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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(Vol. XXIII.
matrimonially connected in the ninth century also; for Amoghavarsha I's son Krishna II was married to Kõkalla l's daughter, though this marriage may not have taken place before A. D. 842 ? Besides, Amõghavarshe was of a spiritual temperament. He was a fervent devotee, at least in the early part of his life, of Hindu deities. The Sanjān plates tell us that he had cut off a finger of his left hand and offered it to Mahā-Lakshmi to ward off a public calamity. It is not, therefore, unlikely that Amoghavarsha had gone to the Chēdi country to pay his respects to the holy person who put up the present inscription. The mention of Nāgabhata's defeat in l. 9 may also be adduced in support of the above-mentioned date. This Någabhata is evidently Nagabhata II of the Gurjara-Pratihāra dynasty, who was completely routed by Amoghavarsha's father Govinda III. Nāgabhata was not living in A. D. 841-2 the date of the present inscription; for, according to the Jain work Prabhāvaka-charita' he died in V. S. 890 (A. D. 833-4); nor is Amõghavarsha known to have raided North India like his father and grandfather. The defeat of Nägabhata II mentioned in this inscription must be that inflicted on him by Govinda III before A. D. 800. The personage, who in the preceding line is described as a destroyer of great kings as a thunderbolt is of high mountains, is therefore probably Govinda III. The name of the king whom he destroyed (samjahrē) is lost at the end of that line. It is not known in what connection the defeat of Nagabhata is mentioned in 1. 9; but as the name of Amõghavarsha occurs only after two lines, it is clear that the event must have happened not long before the reign of Amöghavarsha. The latter must consequently be the first king of that name; for, otherwise, there would be a long gap of more than one hundred and thirty years between the two events, if the king is identified with Baddiga-Amõghavarsha III.
If my reading of the date is accepted the Lakshmanarāja mentioned in the present inscription becomes the earliest known king of the Kalachuri dynasty of Tripuri. He was the predecessor and may have been the father of Kökalla 1,' who stands at the head of the genealogical lists in the Bilhári stone inscription and the Benares plates of Karna." The Sanjān plates of Amõghavarsha state that after his victorious campaign in North India, Govinda III returned to the bank of the Narmada and conquering Kösala, Kalinga, Vērgi, Dahala, Odraka and Mälava, made his servants govern them. This seems to mean that Govinda raided these countries and either exacted tributes from the ruling princes or, deposing them, placed his own nominees in charge of their countries. That he did so in one case at least is known from other records. The Baroda plates of Karka, dated Saka 734, state that Karka was made a door-bolt to protect the king of Mālwa from the Gurjara king who had become puffed up by conquering the lords of Gauda and Vanga.10 In some other records of the Gujarat Rashtrakūtas we find references to battles fought
Ind. Ant., Vol. XII, pp. 263-70.
* As I have shown elsewhere (above, p. 217) Amõghsvarsha I was born about A. D. 799. He was therefore, forty-two years old at the time of the present inscription, but it is not likely that in A. D. 841-2 his son Krishna II was already married to Lakshmanarija's grand-daughter, for he is known to have reigned till about 914 A. D. Perhape Amoghavarsha had gone to Tripurt to seek the Kalachuri king's help when he was deposed in the early part of his reign.
. Above, Vol. XVIII, p. 248. • Ibid., p. 245. . Above, Vol. XIV, p. 179, n. 3.
• This Kökalls was a contemporary of Bhöja I of Kansuj who flourished from circa A. D. 835 to 885. His son-in-law Krishna II reigned from about A. D. 880 to 914. Kokalla may have therefore flourishod from about A. D. 850 to 886.
* Above, Vol. I, pp. 264ff. • Ibid., Vol. II, pp. 306ff.
Ibid., Vol. XVIII, p. 245. 10 See lines 26-27 of the Baroda plates of Karka, Ind. Ant., Vol. XII, p. 160.
