________________
50
JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXI, No. 2 October 1996
Search for Umāsvāti in the domain of inscriptions at the very glance reveals two salient facts. First, in the available epigraphs of the Northern Nirgrantha Church, his name finds no allusion; second, he is for certain mentioned in the inscriptions of the Southern Church: but, in temporal terms, all of these hail exclusively from the medieval period and range in date from early 12th to early 16th centuries. The inscriptions relevant to the present context are eight, and they all come from the medieval Karnātadēša. Of these, seven are from Sravana Belagola alone; and the eighth, which is the latest, is available from Humcha. Those from Sravana Belagola are tabulated below according to their chronological order.5
Inscription No.
Site
Date
156
(47 (127)]
1115 A.D.
Sravana Belogola
(Chandragiri)
135
143 (117)]
1123 A.D.
Sravana Belagola
(Chandragiri)
173
(50 (140)
1145 A.D.
71 (40 (64)]
1163 A.D.
73
[42 (66)]
1176 A.D.
Sravana Belogola
(Chandragiri) Sravana Belogola
(Chandragiri) Sravana Belogola
(Chandragiri) Sravana Belogola
(Vindhyagiri) Sravana Belogola
(Vindhyagiri)
360
1105 (254)
1398 A.D.
361 [106 (255)]
1409 A.D.
The verse referring to “Umāsvāti" (which also mentions “Gțddhapiñccha" i.e. Gặdhrapiccha as his alias) occurring in the earliest inscription of 1115 A.D. verbatim figures in the subsequent four inscriptions tabulated above in their chronological order. The concerned verse in all the five inscriptions reads as follows:
5. The numbers follow the relevant numerical arrangement in the Epigraphia
Carnatica, Volume 2, Mysore 1973; the numbers as per the earlier (second) edition of the work are shown within the bracket in each case.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
