Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 43

FEBRUARY, 1933 ) HISTORICAL DATA IN RAJASEKHARA'S VIDDHAŠALABHANJIKA
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Mr. Sharma places this battle on the bank of the Tapti, with which he identifies the Payoshni mentioned in the play as the scene of the battle. It appears from the Epics and Puråņas that three rivers-Tapti, Purna and Painganga-bore the name Payoshņi in ancient times.11 The Viddhabdlablañild tells us that Yuvarajadova sent an army under his Commander-in-Chief to place Virapala on the throne of Kuntala. It must have advanced directly on Månyakheta (modern Malkhed, near Bidar in the Nizam's Dominions), the capital of the Rashtrakūtas. Its progress was checked by a confederacy of kings, and a fierce battle was fought on the bank of the Payoshni. This river must, therefore, be identified with the Paingangå which, alone of the three rivers mentioned above, lies on the way from Tripuri (Têwar near Jabalpur) to Malkhed. The surrounding country was probably called Murala in those days.The king of this country was one of the adversaries of Yuvaråjadeva. From the Uttararámacarita the Murall appears to be a tributary of the Godavari, and we find that the Yadavas who were ruling in that part were feudatories of the Rashtrakūtas. To assure Yuvarajadeva that the people of that country had submitted to him after that fierce battle the Commander-in-Chief remarks in his dispatch that the ladies of Muralå had fixed their eyes on his feet. The identification of the Payoshạill with the Paingang& seems, therefore, to be almost certain.
The victory that Yuvardjadeva won in the battle of the Payoshni was, however, only temporary. Baddiga soon regained the throne and was firmly established on it in 937 A.D. His son and crown prince, Krishna III, soon took revenge by defeating Yuvarâjadeva, as stated in the Karhad plates.
Let us next turn to some other statements in Mr. Sharma's article. He identifies in a footnote Yuvardjadeva the patron of Abhinanda with Yuvardjadeva I of Tripurî. Extracts from the initial and concluding portions of the Ramacarita were published in 1922 and 1928 in the Triennial Catalogues of Manuscripts collected by the Madras Government.13 The work has recently been edited in the Gaikwad's Oriental Series. From several references in that poem it is now quite clear that Yuvarâjadeva, the poet's patron, was a Pala king and bore the title Haravarsha. He must, therefore, be distinguished from Rajasekhara's patron, the Kalachuri king YuvarAjadeva I alias Keyůravaraha. The editor of the Ramacarita has adduced cogent reasons to identify him with Devapala, who ruled in the second half of the ninth century A.D.
Relying on Mr. C. V. Vaidya's statement in his History of Medieval Hindu India, Mr. Sharma holds that Kokkalla I was the master of Trikalinga in 870 A.D. Mr. Vaidya has cited no authority for his statement. From the eleventh century onwards we find that the title was assumed by some Kalachuri kings. But so far as I know, the passages in the Viddha alabhañjiká cited by Mr. Sharma are the earliest references to the assumption of this title by a Kalachuri king. If Trikalinga means high or elevated Kalinga and denotes the bighlands between the coast strip called Kalinga and Dakshina Kosala, 14 the country was conquered for the first time by Kokkalla's son, Mugdhatunga-Prasiddhadhavala, the father of Yuvarajadeva 1.15 After this conquest he placed one of his brothers in charge of it. The inscriptions of the Kalachuris of Ratanpar mention that Kokkalla had eighteen sons, of whom the eldest became the lord of Tripuri while the others became the lords of Mandalas. 16
11 See Nundo Lal Dey's Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaval India, p. 156.
13 Rolying on Mr. 8. N. Majumdar's statement in his edition of Ounningham's Geography of Ancient India, Mr. Sharma takes the Mural country to represent the central possession of the Kalachuris. But this is inconsistent with the express statement in the play that the lord of Murall was one of Yuvardjadeva's opponents in the battle of the Payoshpf. The Trindadesha seems to distinguish the Murall from the Revå or Narmada, ef. Ty To Far ET A T In the Balabhdruta aleo Rajasekhara distinguishes between Mural and Mekala the country round the source of the Narmada, cl. afragtat: root Mai (Act I, v. 7).
18 Vol. III, Nos. 3439 and 3760 (pub. 1922) and vol. IV, No. 6371 and 6373 (pub. 1928). 14 JBORS.; vol. XIV, Part IV.
16 See references to the conquest of Pali in the Bilhari inscription of the Rulers of Chedi (Ep. Ind., vol. I, p. 264 f.) and the Benares copperplate inscription of Karna (Ep. Ind., vol. II, p. 297 I.
16 CE. Ratanpur Inscription of Jâjalladeva, Ep. Ind., vol. I, p. 32 f.