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No. 6-JALORE INSCRIPTION OF CHAHAMANA CHACHIGADEVA, V.S. 1331
G. S. GAI, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 27.3.1958)
The inscription which is published here for the first time was copied by me in December 1967 at Jalore, the head-quarters of the District of the same name in the Jodhpur Division of Rajasthan. It is engraved on a pillar in the building called Tõpkhānā or a shed for artillery. It is believed that this structure was originally a mosque built by 'Ala-ud-din Khalji out of the materials from the local Hindu ånd Jain temples and that it was later converted into a Topkhānā by the Rāthods.1 Three inscriptions found in this building were published by the late Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar. The present inscription is engraved on one face of a rectangular pillar, the other three sides containing three records of Samantasimha who was the successor of Chächigadēva.
The present inscription covers a space 5" broad and 18" high and contains 31 lines of writing. It has suffered damage in some places, resulting in the loss or obliteration of several letters. The characters are Nāgari. As regards orthography, it may be observed that b appears to have been distinguished from v by a minute dot inside the loop of the former (cf. 'baddha in line 5). The language is Sanskrit. The abbreviated forms thao (lines, 8, 12 and 21), drao (lines 17 and 21) and grio (line 12) are found in the record. For the first two, their full forms, thakkura (line 7) and drammāk (line 20) are also met with. And puo appears to stand for putra. In the Bāli inscription of Asvāka'dated V. S. 1200, we have pū° Mohanasuta and Bhandarkar could not explain the contraction pū°. It seems to stand for pūjya which is used in our inscription in pujya Dhanēsvurasüri (lines 18-19). Of lexical interest is the use of the desi word vyāja (line 21). It is used in the sense of interest' on money and is the same as Marāțhi vyāj and Hindi byāj.
The date is given at the beginning of the record as Samvat 1331, Abvina su [11]. The portion giving the tithi and the first akshara of the week-day is badly damaged. But the second akshara of the week-day can be read as rau so that the word can be restored as Gurau. Apparently the same month, fortnight and tithi are mentioned again in lines 14-16 of the record, thereby supporting the reading of the tithi as 11 in line 1. Thus the date of the record would be V.S. 1331. Ašvina su. 11, Thursday. According to S. K. Pillai's Indian Ephemeris, this date would regularly correspond to the 13th September 1274 A.D.
The inscription refers itself to the victorious and blessed reign of the Mahārājakula Sri-Chachigadeva ruling at Jāvālipura. This Chächigadēva is no doubt the king of the Jalore or Songira branch of the Chāhamūnas. Only a few records of this king have been discovered so far and the known dates for him are V.S. 1319, 1323, 1332, 1333 and 1334. Bhandarkar doubtfully ascribes the damaged Bhinmal inscription of V.S. 1330 this reign. Another record,' found in the same building as the present inscription and dated V. S. 1320, belongs to his period.
The object of the inscription is to record the grant of 150 dramma coins to the god Mahavira in the Chaidana-vihara in the Jaina monastery attached to the Nāņakiya-gachchha. Näņakiyagachchha, Chandana-vihāra and god Mahavira are mentioned in two of the inscriptions of the
See Archaeological Reports, Western Circle, 1908-09, p. 55. • Above, Vol. XI, pp. 52-58, 60-62.
Ibid., pp. 32-33, No. V, text line 4. • Ibid., p. 57.
Bhandarkar's List Nos. 561, 569, 686. 687 and 592. • Ibid., No. 581., p. 383, Table No. 13. Ibid., No. 563. Vor another inseription of the king, dated V. 8. 1828, ace JBRA, Vol. XL, pp. 341-42.
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