Govinda II had become unpopular among his subjects on account of his various misconducts as a monarch, including excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures.

Dhruva Dharavarsha had a high political aspiration and he actively pursued the goal of expanding the frontiers of Rashtrakuta dominion.

[2] He humbled Vishnuvardhana IV, an Eastern or Vengi Chalukya king in 784 and forged an alliance by marrying his daughter named Silabhattarika as per the Jetvai grant of 786.

Thereafter, he defeated Shivamara II, the Western Ganga Dynasty ruler of Gangavadi, and imprisoned him and appointed his own son, the Prince Kambarasa as the governor.

He also forced the Pallava monarch Nandivarman II to accept the suzerainty of the Rashtrakutas who paid him handsomely with many elephants.