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99
No. 19) AJAYAGADH STONE INSCRIPTION OF NANA; V. 8. 1346
The language is Sanskrit. Except the salutation te Vasudēvs in the first line and mention of the date in line 19, and the name of the scribe and his family in lines 20 and 21, where the composer invokes blessings for himself, the whole record is in verse.
As regards orthography, v is generally substituted for b, gf. vibhrat, line 1, uahu, line 14; and for & and vice versa, cf. Vasu-, line 1, vasati, line 5, visäla, line 4. The consonant following is reduplicated in the majority of cases.
The object of the inscription is to record the establishment of a temple at Jayadurga with the image of Kosava (verses 33-34). After salutation to Murari in the first three stanzas, the incarnations of Vishnu in the forms of Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Nrisimha, Våmana, Parasurama and Råma are invoked for blessings. Thereafter comes the donor's genealogy which stands as follows >
Kāsyapa
Kuba
Sunabba
Haruka Srivastava
Jalhans
Gangadhara
Kamalē
Malaks
Padma finitie
Padmasimba
Ratnasimha
Ratnapithan
Jagakibat
Jagasimha
Kummilusika
Kumarasimha
Sumaika
Näna
Prithvidhara
Nana introduces himself as the minister of Bhõjavarman who is known to be the penultimate king of the Chandrătröya (Chandel) dynasty of Bundelkhand. This Bhojavarman was the son and successor of Viravarman and Kalyāṇadēvi. He was followed by Hammiravarman.
What is interesting here is that the ancestors of Năna are said to be the hereditary ministers of the Chandråtréya kings, i.e., the Chandellas. The genealogy of Nána as given in the inscription is of little historical interest, except that the Kayastha Srivastava family to which Nâna belonged is said to have originated at Kaubāmyapura and that Hårūka, a member of this dynasty, is said to have earned the surname Srivastava for the first time. "A Vastavya-vamsa is mentioned in line 27 of Malhara inscription of the Chēdi year 919=1167 A. D. ; a Vástavya-kula in line 5 of the Sahet-Mabet inscription of the Vikrama year 1276 ; and also on the two inscriptions from Mahoba (A. S. I. R., XXI, pl. 21 and 23) one of which is dated in the Vikrama year 1240 records that in the illustrious great Vástavya family there was one Suhila, the son of " Hallana". The Ajayagadh rock inscription of Bhojavarman also gives an account of some members of the Vástavy
B2
