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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXIX the same order as in the Hindol plate of Kulastambha, son of Jayastambha and grandson of Ranastambha. But the language of the verses in our document is slightly different from that of the Hindol plate. Moreover, the important verse referring to the son of Rapastambha and father of the reigning king Kulastambha is defective inasmuch as the foot containing the name of Jayastambha as found in the Hindol plate is omitted in the record under review no doubt through the inadvertence of the writer. There is, however, little doubt that Kulastambha who issued the charter under discussion as well as the other Puri (Raghavadasa Matha) plate published by Chakravarti was no other than the issuer of the Hindol plate.
Another interesting fact worth noticing in this connection is that the text of the introductory part in our record closely follows that in the Bhimnagarigarh (Dhenkanal) plate of Kulastambha, although, where this latter mentions Vikramaditya and his son Ranastambha, the present record mentions Rapastambha and his son (name omitted through negligence of the scribe, but known from the Hindol plate to have been Jayastambha). The Bhimnagarigarh plate represents its issuer, king Kulastambha, as the lord of all the Gondramas with Sankhajoti forming the borderland of his kingdom exactly as in the record under notice. Since the relation of Kulastambha, referred to as issuing the charter, with Ranastambha mentioned in the introductory part is not specified clearly in the inscription, the Bhimnagarigarh plate is generally believed to have been issued by Rapastambha who is suggested to have had Kulastambha as a second name. But we have elsewhere" remarked, "The Bhimnagarigarh plate represents Mahārāja Ranastambha as the atmaja (line 10) of Vikramaditya. The word suta (line 12) again used before the following mention of Kulastambha may suggest that the record in question belongs not to Ranastambha-Kulastambha but actually to a Kulastambha who was the son of Rapastambha". The close resemblance of the Bhimnagarigarh inscription with the record under discussion in regard to both language and style, however, now appears to suggest that the corrupt introduction of the former epigraph actually intended to describe, as that of the present charter, Kulastambha, grandson of Rapastambha. It further appears that the text of the introductory part of the Bhimnagarigarh plate was copied without proper adjustment from a grant of Jayastambha.
Verse 1 of our inscription, found in most of the Sulki records, is in adoration to the god Girisa, i.e. Siva, while verses 2-3 introduce king Ranastambha of the Sulki family, favoured by the goddess Stambhësvari, as having constructed some temples probably for the god Sadasiva. Verses 4-5 describe Rapastambha's son whose name is inadvertently omitted, while the following two verses (verses 6-7) describe the reigning king Kulastambha, son of Ranastambha's son, as issuing the charter in question from Kōdālōka.
The grant portion of the document which is in prose and follows the introduction in verses represents Mahārāja Kulastambha, called lord of all the Gōndramas, as in good health. A defective passage in the description of the ruler seems to attribute to him the feudatory title samadhigatapañchamahāśabda, although the change introduced in it may have been deliberate. Such deliberate modification of feudatory titles was often resorted to by subordinate rulers who claimed a semi-independent political status. The future rulers and the present and future administrators, associated with the mandala (district) extending up to the Sankhajōṭika, are then addressed. The way in which the mandala is mentioned suggests that it comprised either the whole dominions of the Sulkis or, at least, the central part of the Sulki territories. The lists of the rulers and administrators include the rajanaka, rajaputra, mahäsämanta, vishayapati and others. The charter then
1JBORS, Vol. II, pp. 401 ff.
Above, Vol. XXVIII, p. 109.
Cf. the text of the Dhenkanal plate of Jayastambha in JBORS, Vol. II, pp. 406 ff.
Cf. the Mahada plates (above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 283 ff.).
