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INSCRIPTIONS FROM KAVI.
MAY, 1876.]
VII. VIII. of the main line, and Nos. 1, 2 of the Gujarat branch. When speaking of Krishna (V.) the Baroda inscription states (v. 8) "that he destroyed his relation, who followed an evil course, and himself assumed the sovereignty for the good of his race." With the help of the K âv i inscription it is now easy to see that the dethroned relative was no other than Dantidurga. It also becomes explicable why the writer of the Baroda grant should have left out Indra and Dan tidurga. According to his own statement, he considered the latter a wicked prince. He therefore confined himself to the righteous branch of K arka's family. It is not necessary to assume with Lassen§ that the Rashtrakuta empire split up into two parts after the death
of Karka I.
From v. 29 of our inscription it is also clear that a separate kingdom of the Rashtrakutas || was established only by Govinda II., and that this prince made over the Lâtesvara mandala to his brother Indra, a statement which is supported by the amended reading of the Baroda grant. Lâtesvaramandala obviously means 'the kingdom or province of the ruler of Lata.' I infer from the phrase 'Indra received the realm of the ruler of Láta from his brother' that the latter had newly conquered it. For, had it been an old possession, it would probably have simply been stated that Lâṭade é a or Latamandala had been made over to Indra. As the Van Dindori inscription of Govinda II. is dated in Saka 730, the Rashtrakuta invasion of Gujarât must have taken place at the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century. During this period the kingdom of the Châpotkatas or Chandas of Aphilvâd, which was established by Vanaraja in 746 A.D., was probably still weak and unable to defend an outlying province like Lâța. Lâța corresponds to what we now would call 'Central and Southern Gujarat'-to the country between the Mahi and the Konkana. According to Lassen, the Latiké or Lariké of Ptolemy included a somewhat larger tract of country. To judge from the position of the traceable localities mentioned in the K â vî and Baroda
§ Ind. Alt. vol. III. p. 540.
Lassen, loc. cit, assumes that the main branch of the Rashtrakutas also ruled in Gujarat. There is no evidence warranting such an assumption. But there is a good deal of evidence to show that they were a Dakhanf race whose capital was M Any akheta or M&lk het. See the Karda,
145
inscriptions, Lâța was confined in the ninth century by narrower boundaries. For Govinda III. resided, when making his grant, in Bharûch; and the village given by him, as well as those surrounding it, are nearly all to be found in the Jambûsar Tâluka. Kâpika is, of course, Kavi; Vatapadraka, Ruhpâda, Jadrana, and Kâlîyara are now called Wardla, Runâd, Jantrân, and Kâlier.* Thurn a vi has become Thanavi.
Among the places mentioned in the Baroda grant, Ankoṭṭa and Jambu vâvikâ exist now as Ankût and Jâmbavâ, and are situated five or six miles to the south of Baroda.
Besides we find at the present day Rathor girassiâs in the Bharâch district and in the Gaik vâḍi villages on the northern bank of the Tâpti-a certain sign that these districts were once under Râthor, i.e. Rashtrakuta, rule.
How long the rule of the Rashtrakutas in Lâța lasted, and whether they kept up any connexion with the main branch of their house, is at present difficult to decide. Two circumstances bearing on the latter point deserve, however, to be mentioned. Firstly, both Karka in the Baroda and Govinda in the Kâvî inscription call themselves simply mahúsúmantádhipati, lords of the great feudal chiefs,' or 'great lords of the feudal chiefs,' and state that they had obtained the great titles.' As I have stated on former occasions, it may be inferred from these indications that they were not lords paramount, but vassals of some greater power. Secondly, the names of the successors of Govinda II. in the main branch, as given in the Karda and Kharepatan, inscriptions,† differ from those of the Gujarât inscriptions. I am therefore inclined to consider the Râshtrakutas of Gujarât vassals of those of Malkhet.
Plate I. स वोव्याद्वेधसो धाम जन्नाभिकमलं कृतं । हरश्च यस्य कान्तेन्दुकलया कमलंकृतं ||[21] † melba[4]feyaGAVERT वस्तार्थ[य]न्नभिमुखो रणशरीषु । भूपः शुचिर्व्विधुरिवाप्तदिगन्त [की ]र्त्ति
गोविन्दराज इति राव इति राजसु राजसः || [२०]
Kharepatan, and Salotgi plates discussed, Ind. Ant. I. 205.
Ind. Alt. vol. III. p. 170.
Vide the map at p. 112. † See Ind. Ant. vol. I. p. 207. IV. 1, read fr. V. 2, 1. 2 begine fu; L 3 be gins fतग्गोवि; dele the first इति राज read राजसिंह :
