The reign of the imperial Rashtrakuta Dynasty in sections of the northern, central and southern India was witnessed in the sixth and the thirteenth centuries. They reigned as solitary clans but were closely associated with each other. The Rashtrakuta reign from Manpur in the Malwa region of modern Madhya Pradesh has been revealed in the inscriptions of the seventh century copperplate grant. The kings of Achalapur, the rulers of Kannauj and Elichpur in Maharashtra were the additional ruling Rashtrakuta clans cited in the inscriptions. The origin of the Rashtrakutas, the spoken language and the native home of the dynasty is yet an issue of debate.

The kin that feinted from Elichpur was a feudatory of the Badami Chalukyas. During the statute of Dantidurga, it deposed Chalukya Kirtivarman II and constructed an unusual realm with the Gulbarga region in modern Karnataka as its foundation. This community was identified as the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta that mounted to authority in 753 in South India. The Prathihara dynasty of Gujarat and the Pala Dynasty of Bengal attained vigor in the northwestern and eastern India respectively.

A tripartite struggle for the resources of the rich Gangetic plains, each of these three empires conquering the seat of power at Kannauj for diminutive periods of time was witnessed in the eight and tenth centuries. The Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta ruled a mammoth domain extending from the Ganga River and Yamuna River doab in the north to Cape Comorin in the south, a prolific time of political growth, architectural achievements and famous literary contributions. The early kings of the Rashtrakuta dynasty practiced Hinduism but the later kings strongly predisposed Jain philosophy.

Significant works in Kannada and Sanskrit during the Rashtrakuta statute were contributed by the Jain mathematicians and scholars. The most celebrated king of this empire was Amoghavarsha I and inscribed Kavirajamarga, a milestone literary work in Kannada language. The Dravidian style of architecture marked a signpost in the architecture during the reign of the Rashtrakutas. The utmost examples of this are witnessed in the sculptures of Elephanta Caves in the present day Maharashtra and the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora as well as the Jain Narayana shrine at Pattadakal in contemporary Karnataka and the Kashivishvanatha shrine, presently the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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