The Rashtrakutas were a dynasty of the Deccan plateau in southern and central India who built one of the subcontinent's largest early medieval empires between 753 and 982. From their heartland in today's Karnataka and Maharashtra they campaigned as far as the Ganges, and Arab writers of the ninth and tenth centuries counted their king among the great rulers of the world. Their reign also saw the rock-cut Kailasa temple at Ellora and the first surviving masterpieces of Kannada literature.
From vassals to masters of the Deccan
Families called Rashtrakuta held small kingdoms in northern and central India in the sixth and seventh centuries, and it is not known whether they were related to the later imperial line. That line began as a feudatory house under the Chalukyas of Badami, probably based at Achalapura in Berar. In 753 its chief, Dantidurga, defeated the Chalukya king Kirtivarman II and seized the northern part of his realm. Theories about the family's ethnic origins vary widely and remain disputed, but the dynasty's inscriptions are largely in Kannada and Sanskrit, and it gave Kannada a status close to that of Sanskrit.
The tripartite struggle
From the late eighth century the Rashtrakutas competed with the Pala Empire of Bengal and the Pratiharas of the north-west for the rich Ganges plain and its prize city, Kannauj. Dhruva Dharavarsha, who came to power in 780, beat both rivals in the north, winning prestige and plunder though no lasting territory. His third son, Govinda III, went further: inscriptions boast that his horses drank from Himalayan streams, and on returning south he forced the Pallavas, the Pandyas and the Cholas to pay tribute, while a king of Sri Lanka sent statues in token of submission. Indra III, who ruled from 914 to 929, again carried Rashtrakuta arms into the Ganges–Yamuna doab.
Amoghavarsha and Manyakheta
Govinda's son Amoghavarsha I, who reigned from 814 to 878, made Manyakheta, present-day Malkhed, the permanent capital. He preferred alliances to war, marrying daughters into neighbouring dynasties, and was a scholar in his own right; the Kavirajamarga, a treatise on Kannada poetics dated to 850, is credited to him. The Arab merchant Sulaiman, writing in 851, listed the Rashtrakuta king as one of the four great sovereigns of his day.
Government, economy and faith
The empire was divided into provinces called rashtras, sixteen of them under Amoghavarsha, which were split into districts and villages. A standing army was kept at the capital, and feudatory kings supplied troops of their own. The Deccan's wealth came from cotton, textiles, diamonds and copper, and ports such as Bharuch exported cotton cloth, incense and timber while importing horses, gold and other goods. The kings patronised Hindu, Jain and some Buddhist institutions, and historians disagree on how far individual rulers, Amoghavarsha in particular, followed Jainism. Jain writers such as Pampa and Ponna produced classics of Kannada literature in this period.
Ellora and other monuments
The greatest Rashtrakuta monument is the Kailasa temple at Ellora, carved out of a single rock mass at the command of Krishna I. Five Jain cave temples at the same site are sometimes ascribed to Amoghavarsha's time, and temples at Pattadakal and elsewhere in Karnataka show a regional southern style.
Collapse
Krishna III, who reigned from 939 to 967, was the last strong ruler. In 972 Siyaka, king of Malwa, sacked Manyakheta, and the blow to the dynasty's prestige allowed the feudatory Tailapa II to declare independence. Indra IV, the last emperor, starved himself to death at Shravanabelagola, following the Jain practice of sallekhana. The Western Chalukya Empire took over the Rashtrakuta heartland, and the Chola dynasty became its chief rival in the south.
On our maps
Our 900 map shows the Rashtrakuta realm across the Deccan, with the Pratiharas and Palas to the north and the Cholas and Pallavas to the south.
From the atlas
Rashtrakuta dynasty on our maps
Borders of Time draws the Rashtrakuta dynasty on 2 of its 54 world maps, from 800 CE to 900 CE. Its largest extent is on the 900 CE map, covering about 635,000 km² (245,000 sq mi), roughly the size of France today.
On that map it borders the Chola Empire, the Palas and the Pratiharas.
On the map before it appears (700 CE), the same area belongs to the Chalukyas. On the map after its last appearance (1000 CE), it belongs to the Chalukya Empire.
- 800 CE502,000 km²
- 900 CE635,000 km²
Measured from the historical-basemaps snapshots this atlas uses. Borders in those maps are approximate, especially for early periods.
Quick answers
- When did the Rashtrakuta dynasty exist?
- From 753 CE to 982 CE, about 230 years. The atlas draws it on its maps from 800 CE to 900 CE.
- Where was the Rashtrakuta dynasty?
- At its largest, on the 900 CE map, its land lies in today’s India (100%). On that map it borders the Chola Empire, the Palas and the Pratiharas.
- What was the capital of the Rashtrakuta dynasty?
- Manyakheta.
- How big was the Rashtrakuta dynasty?
- The Rashtrakuta dynasty was largest on the 900 CE map, at about 635,000 km² (245,000 sq mi).