Indian Antiquary Vol 18

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 25

JANUARY, 1889.) GRANT OF MADANAPALA AND GOVINDACHANDRA.
15
line 5, &c.); sh is used for kh in suchí, line 2; khya for koha in akhyapagalika, line 12. Other errors, such as the occasional use of h for bh, and vice versa, of m for n, &c., which are owing to the carelessness of the writer or engraver, will be pointed out in the transcript of the text.
The inscription refers itself (in line 11) to the reign of the Paramabhat draka, Mahárájádhiraja, and Paramésvara, Madanapaladeva of Kanyakubja (or Kanauj), whose son Govindachandradeve, apparently acting on behalf of his father, thereby makes known that the Ranaka Lavarapravaha, who must have owed allegiance to Madanapala, when at Åsatiks on the Yamuna, gave part of the village of Ramaïtha, in the Sigurodha pattala, to the Brahman Guņachandra, a student of the Rigveda and emigrant from the village Bhatakavade.
The date on which this donation was made, is stated (in lines 17 and 18), in figures only, to have been Sunday, the 15th of the dark half of the month Pausha, of the year 1166, at the time of a solar eclipse.
The introductory metrical portion (from line 1 to 10) of the inscription gives the genealogy of the so-called Rathôr princes of Kanyakubja, down to Govindachandra, referring those princes, like the Basahi plate of Govindachandradêva (with which this inscription has much in common), to the Gahadavala-vamba, and mentioning, before Madanapala's father Chandradêva, only the one prince Mahitals, clearly the Mahials of the Basâhi plate. The statement that Chandradeva acquired the sovereignty over Kanyakubja when the two great regal families of the solar and lunar races had perished, is identical in purpose with the statement of the Basahi grant, that Chandradêva roge to power when Bhoja and Karna were no more. Beyond this, attention need only be drawn to Govindachandra's wars against the Hammira, which are referred to in line 9.
The date, the details of which have been given above, does not appear to work out satisfactorily. Taking 1166 to be the current northern or southern Vikrama year, the corregponding date, by the purnimánta reckoning, would be 4 December, A.D. 1108, and by the amánta reckoning, 3 January, A.D. 1109. On 4th December, 1108, there was a solar eclipse, but it was not visible in India, and the day was a Friday, not a Sunday; and 3rd January, 1109, was a Sunday, but without a solar eclipse. For Vikrama 1166, expired, the corresponding dates would be Thursday, 23 December, A.D. 1109, and Saturday, 22 January, A.D. 1110, both without an eclipse and therefore in every respect unsuitable. And for the Vikrama year 1165, current, the corresponding date, by the purnimánta reckoning, would be Monday, 16 December, A.D. 1107, when, about noon, there was a solar eclipse which was visible in India, and by the amanta reckoning, Taesday, 14 January, A.D. 1108, without an eclipse. - Considering that in all the years from A.D. 1100 to 1120 the 15th of the dark half of Pausha never fell on a Sunday on which there was a solar eclipse, I for the present incline to believe that some of the recorded details of the date are erroneous; but all I can say with certainty is, that of the several corresponding dates given above, Sunday, 8 January, A.D. 1109 would be the most suitable, if the writer had made a mistake concerning the eclipse.
Regarding the places mentioned, none of which I am able to identify, I may add that Asetika on the Yamuna is also mentioned in line 9 of the Basahi plate.
TEXT." 1 0[**] Paramâtman[e] namah | Akumhôtkamtha-"'Vaikuntha-kanthapitha-lathat
karaḥ i sam rambhah surat-arambhê se Sriyaḥ śrêyase-stu vah | Abhûn=""
n[ri]pô GAhadavala-vamsé(se) Mahitalo nama ji2 t-arichakraḥ sthit[6] dhara-bhâram=asesha[m P]" @sha Sèshah sushi(khi) yasya su(bho)je
nidhaya | Pradhvastê Soma-Sa(s)[y]-odbhava-vidita-maha-kshatravamaa (sa)dvayê-gminnu napriys-vêdadhvani 'jagad-akhilam man
#ante, Vol. XIV. p. 103. ** Ketre, Upajati.
From the impression. 5 Road aftsham-daha.
Metre, Sloka (Anushţubh). " Metre, Sragdhard.