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INSCRIPTION OF THE CHANDELLA VIRAVARMAN.
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XXXVIII.-TWO CHANDELLA INSCRIPTIONS FROM AJAYGADH. BY PROFESSOR F. KIELHORN, Ph.D., C.I.E., GÖTTINGEN.
I. ROCK INSCRIPTION OF VIRAVARMAN; OF THE VIKRAMA YEAR 1817.
According to Sir A. Cunningham, this inscription is at Ajaygadh, a hill-fort about 16 miles in a straight line soath-west of Kalañjar, Long. 80° 20' E., Lat. 24° 54' N.. Indian Atlas, quarter-sheet 70, N.E. It is engraved on & rock, with a crack dividing it into two portions, and contains altogether fifteen lines, of wbich the first seven lines are on the proper right and the following eight on the proper left side of the crack. The writing of the right-hand portion covers a space of about 2' 41" broad by B} high, that of the left-hand portion a space of about 3' broad by 61' high. It is on the whole fairly well preserved, and everything of historical importance may be read with certainty throughout. But, towards the end, the rubbings at my disposal (owing, probably, to the condition of the rock) are not at all distinct, and in consequence the exact wording of one or two passages in the concluding lines, of minor importance, remains doubtful, and about a dozen aksharas are altogether illegible. The size of the letters is about t. The characters are Nagart of the 13th century. The language is Sanskrit and, with the exception of the introductory or om siddhiḥ and the date at the end, the inscription is in verse. It was composed by Ratna påla, a son of the poet Haripala and grandson of the poet Vatsaràja (verse 21), and engraved by the artisan Rama (verse 22). As regards orthography, bis denoted by the sign for o in odlo, line 6, amoudhi, line 6, vali., line 13, and oudhah, line 14, but not in babhina, lines 8 and 10; the dental sibilant is used for the palatal in vamsaḥ and vanse, lines 2 and 8, yasaspini, line 13, sudhátha, line 14, and visuddhdtmd, line 15; and the palatal for the dental in futo, line 8, -ffmá, line 9, and -kásásram], line 13; and sh is employed for kh in Vaiếásha-, line 15.
The proper object of the inscription is, to record in verses 18-20) that Kalyaņa. devt. the wife of the (Chandella) king Vira or Viravarman, built a well, called the Nirjara-well, and in connection with it a hall, within the fort of Ajaygadh, which in other inscriptions is called Jayapura, but is here apparently denominated Nandipura. And by way of introduction the inscription in verses 2-9 trcats of the ancestors of the king, and in verses 10-13 gives an account of Kalyaņadevt's own descent. From the latter we learn that in the race of Dadhichi there was one [Cha]dala, whose son was Sripala, whose son again was Mahesvars, to be revered even by crowned heads.' Mahesvara married Vesaladevi (?), a daughter of the prince Govindaraja; and their daughter was Kalyaņadevi, who became the chief queen of the king Vira. Nothing is known to me of the queen's ancestors from other inscriptions.
See Sir A. Cunningham's Archeological Survey of India, vol. XXI, p. 51. The inscription has not been previous ly edited, bat a photo-lithograph of it will be found ib., plate xiii. And an abstract of the contents of the inscription, Ao read by Simla Pandit, is given ib., p. 51. Of this abstract I can only say that the Pandit has done his work very carelessly. Thus-the name of Sullakshana he has read Salakshaņa; between Madana and Trailokyavarman he has onnitted Parumardin; to Trailokyavarınan he has given two gons, Yalovarman and Viravarman, while the inscription does not men. tion any Yafovarmin at all; and Kalyanadevi he has made the daughter of Raja Govinda, while in reality she is described as the daughter of Ishekvarn and granddaughter, by her mother's side, of Govindaraja. Moreover, he has interpreted the date of the inscription to be Vikramos 1312, while it is really, in words and figures, 1817. My own text of the inscription bas been prepared from Sir A. Cunningham's rubbiugu, kindly placed at my di-poval by Mr. Flevt.
