Epigraphia Indica Vol 14

SR No.: 032568
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sten Konow, F W Thomas
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1917
Total Pages: 480
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 24 MB

Page 188

No. 10.]
THE NAIHATI GRANT OF VALLALA-SENA.
The record is incised on a single plate of copper, measuring 13" by 15". A seal is attached to the top like the seals of the other grants of the Sena kings, it does not con. tain the name of the sovereign. It consists of a seated image of the ten-armed Śiva, known as Sada-siva. In the Edilpur grant of Kesava-sena the seal is expressly called Sadasiva-mudrā.1 The record bears sixty-four lines of writing, thirty-two on the first side and thirty-two on the second. The average length of the letters is". The engraving has been neatly and carefully done, and on the whole the record is free from mistakes. The characters of the grant show the well-developed Bengali alphabet of the 12th century A.D., the beginning of which is to be seen in the Deopara inscription of Vijaya-sena, the father of Vallala-sena. Among vowels the initial forms of i, ri, li, ai and au do not occur. Only retains its old form and does not even approach the Bengali form. a, and 5 show complete forms. u and i have intermediate forms, and in these two cases the modern carved top strokes only are wanting. Among consonants ka, na, chha, ta, da, pa, pha, bha, va, sa and ha retain intermediate or transitional forms. The other letters of the alphabet show completa Bengali forms. The anusvara still retains its old form, and the anunāsiki is used in two or three instances, e.g. anyams-cha (1. 35), kshetra-karams-cha (1. 36). Final forms of ta, na and ma are used in many cases, and the doubling of consonants with a subscript or superscript r is optional. The language of the record is Sanskrit. With the exception of om om namah Sivaya at the beginning of the first line, the first twenty-eight lines contain in verse the genealogy of the Sena kings from the moon to Vallāla-sēna.
The first verse contains an invocation to Siva in the form Ardhanarisvara. The secoud is devoted to the praise of the Moon-God, in whose lineage the Senas were born. The third verse contains the important statement that the forefathers of Samanta-sena ornamented the Radha country, proud of its fame for the maintenance of legal behaviour (sad-achara), with unheard-of glory. Verses 4-13 contain the usual genealogy of the Sena kings. Fresh information is available in verse 7, where it is stated that Vijaya-sena defeated a king named Sahasanka. It is difficult to identify this Sahasanka. According to my view of the chronology of the Sena kings the year 1119-20 A.D., which is the initial year of Lakshmana-sena's era, must also be the first year of the reign of Lakshmana-sena: therefore, according to this view, the death of Vallala-sena occurred in 1118-19 A.D. Vijaya-sena, the father of Vallila-sēna, must therefore be placed in the last decades of the 11th century A.D. This is the earliest possible date for Vijaya-sena. According to the other view, Vallala-sena died in 1168-69 A.D., and Vijaya-seua reigned during the earlier decades of the 12th century A.D. Even if we accept the earlier date, it does not make it possible to identify this Sahasanka. The only possible prince with whom it is possible to identify him is Salivahana, also called Sahasanka, Nihsanka-malla, Matamata-simha and Kari-varsha, who is known from the Chamba grant of his son Sōmavarma-deva (?) and who, according to the late Dr. Kielhorn, lived" about the middle of the 11th century A.D." In Southern India the only prince who is called Sahasanka in an Epigraphic record is the Rashtrakuta Govinda IV, who cannot be taken to be a contemporary of Vijaya-sena. Another Sahasanka is Sindhu-raja, the Paramara chief of Dhārā, the brother of Vakpati-raja II and father of Bhoja-deva, according to the Navasahasanka. charita of Padma-gupta. But he also belongs to the last decades of the 10th century or the first two of the 11th. It may be said that Sahasanka is a synonym of Vikramaoka or Vikra maditya. Even if we accept that, the difficulties of identification do not diminish. In North
1 Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (New Series), Vol. X, pp. 99 and 104.
? Memoirs, A. S. B., Vol. V, pp. 103-07.
Ep. Ind., Vol. VIII, Synchronistic table for Northern India, col. 7. Ibid, Vol. V, App., p. 81, note 6.
157
Ep. Ind., Vol, VII, p. 36.