Epigraphia Indica Vol 07

Author(s): E Hultzsch
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 42

No. 6.]
CAMBAY PLATES OF GOVINDA IV.
inscription" claims that a king named Kshitipala was placed on his throne by the Chandella princo Harshadeva. As this Harshadeva flourished at the beginning of the tenth century, the Kshitipala, whom he re-instated on his throne, can be no other than Kshitipala, king of Kanauj, who was a contemporary of, and vanquished by, Indra III. Indra III, therefore, appears not only to have attacked Mahôdaya or Kananj, but also to have defeated and ousted its ruler Kshitipala.
Let us now proceed a step further. The Bhagalpur grant of Narayanapala asserts that Dharmapala, the second prince of the Påla dynasty, acquired the sovereignty of Mahôdaye by conquering Indraraja and others, but bestowed it upon one Chakrayudha, just as Bali acquired the sovereignty of the three worlds by vanquishing Indra and other gods, and bestowed it upon Chakrayudha (Vishnu). The Bhagalpur grant thus tells us that Dharmapala first defeated Indraraja and others, and obtained the sovereignty of Mahôdaya or Kananj for himself, but gave it over to one Chakrayudha. The same event is referred to in the Khâlimpur charter of Dharmapala himself, in the verse
भोजर्मत्स्यैः समद्रैः कुरुययवनावन्तिगन्धारकीरेभालोलमौलिप्रणतिपरिणतः साधु संगीर्यमाणः । दृष्यत्यञ्चालबद्धोइतकनकमयस्वाभिषेकोदकुम्भी
दत्तः श्रीकन्यकुञस्मललितचलितभूलतालक्ष्म येन ॥ The stanza, as it stands, yields no intelligible sense. There can be little doubt that the reading of the last line is faulty, though it occurs, as given here, in the plates. Since we have dattah in the nominative case, that which is given, or in this particular case abhishek-oda. kumbhah, which is in the nominative case, must go with datta). Further, the person to whom something is given must be in the dative case; but we have no such dative in the verse, and moreover the nominative fri-Kanyakuv(b)jah remains unconnected. The sense, however, requires that trí-Kanyakubja should be considered the person to whom the coronation pitcher was given. Evidently, therefore, fri-Kanyakubjah requires to be corrected into sri-Kanyakubjấya, even at the risk of the break of the cæsura. With this emendation, the verse yields the following sense :-"With a sign of his eyebrows gracefully moved, he made over to the illustrious king of Kanyakubja his own golden water-pitcher of coronation, lifted up by the delighted elders of Panchala, and acquiesced in by the Bhôja, Matsya, Madra, Kuru, Yadu, Yavana, Avanti, Gandhara and Kira kings, bent down while bowing with their heads trembling." What the verse means is, that Dharmapala earned for himself the sovereignty of Panchåla, and was consequently entitled to the coronation as king of Panchala, which was approved of by the neighbouring rulers, such as Bhoja, Matsya and other kings; but he declined it and assented instead to the installation of the king of Kanyakubja. The Pañchåla country here referred to denotes the upper half of the Do&b between the Ganges and the Jumna with Kanyakubja as its principal town, and to this effect we have the authority of the poet Rajasekhara who flourished about this period. Hence the fact mentioned in the Khâlimpur charter is the same as that reported in the Bhâgalpur grant. And
See sbore, Vol. I. p. 121 f. Prof. Kielhorn, however, thinks that Harshadêra first vanquished Kshitipala and subsequently restored him to his throne. But, in my humble opinion, the natural interpretation that can be put on the verse is that Harshadēvs placed Kshitipála on his throne, who was ousted, not by Harshadêve himself, but by
different king. This interpretation is supported by the fact mentioned in our grant, that Indra III. reduced Mahodaya or Kanauj, in other words defeated the then reigning sovereign, who can be no other than Kshitipala himself. This interpretation, again, agrees with what the Khalimpur and Bhagalpur charters have to say, a will be shown further on. · Ind. Ant. Vol. XV. p. 304 ff.; ibid. Vol. XX. p. 187 f.
See above, Vol. IV. p. 243 #. • See the photo-etching of the plates in J. B. A. S. Vol. LXIII. Part I.
See the Bdlardmdyana, X. 86.