RASHTRAKUTA, an Indian dynasty which ruled in the Deccan (q.v.) from about A.D. 750 to 973. The Rashtrakuta or Ratta clan are supposed to have held power during the historical blank before the 6th century ; but they came to the front in A.D. 750, when Dantidurga overthrew the Chalukya dynasty and made himself ruler of the Deccan. He was succeeded by his uncle Krishna I. (c. 76o), who completed his conquests, and whose reign is memorable for the execution of the Kailasa, the rock-cut temple at Ellora. His grandson Govinda III. (78o-815) extended the power of the family from the Vindhya Mountains and Malwa on the north to Kanchi on the south. The next king, Amogavarsha, reigned for sixty-two years. The reign of Krishna III. was remark able for a war with the Cholas, in which the Chola king was killed on the field of battle in 949. The last of the Rashtrakuta kings was Karka II., who was overthrown by the Chalukyas in 973.
See R. G. Bhandarkar, Early History of the Deccan (Bombay, 1884).
RAgIN, ALOIS (1867-1923), Czechoslovak statesman, was born at Nechanice. While at the university he took an active part in politics, and his abilities as an orator, journalist and organizer brought him into the forefront of the Czech progres sive movement. His anti-Austrian activities brought him into conflict with the authorities ; he was tried in connection with the "Omladina" affair in 1893 and condemned to two years' im prisonment and the loss of his doctorate. After serving his
sentence he gained a prominent position in the Czech Liberal ("Young Czech") party, which he represented both in the provincial diet of Bohemia and in the Austrian Reichsrath. During the anti-Czech persecution in the World War period, Ragin, together with Kramar, was arrested in 1915, charged with treason and condemned to death. The sentence, however, was not carried out, and after the accession of the emperor Karl, Ragin, with other political prisoners, was amnestied. He then took part in the preparations for the revolutionary coup in 1918, which, as a member of the National Committee, he helped to bring about. In the first Czechoslovak Government he became finance minister and rendered inestimable services to his country by freeing the Czechoslovak currency from that of Austria and inaugurating a financial policy which led to the stabilization of the Czechoslovak crown. He described his achievement in a book entitled Financial Policy of Czechoslovakia During the First Year of its History (1921, Eng. trans., 1923). In Jan. 1923 he was attacked by a demented youth and died of his injuries six weeks afterwards, on Feb. 16, 1923.