Dantidurga died childless. There is a view that before his death he was deprived of the throne by his powerful uncle Krishna I. This Krishna, Dantidurga’s paternal uncle, was one of the ablest among the Rashtrakuta rulers. He came to power in 756 and ruled till 775.

It was in his reign period that the total eclipse of the Chalukyan power occurred; and what was begun by Dantidurga was completed by Krishna I. He extended his domains in all directions; the Silaras of south Konkan, became his subordinates; Sri Purusha (western Ganga) was defeated in 758. His first son who later ruled as Govinda II pressed the eastern Chalukya ruler Vishnuvardhana IV hard and received his submission in 770.

Krishna, inheriting or taking over a small but independent kingdom from his nephew enlarged it sufficiently to serve as a base for the trans-Vindhyan invasions of his successors. But unusually among the Rashtrakuta rulers, he bestowed enough attention on some excellent architectural achievement; and he ordered the Kailasa temple of Ellora to be built.