Epigraphia Indica Vol 27

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

Page 51

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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXVII
No. 6. TWO INSCRIPTIONS OF GOVINDACHANDRA, KING OF VANGA
(2 Plates)
The late Dr. N. K. BHATTASALI, DACCA
The Vangala king Govindachandra was so long known to us from the Tirumalai rock inscription of Rajendra Chōla. Tirumalai is a hill in the North Arcot District, about 96 miles southwest of Madras. "The inscription is engraved on a smooth piece of rock near a rock-cut Jaina figure on the top of the hill" and it is in the Tamil language. It is dated in the 13th regnal year of the king, which extended from the middle of A.D. 1024 to the middle of A.D. 1025. In this inscription the conquests of Rajendra Chōla are recorded. Among these conquests, we are concerned here with his conquest of East India. As another inscription, of the 9th regnal year, of the king is silent about his expedition to East India, it is generally assumed that this expedition should be dated between his 9th and 13th years, probably immediately before his 13th year. As expeditions are generally undertaken after the cessation of the rains, in October, this expedition is likely to have been undertaken towards the end of A.D. 1023 and extended into A.D. 1024.
The Tirumalai inscription of Rajendra Chola throws interesting light on the political condition of Bengal during the period of the invasion by the Chōla emperor. The invader found one Dharmapāla ruling over Danḍabhukti, roughly the present district of Midnapur. Dakshina-Radha, i.e., the districts of Howrah and Hooghly, was then ruled by a king of the Sura family, named Raṇaśūra. After having destroyed the first and defeated the second, the invader appears to have crossed the Bhagirathi and entered the Vangala desa ruled over by king Govindachandra. The Vangala king boldly met the invader. The weather appears to have fought in his favour by some heavy showers, as they find particular mention in the Tirumalai inscription. But nothing availed, and Govindachandra had ultimately to get down from his royal elephant and flee, when the day went against him. The invader then appears to have turned his arms against Mahipala I, lord of Varendri, north of the Ganges. The Pala army, led by Mahipala in person, met the Chōla army, and a hot engagement ensued. The Pala king had slippers on and was bedecked with earrings and bracelets, and as these are specifically mentioned, they must have caught the eyes of the southerners. Mahipala also shared the same fate as the Vangala king Govindachandra, and the invader captured a number of women and elephants. He then recrossed the Padmā (Ganges) and entered Uttara-Radha, present Murshidabad and Birbhum Districts, and again reached the banks of the Bhagirathi and returned home by the very route through which he had advanced.
This was so long our main3 source of information regarding the existence of a king of Vanga, called Govindachandra. Fortunately, two inscribed images came to light in 1941, one of the 12th year and the other of the 23rd year of Govindachandra. These two inscriptions, discovered from within the limits of ancient Vanga, have at last lent welcome confirmation to the Tirumalai inscription and definitely located the region where Govindachandra reigned at least for twentythree years.
A. Kulkuḍi sun-god image inscription of the 12th year of the reign of Govindachandra On the 2nd May, 1941, Sj. Mukundabihari Das, Travelling Agent to the Committee for collec tion of manuscripts, University of Dacca, sent me information about the existence of an inscribed image of the sun-god at the village of Kulkudi, P. S. Gosanihat, Dt. Faridpur. The image was
1 Above, Vol. IX, pp. 229 ff.
2 For exact location of these geographical units, reference may be made to Bhattasali: Geographical Divi. sions of Ancient Bengal, J.R.A.S., 1935, pp. 73 ff.
There is a reference to king Govindachandra, probably identical with the king of our inscriptions, in a manuscript of the Sabdapradipa: Eggeling: India Office Catalogue, Vol. V, pp. 974 ff.