Epigraphia Indica Vol 29

Author(s): Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 33

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[Vol. XXIX
the king to the religious establishnient (matha) founded by Lokana Nayaka, a Sahavāsi Brāhmana, in the premises of the Mahālakshmi temple, for carrying on the worship of the god Uma-Mahēšvara, a form of Amritēsvara (Siva), forntuintaining tnsgranary of the matha, for keeping it in good repair, for feeding the Brahmaņas, and for similar other purpuss
The inscription opens with an invocation to the boar incarnation of Vishnu. Then comes the genealogy of the Silähära dynasty which commences with the Vidyadhara Jimütavāhana, its mythical founder, and is brought down to Bhoja II. Most of the verses containing this description are identical with those occurring in the Kalēli platest of the same ruler, dated Saka 1116, except verses 6, 13 and 14 which are new in the present inscription. Unfortunately these verses are too much damaged to yield any coherent sense. Verse 6, devoted to the praise of Bhoja I, son of Mārasimha, contains the names Govinda and Kõngaja. As gathered from the Kolbăpur plates of Gandarāditya, these persons appear to be some petty chiefs defeated by Bhõja I. Verses 13 and 14 seem to contain the praise of Bhöja II and do not appear to be important historically.
The importance of the present inscription lies in the fact that this is an early dated inscription of the Silähåra ruler Bhöja II. An earlier inscription of this ruler, dated Saka 1101, is said to have been found near Kötitirtha, a sacred tank in the precincts of Kolhapur ; and Major Graham in his Statistical Account of the Principality of Kolhapur, pp. 382 ff., gives a kind of a facsimile of this inscription, but Its original cannot be traced now.
The malha founded by Lõkaņa Näyaka, referred to in the present inscription, is already known from the town hall inscription of Bhöja II, dated Saka 1112. Its mention here carries the date of its existence further back to Saka 1104. It is interesting to observe that the residents of the matha are practically'the same as are mentioned in the town hall inscription, except Janardana Bhatta who appears to have succeeded Lakshmidhara.
The Sahavāsi Brāhmaṇas, mentioned in these and other inscriptions, claim to have arrived in the south from Ahichchhatra and Kashmir. They seem to have been a fairly well settled community in the Deccan and Karnatak as can be gathered from the references to them in several mediaeval inscriptions of this period. Even now Kolhāpur retains a large population of this class of BrāhmaDas who are engaged mostly in trading and banking activities.
The following geographical names occur in the present inscription: Tagarapura (line 18), Valavāda (line 19), Kollāpura (line 21), Panaturage-golla (line 26) and Seleyavāda (line 26). Of these the first three are often mentioned in the inscriptions of the Silāhāras of Kolhāpur. Tagarapura is modern Tēr in the Hyderabad State; Valavāda which was the seat of the permanent residence (sthira sibira) of the Silāhāras is taken to be identical with the site of modern Radhānagari near Kolhäpar; and Kollipura is undoubtedly modern Kolhapur. Panaturage, which appears to be the name of a tract (golla), may be identified with the village Panutra, 14 miles 8. W. W. of Kolhapur, situated on the bank of the river Dämni. Seleyavāda is probably modern Sheloshi, about 7 miles further S. W. of Paņutra, on the bank of the same river. The change from Paņaturage to Paņutrā appears to be natural as suggested by the change from Ajirage to Ajre. Paņaturage would thus have some form like Pamutare and this is exactly the form in which the name occurs in certain
1 Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, Vol. III, p. 393 and the Annual Report of the Bharala Itihasa San Södhaka Mandala for Saka 1835, pp. 222 ff.
*Above, Vol. XXVII, pp. 176-82; the plates were earlier edited by Mr. G. H. Khare in his Sources of the Mediaeval History of the Deccan (in Marathi), Vol. I, pp. 33 ff. * Above, Vol. III, pp. 213-216.
Cf. for instance Ep. Carn., Vol. V, Hassan 61; 4. 8.1. A. R., 1927-28, p. 141. . Both these villages can be traced on the 1 inch-1 mile Survey Sheets, old Nos. 200 and 240 published by the Survey of India in 1932.