousand, that is, Gangavāḍi, under him. This was Dhārāvarṣa’s eldest son, and the first Rāṣṭrakūṭa viceroy of Gangavāḍi, his claim to the Rāṣṭrakūṭa throne having been set aside by his father in favour of a younger son Gōvinda. Kambhaiya appears again in SB 24, with the title Raṇāvalōka. Nl 61 shows him as Śaucha-Kambha-Dēva and Raṇāvalōka still in power, but now reconciled to his younger brother, who had assumed the crown of the whole kingdom.
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The Maṇṇe plates (Nl 61) of 802 give an interesting account of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas from Krishna I to Gōvinda III. Dhōra or Nirupama, besides imprisoning Ganga, hemmed in and levied a tribute of elephants from Pallava, drove Vatsa-Rāja, who had seized the Gauḍa kingdom, into the impassable desert of Mārwār, and took away from him the state umbrellas which had belonged to Gauḍa. He resolved to appoint his younger son Gōvinda as his successor, on account of his splendid form and superior abilities, thus depriving the elder son of his birthright. But when the father died and Gōvinda claimed the throne, the latter had to contend with a confederacy of twelve kings, headed, it would appear from other records, by Stambha, the Kambha above mentioned, his elder brother who had been superseded. Kambha, however, eventually submitted, and continued to rule the Ganga kingdom under his younger brother. His death may have been the occasion that led Gōvinda to release the Ganga king from “the burden of his cruel chains and restore him to his own submissive country.” But Ganga in his pride having shown a return of hostility, was swiftly seized and again confined. Eventually Gōvinda replaced him on the throne, binding the diadem on his brow with his own hands, in conjunction with the Pallava (or Ganga-Pallava) king Nandivarmma.
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Gōvinda’s exploits are recounted — his driving away Gurjjara, and receiving the submission of Mārasarvva in the Vindhya mountains. After passing the rainy season at Śrībhavana, he came to the south and encamped on the Tungabhadrā, when Pallava paid up in full the tribute due from him. The site of the camp, as we know from *IA*. xi. 126, was at the Rāmēśvara tīrtha. This is an island in the Tungabhadrā, a few miles north of the junction of the Tungā and Bhadrā in the Shimoga District. Here the king had some sport with boars and confirmed a grant originally made by (the Western Chālukya king) Kīrttivarmma.
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Of the same king’s reign are the Kadab plates (Gb 61) of 812. In these the genealogy begins with Kakka, whose son was Inda, whose son was Vairamēgha. This unusual name for Dantidurga seems to be supported by an inscription in North Arcot.¹ His paternal uncle Akālavarsha, his successor on the throne, is next mentioned, and the splendid temple he erected (the Kailāsa at Ellore), dedicated after his own name to Kannēśvara. Next follow his sons Prabhūtavarsha and Dhārāvarsha, and the latter’s son Prabhūtavarsha, who makes the grant from Mayūrakhanda for a temple at Mānyapura. It is in this inscription that we meet with Chāki Rāja as viceroy (the last) of the Ganga territory.
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¹ *ASI.* Annual Report 1903-4, see article by V. Venkayya on *Irrigation in South India.*
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Rājamalla Satyavākya I, the Ganga king who succeeded Śivamāra II on the throne, made himself independent of the Rāshṭrakūṭas, rescuing from them his country “which they had held too long” (Yd 60). But, as we have seen above, Amōghavarsha attempted to recover it by sending a chief named Bankēśa to uproot Gangavāḍi. This project failed, and the Ganga king is described as able even to shake the world. Amōghavarsha also fought against the Ganga king Prithivipati I. The Ganga king Nītimārgga I next signally defeated the Vallabha (or Rāshṭrakūṭa) army at Rājārāmaḍu (in the north of the Kolar District). But the Rāshṭrakūṭas continued to hold the Banavase province, which they had taken over from the Western Chālukyas. Its boundaries, however, did not extend eastwards beyond the Tungabhadrā.
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Amōghavarsha seems now to have adopted a different policy, and gave up his animosity in favour of alliances. For we find that his daughter Chandrobbalabbe was bestowed in marriage on Būtuga the Ganga Yuvarāja, while another daughter named Śankhā was given to the Ganga-Pallava king Nandivarmmā. We also know from the statements in the *Kavirājamārgga* that Amōghavarsha Nṛipatunga, who had a very prolonged reign of more than sixty years, from 815 to 877, came to entertain the highest admiration for the Kannaḍa people and country, their language and literature. But later on, in 930 (Dg 119), the Rāshṭrakūṭas in the reign of Suvarṇavarsha (Gōvinda IV) were in possession of a province called the Kadambalige Thousand, which was to the east of the Tungabhadrā and extended down to Holalkere (Hk 23). As it was in 920 that we find the Nolambavāḍi province first mentioned as such (Jl 19), Kadambalige may have been intended as a barrier between it and Banavase. Somewhat later, in the reign of Akālavarsha Kannara III, we find the Rāshṭrakūṭas established near Devanhalli (Dv 43) and Māgaḍi (Ma 75). These parts cannot have been gained by conquest, unless perhaps they were connected with Bankēśa's expedition (see above), or in some way with Kannara's defeat of the Nolamba Pallava king Anniga in 944. For there is no acknowledgment either now or at any time that the Gangas were subordinate to the Rāshṭrakūṭas.¹ Still less were they so at this period. On the contrary, they were in intimate alliance, and rendering each other mutual assistance. The Ganga king aided Kannara III in gaining his throne, married his sister Rēvaka or Rēvakanimmaḍi, and slew the Chōla king who was at war with him,—while, on his part, Kannara helped Būtuga to usurp the Ganga throne from Rāchamalla, and ceded to him the Banavase province, which was in addition to the districts north of it that formed the dowry of his bride. The tracts above in question may therefore have been occupied as points of communication with the east, for the Rāshṭrakūṭa dominion under Kannara III extended into North Arcot and other parts in the South even to Tanjore.
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¹ The single exception is the Kalbhāvi inscription (see above), but the circumstances of Śivamāra's captivity and restoration to the throne sufficiently account for this.
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But the Rāshṭrakūṭa power was waning to its close, and feeble rulers in rapid succession occupied the throne. The Ganga king Mārasimha strove to prop it up and appears to have crowned Indra, who was his nephew, in the attempt to do so. But Kakka or Kakkala was defeated in 973, and probably slain, by the Western Chālukya king Taila, who married his daughter Jakabbe. Mārasimha died at Bankāpur in 974 at the feet of his Jain guru, and Indra, after vain efforts to recover his throne, took the Jain vow of sallēkhana and starved himself to death at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa in 982 (SB 57), the last of his race. The Rāshṭrakūṭa rule had already been brought to an end by the Western Chālukyas, and the Gangas before long succumbed to the Chōlas. Thus fell, nearly together, the two principal Jain states of the South.
Linked texts (2)
- Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Epigraphia Carnatica