________________
JANUARY, 1884.)
GRANT OF VIKRAMÅDITYA II.
13
cording to the information at present available, is the end of the ninth century A.D. and the beginning of the tenth century,-is mentioned in the unpublished Båņa inscription referred to above; as is also the resuscitation of the Bảna kingdom shortly afterwards.
(5). There are two inscriptions of the Båņa kings at Gulganpode" in the Kolár District, about fifteen miles north of Kolár. One of these inscriptions records the grant of a village for an act of bravery in the reign of Sri Maha vali Banarasa, without any indication of that king's proper name. The other records a similar grant for raising the siege of Mavindi-úru, a to the commander of a detached force belonging to the army of Sri Mahavali" Bâņarasa, who is described as “the great king Vikramaditya, who, as a Mount Meru of victory, received from other kings the celebrated name of Båņa Vijâdhara," 1 e. Bâņa Vidyadhara. Here we have the name of one of the kings of the present inscription, the fourth from Jayanandivarma. The present inscription, in the next place, throws light upon a doubtful passage in Mr. Rice's inscriptions; and, instead of Mr. Rice's rendering of the phrase, tannánana Prabhu Méru désase," at the command of the great lord who ruled him" in his translation of the first inscription, and " by command of the great lord who ruled him" in his translation of the second, -seeing from our present inscription that .Prabhu Môru' is the name of one of the kings of its pedigree,'—the following rendering in military phraseology may now be substituted, "by order of Prabhu Mêru who commanded him." With this fresh light thrown upon them, both of these stone monuments clearly refer to two similar acts of bravery performed by two officers commanding detachments of cavalry from the army of Prince Prabhu Méru, the heir-apparent of Sri Vikramaditya Jaya Mêra, Båņa Vidyadhara, and at that time commanding the Bâņa army sent to the relief of the town of Mavindi-Uru when it was besieged by some powerful enemy.
(6). The existence of a Bå na kingdom of sufficient importance to be mentioned by the side of the principal kingdoms of Southern India as late as the end of the twelfth century, is attested by a verse of the Pratápa Rudriya of Vaidyanatha, a standard work on Sanskrit composition belonging to the fourteenth century :
"Rere Ghurjara jarjharosi samare Lampåka kim kampase
Vamga tvamgasi kim mudha balarajahkamo sikim Komkana
Båņa pråņaparayano bhava Maharashtra - parashtrosy anû
Yoddharo vayam ityarînabhibhavamty Amdbrakshamabh ridbhatah | **
"The troops of the king of Andhra triumph over his enemies exclaiming, Ghůrjara ! thon art mocked in the fight. Lampáka! why dost thou tremble ? Vanga! why dost thou flee away ? Konkaņa! why art thou blinded for nothing by the dust raised by thy troops P Båņa! save thy life. Maharashtra ! thou hast lost thy dominions. We are the warriors."
(7). The Trivikrama-vritti, a celebrated Pråkrit grammar belonging probably to the fifteenth century, states that its author, Trivikrama Deva was of Bâna descent. The passage runs thus in my manuscript copy of this work:
Sri Bana sukulakamala-dyumanir Adityavarmanah-pautraḥ ||
Sri Mallinâthaputro Lakshmigarbhâmpitâm. budhisudhamsah |
Bhåmasya Vritta vidya-namna bhrata Trivikramasukavih ||**
The date of the present inscription cannot yet be definitely ascertained. The date of the Gulgånpode monuments above referred to would lead dp to the date of this grant approximately if their date could be fixed with any approach to certainty ; & conjectural date alone, however, can be assigned to them at present. When Mr. Rice first published those monuments, he regarded them as belonging to two distinct periods two centuries apart; butin his more recent revision"
97 Mye. Inscr. pp. lvi, 804-305.
95 Mr. Rice's original reading of this name was Machindi-aru. The photograph of the inscription in vol. X, p. 39 of this Journal confirms his later reading.
* The present inscription shows that the Valil of these grants is & vernacular equivalent of the Sanskrit name Bali.'
30 See Mr. Rice's note, Mys. Inscr. p. xlix.
31 See verse 10.
31 See verse 11. 35 Pratapa-Rudriya, Pra. I. v. 29; and repeated with & slight variation in the example-drama, Pra. III, v. 47.
» Namely, Pr&t&pa Rudra, the Kékatiya king of Orangal, about A.D. 1165 [See ante, vol. X, p. 211; vol. XI, pp. 98.-ED.) 56 Adhy, I, pl. 1, vv. 2-3.
36 In A.D. 1878; Mys. Inscr. pp. 304 305. » In 1881 ; Ind. Antiq, vol. X, p. 88.
