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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XII.
Varman-kings of Mälava. By the help of the newly discovered inscription we can put up the following genealogy of these rulers of Mälava :
Jayavarman
Sinhavarman
Naravarman
Visvavarman
Bandhuvarman. The Sasunia inscription connects Chandravarman with this dynasty and we have the following completo genealogy :
Jayavarman
Sinbayarman
Chandravarman (a contemporary of Samudragupta).
Naravarman V. S. 461=404-5 A.D.
Visvavarman V. S. 480=423-4 A.D.
Bandhuvarman; V. S. 493=
436-37 A.D. The Mēbarauli pillar inscription mentions & king named Chandra who had conquered the Vahlikas after crossing the seven mouths of the Indus, and the Vangas. Nowhere in a Gupta inscription do we find any mention of any conquest of the Punjab or of Afghanisthan by Chandragupta II., or any other successor of Samudragupta. The Susunis inscription supplies us with a king named Chandra with the family title Varman, who belonged to Pushkarans in Western India, but had dedicated a wheel of Vishņu close to the Vanga country. The Mēharauli pillar itself is the very dhuaja, another ensign of Vistņa, the dedication of which is recorded in the inscription itself, and it also speaks of a conquest of Bengal. The natural conclusion is to state that Chandra of the Mēharauli pillar inscription and Chandravarman, son of Simhavarman, of the Susunià inscription, are one and the same person. In the former record the family name was omitted in order to satisfy the needs of the metre.
Hitberto the Bijayagadh pillar inscription has been regarded as the oldest known inscrip. tion of the Mālava-Vikrama Era, though the era used has not been specifically named. So the
Gupta Insor., pp. 251 ff.
