History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s8.1

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.