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No. 13].
THE GWALIOR PRASASTI OF BHOJA.
101
Of these, Nāgabhats I defeated a Mlēchchha army (v. 4), and Dēvarája is said to have defeated a host of kings (v. 5). His son Vatsarāja, a famous king, forcibly wrested the empire from the Bhandi clan (vv. 6-7) and Nagabhata II defeated Chakrāyudha and also conquered kings of the Anartta, Turushka, Málava, Vatsa, Matsya and other countries (vv. 8-11), Bhoja, also called Mihira, is said to have defeated his powerful enemies and verses 16-26 describe his greatness in general terms.
The chronology of the kings mentioned in this inscription may be fixed with & tolerable degree of certainty. We have the dates 756-7 A.D. for Någabhata I, 783-4 A.D. for Vatsarija, 815 A.D. for Någabhata II, and dates ranging from 843 to 881 A.D. for Bhoja. Again, we learn from a Jaina book, the Prabhävaka-charita, that king Någåvaloka of Kanyakubja, the grand-father of Bhoja died in 890 Vikrama-Samvat, and this Någåvaloka has been correctly identified with Nagabhafa II. Thus the first three kings of the genealogical table may be placed between 725 and 775 A.D., and the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh kings may be taken to have ascended the throne respectively at about 775, 800, 833 and 840 A.D.
Before the discovery of this inscription, our knowledge of the Gurjara-Pratthåra kings, who played such an important part in Indian history, was very limited and inaccurate. Although the late A. M. T. Jackson, M.A., 1.C.S., and Prof. Bhandarkar laid the true foundation of our knowledge about the Gurjara-Pratihåra history, a complete understanding of the subject, in all its bearings, was impossible, in consequence of the view held by Dr. Fleet, Dr. Kielhorp and others, that the homonymous kings referred to in the copper-plates lived earlier than, and were thus different from, those mentioned in the stone inscriptions. It was the discovery of this inscription that finally settled the question and facilitated the proper treatment of the GurjaraPratihåra history. Dr. V. A. Smith has clearly pointed out, that the express mention of the family name of the kings in this inscription helps us to definitely assign the royal dynasty of Kanauj to the Gurjara-Pratthåra olan,
The rise and growth of the great Gurjara empire, which played such a conspicuous part in Indian polity in the ninth century A.D., is clearly traced by our inscription. The names of the early kings of the dynasty, recorded in inscriptions, such as the Daulatpură copper-plate of Bhojadova, Dighw, Dubanli plate of Mahendrapala and the Bengal Asiatic Society's copperplate of Vinåyakapalal are but a mere string of names withont any details such as are to be found in the present inscription. This invests our record with particular importance, and the data it furnishes may be justly said to have revealed an altogether new chapter of Indian history.
The founder of the royal line is named Nāgabhata, a name not yet found in any other record of the family. He is said to have defeated the Mlöchchha army, and the manner in which this solitary fact is mentioned with regard to him, seems to show that it was looked upon
1 Above, Vol. XIV, p. 179, foot-note 8.
* A. M. T. Jackson, in Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I, Part I, App. III ; Prof. D. R. Bhandarkar in J. Bo. Br. R. 4. 8., Vol. XXI, p. 406 f., 413 f.
• This point is fully brought out by Dr. Kielhorn (loo. oit). • J. R. 4. 8., 1909, p. 58. . Above, Vol. V, p. 208. • Ind. Ant., Vol. XV, p. 105. 1 Ibid, p. 138.
