Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/406

 864 THE KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN a chieftain of the ancient Rashtrakuta family, fought his way to the front, and overthrew Kirttivarman II Chalukya. The main branch of the Chalukyas now became extinct, and the sovereignty of the Deccan passed to the Rashtrakutas, in whose hands it remained for two centuries and a quarter. During the two centuries of the rule of the early Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi, great changes in the re- ligious state of the country were in progress. Bud- dhism, although still influential, was slowly declining, and suffering gradual supersession by its rivals, Jain- ism and Brahmanical Hinduism. The sacrificial form of the Hindu religion received special attention, and was made the subject of a multitude of formal treatises. The Puranic forms of Hinduism also grew in popu- larity, and everywhere elaborate temples dedicated to Vishnu, Siva, or other members of the Puranic pan- theon, were erected. The orthodox Hindus borrowed from their Buddhist rivals the practice of excavating cave-temples, and one of the earliest Hindu works of this class is that made in honour of Vishnu by Manga- lesa Chalukya, at the close of the sixth century. Jain- ism was specially popular in the Southern Maratha country. Dantidurga Rashtrakuta, after his occupation of Vatapi, effected other conquests, but, becoming unpop- ular, was deposed by his uncle, Krishna I, who com- pleted the establishment of Rashtrakuta supremacy over the dominions formerly held by the Chalukyas, while a branch of his family founded a principality in