It was during the seventh century that the kings acknowledged the big landlords as their subordinates or samantas. The samantas were expected to bring gifts and provide military support to their kings. In due course, they gained power and wealth. They declared themselves to be maha-samantas, maha- mandaleshvar (the great lord of a circle or region) and so on. Rashtrakutas were one of them who were initially the subordinates of the Chalukyas in Deccan. In the mid-eighth century, Dantidurga, a Rashtrakuta chief, performed a ritual hiranya-garbha and overthrew the Chalukya overlord. After the ritual was over he was reborn as Kshatriya, even if he was not by birth.