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No. 45]
STRAY PLATE FROM NANANA
243
(6) The second sentence records the monthly grant of 6 Dronas probably of wheat by one Ahavamalla at the maydapikā (customs office) at Nadula (Nadol). The identity of Ahavamalla is unknown though he may have been the lessee of the mandapikā. The deity, in whose favour the grant was made, is also not mentioned.
Section VII (lines 19-22). Only one transaction is recorded in this section.
The section records the grant of two kutumbikas (agriculturist householders) named Sõliya and Āsāicha, formerly living at the village of Nandāņā (modern Nānāņā), together with their sons and grandsons so long as they lived. The gift was made at Nadula (Nádol), according to the arrangement based on a charter, in favour of the god Tripurusha by Mahārājaputra Kumāra Sāhanapāla in V.S. 1192, Kārttika-vadi 5, Saturday (28th September, 1135 A.D.). The passage ady=éha sri-Nadale seems to suggest that the temple of Tripurusha stood at Nädöl. This Sāhanapāla was probably a co-uterine brother of Sahajapāla who was the son of Ratnapāla's successor Rāyapāla (known dates between V. S. 1189=1132 A.D. and V.S. 1200=1143 A.D.): from the queen Padmalladevi and is known from an undated inscription. Three deities named after the mother and her two sons are mentioned in line 22 (Section VIII, a). The second sentence states that the arrangement should not be nullified by anybody.
Section VIII (lines 22-24). There are four transactions recorded in this section.
(a) It is stated in the first sentence that Tripurusha's car could be always utilised by the deities Padınalēśvara, Sahanapālēsvara, Sahajapālēśvara and others. Padmalēsvara was apparently named after Padnialladēvi, queen of Rāyapāla, and Sāhana pālēsvara and Sahajapālēsvara after her two sons. They appear to have been installed in shrines within or near the Tripurusha temple.
(b) This subsection records the grant of the kutum (i.e. kufumbikas) Kikāu, Madanapāla and Mahanasiha (i.e. Mathanasimha) who were formerly living in the village of Nandāņā. The gift was made in favour of Tripurusha by a charter by Mahārāja Alhapadēva in V.S. 1206, Bhădra-vadi 5, Friday (6th August 1148 A.D. taking the year to be current). Alhaņa or Alhana, the son of Abārāja and successor of Rāyapāla, is known from two records of his reign, one dated in V.8. 1209, Mågha-vadi 14, Saturday (24th January, 1153 A.D.)' and the other in V.8. 1218, Srāvana-vadi 14, Sunday (12th August, 1162 A.D.?). The next sentence states that the arrangement should not be nullified by anybody.
(c) Some passages in the next sentence cannot be deciphered. But it seems to mention the grant of one or more persons by the same king Alhapadēva (tath=ānēna). The grant was probably made in favour of the same god Tripurusha.
(d) This sentence, the last of the epigraph under study, states that one bada made a gift of two persons named Gösā and Lobha. The grant seems to have been made in favour of Tripurusha.
The above analysis of the contents of the inscription under study exhibits some interesting information about certain customs relating to religious institutions, which were prevalent in Rajasthan during the early medieval period. The gift of persons (apparently as slaves) in favour of temples is one such custom.
The geographical names mentioned in the record are Naţūla, i.e, modern Nālöl in the Jodhpur region of Rajasthan, and such villages as Nandāņā- or Nandana-grāma, Bhintalavādā-grāma, Dēvanandita-grāma, Ahumala, Piñchchhavalli-grāma and Sālayi-grima. Of these, Nandāņaor Nandāna-grāma is certainly the modern village of Nanna where the plate was found. The other localities appear to hnve been situated in the neighbourhood of Nadol or Nänäpä.
* See Bhandarkār's List, p. 382. * Ibid., No. 1505, p. 382, note 7. * Ibid., No. 287. Ibid., No. 311.
