Indian Antiquary Vol 41

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 89

A PRIL, 1912.)
MANGLANA STONE INSCRIPTION
85
MANGLANA STONE INSCRIPTION OF JAYATRASIMHA;
(VIKRAMA-SAMVAT 1272.
BY PANDIT RAMA KARNA, JODHPUR. The stone bearing this inscription was originally found near a step-well situated outside the village of Manglâņa, 19 miles west of Maroth, the principal town of the district of the same name, in the Jodhpur State. Thence it was brought to the Historical Department of the State, and was, with the kind permission of tho late Mahârâjâ Sahib of Jodhpur, sent to the Ajmer Museum, where it is at present. . The inscription is incised on a marble stone, and covers a space of 23" high by 1' 37" broad. containing 15 lines of writing. The average size of the letters is 18". The characters are of the northern class of alphabets. The language is Sanskrit which is grammatically inaccurate, and terms of local dialect have also been used in some places, e. g., daumára (1. 5.), korala (1. 7). Its text is a mixture of both prose and poetry. The first line contains a verse, and then comes in a prose portion, which continues till the 9th line. In line 10, one-half of an old verse is quoted. Line 11 contains a verse from the Panchatantra, while there are two newly composed Åryd verses in 12th and 131h lines. These verses are in Prakṣit language which is also grammatically incorrect. Rules of metre have also been violated. Then again the prose portion comes in till the 14th line. The last line, or line 15, contains a verse from the well-known Mangaldshtaka, sung at the time of marriage, etc. With respect to Orthography, the following may be noted. The sign for has been used throughout for those of both v and 6. In some places & has been used for á, sh for kh, and n for ^. Attention may also be drawn to the old and rare forms of the two vowels i and e and the consonant th. Consonants following have in some places been doubled while in others they have not been so done, e. g., vorvrastha (1.1), Durgjodhana-pirrra (1. 5), but not in maryadd (1. 7), karsha (1. 8), &c.
The inscription records the fact of a step-well having been constructed and certain cesses levied in connection therewith by Jayatrasimha (corrupted form of Jaitrasimla) of the Dadhicha, i. e., Dabiya, family, during the reign of Vallanadeva, lord of Banthambhor, when-Shamsu-dDin Altamsh of the Slave dynasty was ruling over Delhi from A.D. 1211 to 1236.
The inscription opens with a verse expressing obeisance to the god Nrisimha (1.1). Then is mentioned a goddess named Sri-Kevaya-mata. There is a temple dedicated to this goddess and situated on a hill adjacent to the village named Kiņsariyâ in the Parbatsar district. In the city of Jogini, now known as Delhi, there ruled an emperor named Samasadâņa (Shamsu-d-Din) of the Gora (Ghûr) family, lord of Garjana (Gazni) and bearing the title of Hamira. At that time Vallaņadeva held away over the fort of Ranastambhapura (Ranthambhor) (II. 2-3). Under him there lived in Mangalâņaka, the great Rajpût (mahd rdjaputra) Mahamandalesvara Sri-Jayatrasimbadeva of the Dadhicha (Dahiya) family, son of Padamasibadeva and grandson of Kaduvarâja. He caused a step-well to be built in the Daumdra-bhúmi and to the east of a locality called HariDurijodhana. Daumdra is a term of the local dialect. In Mârwâri, scarcity of water is called dumdra, so the term Daumâra-bhůmi undoubtedly refers to the country of Marwür or the land of water-scarcity. Hari-Durjjodhana is at present called Hariyâjúņa alias Swaipura-& village nearly four miles from Manglêņa. The words sayam-era used in the text are indicative of the fact that no monetary aid was availed of, i. e., no subscription was called in, for the purpose oi constracting the said step-well (11. 4-6). He levied the following cesses, dharmártha i. e., for the sake of charity) on each plongh used and oil-mill worked within the limits of village Manglan;
1 sei of kura da corn on each plough and
1 karsha of oil on each oil-mill. Sei and karaha are measures of weight equivalent to nearly 15 seers and I told, respectively. The term korada is again borrowed from the local dialect. In Mûr war winga (Phaseolus muungo).