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No. 45.] DHAULI CAVE INSCRIPTION OF SANTIKARA; [GANGA] YEAR 93.
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No. 45.-DHAULI CAVE INSCRIPTION OF SANTIKARA; THE [GANGA] YEAR 93.
BY R. D. BANERJI, M.A. Close to the boulder at Dhauli, on which the edicts of Aboks are inscribed, is a lofty hill, the highest part of which rises about 1,000 feet above the surrounding ground level. It is surmounted by a ruined temple dedicated to Siva. One side of this temple has disappeared entirely, and the gigantic phallus, enshrined therein, is thereby exposed to view. Below this temple, about a hundred yards to the east, on the southern face of the hill, there is a small cave. According to the Puri Gazetteer the “ northern ridge culminates in a temple-crowned peak, and at its western extremity are a number of caves, natural and artificial. To the east of the temple and at a lower level is a natural fissure, full of bats; and on a boulder at the top, near the entrance, is cut a small inscription in three lines." I found the fissure and the bats, but could not get at the boulder or find the inscription of three lines. Close to the fissure, is an artificial cave, measuring 4' x 5' 31' approximately. There is a niche in the back wall of this cave, under which is inscribed Jaya-Sri Sri (b); and on the right wall is a record in seven lines, which is being edited below. The letter ta occurs on the level of 1.1 at a distance.
The object of the inscription is to record the construction of a temple (matha) of Aghyakıvarăți by one Bhatta Loyomaka, son of the physician Nannata and grandson of Bhimata, who was born of the womb of. Ijya, an inhabitant of Virajo, in the year 93, during the reign of the illustrious Santikara-dēva. Säntikara-dēva is known from another votive inscription in the Ganesa-gumphā at Khandagiri, where Ijya, Bhimata and Nannata are mentioned. The Gaņēba-gumphā inscription is not dated. We do not know anything yet about this king. A line of three kings with the suffix Kara in their names is mentioned in the Neulpur grant of Subbakara.' Except the resemblance in the names, we have no data on the basis of which we can establish any connection between them.
The chief importance of this record is its date, which supplies a datum for fixing the period of the dynasty. The adjectives in the Neulpur grant show that the dynasty was Buddhist in faith. The date of this inscription is 93. The form of the palatal ka indicates that it cannot be referred to the Harsha era (605-6 A.D.) The situation of the inscription precludes a reference to the Newar era (880 A.D.) The Chalukya-Vikrama era (1076 A.D.) would be too late. The era of the Gangas, which was used in Kalinga in its first century, is most probably the reckoning to which this record is to be referred. According to Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, the initial year of this
IRead भुचता
Read êYXO : Jihoamuliya is used here. [But the symbol seems to represent .-Ed.) ' stands for . • Is engraved on the left margin.
Puri Gazetteer, pp. 245-48. . Ante, Vol. XIII, p. 167. Aske, Vol. XV. pp. 1:8,
