Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 46
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications
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JUNE, 1917)
A HARAHA STONE-INSCRIPTION
127
From the above it follows that IsAnavarman defeated in battle the king of the Andhras, and the Salikas and the Gaudas who were all compelled to accept his sovervignty. When he was ruling the earth, his son Sär yavarman was born. One day when the prince was out a-hunting, he lighted upon an old temple of Siva, which he caused to be reconstructed (v. 20). The building was finished in the rainy season of the year 600 exceeded by 11, when fallna varman was the lord of the earth (v. 22). The post of the inscription is Ravikam ti, son of Kumarasamti, an inhabitant of Garggarakața (v. 33). The name of the engraver then follows. It was incised by Mihiravarman.
The most interesting point of the foregoing summary is sånavarman's victory over the Andhra king, the Salikas and the Gaudas. The old Andhra empire had now perished; so it is not quite certain what is signified hero by the mention of an Andhra king. Who the Salikas were, is also not known. According to Fleet, they are identifiable with the Molikas, mentioned in the Brihat-suh hita (XIV, 48, 23). Fleet places them in the northwestern frontier, 10 The tribe or country mülaka, mentioned in the Násik cave-inscription of Balasri, 17 mother of the Andhra king Sri Satakarņi Gotamiputra, is identified with Mâlika by Prof. Rapson, 18 In former times the letters Sa and Ma were often interchangeable. So it might be that the Sůlika stands here for the Mâlika or Mülaka. The defeat of the Andhras is also mentioned in a mutilated inscription19 of the Maukhari king Isvaravarman, father of 16ânavarman. The portion in which the name of the man who defeated them was mentioned, is broken. But it is probable that the allusion is to their defeat by the armies of king Isvaravarman. This is clear from the Harkhâ inscription. It is apparent from the verse quoted above that tóânavarman's glorious undertakings preceded his sitting on his father's throne i. e. they took place when his father was still ruling. This creates a strong presumption in favour of what is stated above, that probably the defeat of the Andhra king, mentioned in the mutilated Jaunpur inscription, is to be assigned to the reign of Isvaravarman. It is interesting to note that the name Gaula occurs for the first time in the new inscription from Hârâhâ. We do not as yet know what local dynasty was ruling in Bengal in the sixth century A. D. But the conquest of the province by the Maukharis undoubtedly signalises the extinction of Gupta rule in Bengal.
I think, it is necessary here to point out that the discovery of this dated inscription of the Maukharis settles the chronology of the several undated Maukhari inscriptions hitherto discovered. The Jaunpur inscription, as it belongs to the reign of Isvaravarman, father of tânavarman, must be put earlier than the year A. D. 554 the only known date at which feinavarman was ruling. It may be safely placed in the last quarter of the fifth or the first quarter of the sixth contury. For the three other undated inscriptions which are on the Barabar and Nagarjuni Hills an unusually late period is suggested by Mr. C.V. Vaidya.20 According to him the Maukhari princes mentioned in them are to be assigned to a date later than that of Harsha. But the letters of the inscriptions of Anantavarman are older in form even than those of the Hârâh å inscription. The tripartite ya which is a characteristic of the Kushân and the Early Gupta alphabets, 21 is used promiscuously along with its later developed form, in the Hârâhâ inscription. But in the inscriptions of Anantavarman only the tripartite form of ya is to be met with. This is a clear indication that they are of considerably oarlier date.
26 Ante., 1893, p. 186. 17 Epi. Ind., VIII. pp. 60, 62. 18 Catalogue of Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, p. XXXI. 13.Vindhyadreh pratirandhramandhra patinsankiparen ialam'-Fleet's Gupta Inscrs., p. 230. 9 Jour. Bomb. A8. Soc., Vol. XXIV, pp. 244-5.
21 Bühler's Indian Palmography (English Translation), p. 48, c. f, Bühler's Talel, IV, Vols. XI-XII and XII, 32.
