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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XIX.
27). The rest of the poetry seems to be devoted to the praise of Dāma, and continues as far as 1. 61. Then begins a section in prose, written in a smaller hand, and specifying an endowment made by the latter in the presence of the local Mahājanas for the benefit of the Traipurushas and some other god ; in the midst of this the stone breaks off.
It is perhaps worth noting that the poet compares Mähuva to the legendary Dadhichi, Gutta, Chārudatta, and Karna, and Dama to Karna, Vikramaditya, Hariéchandra, Nala, Char ddatta, Dadhichi, Sibi, and Gutta. The comparison with Kara and Nala is of course a commonplace, and Harischandra is one of the most popular figures of legend. On Chārudatta and Dadhichi I may refer to my remarks on the Sūļi inscription E (2) above, Vol. xv, p. 83. The mention of Vikramaditya, which seldom occurs elsewhere in this period, shews that the legend of the mythical king of that name had firmly established itself at this time in the Dekkar. It may well be that the legend, as has been suggested, is based upon traditions of the Gupta dynasty of the 4th-5th centuries A.D. and later, some members of which bore the title of Vikramāditya ;' and if this be so, its appearance here by the side of that of Gutta is doubly interesting. For there seems to be little doubt that this legendary Gutta is to be connected with the Gutta dynasty of Guttavoļal or Guttal, probably as an eponymous ancestor ; and this family claimed to derive its name and origin from the Gupta emperors as well as from a more or less mythical Vikramaditya of Ujjayini. Hence it would seem that the two legends of Vikramaditya and of Gutta are doublets, both having sprung from vague memories of the glories of the Gupta emperors.
Two datos are specified. The first is given on 11. 4-5 as Saka 959, Isvara; Ashādha du. 5; Sunday. This apparently refers to Saka 959 expired, which by the Southern Cycle was coupled with Isvara : according to this, the tithi Ashādha su. 5 was connected with Monday, June 20, A.D. 1037, ending about 19 h. 38 m. after mean sunrise for Ujjain. Thus the date is slightly irregular, the Sunday being named probably to lend auspiciousness, although the tithi was current only for a short time at the end of it (cf. Mr. Venkatasubbiah's Some Saka Dates in Inscriptions, p. 69). The late lamented Mr. R. Sewell, who with his wonted kindness examined the dates in this inscription, informed me that by the Arya-siddhānta very similar results are obtained ; su. 5 was connected with Monday, June 20, and was current only for about 1 h. 55 m. before mean sunrise on that day. He added that by the mean system, in Saka 959 expired, bu. 5 began 3 h. 50 m. before mean sunrise on Monday. The Northern Cycle may be excluded from consideration, as it coupled Isvara with Saka 957 expired and 958 current.
The second date is given on 1. 11 as the amāvāsyā (kți. 15) of Asvayuja, evidently of the same year as the preceding date, coupled with an eclipse of the sun and the yoga Vyat pāta. This is fairly satisfactory. The tithi was connected with Tuesday, 11 October, A.D. 1037, on which it ended about 15 h. 26 m. after mean sunrise ; and on the same Tuesday there was an eclipse of the sun, which, however, was not visible in India (Oppolzer, Kanon der Finsternisse, p. 214). Mr. Sewell has pointed out that by the mean system this Tuesday was coupled with kri. 14 and the following Wednesday with the amāvāsya, which tends to shew that the calculations here were made by true tithis.
The only names of places mentioned are Lokkigundi, . 5, 19 f., the tirthas, 1. 13 f., the Himachala, i.e. Himālaya, 1. 32, and Malaya, ibid. Lokkigunļi is Lakkundi (Lukoondee' of the Indian Atlas), in lat. 15° 23' and long. 75° 451', some 6 miles south-east from Gadag. Indrakila (1. 30) is probably meant to be purely mythical ; but there is a hill of the name at Bezwada.
See espacially Mr. Allan's Catalogue of Coins of the Gupla Dynasties in the British Museum, p. xlix, n. 1, See Dyn, kan. Disl., pp. 578-80.
