Epigraphia Indica Vol 20

SR No.: 032574
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1929
Total Pages: 188
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 40 MB

Page 155

132
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. XX.
C.-CHARKHARI PLATE OF VIRAVARMADEVA: (VIKRAMA-SAMVAT
1311.
The prevent charter is the earliest record of the Chandēlla king Viravarmadēva yet found. The copper-plate on which it is engraved measures 151' by 119' and weighs 2304 tolas. It has a raised rim, 1" in height, rivetted with nails all round it. In the middle of the first six lines there is a seated figure of the four-armed goddess Lakshmi, holding lotus flowers in the two upper, and water pots in the two lower, hands. Over her head is a semi-circular hole apparently meant for a ring, which is wanting. There are 19 lines of writing with well formed letters the size of which is on an average.
The language is Sanskrit and the orthographical peculiarities are the same as found in other Chandēlla records published before. The record is not free from spelling and other mistakes, but they are comparatively fewer than in other similar records of the family.
The charter was issued from Vilāsapura by the P. M. P. Viravarmadöva the devout worshipper of Mahēšvara, and the Lord of Kālajara, son of the P. M. P. Trailokyavarman, son of the P. M. P. Paramarddidēva, son of the P. M. P. Madanavarmadēva, descended from Jayasakti and Vijayabakti, the famous heroes belonging to the Chandrätrēya (Chandēlla) lineage. It records the grant of Tumutumā village in the Dāhi vishaya to Rāūta Abhi, son of Rāüta Haripāla, son of Rāüta Jagadēva, son of Rāüla Dēvashamū of the Kāśyapa-gotra belonging to the family of Chandrēsvara, on Asvina sudi 8, Somavāra, Samvat 1311, which regularly corresponds to Monday, the 21st September 1254 A.D. The grantee is stated to have performed a deed of valour in a tussle with Dabhyuhadavarman in the battle of Sondhi, as a recognition whereof this grant appears to have been made in spite of the fact that the purpose has been recorded as one for increasing the religious merit of the grantor Viravarmadēva and his parents. In the present case the grantee does not appear to have been a Brāhmaṇa, as the omission of his pravaras indicates. Moreover, the family name Chandrēbvara and the title Răuta point to the same conclusion. Apparently Sondhi is identical with Seondhā fort, now called Kanhārgadh, lying on the banks of the Sind river in the Datia State, whence it took its name. It is stated in the State Gazetteer (Luard's, p. 129) that " Seondhā is certainly an old town as the remains of the earlier settlement can be traced close to the present town. It has been suggested as the Sarua fort taken by Mahmud of Gazni in 1018 when in pursuit of Chand Rai". Our record refers to a battle a little more than a hundred years later, apparently be. tween members of the same lineage, viz., the Chandēllas, if the termination of the opponent's name Dabhyuhadavarman would indicate anything to that effect. It must have been a battle of some importance to have been referred to as sangrāma or war. That was the time of disturbance as Viravarmadēva's grandfather Paramarddidēva had been defeated by Prithviraja Cbāhamāna in 1182 A.D. In fact the late Dr. V. A. Smith remarks that "the history of the Chandella dynasty as one of the powers of Northern India ends in 1203 A.D. with the death of Parmāl (Paramarddidēva) and the capture of Kälañjara and Mahõbā by the Muhammadan invaders. Trailökyavarman succeeded his father Parmál as a local chieftain holding the eastern part of the ancestral kingdom and in due course was succeeded by Viravarman and Bhojavarman!". The other villages referred to in this record have not been traced yet.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XXXVII, p. 146,