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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[Vol. XXVIII As to the chronology of these rulers, we have elsewhere seen that Ranabhanja ruled about the middle or the third quarter of the tenth century, since he was a contemporary of the father and grandfather of the Kadamba chief Dharmakhedi who is known from his records dated in the Saka year 917 (995 A.C.) and the Ganga year 520 (1016-18 A.C.). It should also be noticed that the town of Gandhatapāti, founded by Satrubhañja Gandhata, was apparently the headquarters of the Gandhadapāți mandala, in which a village granted by the Sõmavamsi king Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I (circa 970-1000 A.C.) was situated. This fact not only suggests that Satrubhañja Gandhata flourished sometime before the end of the tenth century but also that it was the Sõmavarsis (probably Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I himself) who drove out the Bhanjas from Upper Orissa to the Ganjam region. Another inscription of the same Sõmavamsi king records a grant made in favour of an inhabitant of Silābhañjapāți in the Otra desa', which seems to have been a town built by and named after Silābhañja I Angaddi. These facts are valuable for the chronology of both the Somavamsis and the early Bhañjas of Khiñjalimandala. Since Bhafta Stambhadeva and Akshasālika Durgadēva served no less than three of Raņabhañja's descendants, viz. (1) Nēţtabhañja Kalyāņakalaba I, son of Ranabhanja, (2) Silabhanja II Tribhuvanakalasa, grandson of Ranabhanja, and (3) Vidyādharabhañja Amõghakalaša, great-grandson of Raņabhañja, while the goldsmith further served Nēţtabhañja Kalyāņakalasa II, son of Vidyādharabhañja, it seems that all the above rulers had short reigns. At least Digbhañja-Disabhañja and his son Silābhañja II Tribhuvanakalasa, whose reigns are characterised by a paucity of records, appear to have had very short reigns. It is thus possible to assign the reign of Silābhañja II Tribhuvanakalaša, who issued the charter under discussion, to a period about the close of the tenth century A.C.
Of the geographical names mentioned in the record, Vanjulvaka, which was the capital of the later members of the royal family in question and apparently lay someliwere in the Ganjam region, has not been satisfactorily identified. We have not succeeded in identifying the village of Dēūladda and the district of Salvada either..
TEXT [Metre : -- verse 1 Mälini; verse 2 Sārdülavikridita ; verse 3 Arya ; verse 4 Vasantatilakā; verses 5-8 Anushțubh ; verse 9 Pushpitāgrā.]
First Plate 1 Siddham Svasti [ll*] Jayati Kusumava(bā)ņa-prāņa-vikshõbha-daksham sva-kiraņa-pari2 vēsho(sh-au)[r]jjitya-jirņņcēndu-lēkham(kham) tribhuvana-bhavan-āntar-dyota-bhāsvat
pradipan kanaka-n[i]3 kasha-gauram? vibhru-nētram Harasya ||[1*] Sesh-ahēr=iva y[ē) phanāḥ pravila[sa*]nty=ud
bhāsvar-ēndu4. tvishaḥl prā[1]ēgāchala-épinga-k[7]ţaya iva tvanganti yê=tyunnatähnritt-ättö(to)5 pa-vigha[tti]tā iva bhujā rājanti yē šīmbhavās=tē sarvv-āgha-vighātinaḥ 6 sura-sarit-toy-ormmayaḥ pā[ntu) vaḥ|| [2*) vijaya-Vañjulvakāt[*) Asti jaya-sri
1 Proc. I.H.C., Cuttack, 1949, pp. 127-29. 11.H.Q., Vol. XXII, p. 307. . Above, Vol. XI, p. 96 where the same has been road as Gandao. • Above, Vol. III, p. 353.
From the original plates. • Expressed by a symbol. In tho HQDiA context, we have tamran in other inscriptious. The danda is superfluous.
