Epigraphia Indica Vol 19

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 68

No. 6.] INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF HAMMIR OF RANTHAMBHOR.
the Chakana which flows to the left of Kavälji's temple. Mandakini is the Madākapa which flows behind the temple. Mandapa (v. 7) is the famous fortress of Manḍu. Jhampaithā Ghatta, as the name shows, might be a hill pass or a river ford somewhere in or about the Kotah territory. Kētumukhā (v. 2) and Karkaralagiri (v. 8) I cannot identify. Rapas tambhapura is the fortress of Rapathambhor in the Jaipur State. Pashyaka (v. 12) may be the old palace of Hammira.
As to the personages spoken of in the inscription, Prithviraja is the famous chivalrous Chauhan king of Ajmer. Vägbhata was the fourth in succession from Govindaraja,1 and is also known as Bahaḍa or Bahaḍadeva. He went for some time to Malwa owing to some internal dissension with his nephew, and consequently Ranthambhor fell into the hands of the Muhammadans. He, however, soon returned and once more became master of Ranthambhor. He was twice attacked by Ulugh Khan in the time of 'Alau-d-din Khalji. Jaitrasimha (v. 7) was the son and successor of Vagbhata. In Samvat 1339 (A.D. 1283), he handed over the reins of Government to his son Hammira and went into seclusion. Hammira (v. 10) was the last independent Chauhan king of Ranthambhōr. His fame is sung in many a Sanskrit and Prakrit verse. According to the Hammira-mahākāvya, the date of his accession is Samvat 1339 (A.D. 1283), but, according to the genealogy given at the end of the Prabandhakosha, it is Samvat 1342 (A.D. 1285). He led a series of successful warlike expeditions into different countries. In one of the many battles fought by him, he is said to have defeated Rājā Arjuna of Saraspura a fact which does not quite agree with that of this inscription. He was killed in Samvat 1358 (A.D. 1301). Jayasimha (v. 7), who was harassed by Jaitrasimha, was the Paramāra king Jayasimhadeva III of Malwa. He succeeded Jayavarman II between Samvat 1317 and 1326 (A.D. 1260 and 1269), and ruled from A.D. 1261-1280.7 The Kürma king, who is said to have been killed by Jaitrasimha (v. 8), belonged to the Kachhavaha (Kachchhapaghata or Kachchhapäri) family of Amber. It is generally believed that the Kachhavaha prince Pajjuna was one of the great vassals of Prithviraja III of Ajmer. So, the Kurma king mentioned above must be a descendant of Pajjupa. The Kachhavahas of Amber belonged to the junior branch of the Kachhavahas of Gwalior. They were the descendants of Sumitra, the younger son of Mangalaraja, the third Kachhavaha ruler of Gwalior. According to the writer Muhnot Nainsy (A.D. 1610-1670), Sōdha (Sōdhadeva), who belonged to this junior branch, migrated to Rajputana and took Dyosa in Jaipur territory from the Baragujaras, and established his rule there. 10 His descendants took Amber from the Minas and made it their capital. Amber remained the capital of the Kachhavahas of Rajputānā till the time of Sawai Jaisimha (A.D. 16991743) whe founded the modern city of Jaipur. As to Arjuna (v. 11) of Malwa, who is said to
1 He was the founder of the ruling dynasty of the Chauhans of Ranthambhör. After the death of his father Prithviraja in A.D. 1192, he was appointed governor of Ajmer by Muhammad Ghori but was soon driven out of Ajmer towards Ranthambhor by his uncle Hariraja (Hemraja or Hiraj). (Briggs' Ferishte, Vol. I, p. 193.) 2 Indian Antiquary, Vol. VIII, pp. 63-64.
Elliot's History of India, Vol. II, pp. 367-70.
The Hammira-mahākāvya, Sarga 8, ślōka 56. Ind. Ant., Vol. VIII, p. 64, n. 14.
Indian Antiquary, Vol. VIII, p. 64.
Ibid., p. 73, n. 20.
The Parmaras of Dhar and Malwa by Captain C. E. Luard and K. K. Lele, p. 41.
Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 717, n. 3.
Cunningham's Arch. Sur. of India, Vol. II, p. 374.
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Muhnot Nainsy's Khyata (manuscript), pp. 63-64. [Muhnot Nainey was the minister of the Maharaja Jaswant Singh (A.D. 1635-78) of Jodhpur and was a reliable writer of historical accounts of Rajputana]
10 Muhnot Nainsy's Khyata (manuscript), p. 64. Supplementary notes to Tod's Rajasthan (in Hindi) by R. B. Pt. Gourishankar H. Ojha, p. 373.