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No. 21) VERAVAL INSCRIPTION OF CHAULUKYA-VAGHELA ARJUNA, 1264 A.D. 143
Mahar both of which are abbreviated forms of the person's designations. Para, which is a contracted corrupt form standing for Sanskrit purohita (i.e., & priest), occurs twice elsewhere in the inscription lines 24 and 25). Pari is a contraction of Gujarati Pärikha (Sanskrit Pariksha or Parikshaka), often found in the epigraphic and literary records of the era in question. It is now a surname amongst the people of the mercantile community. The Lekhapaddhati uses mahar as a contraction of mahartaka which is a term of respect among the mercantile communities of Gujarat and is sometimes explained as 'an accountant'ora clerk'. Thus the Saiva teacher Virabhadra, a priest of a local temple which may or may not have been the temple of Sõmanātha, was the head of the Panchakula of Somanäthadēvapattana and his chief associate in the board of administrators was Abhayasimha of the mercantile class. Virabhadra and Abhayasimha are known from two other records from Kathiawar.
Lines 9-11 introduce the chief figure involved in the transactions recorded in the inscription. He is Nakhu Nõradina Piröja who was the son of Khojā Nau Abū Brahima of Hurmuja-dēsa and came to Sõmanāthadēvanagara in connection with his business when Amira Rukanadina was governing his chiefdom at the harbour (vēlāküla) of Hurmuja.. In this section, Nakhū stands for Arabic Nākhudā meaning the captain or commander of a ship'. Khoja stands for Arabic Khwajah meaning' a rich man or merchant'. As regards Nau, there are two words in our record, of which it may be & contraction, viz. naujana (a sailor) in line 2 and narvitta (a leader or owner of a ship) in line 22. But Piroja, who is called Nakhū (i.e., Nākhudā) in lines 11, 18 and 20, is mentioned as Nau Piroja twice in line 33. Thus Nau stands for Nauvittaka, the same as Arabic Nākhudā. Amira is Arabic Amir meaning & commander, ruler or nobleman. Hurmuja is the island of Ormuz in the strait connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, which is referred to in a document in the Lekhapaddhati in the expression Hurmajī-vāhana meaning a ship from Ormuz. The Arabic names mentioned in the section are Ruknuddin, Abū Ibrahim and Nuruddin Firuz (called Piroja or Firüz only in lines 17, 20 and 33).
The sentence ending in line 17 states that the said Nākhuda Nuruddin Firuz secured a plot of land for doing whatever he wanted to do with it (yath-eshta-karma-karaniyatvēna) together with the nava-nidhāna and in accordance with the principle of sparsana. Some scholars have explained navanidhāna occurring in many other inscriptions of the area in question as 'new taxes imposed for the first time at the date of the grant, although the real meaning seems to be a fresh assessment of tax'. The lexicons mention'a gift or donation' among the many meanings of the word sparsana, Nuruddin Firüz therefore seems to have received the plot of land as a gift, although he had to pay taxes for it. The said piece of land is stated to have been situated at Mahājana pall lying in SIkottari outside Sömanāthadovanagara. It is further stated that the land was secured from Briha Rāja Chhadā, the son of Rāja Nānasimha, in the presence of all the jamäthas as well as of the leading men (mahanalókn probably standing for Sanskrit mahallóka) including the following persons : (1) Brihatpurusha Tha Palugidēva who was the Pratyaya of Mahājana (ie.. Mahajanapåll) attached to the droni of Sõmanāthadēva,? (2) Brihatpurusha Rānaka Somēávaradēva, (3) Brihatpurusha Tha Rāmadēva, (4) Brihatpurusha Țha Bhimasimha and (5) Brihatpurusha Rāja
Abovo, Vol. XXXI, p. 12; Lekhapaddhati, pp. 102, 116. Lekhapaddhati, pp. 100, 102.
Ind. Ant., Vol. XI, p. 103 (verso 29), p. 107 (concluding section of the text). The first record mentions Ganda as a secondary name of Virabhadra while the second, dated V. S. 1328, speaks of the pratipatti or administration of Abhayasimha who was probably the head of the local Parichakula at the time.
* See above, Vol. XXXI, p. 12; JBRS, Vol. XL, Part 2, p. 12; Lekhagaddhati, p. 113(vēlākula).
See op. cit. p. 113. • Ghoshal, Hindu Revenue System, p. 256.
It is also possible to think that all or some of the persons mentioned along with Palugidēva were the Pretya yas of the land in question. As regards droni, we have deva-dopi data in A. R. Ep., 1959-60, No. B 173.
