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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. IX.
No. 19.-INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE BASTAR STATE.
BY HIRA LAL, B.A., M.R.A.S., NAGPUR.
Mr. Consens in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, 1903-04 (p. 54) opens his report on the conservation of antiquarian remains in the Central Provinces with the remarks that the Central Provinces and Berår cannot be said to be rich in antiquarian remains,' but possibly there exists many an old relic of considerable interest lying hidden away in some of the extensive jungles and little known tracts in the province, that has not come under the notice of any one capable of estimating its value.' Exactly from such a place do I draw the materials for the subject I propose to notice on.
Bastar is a feudatory state in the extreme south of the province situated between 17° 46' and 20° 14' north latitude and 80° 15' and 82° 15' east longitude, touching the Gôdâvarî and compris ing an area of 13,000 square miles, all covered with dense forests and populated by the wildest tribes, some of whom did not till very recently know the use of clothes. This extensive jungle has been made to yield no less than 22 inscriptions through the strenuous efforts of my friend Mr. Baijnath, B.A., Superintendent of the Bastar State. Three of these inscriptions were noticed by Colonel Glasfurd, Deputy Commissioner of the then Upper Godavari District, about the year 1862 A.D. So far as is known, only one of them has been published, vis., the so-called Nagpur Museum inscription of Sômêsvara. On the authority of the information supplied by the Curator of the Nagpur Museum it is there stated that the stone was brought from a village, Kowtah, near Sironcha, which is incorretas will presently be shown. It belonged to Bârsûr, of the Bastar State, and is an important record of the predecessors of the present line of Rajas.
In order that the references to places in the Bastar inscriptions may be easily understood, I append a map of the State showing their positions as also some other places possessing archeological remains. As most of the latter have never been noticed before, a brief mention of st least some of the important ones may not be out of place here. These places are Bârsûr, Danteward, Gaḍia, Bhairamgarh, Narayanpål, Sunârpâl, Kuruspâl, Tirathgarh, Potinår, Chapka and Dongar.
Bârsûr is a place of very great interest. It is 55 miles west of Jagdalpur, the present capital of Bastar. It contains ruins of many temples, the most important of which is a Siva temple with two sanctuaries having a common mandapa supported on 32 pillars in four rows. In each of the sanctuaries there is a lisiga and a Nandi, and old people remember that an inscription was removed from this place about half a century ago. Another Siva temple has a mandapa with 12 pillars in three rows, and the third is called Mámá bháñjd-kd mandir and is distinguished by carvings on the inside walls in the shape of bells suspended from chains. Outside the Gapêéa temple there is a huge figure of Ganesa, 17' in circumference and about 7 or 8' high. Numerous images are lying about or collected together under huts, of which the most noticeable is one of Vishnu, 4' high, and showing good workmanship. There are also some images of Mahishasuramardini, one of which is inscribed. All the temples are of medieval Brahmapic style, most of them built of stone without lime.-Danteward is about 20 miles south of Bårsûr, and in the intervening villages there are sculptured stones lying about, some of them being five-hooded cobras or intercoiled snakes. Dantewârâ contains the shrine of Dantêévari, the tutelary goddess of the present ruling family. The temple is built at the junction of two rivers
1 Since I wrote this Mr. Baijnath has made further discoveries which will be described in another paper.
3 See Selections from the Records of the Government of India in the Foreign Department, No. XXXIX. p. 62 et syg.
Above, Vol. III. p. 814.
