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No. 49)
METHI INSCRIPTION OF YADAVA KRISHNA ; SAKA 1176
317
place, the ancient name of which was Mangalivēda or Mangalaväda, was the ancestral seat and an important stronghold of the Kalachuris of Karnataks right from the beginning until their last days. It was the secondary capital of the Kalachuri rulers even during the period of their usurpation and the later members appear to have resorted to this place after the overthrow of the Kalachuri regime. Now among the Kalachuris more than one prince is known to have borne the name Bijjala and an epigraph from Sankh,' in the Jath taluk of the Southern Satara District, discovered recently, reveals that a prince by name Vira-Bijjala, son of Raya-Murári Sövidēva,' was administering this area at least till 1192 A.C., November 20. It was very probably this ViraBijjala who was worsted by Bhillama. In this connection a word of explanation seems necessary in regard to the interpretation of the word jaghnivān in the above citation. It may be taken to mean 'struck' and not killed '; for it is seen from the epigraphic evidence adduoed above that Bhillama and Vira-Bijjala were both alive until the latter part of the year 1192 A.C. and that the former might have predeceased the latter by a few days. This interpretation is further justified by another word occurring in the above passage, viz., vyasu, which cannot be interpreted in its literal sense as 'lifeless '; for the fact that no Hoysa!a king was slain by Bhillama would go contrary to such an interpretation. In the light of the above discussion the text of the first line in the above citation with its suggested correction will be as follows:
Yo vā Mangalavēshtaka-kshitipatin Sri-Bijjanam jaghnivän
Proceeding to the reign of Singhaņa a very large number of epigraphs has come to light. It is seen from these that a great amount of divergency prevails in regard to the reckoning of the initial year of his reign which varies from 1197 to 1210 A.C. We have therefore to conclude that Singhana was actively associated with his father in the administration of the kingdom long before the latter's demise, although he must have assumed sovereignty independently in 1210 A.C. only after the event.
Singhaņa is known to have been succeeded by his grandson Kộishņa actually in 1247 A.C.; but there are inscriptions which show that he was associated with his predecessor's rule one or two years prior to this date. Inscriptions of Kțishņa are found in the Districts of Belgaum, Bijāpur, Dhārwār and Bellary and further south in the Mysore State. It is seen from this that he held under his control major part of the regions conquered by his grandfather in the course of his triumphant southern expedition. Krishna himself, as known from other sources, directed military expeditions against his enemies though the present epigraph is silent about them.
. We may incidently note that besides the four major dynasties of Yadava extraction that ruled over the areas of Karnataka, viz., the Rashtrakūtas', the Hoysalas, the Yadavas of Dēvagiri
1 B. K. coll., No. 108 of 1940-41. The date of this inscription is irregular and its approximate Christian equivalent only is used here.
Dr. Bhandarkar suggested that the Hoysala king Narasimha was put to death by Bhillama. This suggestion is unjustified as Narasimha was dead as early as 1173 A.C.; Bom. Gaz., Vol. I, part II, p. 238 and Historical Inscriptions of Southern India, p. 351. One n.ore instance requiring similar interpretation would be the expression uchchhidya occurring in the Gadag inscription of Vira-Ballāla. It has to be translated as having defeated and not literally as having destroyed. Compare Ind. Ant., Vol. II, pp. 300 and 303 and above, Vol. III, p. 218.
According to another reading Billanat would be substituted by Vajrinar. In this case Vajrin may be taken to be the Sanskritisation of Bijjana. Compare above, p. 28, n. 1.
The following inscriptions among others would yield 1197 A.C. as the initia! year of Singhana's reign : B. K. coll., Nos. 68 of 1928-29, 89 of 1929-30; also compare Arch. Suru. An. Rep. for 1929-30, p. 172. B. K. Nos. 181-82 of 1933-34 yield 1198 A.C. as his initial year.
A.R. No. 426 of 1926 and B.K. No. 50 of 1933-34 mention Kllaka as the third year of Krisbiņa's reign. This shows that Parābhava or 1246 A.C. was the first year,
• Bom. Gaz., Vol. I, part II, p. 527; above, Vol. XXV, p. 204.
* The following inscriptions among others refer to the Yadava lineage of the Rāshtrakūtas: 8.1.1., Vol. IX, part I, No. 88; Vol. XI, part I, No. 9.
