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13
No. 2]
KESARIBEDA PLATES OF NALA ARTHAPATI-BHATTARAKA
by r; but v in one case in line 7 and d in line 9 have not been doubled. The visarga, followed by a sibilant, is represented by a sibilant in line 3. The duplication of vin samvva (for samvatsare) in line 13 is also interesting to note. There is a case of Prakritism in muha for mukha in the same line. The rules of sandhi, which are optional for prose composition, have not always been observed.
The date of the record is given as the new moon day of the month of Marggasirsha in the year 7, no doubt indicating the seventh regnal year of king Arthapati of the family of king Nala. As the issuer of the Kesaribeḍa charter and the dynasty to which he claimed to belong are already known from epigraphic and numismatic sources, I propose, before entering into the details of the grant, to give below a short sketch of Nala history taken from one of the chapters that I have contributed to Vol. III of the History of India (in the press), which is being published by the Bharatiya Itihasa Samiti of Bombay under the editorship of Dr. R. C. Majumdar of Calcutta.
The Rithapur copper-plate inscription which may be assigned on grounds of palaeography, to the fifth or sixth century, records the grant of a village called Kadambagiri by Mahārāja Bhavattavarman while he (probably together with his queen) was staying as a pilgrim2 at Prayaga (Allahabad)," the place blest by the favour of lord Prajapati at the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna". The charter, however, was actually issued from Nandivardhana by a successor of the king. We know that this city was the capital of the Vakaṭakas of the main line before the foundation of Pravarapura by Pravarasēna II. The village of Kadambagiri has been identified with Kalamba in the Yeotmal District of Berar. It is thus apparent that a new line of kings was in possession of the territories formerly occupied by the Vākāṭakas.
The name Bhavattavarman is probably a mistake or a partly Prakritized form of Bhavadattavarman. This suggestion is supported by the evidence of coins and of another record of the family. The king is called Nala-nripa-vamsa-prasuta and apparently claimed descent from Nala, the ancient king of Nishadha known from epic and Puranic literature. He is said to have obtained royal fortune through the grace of Maheśvara (Siva) and Mahāsēna (Skanda-Kärttikeya)." The king's banner bore the tri-pataka which has been explained as the representation of the hand with three fingers stretched out' or three pennons'. The charter is dated in the eleventh regnal year. But the document is said to have been actually made, for the merit of his own parents, by Mahārāja Arthapati-bhaṭṭaraka who was favoured by his aryaka, i.e., grandfather." Arthapati has sometimes been taken to be an epithet of Bhavadattavarman, but is now usually regarded as the name of the latter's son and successor. It is, however, probable that Bhavadattavarman was actually the aryaka, i.e., grandfather', of Arthapati. It seems that year 11, the date of the Rithapur grant, refers not to the reign of Bhavadattavarman but to that of Arthapati.
1 Above, Vol. XIX, pp. 100 ff.
2 The fact that the grant was made in favour of certain Brahmanas who appear to have "blessed the matrimonial relationship" of the king and the queen may also suggest that it was made on the occasion of the royal marriage. In that case it has to be conjectured that the father of the queen was a chief or ruler of the Allahabad region. Note also the reference to 'the lord of offsprings' in this connection.
The passage Mahesvara-Mahasen-atisrishta-rajya-vibhava, upon whom has been bestowed the glory of royalty by Mahesvara and Mahasëna, may also be interpreted to mean that the king dedicated his kingdom and wealth to the gods Siva and Skanda (cf. similar cases cited by me in Journal of the Kalinga Historical Research Society, Vol. I, pp. 251-53). Reference may be made in this connection to the Bhita seal (ARASI, 1911-12, p. 51), bearing the legend Mahesvara-Mahasen-ālisṛishta-rajyasya vrishabha-dhrajasya Gautamiputrasya sri-Vindhyabe(ve)dhanamahārājasya. What relation king Vindhyavedhana may have had with the early Nalas, cannot be determined in the present state of our knowledge; but, like Bhavadatta varman and Arthapati, Vindhyavedhana seems also to have been a southerner as the characters used on the Bhita seal closely resemble those of the records of the Ikshvikus of the Krishna-Guntur region. Vindhyavedhana's emblem was, however, not the tri-pataka but the bull. Cf. Fleet, CII, Vol. III, p. 187n; Sel. T., Vol. I, pp. 225-6.
