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268
CHRONOLOGY OF GUJARAT
C. 1000
India, the Sakta Pandits are fond of reciting the following sloka :
गौडे प्रकाशिता विद्या मैथिलै: प्रबलीकृता ।
कचित् क्वचिन्महाराष्ट्र गुर्जरे विलयं गता।। The cult was proclaimed in Gauda (Bengal ) and was developed by the Maithilas : it is only occasionally met with in Mahārāșțra; but has completely disappeared in Gujarat. Verily, true Śāktas are not at all numerous in Gujarat.
A kindred verse occurs in the Bhāgavata Purāņa-Māhātmya from Padma Purāna ( 12th century A.D.) with reference to the prevalence of Bhakti ( absolute attachment to God ), where Bhakti personified declares as under :
उत्पन्ना द्राविडे साऽहं वृद्धिं कर्णाटके गता।
क्वचित् क्वचिन्महाराष्ट्र गुर्जरे विलयं गता। This verse is supported by facts.--(M. R. Majmudar Devi-Māhātmya and Sakti-worship, with reference to Gujarat', JISOA, 1938).
The early Arab writer of the ninth and tenth centuries refer to the fertility of the soil and the rich cultivation, both of grain and fruits, specially, in Western India with which they were particularly acquainted. Some cities in Gujarat grew mangoes, coconuts, lemons, rich and in great quantities, and likewise produced quantities of honey. One such city also grew canes and teak trees, while Malabar produced pepper and bamboo.--(HIND, I 15-16, 24, 27-8, 35, 37-40; Ferrand, 117).
Somadeva's Kathāsaritsagara (Taranga, 22) refers to one Vidyādhara, who was born in the family of a rich merchant of Valabhi, named Vasudatta. This Vidyadhara was ordered by his father to go to another country where he had some business interests.
Somadeva ( Katha, Taranga 29) refers again to a merchant named Devasena of Påtalīputra as going to Valabhi on business, and leaving his wife Kirtisenā to the tender mercies of his mother.
Nitivākyāmpta' or the Nectar of the Sayings of Polity' was composed by the Jaina monk Somadevasūri.
The Bhavisayattakahā of Dhanapāla is an Apabhraíśa poem in twenty-two sandhis, and narrates the life of a merchant who suffered immensely on account of the jealousy of his step-brother, and is assigned by Dr. Hermann Jacobi to the tenth century A.D.
III
C. 1000
C. 1000
C. 1000
ANTIQUITIES Western School of Wall Painting;: Śrógadhara's 'School of Ancient West' referred to by Tārānātlia, the Tibetan historian, in 1508 A.D. does not seem to have been
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