Indian Antiquary Vol 55

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 10

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ JANUARY, 1926
MOSLEM EPIGRAPHY IN THE GWALIOR STATE.
BY RAMSINGH SAKSENA.
Introductory Note. ALL those interested in the ancient history of Indis owe a great debt of gratitude to the late Maharaja Sir Madhav Rao Sindia of the Gwalior State for the help and encouragement he gave to archæology. The state territories, as is well known, extend from the Chambel near Dholpur in the north to the Narbada in the south, a territory of great renown in the ancient past, though the history of the country has been largely lost through constant wars. Now, however, thanks to His late Highness, an archæological department has been for some time at work, unearthing the missing history. There have been two archæological surveys, which have between them yielded a rich treasure of information, dating 88 far back as B.O. 200, from architectural remains, such as std pas, monoliths, rook-cut caves with frescoes, etc.; opigraphical records, the most important being the famous inscription on the Heliodorus pillar at Bosnagar; and sites of ancient cities, like Videba, Tumbavana, Ujjayini, Dasapura (Mandsaur) and others, where important numismatic finds have taken place, which have chalked out promising fields for further research.
The important Sanskrit Inscriptions, have been properly edited by eminent orientalists, such as Drs. Kielhorn, Fleet and others; but the Persian Inscriptions are of no less value and have unfortunately remained practically untouched so far. In respect to these last, the southern part of the Gwalior State, viz., Ujjain and beyond, better known as MAlwa, on account of its past grandeur and immense riches, has always attracted ambitious rulers from all parts of India. The neighbouring Muhammadan kings of Gujarat and the more distant rulers of Delhi were among those who coveted Malwa and attacked it, succeeding at times in establishing their sway over the territory. It is for this reason that the earlier Persian Inscriptions are mostly found in Malwa rather than in Gwalior.
The Persian Inscriptions do not appear to have attracted the attention they deserve. Casual notices here and there are all I have come across, and I now propose to deal with them categorically.
I.-Two inseriptions of Muhammad III Ibn Tughlag of Delhl. These two inscriptions were first noticed in the Report of the Archeological Survey of India, vols. VII and X, pp. 68, 69, as early as 1874-76, but to the best of my information have never been properly edited.
As is usual in the case of Muhammadan Inscriptions, they consist of raised letters, and are on slabs of red sandstone over two small archways in front of, but detached from, an old mosque, at the back of the great Udayêśvara Temple at Udaypur-now a decayed town in the Bhilsa District of the Gwalior State, four miles by road from Bareth Railway Station on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and possessing important and interesting archæological monuments.
Each inscription covers a space of 4-11" by 1-29", and consists of three lines of Naskh characters. The first line of each is a quotation from the Mishkdt Sharif, and the remainder, which forms the record proper, is in Persian.
Inscription No. 1 records that a mosque (obviously that in front of which the inscribed archway stands) was built during the reign of Muhammad ibn Tughlaq by Ahmad Wajih. Inscription No. 2 records that the mosque was constructed by Ahmad Wajih, officer of the JamdArkhåna of the great king, under the supervision of the architect) Fakhr Muhammad of Lahore. Inscription No. 1 has been read as dated A.. 737 (A.C. 1337) and No: 2 as A.H. 739 in CASR., Vol. X, p. 68.
The importance of the inscriptions lies in the fact that that they assign different dates to one and the same building. According to Brigg's Farishta, vol. I, pp. 418-19, Mubammad ibn Tughlaq, A.o. 1325--1361, sent an expedition against his nephew, Bah&u'ddin,