How did the Rashtrakutas become powerful?

By the seventh century there were lots of big landlords and warrior chief, who were working as subordinates or samantas for their kings. They were supposed to bring gifts, be presents in the court and support the king with their army. But sometimes they asserted their independence from their kings. Rashtrakutas was one of them.

Rashtrakutas were initially subordinate to the Chalukyas of Karnataka. In the mid-eighteenth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, overthrew his Chalukya overlord and established his right to rule by performing the hiranya-garbha ritual. Performing this ritual with the help of a brahmana was thought to lead to rebirth of the sacrificer as a Kshatriya.