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No. 21-VERAVAL INSCRIPTION OF CHAULUKYA BHIMA II
(1 Plate) V. P. JOHARAPURKAR, NAGPUR
(Received on 2.4.1958) This inscription was found near the Police Station at Prabhas Patan (Vöräval) and is now deposited at the Junagadh Museum. I am editing the inscription from an excellent inked impression received from the Government Epigraphist for India.
The inscription is engraved on a stono slab measuring 18"x16'. The left half of the slab is lost. The inscription originally contained 25 lines with 64 letters in each. Approximately 28 letters from each line are now lost with the left half of the slab. The writing is well executed and it is in a good state of preservation except in the fifteenth line. The language is Sanskrit and the characters are Nāgari of the 11th or 12th century A.D.
The inscription opens with two invocatory verses; but the name of the deity invoked is lost. The next three stanzas describe the capital city of [Apabillalpataka. Verses 6-7 mention Malaraja described as respected by all kings and as the uprooter of all enemies. The following two verses refer to the kings who succeeded Mülaraja. Verses 10-12 refer to the ruling king Bhima. Then comes a description of Achārya Kundakunda of Nandi-sangha in three verses. Verses 16-18 refer to a line of teachers that started from Kundakunde. The next two verses describe Srikirti as a prominent pontiff of the line. Verses 21-23 appear to refer to Srikirti's pilgrimage from Chitrakata to 'the holy place of Nēminātha', i.e., Girnar, to the welcome he received at Apabillapura and to the title Mandalācharya that was conferred on him by the king. Verse 24 refers to the Mülavasatikā.temple of Anahillapura.' The next few verses describe the teachers who succeeded Srikirti. These names include Ajitachandra, Charukirti, Yasaḥkirti and Kshēmakirti. Their interrelation is not clear due to the fragmentary nature of the inscription. Verses 34-41 describe the restoration of a shrine which is probably the temple of Chandraprabha referred to in verse 42. The restoration was made probably at the instance of Mandalaganin Lalitakirti referred to in verse 40. Verse 42 refers to a miracle connected with the image of Chandraprabha. It is stated that the water used for its bath cured leprosy. Verse 44 gives the date of the restoration of the temple and verse 45 mentions the name of the author of the inscription, viz., Pravarakirti.
As noted above, the inscription belongs to the reign of Bhima who has to be identified with king Bhima II of the Chaulukya dynasty of Gujarat. Numerous inscriptions of his time have come to light, ranging from 1178 to 1239 A.D. Bhima was a minor when he succeeded his brother Mülarāja II and he was supported by Väghēla Arnoraja and his son Lavanaprasåda in the difficulties that he faced in the earlier part of his reign. Line 3 of our inscription seems to refer to this fact. Bhima had to face the invasions of the Yadava kings Bhillama and Jaitugi, Paramāra Subhatevarman and the Muslims under the leadership of Qutbuddin. In 1197 A.D. his capital Anahillapätaka was plundered by the Muhammadans. In the latter part of his reign, Bhima secured the assistance of Viradhavaln, son of Lavanaprasåda, and his ministers Vastupala and Tejahpāla. He was succeeded by Tribhuvan päla whose earliest known date is 1242 A.D.
It is registered as No. 408 of Appendix B in 4. 8. Ep., 1960-61. "[The temple seems to have been named after MOlaraja I.--Ed.) • The struggle for Empire, p. 78-81,
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