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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. XXIV.
inveterate foe (atiparah) of Kamboja and Dhangu'. If our reading be correct, the chief difficulty of identifying the two Räjyapālas vanishes at once.
Xow who could have been this Dhangu, an inveterate foe of this Rajyapāla of Radha ? We think that he is no other than the king Dhanga of the Chandēllas. The Bengali tendency of changing a-endings of personal names into u, such as Rāma to Rāmu, Vanka to Vanku, etc., seems to be responsible for the slight change in the name of Dhanga. This identification of Dhangu with the king Dhanga is not based on the similarity of names only. It is supported by the historical evidence also. This king of the Chandēllas, in his Khajuraho inscription of V. S. 1059 (1002 A.D.)1 boasts of having thrown into prison the wives of the kings of Kanchi, Andhra, Radha and Anga. This shows that he had, among others, invaded the kingdom of Rādha. We have already seen that Räjyapāla of the present plate was ruling in Rādha. So it is very natural for him to declare Dhanga as an inveterate foe of his. But were both Räjyapälas contemporaries of Dhanga ? Mr. Majumdar on palæographical grounds assigned this charter of Nayapāla to the latter part of the tenth century. Räjyapala was succeeded by his son Nārāyana päla, who again was succeeded by his younger brother Nayapāla. So Räjyapala can be assumed to have ruled in the first part of the tenth century. But what was the time of Dhanga ? The latest known inscription of this king is the one of V. S. 1059 (A. D. 1002) mentioned above. It is stated therein that he lived over hundred years. So he was born sometime about A. D. 900. It is clear from this evidence that Dhanga and Rajyapāla of the present inscription were contemporaries.
It now remains to be seen that the other Räjyapăla, father of Göpaladēva II., also flourished in the first part of the tenth century. We have shown elsewhere that king Mahipala I. ascended the throne in A. D. 981. His father Vigrahapāla II. ruled at least 26 years, and his grandfather Gõpäladēva II. at least 15 years. So the commencement of the latter's reign cannot be later than A. D. 942. The recently published Jäjilpärä сharter of Göpäladēva II. was issued in the sixth year of his reign, on the 11th day of the bright half (i.e. sukla ēkādasi) of Pausha, on the occasion of Uttarāyana-sarkrānti. The only date, nearer to A. D. 942 satisfying the above data, is A. D. 931. So his first year must be A. D. 925. This should, in the ordinary circumstances, be also the last year of his father Räjyapala's reign. Räjyapāla ruled at least 24 years. So the period of his reign also falls in the first part of the tenth century, and, therefore, he was contemporaneous with the other Räjya pala and Dhanga.
Now the difficult question arises that if the two Rajyapälas were identical, why Dhanga calls him the king of Rādha only, and not of Gauda and Magadha ? A very satisfactory solution of this is possible. The known dates of the Pratihāra Mahendrapala I. are 893-907 A. D. His inscriptions of the years 4 and 19 have been found in the Patna District, of 8 and 9 in the Gaya District, and of 5 in Pāhārpur in the Rājshāhi District of Bengal. These show that Rajyapāla was ousted from Gauda and Magadha The Dighwa-Dubauli (Saran district) inscription of V. S. 955 shows that he lost Tirabhukti also". From these circumstances, R. D. Banerji rightly came to the conclusion that Rajyapāla must have succeeded to a very small principality, either in Radha or in Vanga'. This plate fully corroborates his view, which was considered at the time no better
1 Above, Vol. I, p. 140. Ind. Cult., Vol. I, p. 291.
• Bendall, Cat. of Sans. Mss. in the British Museum, p. 232; J. R. A. 8., 1910, p. 151; Banerji, The Palas of Bengal (Memoirs A. 8. B., Vol. V), p. 67.
J. R. A. 8., 1910, pp. 150-51 ; The Palas of Bengal, p. 65. * Ind. Ant., Vol. XLVII, p. 110.
Above, Vols. I, p. 173 and IX, pp. 4f. A. 8. I.. An. Rep., 1923-4, p. 102 ; Ind. Ant., Vol. XLVII, p. 110; The Palas of Bengal, 11. 61 ; 1'he Insfrated London News, Jan. 29, 1927, p. 160.
.J.R. 4. 8., 1004, pp. 642ff. The Palas of Bengal, p. 03.
