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SEPTEMBER, 1883.]
THE ILICHPUR GRANT.
241
fact that he receives no title of any kind, and that he is only incidentally mentioned in the paragraph referring to his son, shows that he did not actually rule. The name given to him is not his real proper name, but a metronymic, which designates him as the child of a wife of Pravarasena I, who belonged to the Gautama gotra. General Cunningham bas published' my remarks on the use of metronymics by the ancient princes of India, and has given his adhesion to my explanation which is based on the observation of the practice still prevailing among the Rajpûts. Gautamiputra, it appears, made a great marriage, and obtained the daughter of the Bharasi va king Bhava någa for his wife. The epithets applied to the Bharaśiva clan give a pun- ning explanation of the name which is derived from their having carried Siva's emblem as a load (thára) on their shoulders, and show that their seat lay to the north of the V akatakas on the Ganges (Bhagirathi). Possibly the Bhârasivas are the same as the Bhar Rajpûts.
Regarding Rudrasena I, nothing is stated except that he was an ardent devotee of the Lord Ma hábhirava, or in other words a Saiva who worshipped Siva in his form as Bhairava. This reticence and the circumstance that the preceding and following reigns were long ones, make it probable that he sat on the throne for a short time only. His reign probably fell between 340-350 A. D.
About Rudrasena's son, Prithivishena, who also was a worshipper of Siva (atyanta- máheśvara), the grants say that "his treasures, means of government and line, increased during a hundred years, and that he had sons and grandsons." The correct explanation of this phrase seems to be that he ruled for a long time and saw his sons and grandsons grow up. The expression 'a hundred years' need not, of course, be taken literally. His reign probably lasted up to the end of the fourth century, or from about 350-400.
Prithivishena's son, Rudrasena II, seems to have forsaken the creed of his forefathers and to have chosen Vishņu as his ishľadevatá. For the grants say that "he obtained great prosperity through the favour of divine Chakra påņi." He was married • See Barhut Stipa, p. 129.
So the facsimile; the transcript gives erroneously
to Prab hâvatiguptâ, the daughter of the great king of kings Devagupta. The title given to De vagupta shows that he must have been a greater man than the Vaka taka king. It is unfortunately hopeless to speculate at present on the question where his dominions lay. I would only warn against the assumption that every ancient king whose name ends in gupta must necessarily be a member of the so called Gupta dynasty which ruled in the third and fourth centuries over a great part of Central and Western India. The real name of that family is not as yet known, and it can be shown that there have been princes unconnected with them, whose names ended in gupta. Rudrasena II probably reigned for a few years only, and his end may be placed about 415 A. D.
His son Pra varasena II again returned to the Saiva creed, as he receives the epithet paramamdhesvara, and is said to have been a prince worthy of the Kritayuga 'through the favour of Sambhu.' Both the grants are dated in his eighteenth year, the Seoni inscription in the month Phålguna (February March) and the Ilichpur grant in the month Jyeshtha (May-June). On the former the Senapati Bappadeva is mentioned, and on the latter the Senåpati Khatravarman. It seems to me improbable that Pravarasena had in the course of a few months two different commanders-in-chief. I think that the term sená pati rather denotes here the commander of the troops in the district where the village granted lay, and should be translated by military governor.' As Charmanka (Chammak) was situated in the province of Bhoja kata and Brahma pûra in Karanja virata ta, two different persons would naturally be employed.
It now remains to discuss the contents of the mutilated inscription in the Veranda of Cave XVI at Ajanta. Mr. Bhâû Dâji, who first gave a tolerably accurate facsimile and transcript of this document' as well of the other Ajanta inscriptions, was of opinion (p. 66) that it named Vindhyasakti as the first prince of the Vå katak a race, that it contained besides the names of the two Pravarasenas, and of Dev&sena the son of the Pravarasena II. He assumed that the name of Rudrasen & I, Prithivishena, and Rudrasena II
Napyadava and the translation Bappadova.
Journ. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. vol. VII, PP. 53-74.
