Amoghavarsha I was that rare thing in medieval Indian history: a ruler more celebrated for his cultural achievements than his conquests. A devout Jain, he patronized scholars who produced works of lasting significance. The mathematician Mahaviracharya composed the Ganita Saara Sangraha here, an important treatise on mathematics. Jinasena and his pupil Gunabhadra wrote the Mahapurana -- the Adipurana and Uttarapurana -- a monumental Jain retelling of universal history. And Amoghavarsha himself authored the Kavirajamarga, considered the first extant work of classical Kannada literary criticism. The renowned Apabhramsha poet Pushpadanta also lived at Manyakheta. This was a court where intellectual achievement carried weight, and the concentration of literary and scientific talent in a single Deccan capital during the 9th century remains remarkable.

At its height, the Rashtrakuta Empire was one of three powers contesting dominance over the Indian subcontinent. To the northeast, the Buddhist Pala Empire controlled Bengal and Bihar. To the northwest, the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty held sway over much of northern India. Manyakheta sat at the apex of this triangle, the southern power projecting strength into the Gangetic plain and beyond. The city's location on the Deccan Plateau gave the Rashtrakutas strategic access to trade routes connecting the coasts, and their capital accumulated the wealth that such a position commands. When the empire fell, the Western Chalukyas inherited Manyakheta and ruled from it until approximately 1050 CE, extending the city's tenure as a seat of power across more than two centuries.

Manyakheta's destruction came in stages. In 972-973 CE, the Paramara king Harsha Siyaka sacked the city -- an event recorded by the scholar Dhanapala in his work Paiyalacchi, completed that same year. But the most devastating blow came in 1007 CE, when Rajendra Chola's forces destroyed the capital so thoroughly that, as one inscription at the Tanjore Big Temple commemorates, the city was effectively annihilated. The destruction was comprehensive enough that modern archaeologists have been unable to determine precisely where the Rashtrakuta palace complex once stood. After the Chalukyas, Manyakheta passed through the hands of the Southern Kalachuris, the Cholas, the Yadavas, the Kakatiyas, the Delhi Sultanate, the Bahmani Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, the Mughals, and finally the Nizams of Hyderabad. Each new ruler laid claim; none restored the city to its former glory.

Two ancient institutions survived Manyakheta's political decline. The Jain Bhattaraka Math houses a 9th-century temple dedicated to Neminath, with pillars and walls dating to between the 9th and 11th centuries. Inside stand idols of the 24 Tirthankaras, a choubisi panel, depictions of Nandishwar Dvipa, and a panchdhatu shrine containing 96 images -- a concentration of Jain sacred art that reflects Manyakheta's importance as a historical heart of Jainism. The last Bhattaraka of the Malkheda seat, Devendrakirti, served from 1950 to 1961. Nearby, the Uttaradi Matha preserves the Brindavana of Sri Jayatirtha, a 14th-century philosopher of the Dvaita school who wrote the celebrated commentary Nyaya Sudha on Madhvacharya's Anuvyakhyana. Jayatirtha's work earned him the title Teekacharya -- master commentator -- and scholars still study his writings today.