Raichur

Raichur (formerly Raichore[1]) is a city and municipality in the district of Raichur in the Indian state of Karnataka. Raichur, located between Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, is the headquarters of Raichur district. It is located 410 km from the state capital, Bangalore. The recorded history of the district is traced as far back as the third century B.C.E. The fact that three minor rock edicts of Ashoka are found in district one at Maski in the Lingasugur taluk and the other two near Koppal, which proves that this area was included in the dominions of the great Mauryan king Ashoka (273 - 236 B.C.E). At that time, this region was under the governance of the Viceroy or Mahamatra of Ashoka. Thereafter, the district appears to have been a part of the kingdom of the Satavahanas. The Vakatakas, who reigned during the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, seems to have held sway over Raichur for some time, after which it appears to have been included in the Kadamba dominions. The next dynasty of importance, which ruled over this region, was that of the Chalukyas of Badami. According to an inscription from Aihole, Pulakeshin II having defeated the Pallavas, occupied this area and made it a province in his empire under the governance of his son Adityavarma. Later the whole of the present Raichur district was included in the dominions of the Rashtrakutas, who rose to power in the eighth century, as could be gathered from the inscriptions of that period found in this district. According to an inscription from Manvi taluk, Jagattunga, a subordinate ruler under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna-II, was ruling the province of Adedore Eradusavirapranta, i.e., the area constituting the present Raichur district. Amoghavarsha Nrupathunga I, a Rashtrakuta king, has described Koppal in his Kannada work, Kavirajamarga, as the great Kopananagara.[2]