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May, 1908.) HISTORY AND COINAGE OF THE CHANDEL DYNASTY.
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'The immediate successor of Madanavarman undoubtedly was Paramardi, who must have come to the throne in or about 1165 A. D. and who died after the occupation of Kilañjur by Kutb-ud-din Ibak (Aibak) early in 1203. His name in the vernacular form Parmail is well remembered throughout Bundelkhand, being kept alive by the poem of Chand, the Mahoba Khand, with which everybody in that country is more or less familiar. The Muhammadan historian calls him the accursed Parmar.'
Popular tradition represents king Parmal as a coward, and gives all the credit for the stout fight against the army of Prithiraj Chauhan to Alhi and Udal, the Mahobî heroes of the Banapbar clan. Many localities are associated with the names of the champion brethren. A very ancient fortified dwelling-house, supposed by Cunniagham to date from the cighth or ninth century, situated at Chilla in the Allâhâbâd District to the south of the Jumna is believed locally, and no doubt erroneously, to have been the abode of Alhi and Udal, whose fame has travelled far beyond the limits of Bundelkhand. 19 The war between the Chauhan prince and the Chandèl probably began in October, 1182 A. D., and certainly ended in the Vikrama year 1239 = 1182-83 A. D. by the decisive defeat of Parmål on the field of Sirswigarh on the Pahůj river, a tribatary of the Sind, now in native territory to the west of the Jalaun District,19 · "The vanquished Chandels were pursued across what is now the Hamirpur District, as far as Mahôbî, when a final, but ineffectivo stand was made. Mahoba was occupied for a time by Prithiraj. According to Chand, his lieutenant, Pajûn, was driven out from the town by Samarjit, a son of king Parmal, aided by Narsingh, an officer of Rija Jagcband of Kanauj. The same aathority affirms that Samarjit ruled the country between Kalanjar and Gaya, and was altimately killed by a Musalman named Bine-ad-dîn.50 But no reliance can be placed on the details of such traditions. The fact and date of the conquest of Jejakabhukti in 1239 V. E. = March 1182 to March 1183 A. D., fortunately are established definitely by the sbort inscriptions recorded by order of Prithiraj at Madanpar in the Lalitpur sub-division of the Jhansi District (No. 29). Evidently these inscriptions were set up in the spring of 1183 A. D., when Prithiraj was on his way home from his successful raid. Nadanpur had been founded by and named after Madanavarman Chandel. In those days it was an important town commanding a pass on the road from Sagar Sangor) to Gwalior (Rep., Vol. XXI, p. 173). Chand represents the defeat of Parmál as so overwhelming that only two hundred of his warriors escaped, but this tale must be a gross exaggeration ; because twenty years later, the Chandel king still possessed considerable forces and was able to offer a stoat resistance to the army of Kutb-ud-din Ibak (Aibak). This attack of that Muhammadan general is the second noteworthy event in the reign of Parmal. It bas been described from the victor's point of view by Hasan Nizami, the contemporary author of the Táj-ul-mnasir, or Crown of Exploits.'
In the year 599 H. = September 1202 to September 1203 A. D., the year in which Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din died, and his brother Nuizz-ud-dîn (otherwise known as Shibab-ud-din, or Ghori, son of Sam) became supreme sovereign, ķutb-ud-din, accompanied by Shams-ud-din Muhammad Iyaltimish (* Altamsh,' afterwards Sultan of Delhi) proceeded to invest the fortress of Kalanjar. The accarsed Parmar,' we are told, retired into the fort after a desperate resistance in the open, and then surrendered. Evidently the resistance had been stont, for the Musalmain leader accepted his submission and an undertaking to pay tribute and deliver a number of elephants, on terms similar to those enforced by Sultan Mahmûd against Parmal's ancestor, Ganda. The Chandel king, however, died a natural death before he could fulfil his engagements. His minister, Ajadêva, thought he would be able to renew the resistance, but was
* Rep., Vol XXI, p. 8, P. V.
1. Others place the scene of this battle at Bairagarh, 1 miles to the south-west of Urai. The position indicated is on the Betwa midway between Sir wagash and Rahat, and about 10 miles to the east of Erich (Rep., Vol. II, p. 455).
60 J. A. 8. B., Part I, Vol. L. (1891), p. 30. The name Bine-ud-din seems to be a mistake for Bahl-ud-din. * Thas the dominions of the Ghúrian Sultans became divided into four States the fourth was in Central India, under Malik Bahi-ud-dín, Taghril, another mamliik of the Sultan (Taverty, Votes on Afghanistan, p. 572).
