Epigraphia Indica Vol 34

Author(s): D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 83

· EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[VOL. XXXIV An important question we have to consider relates to the difference of the present charter from the grants of the Sarabhapuriyas in regard to its seal, palaeography and style. If Vyāghra belonged to the Sarabhapuriya family, why should there be any marked difference in these respects ?
The Southern alphabet used in the charter may of course be explained by the supposition that the donee came from the South. But this does not explain the problem of the seal. Are we to suppose that Vyāghrarāja was Jayarāja's son born of a South Indian lady and adopted the seal of the family to which his mother belonged ?
An equally interesting problem is that, while the Sarabhapura rulers do not mention the name of the family to which they belonged in any of their charters, Vyāghrarāja describes his elder brother Pravara I, son of Jaya, as having belonged to the Amarärya-kula. Is this because the Sarabhapuriya kings whose charters are known did not belong to the Amarärya family? The expression Amar-arya looks like a Brahmanical personal name and names of the same type are often met with in South Indian records. It may be supposed that Jayaraja's queen who gave birth to Pravara I and Vyāghra was the daughter of a person named Amar-ārya or was born in & family of which a person of that name was believed to have been the progenitor since South Indian rulers sometimes represented themselves as belonging to the family from which their mother sprang. But there is some evidence to show that the Sarabhapuriyas belonged to the Amarărya family. Attention may be drawn in this connection to the claim of Lokaprakābā, queen of Bharatabala of the Panduvamsa of Mēkala, to have been famous as born in the Amaraja-kula probably meaning a family sprung from a person named Amara. It is possible that this Amara is the same as Amar-ärya of our record. Lõkaprakābā is stated to have been born at Kösala probably meaning the capital of Kösala, no doubt South Kosala in the Chhattisgarh region. In that case, Lokaprakāsä was very probably born in the family of the Sarabhapuriya rulers of South Kosala and Amaraja-kula or Amarārya-kula was the name of the dynasty to which the Sarabhapuriyas belonged.
Another question to be considered is the capacity in which Vyāghrarāja issued the charter under his own seal during the reign of his elder brother. It is not improbable that he was ruling the kingdom on behalf of his brother when the latter was temporarily incapacitated to bear the burden of government owing to illness or any other cause. In that case, Pravara I probably had his capital at Prasannapura. It is also possible to think that Vyāghra was the governor of Pūrvarashtra with his headquarters at Prasanna pura and that his brother empowered him to issue the charter in respect of the grant he was permitted to make.
of the geographical names mentioned in the in:cription Purva-räshyra, which is known from some cther records of the Sarabhapuriyas as indicated above, literally means 'the district lying to the east fof the capital]'. The distriot cannot be located definitely since the identification of the capital city of Sarabhapura is uncertain. It is however not improbable that both Sarabhapura and Prasannapura, whence our charter was issued, stood in the neighbourhood of Sripura (modern Sirpur in the Raipur District) which was the later capital of the family. The gift village of Kuntura padraka and the river called Nidilā, on the bank of which the city of Prasanna pura stood, cannot be identified.
1 Cf. Suc. Sat. L. Dec., p. 291. * Cf. ibid., p. 316; above, Vol. XXI, pp. 173 . . Above, Vol. XXVII, p. 141, text lines 28 f.
Cf. Apto, Pract. Sans-Eng. Dict., .. Keli. . Cf. The Classical Ago, p. 299. . Cf. OI1, Vol. II, p. 199, noto 1.