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No. 27.1 TIWARKHED PLATES OF THE RASHTRAKUTA NANNARAJA.
277
Commencing with vistirnne in line 1 to Durgarajā(jo) nipah in line 2 there is the first half of a Sardulavikridita verse, the other half of which may be completed from the Multāi plates, where it is given in full. Again in line 4 f. we find & quarter of the same kind of verse beginning with danárdrikrita and ending with dvipēndrayitan. In line 6 we again ind a quarter of a Vasantatilaka verse beginning with fri-Nannaraja and ending with .chand[r]ah. All the rest is prose except a benedictive quotation in line 12. It is again the first half of a verse incorrectly quoted, other words of similar meaning having been inserted for words forgotten, thereby affecting the metre. It appears to me that the record being a business matter, no great attention was paid to formal portions which were copied from memory in the office of the recordkeeper, wherewith synonymous words were sometimes substituted for the original ones without any consideration for metre.
The inscription refers itself to the Rashtrakūta dynasty of which four kings are mentioned. It records a grant of land in the villages Tivērēkhēta and Ghuikhētā situated on the south bank of the Amvëviaraka-nadi, to one Mundibhatta, son of Svāmibhatia, & Madhyandina Brāhmaṇa of the Bharadvaja-gotra, by king Nannarājas (Nandaraja P). The grant was made on two cocasions, ris, on the Mabākārttiki day and on a solar-eclipse, the latter at the Kapilā-tirtha. Apparently the Raja went to bathe there and made the gift, as did his two principal officers, Govinda in charge of religious affairs and Narasimgha (Narasimha) the minister for peace and war, who gave away 17 nivartanas (of land) of Karañjamalaya ou the enetern bank of the Sarasavähala and the Darbhavābalā. The charter was afterwards issued from Achalapura and is dated in the Saka year 553 increased by eight months, i.e. in' the month of Kārttika as specifed in the text. Tre date corresponds to October 831 A.D.
It does not, however, appear that there was a solar eclipse in the month of Kärttika. M Gokul Prasad Iswardās (now Tahsildar of Hoshangabad) informs me that there was a solar eclipse in the expired Saka year 553 on the amāvāsyā of Magha (27th January, 632 A.V.) i.e. after our charter was given away. But the solar eclipse referred to must have occurred prior to the date of the issue of the charter. In the Saka year 553 current, there were two eclipses, a total one in the month of Sravana on the 13th August 630 A.D. and an annular one in the month of Māgha on 7th February 631 A.D. The total eclipse having occurred at night was not visible, but the annular one was, as it occurred 17 minutes after sunrise. The former took place on a Monday and the latter on a Thursday. Thus while a grant made on su amārāsyå falling on Monday (sõmavati) coupled with a total eclipse would be more meritorious than that made on a Thursday with an annular eclipse, it is possible that the visibility of the latter may have counterbalanced other considerations and invested it with greater importance. So the greater likelihood is that the giant was made on the 7th February 631 A.D. And this date falls much nearer the date of the issue of the charter than the other.
With regard to the history of the Rashtrakūta dynasty, this record does not throw any additional light on what is known from the Multái plates. It gives the same information (in rather a vague form on account of its defective composition as the Multai record, mentioning Durgarāja as the original ancestor, whose son was Govindarāja, from whom was born Svāmikarājs, whose son was Nannarāja (Nandaraja), whose second name Yuddhasura occurs on the seal. Oar charter is, however, very important from one point of view. In the Multai plates no less than five villages are mentioned, vis, the village granted with four others which bounded it on its
I See Indian Antiquary, Vol. XVIII, p. 234.
The text is so full of mistakes tbat the exact sense of the original is not apparent in several cases. For instance the part played by Samragana (if it has to be taken as a proper namo) in line 9, is obscure. No attempt is therefore made to correct the text.-V.V.]
In the Multii plates the name of the king is Nandarāja. The name Nanna in the Rashtrakata family is also known from later times. A grant of Sankaragana, the son of Nanna, the son of Kakkarája, dated Saks 715, has been published above, Vol. IX, pp. 193 ff.
