Dhruva (Rashtrakuta)

Dhruva was a king of the Rashtrakutas, who reigned from about 780 to 793.¹² He took the throne from his elder brother, Govinda II.³ Inscriptions of his first year at Alampur, on the Tungabhadra in today’s Telangana, show that the Rashtrakutas now held the old Chalukya temple town.¹²

Who he was

Dhruva was the younger son of Krishna I.³ His titles included Dharavarsha, “the heavy rainer”, Kalivallabha and Nirupama, “the unequalled one”.³ The early records say that he won the throne “by jumping over his elder brother”.³ Robert Sewell read the Paithan grant of 794 to say that Govinda II was deposed and Dhruva seized his throne.⁴

J. F. Fleet lists his wars outside the Telugu country.³ He imprisoned a Ganga king, took elephants from a Pallava king, and drove the king Vatsaraja into the deserts of Marwar.³ He made his son Govinda III crown prince by investing him with a necklace.⁵ See Govinda III.

The gateway at Alampur

One Kannada inscription at Alampur is dated in the first year of a king named Dharavarsha.¹ Its editor in 1961 thought that this “might be” Dhruva, and dated his first year to about 780.¹ It describes the arrangements made by a man named Balavarmarasa for the temple festivals at Alampur.¹

The Mahbubnagar volume of Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (2003), as summarised in Epigraphia Telanganica, describes a record of the same first year.² It is on the south wall of the Brahmesvara temple, near its western entrance.² In the volume’s reading, Balavarmarasa was probably a feudatory, and he built the western mahadvara (great gateway) of the temple.²

The same record lists the gifts made for the Mahanavami festival.² Thirty leading men of the village gave rice, ghee and other food to feed a thousand people.² The gaundas (oil-pressers) gave oil, and the flower-sellers gave flowers to decorate the hall.² Three sculptors, Ayyanachari, Sridharavoja and Punnioja, also made gifts.²

Another record of the same first year is on a pilaster of the great gateway of the Mahadeva temple.² It records gifts to the goddess Durga-bhattaraki while Balavarmarasa governed Alampur.² A man named Somadibhatta was then head of the matha (monastery).² The summary of Indian Archaeology 1959–60 says that it gave the goddess three hundred and sixty mattars of land.⁶

Kuruvagattu

An undated inscription at Kuruvagattu, in the Mahbubnagar district, praises a Chalukya warrior, the son of Vinayaditya.⁷ It calls him the friend of Govinda-vallabha, son of Kali-vallabha of the Rashtrakuta family.⁷ P. B. Desai pointed out that Kalivallabha was a title of Dhruva, whose son was Govinda III.⁷ See the Kuruvagattu inscription.

Where the sources disagree

• Who was Dharavarsha? The 1961 list says only that he “might be” Dhruva.¹ The 2003 Mahbubnagar volume names him Dharavarsha Dhruva without doubt.²
• His reign. About 780 to 792 in the 1961 list, and 780 to 793 in the 2003 volume.¹²
• The Kuruvagattu warrior’s father. Desai’s 1961 list does not say who this Vinayaditya was.⁷ The summary in Epigraphia Telanganica identifies him with the founder of the Chalukya family of Vemulavada.⁸

Footnotes

1. Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (1961), p. 36, No. 99 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 76, Rashtrakuta Nos. 3–4, summarising Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, Mahabubnagar District I (2003), pp. 21–22, and the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy for 1959-60, p. 59. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

3. J. F. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts”, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency I, pt. II (1896), p. 393 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Robert Sewell, The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (1932), p. 32 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

5. Fleet, “Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts” (1896), p. 394 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩

6. Gajjala Vasanta Lakshmi (ed.), Epigraphia Telanganica I: Pre-Kakatiya Telangana (2023), p. 46, summarising Indian Archaeology 1959-60: A Review, p. 54. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

7. P. B. Desai (introduction), Kannada Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series 3, 1961), p. 11, No. 29 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for the short phrase quoted. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. Epigraphia Telanganica I (2023), p. 77, No. 6, summarising Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, Mahabubnagar District I (2003), pp. 24–25. Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩