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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
records, the Râshṭrakûṭa territory, which, however, had by that time passed into the hands of
the Western Châlukyas of Kalyâṇi, is called, in Tamil prose, the Ilaṭṭapâḍi and Iraṭṭapâḍi
seven-and-a-half-lâkh (country), in which appellation the name stands for Raṭṭapâḍi, “ the
country of the Raṭṭas, “[1] and Iraṭṭamaṇḍala, “ the territory of the Raṭṭas.”[2] The Bhâdâna
Śilâhâra grant of A.D. 997 speaks, in a Sanskṛit verse, of the once flourishing Raṭṭa-râjya or
“ sovereignty of the Raṭṭas” as then existing only in memory, and further on, in Sanskṛit prose,
uses the same word in mentioning the downfall and destruction of the family, consequent on
the overthrow of Kakka II[3] The Khârêpâṭaṇ Śilâhâra plates of A.D. 1008 speak, in a Sanskṛit
verse, of Râshṭrakûṭa-êśvarâṇâṁ vaṁśa, “ the race of the Râshṭrakûṭa lords,” and further
on, in Sanskṛit prose, describe the Western Châlukya king Irivabeḍaṅga-Satyâśraya as ruling
over Raṭṭapâṭî or “ the country of the Raṭṭas.”[4] And the Kauṭhêṁ Western Châlukya plates of
A.D. 1009, in Sanskṛit verses, speak five times of the Râshṭrakûṭas, and Râshṭrakûṭa-kula or
“ the family of the Râshṭrakûṭas,” and also present once the other form Raṭṭa, in referring
to Bhammaha-Raṭṭa or “ the Raṭṭa Bhammaha,” whose daughter Jâkavvâ became the wife of
Taila II.[5]
In the later extraneous records, there are many other references to the Râshṭrakûṭas of
Mâlkhêḍ, of which some speak of them as Râshṭrakûṭas, but the majority call them Raṭṭas. We
need not pursue those references any further. But we must note the usage in respect of the family-name, in connection both with the Râshṭrakûṭas of Mâlkhêḍ and with the Raṭṭas of Saundatti,
in the records of the feudatory Raṭṭa princes of Saundatti, who ruled over the Kûṇḍi three-thousand province which lay in the territory that had belonged to the Râshṭrakûṭa kings of
Mâlkhêḍ, and who, in their later records, are represented as belonging to the same lineage with
those kings.[6] In these Raṭṭa records, as far as they have been explored, the name Râshṭrakûṭa
is but rarely met with. An inscription at Bail-Hoṅgal, probably referable to the period A.D.
1044 to 1068 but perhaps to be placed about a century later, presents the name of the family of
apparently the Raṭṭa princes as Râshṭrakûṭa.[7] An inscription at Saundatti, put together in
A.D. 1096 or soon after, speaks, in Kanarese prose, in a passage which presents wrongly the date
of A.D. 875-76, of a king Kṛishṇarâjadêva, by whom it means Kṛishṇa III., and describes him
as Râshṭrakûṭa-kuḷa-tiḷaka, “ an ornament of the family of the Râshṭrakûṭas.”[8] The Têrdâḷ
inscription, which was put together in A.D. 1187, includes a passage dated in A.D. 1122 which
applies to the prince Kârtavîrya II., in Kanarese prose, the epithet Râshṭrakûṭ-ânvaya-śiraḥ-śikhâmaṇi, “ a crest-jewel on the head that was the lineage of the Râshṭrakûṭas.”[9] And the
Saundatti inscription of A.D. 1228 describes the prince Lakshmidêva II., in a Kanarese verse, as
Râshṭrakûṭ-ânvaya, “ belonging to the lineage of the Râshṭrakûṭas.”[10] But, with the above
exceptions, the Raṭṭa records, including even the records of A.D. 1096, 1187, and 1228 mentioned
above, always present the name as Raṭṭa, or, using a variant of the name written with the
Drâviḍian r, as Raṭṭa. The earliest certain record of the Raṭṭa princes, the Sogal inscription
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[1] See, forinstance, South-Ind. Inscrs. Vol. III. p. 15, a record of A.D. 1008 ; and ibid. p. 112, a record of
A.D. 1054-55.
[2] See ibid p. 63, a record of A.D. 1053-54.
[3] Vol. III. above, p. 272, text line 20, and p. 273, line 43.
[4] Vol. III. above, p. 298, text line 6-7, and p. 299, line 21.─ There can hardly be any doubt that the same
word Raṭṭapâṭî is the real reading in the passage in the Navasâhasâṅkacharita, XI. 89, 90, in which Dr. Bühler
(see Ep. Ind. Vol. I. p. 225) found a mention of “ Raḍûpâṭî.”
[5] Ind. Ant. Vol. XVI. p. 21, text lines 10, 15, and p. 23, lines 39, 40-41, 43, 44.
[6] See a note on references to Kṛishṇa III. in the records of the Raṭṭas of Saundatti, which I am giving in the
Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXII.
[7] See Ind. Ant. Vol. IV. p. 115. The language of the record is Kanarese. But I did not note whether the
particular passage is in prose or in verse.
[8] See the article referred to in note 6 above.
[ 9] Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 18, text line 47.
[10] Archæol. Surv. West. Ind. Vol. III. p. 110, text line 5.
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