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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXXIII 1839 (1283 A.D.). Then again the expression saurājya-bhāsura occurs in the description of the city of Nalapura in verse 3 of another prasastit composed by the same poet during the reign of the same monarch in V.S. 1336 (1281 A.D.). The word saurājya occurs in a similar context in verse 9 (line 9) in the present record algo. These facts coupled with the other that the eulogy under study was composed during Göpāla's reign seems to suggest that the same poet Sivanābhaka was responsible for its composition.
The characters of the inscription belong to the Dēvanāgari alphabet of about the thirteenth century and closely resemble those of other Yajvapāla inscriptions. The letter b has been indicated by the sign for v. The orthography of the record is characterised by the occasional uge of the class nasal and final m instead of anusvāra, and reduplication of consonants after . The language is Sanskrit and, with the exception of a few passages at the beginning, the whole record is written in verse.
The inscription begins with the Siddham symbol and the expression siddhih and the passage Ganapati-prasāddhāt(dät). The above is followed by two stanzas in adoration of the gods Muräri (Vishnu) and Sambhu (Siva), which have already been referred to above.
Verses 3-9 describe the kings of the Yajvapāla dynasty of Nalapura from Chāhada to Gopāla. Verse 3 apparently introduces the hill-fort of Nalapura (Narwar) which was the capital of the Yajvapälas since the days of Chāhada.) Unfortunately the passage containing the name is lost; but the reference to Naishadha-kshitipa, alluding to the epic king Nala of the Nishadhas, leaves us in no doubt about the author's intention. The stanza also contained the name of the vishaya (i.e. district or territory) of which the above fortress was the capital. The reference is to the Yajvapāla kingdom or the district round Narwar which seems to be mentioned as Pädõnalaksha-vishaya in another epigraphic record. The restoration Pädonalaksha in the present epigraph suits the metre of the stanza in question.
The name of king Chahada in verse 4 is only partially preserved ; but the name of his son Nrivarman in the following stanza (verse 5) can be clearly read. An interesting information about Nțivarman, which is known for the first time from the present record, is that he defeated the king of Dhārā and exacted tribute from him. Since the latest known date of Chāhada and the earliest of his grandson Asalla have both been read as V.S. 1311=1254-55 A.D., Nșivarman, son of Chahada and father of Asalla, may be supposed to have ruled for a few months in 1254-55 A.D." He thus appears to have been a contemporary of the Paramāra king Jaitugi (known dates between V.S. 12921236 A.D. and V.S. 1300=1243 A.D.) or his younger brother and successor Jayasimha-Jayavarman (known dates between V.S. 1311=1256 A.D. and V.S. 1331= 1274 A.D.) of Dhārā and Mandu. There is a passage in verse 5, which seems to suggest that the Yajvapäla monarch was helped in his encounter with the king of Dhärä by three persons named Skanda, Chandra and Parita, who were possibly his generals.
(Verse 6 introduces Nrivarman's son Asalla although the name is not fully preserved. The stanza appears also to have contained the name of his queen who gave birth to his son and successor
1 See above, p. 39, text lines 2-3, verge 2, * See ibid., p. 34, text line 3.
See ibid., Vol. XXXI, pp. 323 ff. and Plates ; Vol. XXXII, pp. 334 ff. and Plates ; above, pp. 31 ff. and Plates.
• See No. 139 of A.R.Ep., 1952-53, App. B; above, p. 38.
R. D. Banerji speaks of Chābada's coins of V.S. 1312 (1255 A.D.) and 1316 (1259 A.D.) and concludes, "Nrivarman did not reign at all, because the reigns of Chahada and his grandson Asalla or Asals overlap " (Num. Suppl., No. XXXIII, p. 83). If this is correct, Nrivarman's achievement has to be referred to the reign of his father Chahada. The language of the inscriptions, however, seems to suggest that Nộivarman ruled between Chahada and Asalla.
• Bhandarkar's List, p. 397.: above, Vol. XXXII, p. 140.
