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POLITICAL HISTORY OF N. INDIA FROM JAIN SOURCES
V.E. 1288 mentions him simply Rānaka, And the two other colophons of the Jain MSS, dated V.E. 1276 and 1298, state that his second son Vīrama and his grandson Visaladeva, were called Mahamandalesvara, Maha-Ranaka.2 This shows that this line of Vaghelas, most probably, could not throw the suzerainty of Bhīma II upto V.E. 1298 as attested by the Jain sources. The peculiar title 'Sarvesvara' suggests that Lavanaprasāda might have been holding a post like the Peśavas in the time of the Marāțhās.3
As to how and in what circumstances the title was conferred we do not know. The prabandha literature, however, records several events of the time of Bhīma in which Lavaņaprasāda and his son had shown their bravery and skill in saving the kingdom of Bhīma. Perhaps, as a reward for these services, Bhīma might have conferred on him the title 'Sarvesvara.'
By V.E. 1276 Lavaņaprasāda seems to have approached the age of 70, for we know from the Udaypur inscription of Ajayapāla dated V.E. 1229 that he was appointed there as an officer by Ajayapāla. At that time he must have been at least some 20 or 22 years old and as a promising man he must have obtained that post at an early age. We may place his birth, therefore, in V.E. 1299 or 1207. He lived long for we have the year V.E. 1288 as one of his dates from a colophon of the Jain MS noted above. He perhaps lived longer, at least till V.E. 1295 or 1300. The events described in the Puratana-prabandha-sangraha and other prabandhas reveal that he enjoyed a life of nearly ninety years or more.
We have already seen that Arņorāja, the father of Lavaņaprasāda, assisted Bhima II in subduing the enemies which he did perhaps, in the early part of his reign. Lavaņaprasāda also followed the footsteps of his father. At the time of the accession of Bhīma in V.E. 1234 both the father and the son were simply feudatories of Vyāghrapallī or Bhīmapallī. But due to their constant services to Bhīma their status was raised. Lavanaprāsada, by V.E. 1276, actually became Mahamandalesvara, having established his principality around Dhavalakka (modern Dholka) which stretched upto Cambay between the Sāvaramati and the Narmadă. The city of Dhavalakka was founded after the name of Dhavala, the grandfather of Lavaņaprasāda.
There is an interesting story in the Puratana-prabandha-sangraha which
1 Prasasti-samgraha ( Ahmedabad), p. 85, No. 144. 2 SJGM., XVIII, PP. 122-123. 3 GMRI. (Guj.), p. 367. 4 HIG., Pt. II, No. 156, pp. 69-72.
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