Question

Dantidurga, who performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha was a
1. Chola King
2. Prathihara Chief
3. Rashtrakuta Chief
4. Pallava Chief

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Rashtrakuta Chief

• By the seventh century there were big landlords or warrior chiefs in different regions of the subcontinent.
• Existing kings often acknowledged them as their subordinates or samantas. They were expected to bring gifts for their kings or overlords, be present at their courts and provide them with military support.
• As samantas gained power and wealth, they declared themselves to be maha-samanta, maha-mandaleshvara (the great lord of a “circle” or region) and so on.
• Sometimes they asserted their independence from their overlords. One such instance was that of the Rashtrakutas in the Deccan. Initially, they were subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka.
• In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and performed a ritual called hiranya-garbha (literally, the golden womb). When this ritual was performed with the help of Brahmanas, it was thought to lead to the “rebirth” of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya, even if he was not one by birth.