Origin of Rashtrakuta dynasty

The origin of the  has been a controversial topic and has been debated over the past decades by historians. The differing opinions mostly revolve around issues such as the home of the earliest ancestors of the medieval Rashtrakutas, a possible southern migration during the early part of the first millennium and the relationship between the several Rashtrakuta dynasties that ruled small kingdoms in northern and central India and the Deccan in the 6th century - 7th century. Further, the relationship of these medieval Rashtrakutas to the most important and famous dynasty, the Rashtrakutas of of the 8th century - 10th century time period has also been debated. Also contested is whether the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta were related by ancestry to the early, , , or  communities of the Deccan and northern India.

While the history of the early Rashtrakutas has caused much debate, the history of the Rashtrakutas of (in present day ) of the 8th-10th centuries can be accurately constructed because numerous contemporaneous inscriptions and texts refer to them. The crux of the Manyakheta empire extended from the in the south to the  in the north. At their peak they were the only south Indian empire that conquered regions in far northern India as well as the extreme south. Thus it is not impossible that several modern groups in India have a historical connection with them, genealogically or linguistically. the regal capital and in modern Maharashtra are located in the region that forms the transitional zone between the North Indian Indo-Aryan and the South Indian dravidian languages. The Lata branch of the empire (in present day ) was an important dynasty belonging to the Manyakheta family line which later merged with the Manyakheta kingdom during the 9th century. Thus it may not be appropriate to associate the 8th century Rashtrakutas exclusively to one of the two modern states in India, and.

Epithets
The appearance of the terms Rathika, Ristika (Rashtrika) or Lathika in conjunction with the terms Kambhoja and Gandhara in some Ashokan inscriptions of 2nd century BCE from Mansera and Shahbazgarhi in North Western Frontier Province (present day Pakistan), Girnar and Dhavali  and the use of the epithet "Ratta" in many later inscriptions has prompted a claim that the earliest Rashtrakutas were descendants of the Arattas, natives of the Punjab region from the time of  who later migrated south and set up kingdoms there, while another theory points more generally to north western regions of India. Based on this theory, the Arattas may have become natives of the Deccan having arrived there during the early centuries of the first millennium.

This is counter to the argument by other scholars that the term Rishtika used together with Petenika in the Ashokan inscriptions implied they were hereditary ruling clans from modern Maharashtra region and the term "Ratta" implied Maharatta ruling families from modern Maharashtra region. But this has been rejected on the basis that from ancient books such as Dipavamsha and Mahavamsha in Pali language it is known the term Maharatta and not Rashtrika has been used to signify hereditary ruling clans from modern Maharashtra region and the terms Rashtrika and Petenika appear to be two different displaced ruling tribes.

It is noted by another scholar that ruling clans called Rathis and Maharathis were in power in parts of present day Karnataka as well in the early centuries of the Christian era, which is known inscriptions from the region and further proven by the discovery of lead coins from the middle of 3rd century bearing Sadakana Kalalaya Maharathi in the heart of modern Karnataka region near. In the face of these facts it is claimed it can no longer be maintained that the Rathi and Maharathi families were confined only to present day Maharashtra. It is claimed there is sufficient inscriptional evidence that several Maharathi families were related to families by marriage and they were   worshippers, a form of worship very popular in the Mysore region (modern Karnataka). Also, no evidence to confirm that these families were either Aryan or non-Aryan is available.

The epithet Ratta, it is also claimed is a Kannada word from which the word Rashtrakuta has been derived. The use of the word Rattagudlu (meaning an office) has been found in inscriptions from present day Andhra Pradesh dated prior to the 8th century indicating it was a South Indian word. From the Deoli plates and Karhad records it is argued there was a prince called Ratta and his son was called Rashtrakuta. Hence it has been argued the Rashtrakutas were of Kannada origin. It is also said the term Rashtra means "kingdom" and Kuta means "lofty" or Rashtra means  province and Kuta means chieftain.

Another epithet used in inscriptions of was Lattalura Puravaradhiswara. It is proposed that it refers to their original home Lattalur, modern day Latur in Maharashtra state, bordering Karnataka. This area it is claimed was predominantly Kannada speaking based on surviving vestiges of place names, inscriptions and cultural relics. It is explained that Latta is a Prakrit variation of Ratta and hence Rattana-ur became Lattana-ur and finally Lattalur. Another theory is that Latalurapura is modern day Ratnapur in Bilaspur district of central India.

Royal names and signatures
In linking possible connections between the medieval Rashtrakuta families to the imperial family of Manyakheta it has been pointed out that only the family members ruling from Elichpur ( or modern, modern Maharashtra) had names that were very similar to the names of Kings of the Manyakheta dynasty. From the Tivarkhed and Multhai inscriptions it is clear that the kings of this family were Durgaraja, Govindaraja, Svamikaraja and Nannaraja. These names closely resemble the names of Manyakheta kings or their extended family, the name Govindaraja appearing multiple times among the Manyakheta line. These names also appear in the Gujarat line of Rashtrakutas whose family ties with the Manyakheta family is well known.

It has been noted that princes and princesses of the Rashtrakuta family used pure Kannada names such as Kambarasa, Asagavve, Revakka and Abbalabbe as their personal names indicating that they were native. It has been pointed out that princesses of family lineage belonging to Gujarat signed their royal edicts in Kannada even in their Sanskrit inscriptions. Some examples of this are the Navsari and Baroda plates of Karka I and the Baroda plates of his son Dhruva II. It has been attested by a scholar that the Gujarat Rashtrakuta princes signed their inscriptions in the language of their native home and the race they belonged to. It is well known that the Gujarat line of Rashtrakutas were from the same family as the Manyakheta line. It is argued that if the Rashtrakutas were originally a Marathi speaking family, then the Gujarat Rashtrakutas would not have signed their inscriptions in Kannada language and that too in far away Gujarat. The theory that under the rule of the  of Kannada country, Kannada speaking dynasties were established in the far corners of the Chalukyan empire in Gujarat, Andhra and  (present day  region in  modern Maharashtra) and hence the ancestors of King, the founder of the Manyakheta empire were Kannadigas. It is further claimed there is proof that in the locality where Dantidurga lived Kannada was the spoken language.

Emblems
Several Rashtrakuta families ruled India during the 6th century - 7th century period. Scholars have tried to understand their relationship with the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta by a comparative study of the emblems.

The only Rashtrakuta family whose royal emblem is similar to that of the rulers of Manyakheta, the golden eagle or lanchhana (emblem) is that of the family that ruled from Amravathi district of modern. It has been theorised that this line may possibly have been ancestors of the Manyakheta kings. Their inscriptions (Tivarkhed and Multhai) were issued from Achalapura (modern Elichpur) which may have been their capital. Another Rashtrakuta family ruling from Manapur in region with its founder King Abhimanyu had the emblem of a lion. This makes it improbable that they were the ancestors of the Manyakheta family. While the Garuda is normally indicative Vaishnavite leanings, it has to be observed here that earlier coins belonging to King 's period use the legend Parama Maheshwara, which in turn indicate staunch Shaivite leanings. This change in symbology has been used to theorise that the Rashtrakutas may have originally been Shaivites and embraced Vaishnavism later.

Vamsha(genealogy)
With regards to their vamsha (whether they belonged to Surya Vamsha (solar lineage) or Chandra Vamsha (lunar lineage), Rashtrakuta inscriptions remained silent on the issue, until about 860. Some 75 inscriptions have been found thereafter in the Deccan and Gujarat which speak about their vamsha.  Of these, only 8 lay claim that they belonged to the  line. While one inscription of 860 claims that King  was born to the Yadava Satyaki, 1800 coins of King Krishna I (772), his successor calls him Parama Mahesvara indicating his solar lineage origin and  faith. An inscription of King  (808) mentions "by the birth of this virtuous king, the Rashtrakuta dynasty became invincible just as the Yadava dynasty by the birth of Lord Krishna". This is considered only a comparative statement. Only a few records attest to a possible Yadava connection and even the descendants of the Rashtrakutas such as the Gahadavalas of Kanauj, Rathors of Rajasthan claim to be from Surya Vamsha (solar lineage), a sure sign the Rashtrakutas belonged to the Surya Vamsha. The opinion that the Rashtrakutas did not belong to the Yadava line is supported by another scholar as well.

Language
While the linguistic leanings of the early Rashtrakutas has caused considerable debate, the history and language of the Rashtrakutas of has been free of such confusion. It is clear from inscriptions, coinage and prolific contemporaneous literature that the court of these  was multi-lingual, used  and  as their administrative languages  and encouraged literature in Sanskrit and Kannada. However this period was the very end of the classical era of literary Sanskrit and Prakrit. As such, from the Kavirajamarga of 9th century, it is known that Kannada was popular from Kaveri river up to the Godavari river, an area covering large territory in modern Maharashtra.

The Rashtrakuta inscriptions call them the vanquishers of the Karnatabala, a sobriquet used to refer to the near invincibility of the Chalukyas of Badami. This however it is claimed should not be construed to mean that the Rashtrakutas themselves were not Kannadigas. Their patronage and love of the Kannada language is apparent in that most of their inscriptions within modern Karnataka are in Kannada, while their inscriptions outside of modern Karnataka tended to be in Sanskrit. An inscription in classical Kannada of King has also been found as far away as  in modern  which further supports the view of their affinity to the language. ,, and King  were among the noteworthy scholars in Kannada, the  poet  wrote several works and famous Sanskrit scholars such as  and  (both of who were theologians), mathematician  and poets such as Trivikrama and Gunabhadra adorned their courts. The earliest Kannada literature belongs to this time. These Rashtrakuta kings married princess from Northern and Southern India and several Rashtrakuta branches emerged in Northern India during the their imperialistic expansion in the 9th century.

The argument that the Rashtrakutas were either Marathi speaking Marathas or Telugu speaking Reddies in origin has been rejected. 's in that time period had not come into martial prominence even in the Telugu speaking regions of Andhra, being largely an agrarian society of cultivators who only much later (in the 14th century - 15th century) came to control regions in the Krishna - Rajamundry districts. The Rashtrakuta period did not produce any Marathi inscriptions or literature (with the exception of a 981 CE Shravanabelagola inscription which some historians argue was inscribed later). In addition very few literary works in Prakrit language are available from this period. Jainism which played such an important role in giving patronage to early Kannada literature did not flourish as much in the present day Maharashtra region which is why no Marathi literature emerged during this period. Hence Marathi as the language of the Rashtrakutas, it is claimed, is not an acceptable argument.

Rashtrakutas and Rajputs
''See detailed articles and.

The Rashtrakutas emerged before the term "Rajput" came to be used as a community. The emergence of Rajputs in Rajasthan and Gujarat coincides with the arrival of the Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas in the region.