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960
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXX deeply incised and well preserved, can be read without difficulty. The language is Sanskrit, the composition being in both verse and prose.
This inscription gives some interesting information, even though mutilated. It was issued from the same capital, Vikramapura, from which Harivarman's plate was issued. The stanza in lines 2-3 appears to speak of Jätavarman who is described as the leader (prägrahara) among the Yadavas. The next stanza in lines 4-5 speaks of Harivarman who is said to have devastated his enemies. The following verse in lines 5 ff. seems to speak of the Kalachuri family as the matri-vamsa, or mother's lineage, of Harivarman. This is followed by a verse describing a prince whose name is unfortunately lost, while the stanza beginning with the aksharas sangra in line 9 seems to describe a fierce battle waged by a Varman king. The last stanza ending in line 14 might have contained a panegyric of Samalavarman.
In this connection, we have to take note of the Rewa stone inscription1 of Karna, dated in the Kalachuri year 800 corresponding to 1048-49 A.D. Verse 23 of this record recounts one of the earliest exploits of Karna after his accession in 1041 A.D. It says that the ship of the king of the Eastern Country, being driven against the peaks of the mountains of his (Karna's) elephants, by the force of the tempest of arrogance, cracked and sank into the sea of his (Karna's) troops. Prof. Mirashi has rightly inferred that this records the end of the Chandra line of kings of Vanga, where either Govindachandra or his successor came into violent conflict with the forces of Karna and lost his life. He conjectures that Vajravarman was put on the throne of Vikramapura and Karpa's daughter Viraári was given in marriage to his son Jätavarman to cement the alliance. I am inclined to think that it was Jatavarman, who seems to have rendered useful service to Karpa, that was put on the throne. His marriage probably led to his elevation and not vice versa. As this is the first victory recorded for the reign of Karna, it would not be unreasonable to put it soon after Karna's accession in 1041 A.D. The date of the fall of the Chandra dynasty and the installation of the Varman family in Vikramapura may thus be put about 1042 A.D. We have also to remember in this connection that Karpa had at one time occupied part of Bengal south of the Ganges.
It would appear from the Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandin (ch. II, verse 38) that, while Ramapala, having crossed the Ganges, invaded the Kaivarta kingdom from the west, Hari, his friend, invested it from the east. When Bhima, the Kaivarta king, was defeated, Hari succeeded in capturing all his forces by his well-planned strategy. Ramapala gratefully appreciated the services of Hari and raised him to a position of great influence (of. III, verse 32). This episode, has, in my opinion, been misunderstood by the editors of the V. R. S. edition of the Ramacharita.* Hari has been taken to be a friend of Bhima and the capture of Bhima's forces by Hari as a second contest with Ramapala. It has to be noted here that we have epigraphic evidence of the investment of Varendri by the Vangala army about this period and Hari is very probably Harivarman of Vanga.
It is rather strange that there is no reference to the ousting of the Varmans from Vanga in the inscriptions of the Sena kings. This is an inexplicable gap in our knowledge of the history of East India of the period. Vijayasena, in his Deopără inscription, boasts of having conquered or
1 Above, Vol. XXIV, pp. 101 ff.
Ibid., pp. 105-106.
[Cf. Ind. Cult., Vol. VII, pp. 413 ff.-Ed.]
ARASI. 1921-22. p. 80.
See Ramacharita, ed. R. C. Majumdar and others, Varendra Research Society, Rajshahi, pp. xxx ff., 67. The author ignores the fact that Ramapala is represented in the Sabdapradipa as the lord of Vanga. For the possession of that country by Harivarman, see Ind. Cult., op. cit., pp. 412, 414.--Ed.]
Above, Vol. XXI, pp. 97 ff.
