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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXX The objoot of the inscription is to record the grant of the village of Pipalahika to, and oonferment of authority over the gates of the Kalajara fort upon, Mahotvara by king Kirttivarman in recognition of, and as a reward for, the services that the former rendered to him when he was in distress at Pitadri. The Ajayagarh inscription of the time of Bhojavarman also contains & reference to this fact and states that Mahabvara earned the grant of the village named above and the title of Vibisha of Kālañjara for rendering service to Kirttivarman in the Pita-baila vishaya.1 The present inscription thus makes clear the meaning of the term vidisha, applied to Mahēsvara in the insoription of Bhojavarman. Vidisha was apparently the designation of the officer who had authority over the gates of a fort and may be considered to be the commander of a fort,
The inscription opens with salutation to the goddess Chandikā. Verse 1, which is mutilated, appears to describe Kailasa, the abode of Nilakantha, and eulogises Kälañjara. Then follows the description of Brahma (verse 2). Brahma's son was Käsyapa. From him, i.e., Kasyapa, came into existence the family known as Vastavya, adomed by illustrious men (verses 3-4). In this family was born Jajaka, who crossed the ocean of Vidya (learning) consisting of kala, purana, agama, dharmasastra and sahitya and who was the very limit of satya (truth) and sama (justice) (verse 5). This Jājuka bestowed undisputed sovereignty of the world on king Ganda and earned from him as a royal grant the prosperous village of Dugauda (verse 6). The inscription of Bhojavarman while referring to this grant adds that Jājüks, who had the title of Thakkura, was appointed sarvadhikara-karana by king Ganda. This grant of the village of Dugauda to Jäjūka, according to the same source, was recorded on a copper plate, which has not yet been discovered. There was then born in that family Mahēsvara whose glory was sung by the wives of the Siddhas and who restored the golden age of virtue by establishing the laws of Manu (verse 7). The last verse (v.8) gives the details of the grant made to Mahesvara.
The inscription apparently belongs to the time of the Chandalla king Kirttivarman, who was the great grandson of Ganda. The earliest known date of Kirttivarman from an Ajayagarh ingcription is V. S. 1147, Mägha kukla saptami, Rēvati nakshatra-Thursday, 10th January, 1090 A.D.' and the last known date is V. S. 1154, Chaitra-sudi 2, Ravivăra=Sunday, 7th March, 1098 A.D.
The present inscription and the Ajayagarh inscription of the time of Bhõjavarman speak of the misfortune which befell Kirtivarman at Pītādri or Pita-saila when Jājāka rendered him help. This is obviously reminiscent of the long struggle between the Chandēllas and the Kalachuris for mastery over the Bundelkhand region. The Rewah stone inscription of Vappulaka dated in K. S. 812 (1060-61 A.D.) and belonging to the reign of Kalachuri Karna shows that Pitädri was under the cocupation of Karna in that year. Vappulaka claims to have "held the sword in the valley of the yellow mountain (Pita-parvata-talē), having conquered the forces of Trilochana and the goddess of fortune of the ascetic Vijjala". The crushing defeat the Chandēllas had suffered at the hands of Karna is referred to in the Prabodhachandrðdayas of Kpishņa Misra and the Vikramänkadevacharita of Bilhana. Who this Chandella king defeated by Karna was, it is not possible to determine precisely. The Chandēlla contemporaries of Karna (1042 to 1071-72 A.D.) were Dévavarman, whose known date is 1051 A.D.', and Kirttivarman, younger brother of
1 Above, Vol. I, p. 333. The name occurs as Mabēsvara in the present inscription; but it is Mähesvara in the insuription of Bhöjavarman.
* ARASI, 1935-36, p. 93. • Ind. Ans., Vol. XVIII, p. 238. • MASI, No. 23 p. 132. .I. . • XVIII, 93. * Bhandarkar's List of Inscriptions No. 120.
