How did rashtrakutas became powerful essay
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The Rashtrakutas were extremely cautious, calculated, and shrewd with their approach. They were content in being feudatories to the Chalukyas of Badami for a long time. When the great Chalukya king Vikramaditya-II was in power and the Chalukyas were the most powerful empire in India, the Rashtrakutas were very much loyal to them. The founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire, Dantidurga answered his overlord’s call and joined forces with his overlord’s forces and the combined Chalukya-Rashtrakuta alliance prevented the Arabs from invading India. Dantidurga was very much in the good books of Vikramaditya-II and did not do anything to upset his overlord.
After the death of Vikramaditya-II, it was when Dantidurga sensed that this was the right time for him to form an independent empire. The successor of Vikramaditya-II, his son Kirtivarman-II took charge and Dantidurga realised that this was the time to strike the Chalukyas. To the south of the Chalukya Empire, a new power, the Pandya dynasty was coming up. The Chalukyas whose armies were collectively referred to as Karnatabala were considered to be invincible. Barring a few defeats to the Pallavas, an equally illustrious dynasty, they had largely been undefeated throughout their history.
Dantidurga knew that if he defeated the most powerful force, his own overlord, the Rashtrakutas would immediately be recognised as a great power. He first took away the Kalinga, Kosala, and the Telugu territories from the Chalukyas, surrounding them completely. He formed an alliance with the Pallava king Nandivarman-II and that completely isolated Kirtivarman-II which led to the Rashtrakutas completely defeating the Chalukyas of Badami and ending their glorious rule. The Samangad inscription describes Dantidurga as the vanquisher of Karnatabala.
With the Rashtrakutas defeating the Karnatabala which was believed to be invincible, the entire Bharatavarsha had to take notice of them. This was how they first established their power. By 757, the entire Chalukya Empire had been taken over by the Rashtrakutas. Now after establishing, they had to consolidate it. The consolidation was done by the successors of Dantidurga, namely Krishna-I, Dhruva, and Govinda-II.
Krishna-I was actually the one who made sure that the Rashtrakutas took control of the entire Chalukya Empire. Due to him, the Rashtrakuta Empire grew by three times than what it had originally been. He was replaced by his brother Dhruva who took them even further. He crossed the Narmada with the intention of taking Kannauj which was considered to be the most important city in India. He defeated both the Pratiharas and the Palas the two empires which were forever involved in the Battle for Kannauj. What made Dhruva’s decision so brilliant was that this Kannauj campaign was of digvijaya nature. It was primarily done so that he could be recognised as the most powerful ruler in India and obtain the tribute from both the Pratiharas and the Palas.
This strategy was what gave the Rashtrakutas the upper hand always in the tripartite struggle for Kannauj. Unlike the Pratiharas and the Palas who were vying to annex Kannauj, the Rashtrakutas never took part in the struggle with the intention of annexing Kannauj to their empire. Their campaigns were mostly of digvijaya nature and they took advantage of the constant fight that was fought between the Pratiharas and the Palas. The Rashtrakutas were never defeated by the Pratiharas and the Palas. Indra-III was the only Rashtrakuta ruler who went all the way to Kannauj and annexed it to the empire. Barring him, the others merely undertook digvijaya campaigns to Kannauj.
The digvijaya campaigns made entire India realise the might of the Rashtrakutas. With their neighbours, initially they fought a lot of wars, particularly with the Gangas of Talakadu. Although the Rashtrakutas always had the upper hand against the Gangas, the great Amoghavarsha-I thought that it was wise to end the conflict with the Gangas. He ended the conflict by giving his daughter’s hand in marriage with the Ganga king Buthuga-II. The century old Ganga-Rashtrakuta conflict ended and peace was made between the two empires. In fact, after this, the Gangas went on to become the staunchest allies of the Rashtrakutas.
Peace was made with the Pallavas and the Pandyas too. However, wars were fought with the Cholas to keep them in check. The Rashtrakutas subdued them with the help of the Gangas and always kept them in check. It was well calculated strategy on the part of the Rashtrakutas. They knew when to keep peace and with whom to keep peace. They knew which empire had the ability to threaten them and they knew when to take action so that their supremacy was not threatened by anyone.
hope this helps!!!