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What were the General Considerations of the Rashtrkutas?

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What were the General Considerations of the Rashtrkutas? Empty What were the General Considerations of the Rashtrkutas?

Post by barbarossa Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:33 pm

The Rashtrakuta ascendancy lasted from the middle of the eighth to the third qurater of the tenth century, i.e., roughly two centuries and a quarter. Those who consider military aggressiveness a political virtue hail this period as a brilliant chapter in the history of the Deccan.

But opinions can be divided on this, especially in view of the poor contribution this dynasty had made to art and letters. The final consequences of Harsha's defeat at the hands of Pulakesin II were realised now when the Rashtrakutas repeatedly invaded the north and a reversal of the usual direction of invasion occurred.

It is significant that they could muster the resources needed to cteate and defeat enemies all round. The natural hostility between the Rashtrakutas and the Paramaras reached its logical end when, while the Paramaras were bittterly opposed to the Arabs in Sind the Rashtrakutas were very friendly with them. The Arab writers visiting western India for trade or for other purposes spoke very highly of the Rashtrakutas whom they referred to Balhara, a Prakritik from of Vallabharaja.

According to them the Balhara king was recognised as the greatest ruler in India to whom all others paid homage. The friendly relations existing between the Arabs and the Rashtrakutas remind one of Vijaynagar friendship for the Portuguese, the main reason in both cases being commercial advantages for both. The Rashtrakutas, there is reason to believe, remained faithful to Hinduism though they were on excellent terms with the Jainas and tolerant of Islam.

The only instance of their patronage of art is the Kailasa temple at Ellora which is associated with but one Rashtrakuta king namely; Krishna I. Profuse artistic effulgence under Pallavas during a similar period of three centuries will indicate the poverty of Rashtrakuta achievement. Kannada literature and Sanskrit to some extent received the impress of Rashtrakuta patronage.

Administration

The administration of the huge kingdom was carried on much as usual. The incessant warfare which was a feature of their history must have turned the country into barracks and the economy could have suffered badly but for the fact that for more than a century the significant battles they were engaged in were fought outside the kingdom.

The army was typically oriental. The king was accompanied even to the battlefield by the women-folk of the palace. We are told that Amoghavarsha I was born in a military camp while his father Govinda III was campaigning in the Vindhyas; which means the women-folk accompanied the kings to the battlefields even in advanced stage of pregnancy.

The governmental system of the Rashtrakutas was not different from the usual pattern of excessive centralisation of ultimate power in the hands of the king and considerable decentralisation at the village level. The Rashtrakuta period in the history of the Deccan was an interlude between two

Chalukya periods, the early one at Vatapi and the later at Kalyani. They inherited political prejudices, the governmental system and the geo-political gains and disadvan consequent on their location-all from the earlier Chalukyas and transmitted them to later ones so that from about c.600 to c.1200 there is a continuity of sorts in the governm" structure and policy, programmes and performances of the major political powers of Deccan.
barbarossa
barbarossa

Posts : 133
Join date : 2012-08-12
Age : 38
Location : Bangalore

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