Epigraphia Indica Vol 34

SR No.: 032588
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1961
Total Pages: 384
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 194

136 EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(VOL. XXXIV The emblem on the seal of a family of rulers represented its crest or coat of arms, often called the lānchhana. In some cases, the same emblem is also found on the coins issued by the kings in question, both seals and coins being called mudrā. But, although in many cases the same emblem is found on the seal and the banner of a royal family, often the banner of the rulers of a particular dynasty, generally called the dhuaja, bore a different emblem. Thus the Rattas of Saundatti and Belgaum had the Sindhura-lañchana or the elephant crest but the Suvarna-Garuda-dhvaja (i.e. the banner of the golden or gold-coloured Garuda), while the Kadambas of Banavasi and Goa, who had the Simha-lāschhana or the lion crest, had besides the Säkhácharendra-dhvaja or Vänaramahādhuaja, i.e. the monkey (i.e. Hanumat) banner. The seal attached to the copper-plate grants of the Nanda or Nandodbhava family of Orissa has the representation of a bull along with those of the sun and the moon and a conch-shell ; but the kings of the family are described in their charters as having the Sitadhātumaya-godha-bikharikrita-lohita-lochan-āmbara-dhvaja probably meaning a piece of cloth bearing the representation of a silver alligator above that of a snake or of two eyes in red colour.. Although, in the case of the Nanda or Nandodbhava kings, some emblems seem to have been painted on a piece of cloth, it is difficult to determine whether the Garuda emblem of the Rattas and the Hanumat emblem of the Kadambas were painted on cloth or were really images fixed to the top of poles for the convenience of carrying them. That the dhwaja was sometimes an image fixed to a pole seems to be indicated by the statement of Curtius that an image of Herakles (i.e. Väsudēva-Kțishna) was being carried in front of the infantry of Poros (i.e. the Pauravs king) as it advanced against the Greeks led by Alexander the Great.. In this connection, it is interesting to note that some coins of the Imperial Guptas, who had the Garuda emblem on their dhuaja and seal and on several types of their coins, bear the representation of a standard surmounted by the figure of Garuda. The epic and Puranic literature suggests that the image of the individual emblems of particular archers were fixed at the top of their chariots. In an excellent survey of this evidence, Hopkins has shown that dhvaja is sometimes used as a synonym of kētu but that sometimes the former means the whole arrangement including the staff and image or banner while the latter means only the symbol or banner. Ketu is also sometimes synonymous with patākā or flag, while dhvaja is the metallic top-piece of the staff, or that together with the staff. It has also been shown that the staff bore flags beneath the emblem.
Another interesting fact is that sometimes a royal family had its dhvaja and kētu clearly distinguished or had more than one emblem for its dhvaja. Thus the Imperial Rashtrakūtas claimed to have had the Pāli-dhvaja and the Oka-kētu besides the Garuda-lāñchhana. The bull-banner of the Pallava kings is referred to in Tamil literature, although in their inscriptions the Pallavas are sometimes stated to have had the Khatvānga-dhvaja, Khatvanga being 'a club with a skull on the top'.' Hopkins has shown that such was sometimes also the case with the individual emblems of particular charioteers according to epic and Puranic evidence. Thus Bhishma had somtimes the tāla-dhvaja (banner of the palmyra tree) and sometimes the ensign of five yellow stars and a blue silk flag. Similarly Dröna had sometimes a kamandalu (pot) and sometimes a védi of gold for his ensign. 1 CII, Vol. I, p. 151, noto 4.
Cf. above. Vol. XXVII, pp. 326-27. J. W. Me Crindle, The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, p. 208. • See Allan, A Catalogue of Indian Coins (Gupta), pp. 1 ff., Plato 1, Nos. 1 ff.; of. CII, Vol. III, p. 255.
See "The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Casto in Ancient India ' in Journ. An. Or. Soc., Vol. XIII (p. 243 ff.).
• Bomb. Gaz., Vol. I, Part ii, pp. 387. 402.
See The Successors of the Satavahanas, p. 188, noto 2; Bomb. Gaz., Vol. 1, Part II, P 310, note, T. V. Mahalingam, South Indian Polity. Pp. 85-86. The Guttas of Guttal had both the vafavriksha-dhvaja and the Garda-dhuaja (Bomb. Gaz., op. cit., p. 578).
* Hopkins,op. cit., p. 245.