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98
POLITICAL HISTORY OF N. INDIA FROM JAIN SOURCES
Bilhana's statement is merely a poetic exaggeration and reliance can be put on it when we have a stronger evidence in the form of an inscription j.e., the Māndhātā grant. His extensive conquest: Bhoja, in the span of fifty-five years of his life as a great king, waged several wars, did several benevolent works, promoted various branches of learning and, at last, left several monuments to commemorate his achievements.
His several wars with the neighbouring kings have been recorded in the Jain works. Among the eastern neighbours he comes into conflict with the Kalacuri Gängeya (1010-1042 A.D.) but makes him his friend. It has already been pointed out that Gängeya came from the one side and Bhoja encountered him from the other and, by means of intrigues, Bhoja encaged him and then took him away to his capital, honoured him and, at last, made him his friend."
In the south, his early two invasions, the one of Karnāțaka and the other on Konkaņa, and a later invasion on Karnāțaka have been recorded by the Jains. The Jain Rājavallabha in his Bhoja-carita says:
"Once some time after the accession of Bhoja, Kusumavati, the wife of the late Muñja made to perform a drama in which a scene of murder of Muñja by Tailapa was staged. This scene enraged Bhoja and, to retaliate for his uncle's death, he attacked Tailapa with a huge army. In the battle Tailapa was captured and Bhoja treated him brutely as he had treated his uncle."
As Tailapa died in V.E. 1054 (A.D. 997), the possibility of Bhoja's invasion cannot be ruled out here, because we have seen that at the time of accession (c. 999 A.D. or 1005 A.D.) Bhoja was 24 or 30 years old and in A.D. 997 he might have been a young man of 22. A man of this age could easily lead the army against his enemy. Perhaps he attacked Tailapa in accordance with the order of his father Sindhurāja who was ruling then.
It seems that in the above battle Bhoja did not gain much. Next time he invaded Karnāțaka through Konkana. Though he could not (10101019 A.D.) succeed in defeating the Cālukya Jayasimha II, he, at any rate, annexed Konkana, a part of the enemy's territory, to his kingdom. The victory was celebrated in the capital, Ujjayani (Konkaņa vijayaparvani). A Jain inscription known as the Kalvan plates of Yasovarman
1 SJGM., II, p. 20: Bhoja-Gängeya-prabandha. 2 Bhoja-carita of Rājavallabha, I, 50-56. 3 EI., XVIII, pp. 320-25.
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