Amoghavarsha I

Amoghavarsha I reigned over the Rashtrakuta kingdom for at least sixty-two years.¹² Robert Sewell wrote that he was at war with the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi throughout his long reign.¹²

Family and coming to the throne

Amoghavarsha I was a son of Govinda III, and succeeded him in 814 or 815. J. F. Fleet noted that the records had not disclosed his proper name.¹ Amoghavarsha, “he who rains not in vain”, was one of his titles, as were Nripatunga and Maharaja-Sarva.¹ See Govinda III.

His accession was disputed.³ The records say that he recovered a kingdom which had tottered.³ They say that his cousin Karkaraja of Gujarat “vanquished the tributary Rashtrakutas” who had rebelled, and “speedily placed Amoghavarsha on his throne”.³ His son Krishna II shared in the government as heir-apparent and succeeded him.⁴⁵

Vengi and Vingavalli

The Sirur inscription of 866 claims that the kings of Anga, Vanga, Magadha, Malava and Vengi worshipped Amoghavarsha.³ Fleet called the claim exaggerated for the far eastern kingdoms.³ But he raised no objection for Vengi, since “there were constant wars, with varying success on both sides”, between the two dynasties.³

Two grants of his descendant Govinda IV name a battle.⁶⁷ Fleet translated the Sangli grant of 933.⁶ In his words, “the restraint of pleasure that had been caused by the incomparable Chalukyas” and others “was angrily allayed at Vingavalli”.⁶ D. R. Bhandarkar translated the Cambay plates of 930.⁷ In his version Amoghavarsha pleased Yama, the god of death, at Vingavalli “with unprecedented morsels of cakes (which were) the Chalukyas”.⁷

Fleet read both as a victory over the Eastern Chalukyas.³ He noted that the Karda grant of 972 calls Amoghavarsha “a fire of destruction to the Chalukyas”.³ The place has not been identified.³

In an earlier article Fleet had taken a short inscription at Aihole as showing a break in Amoghavarsha’s reign.⁴ He had called the break “attributable to a defeat at the hands of the Eastern Chalukya king”.⁴ By 1896 he thought the phrase meant only “reigning over the earth”, and he withdrew the suggestion.⁴ Other readings of the Eastern Chalukya claims of this period are set out on the page for Gunaga Vijayaditya III.⁸

Manyakheta

The Deoli grant of 940 and the Karda grant of 972 say that Amoghavarsha made the city of Manyakheta, the modern Malkhed.⁴ Fleet thought this meant that he completed the walls and forts begun under Govinda III.⁴ In Fleet’s view he also made the city the capital of the dynasty.⁴

Records in Telangana

Mallikarjunapalli (Sadasivpet, Medak). A worn Kannada inscription dated 25 September 846, in the reign of Amoghavarsha, records gifts of land to a temple of Isvara.⁹ The giver was Kommana, lord of the Panuravadi country, who also made a gift to a Jain temple at Munipalle.⁹
Minpur (Andole, Medak). A damaged inscription of the reign of Amoghavarsha records a gift of land to an ascetic for the performance of fasting rites.¹⁰
Khajipet (Warangal). A broken inscription names Satyasraya Bhimarasa as a feudatory of Amoghavarsha.¹¹¹²¹³ By serving this overlord he won the five great sounds (a royal honour of five instruments) and the rank of mahasamantadhipati (chief of great feudatories).¹¹¹²¹³ The Inscriptions of Warangal District (2016) date it to 872, in the reign of Amoghavarsha I.¹¹¹² P. B. Desai (1961) took its cyclic year Nandana to be 932–33, and the king to be Amoghavarsha III.¹³

Religion

Fleet placed in this period a series of Digambara Jain authors who spread their faith in the Deccan.⁴¹⁴ One of them, Jinasena, describes himself as the chief guru of Amoghavarsha I.⁴¹⁴ A verse gives the Jain work Ratnamalika to an Amoghavarsha.⁴¹⁴ It says that “he laid aside the sovereignty through discrimination”.⁴¹⁴ From this Fleet concluded that in extreme old age he gave up the throne in favour of his son.⁴¹⁴

J. F. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts”, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 401 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 34 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩²
Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 402 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 403 and note 3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²
Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 410 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
J. F. Fleet, “Sanskrit and Old-Canarese Inscriptions”: Rashtrakuta grant of Govinda-Suvarnavarsha (the Sangli grant), Indian Antiquary XII (1883), p. 253, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
D. R. Bhandarkar, “Cambay Plates of Govinda IV; Saka-Samvat 852”, Epigraphia Indica VII (1903), p. 43, translation of verse 12 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³
Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 411 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩
Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica I: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana (2023), p. 78, Rashtrakuta No. 9, summarising Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, Medak District (2001), pp. 1–2. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩²
Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 81, No. 15. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩
Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 79, No. 10, summarising Inscriptions of Warangal District (2016), pp. 1–4. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 80, No. 14. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³
P. B. Desai (introduction), Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series 3, 1961), p. 25, No. 71 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 407 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵