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Introduction
CXCVII
last two verses of the 15th canto of the D. K.. Jayasimha remembering the words of the god Somanatha that Kumārapāla was to succeed him after his death, tried for self realisation. Thinking of Paramesthins, he went to the city of Indra + (vs. 123-24.)
According to the P. C., Jayasimha's reign lasted up to the beginning of the year V. S. 1199-A. D. 1143. In a colophon of Margaṣirsha of 1199, we find Kumarapala regining in Anahillapura. So Jayasimha must have died in the beginning of Kartika of V. S. 1199. According to the P. P. S. after the death of Jayasimha, his sandals reigned for eighteen days (p. 45). This shows that it took some time before the new king was elected.
15
Of the reign of Kumarapala, we have more than twenty three inscriptions, two of them on copperplates and the remaining on stone. Of these, two stone-inscriptions one of V. S. 1207 - A. D. 1151 and the other of V. S. 1208-A. D. 1152 and one copper-plate grant, of V. S. 1212-A. D. 1156, are directly connected with Kumarapala, while the others refer to him as the reigning sovereign.
As to the literary material, there are many Jaina works dealing with Kumarapala. We shall mention
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+ We see that there is a significant difference here in describing the succession. The usual procedure of the reigning king calling his successor to accpt the throne, and the successor first refusing and then accepting it is omitted here. The ugly facts of Kumarapala's succession Hemachandra intentionally omits. This trait of Hemachandra is worth keeping in mind when utilizing the D. K. for historical purposes it is that rather than narrate false accounts better omit the incidents altogether.
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