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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
Chokkhakuṭi grant of A.D. 867,[1] and in the Bagumrâ plates, of doubtful authenticity, of
A.D. 888.[2] And the Kaḷas inscription of A.D. 930[3] describes Gôvinda IV., in a Kanarese verse,
as Râshṭrakûṭa-ôttama, “ a best of the Râshṭrakûṭas.” The Waṇî plates of A.D. 807 mention
the family, in a Sanskṛit verse, as śrî-Râshṭrakûṭ-ânvaya, “ the lineage of the glorious
Râshṭrakûṭas ;”[4] we have the same verse in the Râdhanpur plates of A.D. 808 ;[5] and the
inscription of probably the period A.D. 814-15 to 877-78 at the Daśâvatâra cave at Ellôrâ, speaks,
in another Sanskṛit verse, of prakaṭa-Râshṭrakûṭ-ânvaya, “ the manifest, public, or well-known
lineage of the Râshṭrakûṭas.”[6] The Baroda plates of A.D. 812 speak, in a Sanskṛit verse, of
śrî-Râshṭrakûṭ-âmala-vaṁśa, “ the spotless race of the glorious Râshṭrakûṭas ;”[7] the Dêôlî
plates of A.D. 940, and, following the same draft, the Karhâḍ plates of A.D. 959, again in a
Sanskṛit verse, speak of Râshṭrakûṭa-vaṁśa, “ the race of the Râshṭrakûṭas, or of Râshṭrakûṭa,” and propose to account for the name by saying that the family derived it from the
name of a certain (imaginary) Râshṭrakûṭa whom these records put forward as the son of the
eponymous Raṭṭa.[8] Finally, the Bagumrâ plates of A.D. 915 introduce the family, again in
a Sanskṛit verse, as śrî-Râshṭrakûṭa-kula, “ the family of the glorious Râshṭrakûṭas ;”[9] and the same expression Râshṭrakûṭa-kula, “ the family of the Râshṭrakûṭas,” is put forward,
in ornate prose, in the Kaḍaba plates,[10] which purport to have been issued in A.D. 813, but
which are not of unquestionable authenticity.
In the records of some other early branches of the same general stock, but only
distantly connected, if actually connected at all, with the Mâlkhêḍ family, we find used only
the form Râshṭrakûṭa. Thus, in Sanskṛit prose, the Uṇṭikavâṭikâ grant of Abhimanyu describes
his first ancestor Mânâṅka as Râshṭrakûṭânâṁ tilaka, “ an ornament of the Râshṭrakûṭas.”[11] A Sanskṛit verse in the Multâî plates of A.D. 709 places Durgarâja, the first ancestor
of Yuddhâsura-Nandarâja, śrî-Râshṭrakûṭ-ânvayê, “ in the lineage of the glorious Râshṭrakûṭas.”[12] And a Sanskṛit verse in the Âutrôli-Chhârôli plates of A.D. 757 describes Kakkarâja
I., the first ancestor of Kakkarâja II, as śrî-Râshṭrakûṭa-kula-paṅkaja-shaṇḍa-sûrya, “ a
sun of the group of water-lilies (blooming in the daytime) which is the family of the glorious
Râshṭrakûṭas.”[13]
In later extraneous records which mention the Mâlkhêḍ family, we find the following usage. A Sanskṛit verse in an Eastern Chalukya copper-plate record of the period A.D. 918
to 925 describes Vijayâditya II. (A.D. 799 to 843) as fighting during twelve years, by day
and by night, a hundred and eight battles with the armies of the Gaṅgas and the Raṭṭas ; and
a subsequent Sanskṛit verse in the same record says that Vijayâditya III. (A.D. 844 to 888),
prompted by the lord of the Raṭṭas, conquered the Gaṅgas, and cut off the head of Maṅgi in
battle, and frightened Kṛishṇa and Saṅkila, and completely burnt their city.[14] In the Chôḷa
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[1] Vol. VI. above, p. 290, text line 36.
[2] Ind. Ant. Vol. XIII. p. 67, verse 18.
[3] See note 5 on page 215 above.
[4] Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. P. 158, text line 17.
[5] Vol. VI. above, p. 243, text line 18.
[6] Archæol. Surv. West. Ind. Vol. V. p. 88, text line 3.
[7] Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 159, text line 2.
[8] Vol. V. above, p. 193, text lines 11, 12 ; and Vol. IV. p. 282, text lines 10, 11.
[9] Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVIII. p. 258, B., plate ii. a, text line 1, and p. 262, A., plate i,
text line 15.
[10] Vol. IV. above, p. 340, text line 6.
[ 11] Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVI. p. 90, text line 2.
[12] Ind. Ant. Vol. XVIII. p. 234, text lines 1, 2.
[13] Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVI. p. 107, text lines 2, 3.─ I am of opinion, now, that the members
of this family did not belong to what can be properly treated as a branch of the Mâlkhêḍ family, but were only
vaṁśyas or “ kinsmen ” of the Râshṭrakûṭas of Mâlkhêḍ ; that is to say, that they belonged to a separate line of o, Vol. VI. above, p. 170.
[14] South-Ind. Inscrs. Vol. I. p. 39, text lines 12, 24 ; and, regarding the second verse, see also Vol. IV. above
p. 226.
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