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No. 30.)
DANTEWARA INSCRIPTIONS OF DIKPALADEVA.
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of b and by the same sign and the use of the letter sh for kh as in line 15 and 22 but not inVariably, cf. likhitam, I. 22. The use of jnt for ya as in jātrā (1. 20) and the antiquated sign for jh as in rijhe in l. 13 of the Hindi inscrption are noteworthy. The composition is not free from spelling mistakes. It was made by the Rajagura Ehagavaa Misra, A Maithila Pandit, who seems to have been foud of jingles, whic: he has managed to introduce both in Sanskrit and Hindi, so that, if the record is not verse it would be concede that it has at least an element of poetry in it. The principal record is the Sanskrit one, which however contains a verse quoted from the Praläparudriya.
The second record ouly purports to be a Hindi version of the first in view of the fact that in the Kalingo there are very fuw Sanskri -kloving men. It may be noted that the one is not the exact translation of the other, and the Hindi record gives certain additional iuformation which is not included in the Sauskrit inscription. The variations are however very few and for all intents and purposes the two records are identical in substanco.
The object of the inscription is to record the occasional cereinony of kulumbayātrī made by king Dikpaladēva to the shrine of the goddess Dantāvala in the Samvat year 1780, corresponding to A. D. 1702. The ceremony lasted for 5 days beginning on the 14th of the bright fortnight of Chaitra and ending on the 3rd of the dark fortnight of Vaisakha. It is stated that on this occasion several thousands of baffloes and goats were killed, whereby the waters of the Sankhini river became red like kusuma for 5 days. This appears to have been a recognised feature of the ceremony, as Colonel Elliott writing in 1856 said: 'When any marriage is celebrated in the Raja's house or when the Rāja first mounts the throne the whole family of the Raja go to visit the goddess and at that time not less than a thousand sheep and buffaloes are sacrificed. This is called kutumbayatra.' It is not clear from our records what the occasion was for the yātra in Sarvat 1760, but from the context it may be inferred that it was for thanksgiving for victory over the Navarangapura fort and for the birth of an heir-apparent, referred to below, on p. 250.
The inscription gives a genealogy of Dikpāladēva for 10 generations beginning from Annamarāja, the first king who settled in Bastar. He is stated to have been a brother of Käkati Pratáparudra of the lunar race descended from the Pandava Arjuna. The original home of the family was in Hastinapura, whence they migrated to Orangal (Warangal), where they ruled for a long time until the country was invaded by the Musalmans. Being pursued by the latter Annamarája fled to Bastar, where he established himself as king. Of the first seven successors of Annamarāja no information beyond their names is given. The Hindi inscription however mentions a queen who built tanks and gardens. Of the 8tb Virasim hadēvs it is stated that he ruled for 67 years and that he married a Chandēlla princess Vadanakumaridēvi. Their issue was Dikpäladēva who again married in a Chandēlla family the princess Ajabakumari, daughter of Rao Ratanarāja of Vardi. The result of this union was the 'heir-apparent Rakshapaladēva, who was born when his father was only 18 years of age. Dikpäladēva is stated to have stormed the fort of Navarangapura and to have established there an Oriya Raja.
As regards the genealogy given in these inscriptions I have discussed the matter in the notice of Bastar inscriptions, and need not repeat it here. There seems to have been a confusion between Pratäparudra of the Conjeeveram inscriptions who flourished about 1316 A.D., and another of the same name who apparently was ruling in the 15th century and was ousted by Ahmad Shah Bahmani in 1422 A.D. Our inscription seems to refer to the earlier Prataparudra,
1 The English equivalents of these dates as calculated by Mr. Gokul Prasad, Tahsildar of Dhamtari, are Tuesday, the 31st March, and Saturday, the 4th April 1702 A.D., respectively.
• Selections from the Records of the Government of India (Foreign Department), No. XXX, p. 24.
See above, Vol. IX, pp. 164 Il.
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