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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. IX.
The inscription is an eulogy of the Nayaka Vasudeva, the minister of king Bhanudêva of Kakaira. It states that he constructed two temples of Mahadeva, and another in honour of the local deity of the fields, besides a building with a gateway, and excavated two tanks. It is dated in the [Saka] year 1249 bearing the name Raudra, on the 5th tithi of the dark fortnight of Jyaishtha, corresponding to (Tuesday), the 27th May A.D. 1320. Unfortunately the week-day is not mentioned, and hence the date does not admit of verification. It is also possible that it may have been Wednesday, the 28th May, as there was a repetition of the Hinda date pañchami in that fortnight and month. The record gives the genealogy of the minister for four generations, and that of his sovereign for seven generations. It is stated that Vasudeva's ancestors were elephant-catchers (P). Though in the Kanker State wild elephants are not now found, they are still to be met with in the division in which it is included. The most important part of the inscription is that which gives the genealogy of the Kakaira chiefs, mentioning in order the following:-Simharaj, Vyaghra, Vôpadeva, Krishna, Jaitaraja, Somachandra and Bhanudeva. The dynasty is stated to be lunar, and the want of any epithet indicating paramount sovereignty postulates a subordination to another power. The epithets applied to them :-avanisa (1. 1), nripa (11. 2 and 5), dharanidhara (1. 6), bhopala (1.7) and nripati (11. 10 and 13), are all synonyms of the word 'king.' In two copper-plate grants of Pamparajadêva found in the Kanker State the king is styled Sômavamé&nvayaprasûta-mahamandalika (fendatory chief of the lunar race), which supports the above statement. The present Raj family of Kanker is doubtless connected with these kings. It belongs to the lunar race and has always claimed to be a very ancient family. According to its own traditions it claims to have come from Orissa. Its original ancestor was ruling at Jagannathapuri, but, on suddenly becoming a leper, in which state he could no longer occupy the throne, left the place and went out in search of a cure. At Sihawa, close to Kanker and now in the Dhamtari tahsil of the Raipur district, a spring was found, by bathing in which he got rid of the loathsome disease. The local peoples persuaded him to stay on at Sihawa and installed him king, and he and his descendants continued to rule there. There can be little doubt that Sihawa was once the capital of this dynasty, as its ruins and temples testify. There is still an inscription there, which is dated in the Saka year 1114. The capital was finally removed to Kanker. This must have been done prior to Bhanudêva's times. For in line 12 we read: Kákairé nripa-Bhanudéva-nagaré (in Kakaira, the town or capital of king Bhânudêva), and in lines 3 to 5: Kákaire.....bri-Jaitarajô-bhavat (there was the illustrious Jaitaraja in Kakaira). This Jaitaraja was the grandfather of Bhânudêva. Thus Kakaira has been the capital of the State for over 600 years. Kanker once included the rich Dhamtari tahsil of the Raipur
This is really the correct name of the town and State, but it is now officially written as Kanker. In General Cunningham's Report for 1878-74 it is spelt as Kaker, showing that the nasal had not been till then inserted. The local people at present still call it Kaikar.
The Central Provinces, called Gondwânâ by the Musalmans, were so infested by these animals that even revenue was levied in elephants. Even places like Jabalpur, which were and are far less jungly than Kanker, had their quota of wild elephants. See Jarrett's Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. II. p. 196, where the following occurs:"Garha (2 miles from Jabalpur) is a separate State abounding with forests in which are numerous wild elephants. The cultivators pay the revenue in mohurs and elephants." About a dozen years ago 40 elephants were captured in Rairakhol, a State now transferred to Bengal, and I had once an occasion of riding one of them.
These have not yet been published and are at present in my possession.
• Central Provinces Gazetteer, 1870, p. 236.
It is said that the installation of the Kanker chief is up to this day confirmed by the Halbas by anointing the Raja before the shrine of Maulidêvi. The Halbâs are an aboriginal tribe mostly living in that State and the adjoining tracts. These Halbâs claim to have come from Orissa along with the leper king and are still the chief domestics of the Kanker chief. They speak a dialect which is a curious mixture of Oriya, Chhattisgarhi (a form of Eastern Hindi) and Marathi; see Dr. Grierson's Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. VII. p. 331.
