________________
Kavyanusasana
ing to the bards, and become an independent ruler at Valabhi after Skandagupta.
To what race did Bhațārka belong? According to the B. G. “Bhatarka belonged to some low or stranger tribe. Though the evidence falls short of proof the probability seems strong that Bhațārka belonged to the Gurjara tribe, and that it was the supremacy of him and his descendants which gave rise to the name Gurjjara -- rätra - the country of the Gurjjars, a name first used by outsiders and afterwards adopted by the people of Gujarat” (p. 85). Inferring from the copper - plates known to them, the authors of the B. G. had come to the conclusion that Bhațārka had crushed the power of the Maitrakas and had become consequently a sovereign ruler. But Fleet did not accept this view. The wording of the copper - plates is such as to give rise to a different interpretation. According to Fleet “Maitrakāņām” means that Bhațārka belonged to the Maitrakas. But Kielhorn did not accept this interpretation as there is no such word as Vamse or Kule. The later discovery of other copper – plates at Ganesgada, however, supported the view of Fleet. Hultzsch who discussed the whole question again in the Epigraphica Indica Vol. III says on the strength of the new discovery. “Whether we paraphrase the passage by 'Maitrakāņām Bhațārko’bhavat' or supply the word ' Vamse 'after' Maitrakāņām', it is now evident that Bhatárka, the ancestor of Valabhi kings, himself belonged to the family or tribe of the Maitrakas.”
These Maitrakas are identified with the Medhas or Mehrs of Kathiawad in the B. G. Mr. Jayaswal,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
