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JULY, 1911.)
BITHU INSCRIPTION OF SIHA RATHOD
BITHU INSCRIPTION OF SIHA RATHOD.
BY D.R. BHANDARKAR, M.A., POONA. NANNURÂM BRAHMABHAT, whose name I have had more than one occasion to mention, has
placed in my hands an impression of an inscription which is important for the ancient history of the present ruling family of Jodhpur. This family, as all historians of Rajputânâ are aware, belongs to the Rathod race and was founded by Siya-ji. The inscription is engraved on a devli or memorial stone in Bithû, a village about 14 miles north-west of Påli, the principal town of the district of the same name. The transcript of it is as follows:
1. wt 11 # 3 2.
E3. BET IT 4. #Tat att 5. Tarik T: [ ]6. [f]qrafa: Te 7. Farfet hy :
Translation. Oin.-On Monday the 12th of the dark half of Kartika of the (Vikrama-) year 1330, the Ratha la Sibî, son of the prince (karkvara) Sri-Seta, went to the world of the gods (i..., died). May the bliss of the heaven of even Indra be for Parvati, the Solamkini (i.e., of the Solanki race).
Now, there can be no doubt that Sihî of this inscription is the same as Siya-ji, the reputed founder of the royal family of Jodhpur, because, in the first place, Siha and Siya-ji are, as a matter of fact, one name. Secondly, Siha is called a Rabada, which is nothing but Rathod. Thirdly, Siba is called a son of Seta, and Seta is only an abbreviated form of Setrâm, who, according to the chronicles of Marwar, was the father of Siya-ji. No doubt can, therefore, be possibly entertained as to Sibâ of our inscription being identical with Styâ-ji, the founder of the Jodhpur dynasty.
The real importance of this record consists in the fact that it gives us a specific date (viz., V. S. 1330) for a specific event (viz., death) in the life of Sty-ji. The khydte (chronicles) of Jodhpur represent him to be the grandson of the celebrated Jayachandra, king of Kanauj, and at the samy time give V. S. 1196 = A.D. 1139 as the date of his exile into Mar war. Both these things cannot possibly harmonize with each other, because Jayachandra fell in a battle with Shihåb-ud-din in A. D. 1193, fifty-four years later than the traditional date assigned to Siga-ji's flight. So that there was only one alternative left, viz., either to accept the date of the chronicles for Siya-ji and consider his connection with Jayachandra's family as a mere fiction or to accept the latter as a fact and reject the date. As to myself, long before this inscription was found, I was inclined in favour of the latter alternative. Because Siya-jt's descent from Jayachandra has been mentioned in no less early an authority than the Ain-i-Akbari of Abu'l Fazl, which was composed in the 16th century. Similarly, in an inscription dated V.8. 1686, and found in the temple of Ranchhodji at Nagar near Jasol in Mallâņt of the Jodhpur State, Siha is spoken of as Súrija-barasi and Kanojiyd-Rathoda. These two early authorities had left no doubt in my mind as to Siyâ-jî having descended from the family of Jayachandra, and I was for pushing the date of Siya-ji's flight later than A.D. 1193 when, as stated above, Jayachandra died fighting with the Ghori emperor. My view bas now been placed beyond all doubt by the new inscription which gives V.S. 1380 = A.D. 1278 as the date of Siya-it's death. This second is posterior to the first date by 80 years, which indicate the interval between the deaths of Jayachandra and Siya-ji, a conclasion perfectly probable if we hold with the Marwar chronicles that the latter was the grandson of the former.
