History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s8: 2 Rattas of Saundatti.
History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s8
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2 Rattas of Saundatti.
v3.c35.s8.1
The next feudatory family which deserves a mention is that of the Raṭṭas of Saundatti. Their history is given by Dr. Fleet in Bombay Gazetteer Vol. I part II p. 549-55 and we give here a summary of it. They were clearly descendants of a Rāshṭrakūṭa Imperial king of the Deccan and they ruled in the Kundi territory comprising 3000 villages which corresponds to a portion of the present Belgaum and Dharwar Districts. Their capital was Saundatti (Sugandhāvatī) and latterly Belgaum itself (Veṇugrāma). The Gazetteer doubts if these Raṭṭas were really descended from the Rāshṭrakūṭas, but the short name Raṭṭa for the Rāshṭrakūṭas is as old as the 9th century and even the modern Reddis may be Raṭṭas or Rāshṭrakūṭas and they also called themselves original lords of Laṭṭalūrapura. Their crest was a Sindūra (elephant) and their dhvaja (banner) carried a golden garuda which is shown in their seal. These chiefs were first subordinate to the Western Chālukyas and when the Kalachūri rebellion occurred they asserted independence. But being not very powerful they appear like the Śindas, to have been conquered by the Hoyasalas; their territory, however, was eventually absorbed in the kingdom of the Yādavas of Devagiri.
v3.c35.s8.2
The first prince was Kārtavīrya I or Katta I who is mentioned in a stone record of 980 A. D. He was a feudatory of Taila II (Āhavamalla) and fixed the boundary of his principality of Kundi. His sons were Dāvari and Kanna-Kaira whose son Eraga has recorded a Sanskrit inscription dated 1040 A. D., published in I. A. XIX p. 161 in which he declares himself to be a sāmanta of Jayasimha Jagadekamalla. In his birudas, he calls himself Raṭṭavaṁśodbhava, Lattalūrapuravarādhīśvara, Garuda-dhvaja &c. In one epithet he is described as a Vidyādhara in singing. He is mentioned in a Jain grant inscription published by Prof. Pathak in I. A. XIV (p. 23). His brother was Anka (mentioned in an inscription at Saundatti dated 1048 A. D.) and his son was Sena I. His son Kannakaira II has left many inscriptions dating from 1069 to 1087 A. D. He appears to have ruled long with his brother Kārtavirya II and they are described as sāmantas of Vikramāditya VI. His son was Sena II mentioned in records from 1096 to 1121 and his son was Kārtavirya III mentioned in records dated 1143 and 1165; he is also called Katta or Kattama. Taking advantage of the rebellion of the Kalachūris at Kalyan, he appears after 1165 to have declared independence and in one record he calls himself Chakravartin (Bombay J. B. B. R. A. S. X p. 181). This position the Raṭṭas retained though first disputed by Someśvara Chālukya, for three generations viz. his son Lakshmidhara I, his son Kārtavirya IV and his son Lakshmidhara II. He was conquered by Vichana viceroy of Singhaṇa, Yādava king of Devagiri about 1228 A. D.
v3.c35.s8.3
These Raṭṭas were worshippers of Śiva but they also favoured the Jains and made grants to Jain temples.