Epigraphia Indica Vol 09

SR No.: 032563
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: E Hultzsch, Sten Konow
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1907
Total Pages: 498
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 28 MB

Page 43

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. IX.
the god Krishna. In the verse following we find Indrarajadêva (III.), the royal grantor of the charters, compared to the god Upêndra (Vishnu). In verse 4 we are informed that the god Brahman sprang from the water-lily in the navel of Vishnu, from Brahman his son Atri, from Atri the Moon, and from the Moon the dynasty of the Yadus, where Krishna was born. In the next verse we are told that there arose king Dantidurga in the Satyaki branch of the Yadu dynasty, to whom of herself repaired the goddess of sovereignty of the Chalukye family. This means that Dantidurga was the first Rashtrakata king who defeated the Chalukyas and made himself master of their dominions. From verse 6, if we notice the double entendre clearly intended, we learn that Dantidurga first reduced the lowermost, s.o. southern, country, then turned his arms against the Madhyadéka, and finally conquered the city of Kafichi. According to an inscription in the Dasavatâra cave at Elura, Dantidurga subdued the rulers of Kanchi, Kalinga, Kosala, Srisaila, Málava, Lata, Țahka, and so forth. If we are right in understanding verse 6 as we have done, Dantidurga first gained victories in the South and conquered the kings of Srisaila, Kalinga, and so forth, then turned to the central part of India and subjugated the princes of Kosala, Málava, Láța, and so forth, and finally came back again to the South and vanquished the lord of Kancbi.
Verse 8 tells us that after Dantidurga his paternal uncle Krishnaraja (I.) came to the throne. The next verse makes mention of his son Nirupama(-Dhruva), but omits the name of his elder brother Govinda II., probably because the author of the inscription wanted to give a direct genealogy of the royal grantor, with reference to whom Govinda II. was a collateral prince, while he mentioned the name of Dantidurga as the latter was the founder of the dynasty. But by no means can this omission be taken as favouring the view that Govinda II. did not reign. I have elsewhere adduced reasons for dissenting from this view ;' and in support of my position may now be stated the incontrovertible fact that the Dhulig copper-plate grants of Govinda II.'s nephew and feudatory Suvarnavarsha-Karka distinctly refers itself to his reign, and gives the date Saka 701, when we must consequently suppose Govinda II, to have been alive and wielding supremacy. Verse 10 informs us that Nirupama(-Dhruva) won two white parasols in battle, one from the lord of Kosala and the other from the king of the North, Who these princes were we have no means to determine. But it looks tempting to identify the king of the North either with the Indrayudha mentioned in the Jaina Harivania, or with Chakrayudha, the ruler of Kanauj and contemporary of Dharmapala of the Pala, and of Govinda III. of the Rashtraküta, dynasty
Verse 11 says that from Nirupama(-Dhruva) sprang Jagattunga(-Govinda III.), who, in his turn, begat Srivallabha(-Amoghavarsha I.). The next verse tells us that Amoghavarsha
1 Arch. Sure. West. Ind. Vol. V. p. 88. 2 Journ. Bo. Br. R. 4. 8. Vol. XX. p. 133 f. Above, Vol. VIII. p. 183.
• In an unpublished grant of Amoghavarsha I. in the possession of my brother Prof. S. R. Bhandarkar, two princes of the names of Chakrayudha and Dharma are mentioned as having gone to the Himalayas to do homage to Govinda III. who had gone thither on an expedition of conquest. It can hardly be seriously doubted that Dhar is Dharmapala, the second prince of the Pila dynasty, and that Chakrayudha is the same as the Chakrdyadha of the Bhagalpur grant, whom Dlarınapala restored to his lost throne. Prof. Kielhorn (Nachrichten von der K. Gor. d. Wiss, 24 Göttingen, 1905, p. 303) has already identified this Chakrayudha with the Chakrayudha of the Gwalior inscription, who was conquered by Nagabhata. Nagabhaga again was a contemporary of Govinda III. (Jours. Bo. Br. R. 4. 8. Vol. XXI. p. 422, note 2). We have thus four princes, vis. Govinda III., Nagabhata, Chakr yudha and Dharmapala, who were contemporaries. We know from Rashtrakata records that Govinda IIl. reigned from A.D. 794 to 813. We must, therefore, suppose Dharmapala to have flourished about this time. As this synchronism was not known before, it was but right to assiga Dharmapala to A.D. 801, the date of the Pathari inscription referring itself to the reigu of the Rashtrakata prince Parabala (Nachrichten von der K. Ges. d. Wiss. # Göttingen, 1901, n. 525 f.). But now we see that this date would be rather too late for how that this Parabala is, as a matter of fact, identical with Parabala, the father-in-law of Dharmapala.