The Great Rashtrakutas
The Rashtrakutas in their later records claim descent from Satyaki, a Yadava chief of the north, a close associate of Krishna, famed in epic tradition. Some scholars connect them with the Telugu Reddis. Others regard them as the main branch of a race of Kshatriyas who gave their name to the country of Maharashtra and already figured as rulers in the days of Asoka. Another theory traces their origin to hereditary officials in charge of Rashtras or provinces. In several Chalukya records of the eastern Deccan, Rashtrakutas are often referred to as Kutumbins agriculturists in the Andhra country. They are also connected with the Kanarese region, and their own records speak of them as hereditary chiefs ,of Lattalur, identified with Latur in the Nizam’s dominions. It is not improbable that the Rashtrakutas were originally Dravidian agriculturists who obtained hereditary governorships of provinces under the Chalukyas, and then established an empire, as the Maratha Deshmukhs, who served under the Muslim Sultans of Ahmadnagar and Bijapur, did in a later age.
The Rashtrakutas established an empire which in the days of its greatness extended from South Gujarat, Malwa and Baghelkhand in the north to Tanjore in the south. Their predecessors, the Chalukyas, had simply repulsed an attack of an emperor of Kanauj. The Rashtrakutas, on the other hand, penetrated into the Gangetic Doab and claim to have stormed the imperial seat of Mahipala Pratihara,-the grandson of Bhoja I of Kanauj. In the Eastern Deccan, however, their dominions did not include the whole of the district at the mouths of the Godavari and the Krishna. The latter continued to be ruled by a junior branch of the Chalukya family. The pre-eminence of the Rashtrakutas among the rulers of the age is, testified to by Arab writers who refer to the Balhara (Vallabharaja) or beloved prince of Mankir, i.e. the Rashtrakuta monarch of Manyakheta or Malkhed, as one of the four great sovereigns of the world, entitled to rank with the sovereign of China, the Caliph of Bagdad and the emperor of Constantinople.
The Rashtrakutas were patrons of learning, and one king, Amoghavarsha 1, was an author of repute. They were also great builders, and their second king, Krishna I, uncle of Dantidurga, executed the famous Kailasa temple at Ellora. The chief interest of Rashtrakuta history in the days of Krishna I’s successors centres round the struggle with the Pratiharas of Kanauj, as that of the Chalukyas of Vatapi centered round the conflict with the Pallavas of Kanchi. Dhruva, younger son of Krishna 1, defeated Vatsaraja Pratihara and expelled a Gauda king , probably Dharmapala, from the Gangetic Doab. Under Govinda III, son and successor of Dhruva, the Rashtrakuta verily became invincible. They exacted tribute from the Pallavas of Kanchi and installed one of their princes on the throne of South Gujarat. Nagabhata II, son of Vatsaraja, sustained defeats at their hands. Dharmapala of Bengal and his vassal, Chakrayudha, are said to have offered their sub- mission. The next king, Amoghavarsha I, had a very long reign (about AD 815-877). He removed his capital to Manyakheta or Malkhed in the Nizam’s dominions. He could not successfully emulate his father’s exploits in the far north as he was involved in a struggle with the Chalukyas of Vengi at the mouths of the Godavari and the Krishna. But the Rashrakutas in his time succeeded in checking the southern progress of Bhoja I of Kanauj, He also attached the more important rulers of the far south to the Rashtrakuta interest by marriage alliances. Indra III, great-grandson of Amoghavarsha 1, finished the work of his illustrious ancestors, Dhruva and Govinda III, by inflicting a crushing defeat on Mahipala, the Pratihara king of Kanauj, and taking temporary possession of his capital city. His nephew, Krishna III, was the last great king of the line. His dominions extended from Jura in Baghelkhand to Tanjore in the Kaveri valley . In 973, the Rashtrakuta dynasty was overthrown by Taila II, a feudatory of Krishna III, who claimed descent from the early Chalukya of Vatapi.
The Later Chalukyas
Taila was the founder of the Chalukya dynasty of Kalyana or Kalyani in the Nizam’s dominions. His successors became involved in a contest with the Cholas of Tanjore, descendants of king Aditya who had crushed the Pallava king Aparajita. The Cholas now fast rose to power under Rajaraja and his son, Rajendra Chola 1. While the Cholas and Chalukyas were engaged in bitter feuds in the south, thrones and dynasties in Northern India were falling before the onslaught of the famous Hammira, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni or Ghazna. The banner of Islam was unfurled in the Land of the ]Five Rivers and the Valley of the Twin Rivers, the Upper Ganga and the Jumna. The arms of the Ghaznavid invader penetrated into the interior of Kathiawar and reached the temple of Somnath. Indian history enters on a now epoch.
