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No. 27.]
BUCHKALA INSCRIPTION OF NAGABHATTA.
199
preserved writing which covers a space of about 2' 44" high by 111" broad. The characters belong to the northern class of alphabets. They include the somewhat rare forms of gh and and the numeral figures 8, 7, and 2. Attention may also be drawn to the way in which the letters and n are engraved. With regard to the latter there is no difference between it and, except that the upper vertical strokes in the case of the former are much nearer to each other than in the case of the latter. The language is Sanskrit, bat is anything but grammatical, and the whole is in prose. In respect of orthography, is doubled in conjunction with a following r; dhi is written ddhi twice in the word maharájáddhiraja, and there is a tendency to use the dental sibilant instead of the palatal, though in one case the latter is substituted for the former vis. in suttradharaḥ, 1. 20.
The inscription is dated Samvat 8731 the fifth of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, and refers itself to the reign of the P. M. P. Nagabhaṭṭa-dêva meditating on the feet of the M. P. Vatsaraja-deva. It is thus clear that Nagabhaṭṭa is no other person than Nagabhata, son of Vatsaraja, of the imperial Pratihara dynasty wielding sway over the larger portion of North India. Of the princes of this royal family we have had but few dates earlier than the time of Bhôjadeva I. In fact, we had only one date, viz. Saka 705 A.D. 783-84, for Vatsarâja furbished by the Jaina work Harivamsa-Purana. And our inscription now supplies the second date, V. S. 872 A.D. 815 for his son Nagabhața.
The purport of the inscription, however, is not quite clear. Something is said therein to have been set up (nivésita), but what that 'something' was is far from evident. This something, we are told, was set up, after building the temple (divagriha) and worshipping the feet of Paramésvara, in the village of Rajyaghangakam, by the queen Jayavali, the daughter of Jajjaka, who himself was a son of the Pratihâra Bapuka, and wife of Bhumbhuvaka, the son of Haragupta of the family called Avanganaka. As Jâyâvali has been spoken of as queen (rajñí), her husband must have been some kind of ruler, most probably a chieftain, feudatory to Nagabhaṭṭa, and reigning at, or, at any rate, holding, Rajyaghangakam, which must be supposed to be the old name of Buchkala. The name of the sûtradhara or mason is Pañchahari, the son of Dêia.
The temple is, as we have seen, said to have been dedicated to Paramésvara, which is usually taken to be a name of Śiva. This, however, does not agree with the sculptural details of the temple. Although it is now-a-days called a temple of Parvati, there is, truly speaking, no image in the sanctum. But on the dedicatory block on the shrine door and in the principal niche at the back, the images in which enable one to determine to what god the temple is dedicated, is a figure with four hands, doubtlessly representing some form of Vishna, as the mace, discus, and conch-shell can be distinctly seen in its hands. Other images, also carved on the inner and outer walls of the temple, show that it was a Vaishnava structure. The word paramésvara must, therefore, be taken in its ordinary sense and as referring to Vishnu.
TEXT.3
1
[i] संवत्सरशते ८७२
2 चैवं सितपचस्य पंचम्यां 3 निषेविता
महाराजा हिराज-"
1 It is worthy of note that, in the copper-plate charters issued by Bhojadeva I., Mahendrapala and Mahipala alias Vinayakapala, letter-numerals are used to express figures, whereas, in the present as well as other stoneinscriptions belonging to the time of these princes, decimal notation is employed. It will thus be seen that both systems were current in North India about this time. [In the facsimile 892 is a misprint for 872.-S. K.]
The date has already been given by Prof. Kielhorn in his Synchronistia Table for Northern India, col. 9, from information furnished by Mr. Ojha. From the original stone. • Read 'राजाधिराज".
• Bond निवेशिता.
