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No. 97.]
A FRAGMENTARY PRATHARA INSCRIPTION.
105
an invocation to god Siva. In the following lines Siva seems to be praised in bis Ardhanar. isvara (half male and half female) form. In the eighth line-the Lunar race is referred to. In 1.9 a king of the Western country is mentioned. Line 11 seems to mention a person whom people called (Vajraha. Next is mentioned the river Röva. In l. 12 is mentioned a king named Krishnarāja, who was made to retreat hastily to his own country. In l. 13 some one is referred to as having gone to heaven after distributing untold wealth to Brāhmanas. In l. 15 some town, the name of which began with Malava, is mentioned as the place where a very charitable man na med Gogga, whose munificence is described in the following six lines, seems to Lave died. His faithful wife was named Manikā. Line 22 records the building of a temple of Vishnu, the enemy of the demon Madbu. In l. 23 Isvara, the grandfather of one Siddhaditya, is mentioned, probably in connection with certain endowments to some temple. A verse in II. 24 and 25 expresses the benediction for the long life probably of the temple. The prasasti was composed by Sambhuvarman, son of Dāvavarman. The writer's name is missing. It was engraved by the son of Dharmalalalaka.
The name (Vadrāha contained in the above account is significant and reminds us of Ādivarāha', the biruda of Bhdjadöva, the famous king of the Pratibare dynasty. If it is really meant for the said ruler, as is very likely, the inscription can well be relegated to his reign, and the king Krishnarāja mentioned in l. 12 can safely be identified with the Rishtrakata king Akalavarshe Krishna II (875-911 A.D.), who was his contemporary. We know that the Pratihiras and the Rashtrakūtas were constantly at war with each other and were alternately victorious. This inscription may be referring to a fight in which Bhöjadēva defeated Krishnardja, for poets usually record victories and not defeats of their patron kings.
TEXT. 1 ale Ta Fuaren arranfefaen[] .........
........................ 2 ayficafera outer neto ryfeira ..........
........................ 3 T EVT Tra[ft]a
.. fa am T] ..... ........................ 4 भी वेपसे किंगदितमितिहरवाईमारोशमूर्त: प्रत्याख्यातो] विधिर्म
ý statuifutia fawranama far ift[+0]and tre
fara afta[a]
a
mefafie nafafa) faret
6 win femmafurere forte para
[AT] .......... 7 afrat wfma ()#
..
Anfert[n] :...
Prom rubbing proverved in the Barton Museum at-Bhavnagu. * Expromed by bol. "This tymbol und the gon in the Afteenth line seem to indicate the conclusion of a paragraphs
