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No. 12.]
JODHPUR INSCRIPTION OF PRATIHARA BAUKA; V. S. 894.
87
No. 12.-JODHPUR INSCRIPTION OF PRATIHARA BAUKA; V. S. 894.
BY R. C. MAJUMDAR, M.A., PH.D., DACCA.
This inscription was first edited, without any translation and facsimile, by Murshi Deviprasad of Jodhpur in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1894, pp. 1 ff. I re-edit it at the suggestion of, and from an estampage kindly supplied to me by Professor D. R. Bhandarkar. The stone which bears this inscription was discovered about 1892, in the wall surrounding the city of Jodhpur, but, as Professor Bhandarkar suggests, it was probably brought there from Mandor, five miles to the north of the city.1
The inscription consists of twenty-two lines of writing which cover a space of about 2'-10" broad by 2-14" high. It is generally in a good state of preservation, although some letters have peeled off here and there. The engraving is remarkably excellent. The size of the letters is between " and ". The characters are of the type used in the inscriptions of the Imperial Pratihara dynasty, but the following peculiarities may be noted:
The triangle at the right lower end of kh is represented by a simple wedge. Both the forms of a illustrated in Bühler's Chart (V. 24. II, III,) are used. Nis formed by a distinct loop, as in the Dighwä-Dubault plate. The forms of bh and a resemble those of the Pehoa Prasastis and are different from those used in the Gwalior inscription of Bhoja I.
The language is Sanskrit; and excepting the benedictory formula "Om namo Vishnave" at the beginning, and the date and the engraver's name at the end, the inscription is written in verse. As Munshi Deviprasad remarks, "the language offers some serious blunders." Thus we have dhimain and varśajām in v. 3, where the anusvära stands for the final n. Similar errors also occur in v. 27. Tyajya for tyaktva, stambhya for stambhitva, and prahatva for prahatya occur in 11. 17 and 15, respectively. Other instances will be noticed in their proper places; but it appears that the writer was influenced by the idiome of the Prakrit language, which, as the Ghatiyala inscription of Kakkuka' shows, was also used in official documents, about this period. As regards orthography we have to notice (1) the regular use of the proper sign for the letter b; (2) the use of upadhmaniya before p (e.g. in vah-payad in l. 1); (3) the doub ling of s in place of visarga (e.g. in yatas-sarga in l. 1); (4) the use of the guttural nasal instead of anusvara before (e.7. in -varsa" in 1. 2); (5) doubling of k and t in conjunction with a following r (e.g. in vikkramantitan and -bhrättra in I. 2); (6) the doubling of consonants after r (e.g. in sarggà, 1. 1); but note the use of single v and y after r (eg. in prättharyam in 1. 3 and "r-virachitam in 1. 19); and (7) the use of ttri for tri (in kshattriya in 11. 3 and 4).
The inscription records in the last five verses (27 to 31) the military exploits of a Pratīhara chief called Bauka and gives in vv. 4 to 26 an account of the dynasty to which he belonged. The eulogy of Bauka as described in the record seems to suggest that Bauka must have been away on a career of conquest when his kingdom was attacked by a confedera cy of kings. His own partisans were unable to stand the fight and broke into disorder, when Bauka suddenly appeared on the scene, rallied his men and gained a complete victory. This beroic feat that saved the country from a great disaster is the main theme of the inscrip. tion.
1 Progress Report of the Archeological Sureeg of India, Western Circle, 1306-7, p. 30
Ind, Aut. Vol. XV, p. 112. Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p 244. Pablished below as No. 13. Above, Vol. IX, pp. 277 ff,
