________________
No. 49 ]
A NOTE ON SIRODA PLATES OF (BHOJA) DEVARAJA
Vrishibhiņikhēta, registers the grant made by the king of a piece of land to a Brāhmaṇa, named Ma[tvalrya, of the Agnivěsya götra. The land was situated in the village of Bhagalapallika in the Kupala[pa]kața ähāra. The grant was made for the increase of merit of the king's mother Chetasādēvi at the request of his brother Satrudamana on the 13th day of the bright half of the month of Jyeshtha in the first year of the king's reign. At the end of the inscription we are told that it was the gift of Chetasādevt, described as Nellikabalika. The charter was written by Devaarmacharya of the Bharadvaja götra. The later grant was issued from Prithiviparvata and states that the king made a gift of a plot of land in the village of Malara in Kupalakata to a Brahmana, named Damarya, of the Bharadvaja götra. The gift was made for the merit of the king himself on the 10th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Sravana in the 25th year of the king's reign. The ajñapti of the grant was Nidhivara and the writer was Buddhadäsa of the Kamboja çötra. The inscriptions on both these sets of plates are written in the Sanskrit language and in the southern alphabet assignable to about the 7th century A. C.
Another copper-plate record of this dynasty was discovered early in 1950 by Mr. P. B. Desai, M.A., Epigraphical Assistant, at the village of Hire Gutti in the Kumta taluk of the North Kanara District which adjoins Goa. The document, issued by king Asankitaraja of the Bhoja lineage, registers the grant, made by him, of the village Sundarika in the Dipaka vishaya to a vihara which had possibly been erected by himself (sva-vihara). The invocation to the Buddha at the commencement of the inscription shows beyond doubt that the monastery (vihara) to which the gift was made was Buddhistic. It is also noteworthy that this set of plates bears a seal depicting the figure of an elephant which was evidently the emblem of this royal family. The language of this grant is likewise Sanskrit. Though the record is not dated its palaeography would place it in the same period, namely about the 7th century A. C.1
Yet another copper-plate inscription of this dynasty, falling in that very period, has been discovered by Mr. R. S. Panchamukhi. I have not seen this record, but, according to Mr. Panchamukhi, it registers a gift of land, made by Dharmamahārāja Käpälivarman of the Bhōja family to a certain Svamikarāja who, in his turn, granted it to a Brahmana, named Bhavarya. The land was situated at the village of Sivapuraka. The grant was issued from the king's camp at Pāmāsakhēṭaka."
Thus we have, in all, five inscriptions of this dynasty, all on copper plates. Of these, the Siroda plates of Devaraja happen to be the earliest, as they are palaeographically referrable to the 4th century A. C., while the rest belong to about the 7th century. They disclose the names of four ruling monarchs, namely, Devaraja, Prithivimallavarman, Asankitaraja and Käpälivarman. Chētasādēvi, the queen of Prithivimallavarman, and Satrudamana, the latter's brother, are two others, brought to light from one of these documents. We have seen that these grants were issued from four different places, viz., Chandraŭra, Vrishibhiņikhēta, Prithiviparvata and Pāmāsakhēṭaka. Chandraura has been considered to be identical with Chandor in Goa. The other places may also have to be looked for around that region which appears to have been the dominion over which the Bhojas held sway. The relationship in which the four rulers of the family stood to one another and the order of succession of the three last named kings, viz., Prithivimalla, Asankita and Käpäli, are points to be determined only by future discoveries.
339
Incidentally, I may also briefly notice the Maurya grant here, which is interesting in its own way. It records the order of the illustrious Anirjitavarman, the Mauryya Mahārāja, issued
1 This record is also being edited in this journal.
Fifteenth All-India Oriental Conference (1949), Summaries of Papers, p. 99.
* Above, Vol. XXIV, p. 145.
3A
