Rashtrakuta Dynasty – The History Of The Rashtrakutas

Introduction to the Rashtrakuta dynasty

The Rashtrakuta Dynasty was founded in 753 A.D by Dantidurga. His successors then began to expand the kingdom’s influence, at times reaching out as far as the Eastern Ghats and Narmada Valley in central India, with numerous conquests and annexations of neighbouring kingdoms such as Vengi and the Kuntala Kingdoms. By the 8th century, they were well on their way to becoming a powerful political force in Southern India.

Rashtrakuta dynasty map

Table of contents

  • Important kings of the Rashtrakuta empire
    • Danti Durga of the Rashtrakuta empire (735 CE – 756 CE)
    • Krishna I of the Rashtrakuta empire (756 CE – 774 CE)
    • Govinda III of the Rashtrakuta empire (793 CE – 814 CE)
 

Fun facts

  • the Rashtrakuta dynasty was founded by Danti Durga 
  • the Rashtrakutas lasted from around 755 to 975 CE.
  • the Rashtrakuta dynasty capital was  Manyakheta
  • the Rashtrakutas were in the state of Karnataka 
  • The earliest of these rulers is king Abhimanyu
  • The Rashtrakutas house of Abhimanyu ruled over the Mhow-Houshangabad tract in Central India.
  • The territory was to the north of the kingdom of the Rashtrakūta king Nannaraja
  • king Nannaraja will be shown as either a direct or a collateral ancestor of Dantidurga.
  • origins to the Rashtrakuta dynasty families were also contiguous to each other.

Important kings of the Rashtrakuta dynasty

Danti Durga of the Rashtrakutas (735 CE – 756 CE)

who was he?

  • Dantidurga was the founder of the Rashtrakuta dynasty
  • He is credited for initiating the defeat of the Chalukyas.
  • Dantidurga began his career by attacking his eastern neighbours in Kosala.
  • it seems very likely that he had made an alliance with the Pallava ruler Nandivarman to defeat his enemies.

military campaign

  • he strengthened his position by the defeat of his eastern neighbours by his alliance with Nandivarman.
  • after which Dantidurga seems to have attacked the Gurjaras of Bharoch and the Chalukyas of the Gujrat bran.
  • These kingdoms were already exhausted by the Muslim raid and its repulsion, and Dantidurga’s task may not have been very difficult.
  • Dantidurga enabled by this victory he occupied Khandesh, Nasik, Poona, Satara and Kolhapur districts.
  • Dantidurga’s attacks on the rulers of Tank, Sindh and Malva now remain to be considered. Tanka has not been so far identified.
  • Arabs of Sindh were now and then attacking their western neighbours and Dantidurga seems to have defeated some of these raids.
  • A review of Dantidurga’s career will show that he was a leader gifted with political insight and possessed of great organising capacity.
  • He could see how the Chalukya empire had become weakened.
  • by its incessant wars with the Pallavas and how Gujrat, exhausted by the Muslim forays
  • Forming wise alliances, proceeding step by step, and utilising the services of his youthful nephews and mature uncles.
  • he extended his kingdom until it included southern Gujrat, Khandesh, Berar, and northern Maharashtra.

Krishna I of the Rashtrakutas (756 CE – 774 CE)

who was he?

  • Danti Dura was succeeded by his uncle Krishna I because he left no male heir.
  • Krishna was a mature man of about 45 when he succeeded his nephew in c. 756.
  • He had very participated in many of the campaigns of his nephew.
  • it is very probable that the final defeat of Kirtivarman was his achievement.
  • For Kirtivarman was holding his own in Karnatak as late as 757 CE.
  • i.e three years after the last known date of Danti Durga and one year before the first known date of Krishna I.
  • Krishna I was an able ruler and a skilful general.
  • During his short reign of about 18 years, he enlarged the kingdom he had inherited to three times its original size by taking over Konkan, Karnatak and the major part of Hyderabad state to his empire.
  • He had humbled down the Ganga and Vengi rulers 

military campaign

  • he undertook an offensive expedition against Gangavadi in 768 A.D
  • Since this record refers to the reign of Sripurusha, it is clear that this aged ruler was on the throne of Gangavadi when Krishna invaded it after annexing the Chalukya dominions.
  • Krishna was successful in his expedition.
  • The Chalukyas of Vengi were attacked next
  • this expedition was under the charge of Yuvaraja Govinda
  • he was encamped on the confluence of the Musi and the Krishna.
  • Krishna I had also brought under his sway southern Konkan.
  • Sanaphulla, the founder of the line, had obtained the territories between the Sahya and the sea through the favour of Krahnaraja.

Govinda III of the Rashtrakutas(793 CE – 814 CE)

who was he

  • Govinda III was a among the rulers to have successfully managed a family feud with his brother, Stambha.
  • He is known to have defeated Muttarasa, the Ganga ruler, who had allied with the former’s brother.
  • Post the defeat of the Ganga ruler, Stambha was reappointed to the Ganga vice royalty which he continued to rule down to 802 CE.  

military campaign

  • Govinda next turned his arms to Kanchi.
  • That kingdom had been already once attacked by his father, but Govinda found it necessary to invade it once more
  • because its ruler had sided with Stambha.
  • The Kanchi ruler was defeated sometime before 803 CE
  • Govinda encamped at Ramesvara Tirtha while returning from his expedition.
  • Govinda’s victory was not decisive, for, towards the end of his reign, he had to attack the Pallavas once more.
  • The northern expedition of Govinda was planned and executed.
  • He entrusted many of his generals with the work of subduing or keeping in check the rulers of Vengi, Orissa, Kosala and Malva
  • his brother Indra was sent to attack the Gurjara-Pratthāras in their home province, and then he himself proceeded in the direction of the Doab and Kanauj to attack Nagabhata himself some time in 806 or 807 CE.
  • Apart from a local reverse, success has attended Govinda’s arms everywhere.
  • Govinda next turned his arms to Kanchi.
  • That kingdom had been already once attacked by his father, but Govinda found it necessary to invade it once more
  • because its ruler had sided with Stambha.
  • The Kanchi ruler was defeated sometime before 803 CE
  • Govinda encamped at Ramesvara Tirtha while returning from his expedition.
  • Govinda’s victory was not decisive, for, towards the end of his reign, he had to attack the Pallavas once more.
  • The northern expedition of Govinda was planned and executed.
  • He entrusted many of his generals with the work of subduing or keeping in check the rulers of Vengi, Orissa, Kosala and Malva
  • his brother Indra was sent to attack the Gurjara-Pratthāras in their home province, and then he himself proceeded in the direction of the Doab and Kanauj to attack Nagabhata himself some time in 806 or 807 CE.
  • Apart from a local reverse, success has attended Govinda’s arms everywhere.

Rashtrakuta dynasty administration

Political Administration

  • The Rashtrakuta dynasty extended over
    • southern Gujarat
    • Marathi districts of the Central Provinces
    • Konkan
    • the whole of Maharashtra
    • the almost the whole of Hyderabad
    • Karnatak
    • and portions of the state of Mysore.
  • Its northern boundary extended from Cambay to Houshangabad
  • the eastern boundary, which is rather difficult to determine probably ran through
    • Houshangabad
    • Nagpur
    • Chanda
    • Warrangal
    • Cudappah
  • The southern boundary was formed partly by the Northern Pennar. beyond which extended the Bana and the Nolamba principalities, and partly by an imaginary line starting from the sources of the Northern Pennar and passing through Chitaldurg to the Arabian sea.
  • The western boundary was, of course, the Arabian sea.
  • This wide empire must obviously have been divided into several provinces for administrative purposes.
  • The Rashtraküta land-grants usually refer to Rashtrapatis, Vishayapatis and Grümakalas in the stated order.
  • The almost invariable. precedence given to Rashtrapatis makes is quite clear that Rashtra was the largest administrative unit and Vishaya was its subdivision.

Central Govt: King and Ministry

  • King-in-ministry was the normal form of government in the rashtrakuta dynasty.
  • Feudatory administrations were also governed by the same principle.
  • The Yuvaraja had the status of a Pañchamahusabda Samanta and was invested with a necklace which was the insignia of his office.
  • Spiritual sanctions,
  • effects of careful and proper education,
  • force of public opinion,
  • division of power with a ministry,
  • supremacy of established usage in the realm of law and taxation,
  • devolution of large powers to local bodies whose government was democratic in substance if not always in form

these were the usual checks on monarchy.

ministers

  • Ministers under this administration were very important and influential members of government.
  • Narayana, the foreign minister of Krshna III, has been described in the Salotg! inscription as another hand, as it were, Pratihastaḥ of the emperor, as dear to him as his own right hand.

administration of a local village

  • Districts or Vishayas were divided into several subdivisions known as Bhuktis comprising about 100 to 500.
  • The officers in these divisions were known as Bhogikas or Bhogapatis.
  • These officers did not usually have feudatory status but were generally commoners.
  • We sometimes find even these officers possessing feudatory titles, but these cases are exceptional and rare.
  • These officers were appointed directly by the central government as shown already.

Bhuktis

  • Bhuktis were subdivided into smaller circles comprising about 10 to 30 villages.
  • Officers over these seem to have been appointed.
  • Imperial officers were appointed over the subdivisions and Talukas administered their areas with the help of hereditary revenue officers.
  • These officers were known as Nadgaoundas in Karnataka.
  • Every village in our period was usually under the charge of a village headman, whose office was a very ancient institution both in the south and in the north.
  • Like the headman of the Taluka and the district, the village headman was also a hereditary officer.
  • He was more a representative of the people than a servant of the central government.
  • The headman has been, since very early times, in charge of the defence of the village.
  • In the Rashtraküta period, the villages did not enjoy that amount of absolute peace, which they have under the present administration.
  • There were constant wars going on, and every villager had then, unlike in the present time, the prospect of winning the general’s parasol.
  • The population was well trained in the use of arms; even the bangle sellers could drive back armed forces and fight to the bitter end.
  • The Village councils existed throughout the Rashtrakūta dominion.
  • There were roughly speaking three types of the village councils in our period, the Tamil type, the Karnatak type and the Maharashtra and Gujarat type.

Town Administration

  • In the Rashtrakata period, the cities and towns were in charge of prefects who were designated as purapatis or nagara patis.
  • Military captains were often appointed to the posts; thus Rudrapayya, who was the prefect of Saravatura or modern Soratur in Karnatak, was one of the body-guards of the emperor Krshna III.
  • The city affairs were managed by the prefects with the help of non-official committees.
  • administration of Gunapura in Konkan was vested in 997 A.D. in a prefect assisted by a committee of two bankers Ambus’reshthin and Vappaiyas’reshthin, a merchant called Chelappaiyu, a Brahmana named Govaneya and some others.

Economic administration

Taxation

Bhogakara represents the petty taxes in kind that were to be paid to the king every day. From the very nature of the case, these taxes in the form of betel leaves, fruits, vegetables etc., could have been exacted by the king only when he was on tour; they were, therefore, usually assigned in practice to local officers as part of their incomes. The lands which were charged this high percentage are situated in the fertile district of Tanjore, and it may be presumed that less fertile lands were charged a lower percentage. The land tax was collected usually in kind and rarely in cash; In the case of some special tenures, the taxation was either very low or non-existent. Mänya, Aradhamanya, Namasya and Balagachchu are the principal tenures to be noted in this connection. In the case of Mänya tenures, the land was entirely free from all taxes; neither Mel-väram (Governmen’s dues) nor Cudi-varam (inhabitants’ dues) had to be paid.

  • Bhutopattarapratyaya – The term Bhutopattapratyaya means a tax (Aya) on (prati) what has been taken in i.e., imported (upatta), and what has been produced (bhuta) in the village. tax on potters, shepherds, weavers, oilmen, shopkeepers, stall-keepers, brewers and gardeners. Sidda ya tax, i.e., a tax on articles manufactured, was levied at Badami in the 12th century. All these taxes will fall under the category. of Bhutopättapratyaya.

Exports and Imports

Among the articles of imports, the Periplus mentions inferior pearls from the Persian Gulf, dates:

  1. Gold
  2. Slaves
  3. Italian wine but in small quantity
  4. Copper
  5. Tin
  6. Lead
  7. Topaz
  8. Storax
  9. sweet clover
  10. flint glass
  11. Antimony
  12. gold and silver coin
  13. singing boys and girls for kings.

With some exceptions, these must have continued to be imported even in our period, as they were not procurable in India and were required by her people. From Marco Polo we learn that Thana used to import gold, silver, and copper in the 13th century:

  1. Cotton yarn and cloth, both rough and fine
  2. Muslins
  3. Hides
  4. Mats
  5. Indigo
  6. Incense
  7. Perfumes
  8. betel nuts
  9. Coconuts
  10. sandal and teak wood
  11. sesame oil
  12. ivory

must have been the principal articles available for export: most of these have also been actually enumerated among the articles of export by the Periplus, Al Idrisi, Marco Polo, and Ibn Batuta.

military administration

  • The Indian armies in the time of the Rashtrakūtas had ceased to be chaturanga. for chariot as a fighting force was not used in our time.
  • The epigraphical documents, while describing the military victories resulting in the surrender of war materials, refer to elephants, infantary and cavalry; chariots are mentioned only in connection with the insignia of honour of distinguished generals and military officers.
  • The Rashtraküta forces did not consist of untrained or half trained soldiers.
  • Regular officers were appointed to train different units.
  • The recruits possessed a certain amount of military efficiency at the time of their enrolment.
  • The Rashtrakūtas could very well have afforded to set a high test for admission to the army, e. g. requiring the recruit to show his skill in archery or riding as was done by some of the Muslim states in the 14th century.
  • Most of the Rashtraküta emperors were themselves, distinguished soldiers and must have been, at least in theory, their own commanders-in-chief.
  • The army had its own commissariat office. Many merchants were engaged by this office to meeting the needs of the army when on march.
  • The army had its own commissariat office. Many merchants were engaged by this office to meeting the needs of the army when on march.

policing in villages

The policing arrangements of villages were under the supervision of the headmen. The village watchman was in the immediate charge of the work, and it was his business to detect all the crimes, especially the thefts, that may be committed in the village. If a theft or robbery was committed, he had either to find out the culprit or to trace his footsteps to a neighboring village; otherwise he was compelled to compensate for the loss.

Important Ministers

o Purohita – important member of the ministry.

o Amatya – the Revenue Member

o Mahakshapatalika – Inspector genral of records working under the Amatya

o Bhandagarika – Treasurer

Selection of Officers:

  • The selection was governed partly by military, partly by hereditary, and partly by educational considerations.

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