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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBER, 1876.
the Humane muy be only in part of direct interent for the history of Buddhism, yet the trouble bestowed upon the reading has not been lost. The Asoka with whom we become acquainted from his own words forms & striking contrast to the caricature which is exhibited to us in the works of Buddhists and others as the image of the noble king.
[The reader anacquainted with the history of these in. scriptions will get some light from papers in the Jour. R. As. Soc. vols. VIII. and XII. by Professor H. H. Wilson; and in Jour. Bomb. Br. R. As. Soc., Jan. 1850 and Jan. 1853, by the late Rev. Dr. Wilson of Bombay ; Burnouf's Lotus de la Bonne Loi, Appendix X.; Mrs. Spiere's Life in Ancient India; Lassen's Alterth. Bd. II. ; &c. Much of the ingenious criticism of Dr. Kera has been omitted in the above abstract from want of room.]
A GRANT OF CHHITTARÂJADEVA, MAHÂMANDALEŠVARA OF THE KONKAŅA.
BY G. BÜHLER. This grant is one of the series of inscriptions, But, be that as it may, during the 9th and 10th from which extracts have been given by Mr. centuries of our era the Silah & ras were feudaWathen (Jour. Beng. As. Soc. vol. II. p. 383). tories of the Rashtrakūtas of Manyakheta, and
Through the kind offices of Mr. F. F. later of the Chalukyas of Kalyaņa, and held, Arbuthnot, Collector of Boinbay, I obtained the besides the Konkaņa, considerable parts of the loan of the original from the owner, Mr. Hormasji Dekhan, between Sattârâ and Belgâm. They C. Ashburner, on whose land near Bhandup it were probably divided into two or more distinct was found some forty years ago. The plates are lines. The varsávalis are, however, in great three in number, and are connected by a very confusion, as the inscriptions in which they stout ring with a seal, bearing a Garuda, the occur have been deciphered imperfectly. Accognizance of the Silah ara's. Each plate cording to our inscription the varsávali stands measures 7 inches by 4. The first and the last as follows: are inscribed on the inner side only, and the
1. Kapardî I. second on both sides. They are well preserved. The characters are ancient Devanagari,
2. Pulasakti. and closely resemble those of the Malwa inscrip
3. Kapardi II., surnamed Laghu. tions of V & k pati, Bhoja, and their successors, as well as those of the later Råshtrakūtas
4. Ghayuvanta. or Yadavas.
The donor of this grant is Chhittarâjade va, of the Silâhâ ra or Silê ra dynasty,
5. Jhanjha. 6. Goggi. which derives its descent from the Vidyadhara
7. Vajjadadeva I. Jim û ta vâhana, the son of Jim û taketu, and is sometimes called simply the Vidyadhara
8. Aparajita. family. The Vidyadharas are a race of demigods frequently mentioned in Buddhist works,
9. Vajjadadeva II. and appear as the attendants of Siva in certain le
10. Kesideva gends, such as those treated in the Vsihatkathás
(Saka 939). of Kshemendra and Somadeva. The progenitor
11. Chhittarája of the family, Jim û ta và hana, has, of course,
(Saka 946). no better claim to be considered a historical person The name of the fourth king is certainly than the Chuluka, from whom the Chalakyas wrong. For the metre requires that its first are sometimes derived. Lassent thinks that the syllable should be long. Probably Vappu vanna, Silâhâ ras are of northern Origin, as a Kâfir tribe the reading of the facsimilel of the grant of called Sil&r is found in northern Kábulistân. Kesideva (Arikesari) gives the correct form.
• Mr. Wathen's Chbinnardjs is a misreading, and Prof. 1 Ind. Alt. vol. IV. p. 113. Lassen's Chihnarja a further distortion of Mr. Wathen's
$ See Lassen, Ind. Alt. vol. IV. loc. cit. mistake. Conf., 6.g., Vikrdmanka charita VIII. 3.
|| As. Res. vol. I. p. 357.
