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INSCRIPTIONS OF CHANDRAS OF ARAKAN throngh Dharma. This probably suggests that he normally succeeded his predecessor on the throne and was not a usurper.
The importance of the two inscriptions lies in the fact that they are the only epigraphic records of kings Nitichandra and Virachandra of the Buddhist royal family of the Chandras of Arakan although both the rulers are known from their coins as well as the Mrohaung pillar inscription of AnandachandraNītichandra's coins bear the legond Niti or Nitichandra wbile Virachandra is similarly called Vira or Virachandra on his coins. As pointed out above, the Mrohaung inscription of Anandachandra mentions Virachandra as Viryachandra.
The Mrolaung pillar inscription gives very valuable information regarding the genealogy and chronology of the Chandras of Arakan, who had their capital at Vēsäll. It is a prasasti of king Anandachandra belonging to a family called Dēv-āņdaj-anvaya or sri-Dharmaraj-indaja-vamsa. Anandachandra's father Dharmachandra seems to be described as belonging to the Is-anvaye, probably meaning 'a family of kings' or a royal family', while an ancestor of Anandachandra, named Vajrasakti, is called 'born in the Dēva family 'either to impart the same idea or to indicate that his mother belonged to the Dēva dynasty. The word andaja means a bird and dev-andaja possibly indicates the divine bird Garuda. The expression fri-Dharmarāj-ändaja-varsa possibly means the birit (Garuda) family of the illustrious and virtuous kings'. The inscription was written for recounting Anandachandra's pious activities in the first nine years of his reign and was apparently engraved in his ninth regnal year. While the second part of the inscription is a eulogy of Anandachandra, its first part contains three sections quoting the names of the kings together with the duration of their reigns, who were believed to have ruled over the area in question before Anandaobandra. The first of these three sections deals with certain kings who altogether ruled for 1016 or 1060 (sahasrar shad-las-ūdhikam) years. The beginning of this section is damaged ; but, as all the five kings at the commencement of the extant portion are stated to have each ruled for 120 years, it is clear that this section (or at least its earlier part) is mythical. The second section deals with the Chandra kings, sixteen of whom are stated to have ruled for 230 years. The list, however, enumerates only thirteen names although their reign-periods as quoted in it come up to 230 years. This is possibly because three kings of the dynasty, who may have ruled for a few weeks or months, were omitted from the list. The last of the three sections deals with the family to which Anandachandra belonged and quotes the names of his eight predecessors stated to have together iuled for 119 years and 9 months. While the first section reminds us of the mythical account of the ancient history of Kashmir in the earlier chapters of Kalhana's Rājatarangini, the second and third sections resemble the genealogical part of the inscriptions of such dynasties as the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi and the Imperial Gangas of Kalinga and have the appearance of being based on fairly authentic information. It has, however, to be pointed out that Indian inscriptions, earlier than Anandachandra's record, often quote the names of the predecessors of a king generally without the duration of their reigns.
The chronology of the Chandras of Arakan depende on the determination of the date not only of their coins and the inscriptions now under study but also of the Mrohaung pillar inscription of Anandachandra. Johnston points out how the script of Anandachandra's record is 'almost entirely identical' with that of the Nalanda inscription of Yasovarman both in the form of the
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, op. cit., p. 381 and Plato: Phayre, Coins of Arakan, of Pegu and Burma, pp. 28-29 and Plate II ; Smith, Catalogue of Coins in the Indian Mweum, Vol. I, Plate XXXI, No.9. Smith wrongly reads Sri-Sivasyn (or Givasya) for Ntlichandra.
*Cf. Stein, Rajatarangini, trans., Vol. I, Introduction, pp. 62 ff.; SI1, Vol. 1, pp. 36 ff.; above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 235 ff.
Bhandarkar's List, No. 2105: above, Vol. XX, pp. 37 ff.
