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THE DYNASTIES OF RAJASTHANA
225 these references compel us to believe that they were Saivites. This also explains why to the end of the family Siva was their family deity.
Mūlarāja (c. 961-996 A.D.): Mūlarāja succeeded his father Rāji. With his reign we reach a firm ground for we get several inscriptions and copious literary material about his reign. He was the first king of the dynasty who aspired to transform his small principality into an empire. The words of the Vadanagar Prasasti uttered about him are quite eloquent :
"Illustrious Mūlarāja, who stepped on the diadems of princes, was a priceless pearl to enhance the splendour of the fame of his family. He made the fortune of the kingdom of the Cāpotkața princes, whom he took captive at his will, an object of enjoyment for the multitude, of the learned, of his relatives, of the Brahmaņas, bards and servants."'1
We may say that the real founder of this dynasty at Gujarāta was Mūlarāja. He won the kingdom by his valour and strength. A Jain inscription known as Varuņāśarmaka grant of Yuvarāja Cāmunda dated V.E. 1033 (A.D. 977) compares Mūlarāja with Indra and calls him the son of the descendant of Śrīvyālakāñci, who belonged to the royal family of Caulukika. He was married to Madhavī, the daughter of king Bhoja of the Cāhamāna family.2 According to Hemacandra his family was of the Lunar line and the gotra was Bhāradvāja.3 The statement that Mūlaraja killed his maternal uncle and took possession of Anahilapāțaņa, which we came across in the Prabandha-cintamani,4 finds no support either from the Jain sources or from sources other than the Jain ones. The Sukrta-samkirtana and the Sukrtakirti-kallolini, authorities earlier than the Prabandha-cintāmaại, mention him as the sister's son of the last Cāvadā prince, 5 but they do not record the murder of that king by Mülarāja. The earliest among the above quoted authorities, the Duyãśraya-kavya, is almost silent about the relations of Mūlarāja with the Cāvadās.
The name of Mūlarajā's mother is recorded by the Prabandha-cintāmani and the Kumarapala-prabandha as Līlādevi but the Duyaśraya-kāvya calls Mūlarāja as 'Candikāmāta', which has been explained by the commentator that his mother was Candāladevī.6 Hence his mother's name seems to be
1 EI., I, pp. 296-305, Vs. 4-5. 2 BV., 1739, I, 80. 3 DV., VI, 7: ATR a Hariat tayuaTTI 4 SJGM., I, p. 16: fast an a rea l ga THE
6 SS., Canto II, V. I; SKK., p. 71 (GOS, X): mate: praat het af H IGÌ qu: (V. 23.).
8 DV., I, V. 188: 105 H arla qatt a
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