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Chittapa and his Subhāşitas
iis favour of the temple of this god. This Bhilsā was a centre of Sun-worship and therefore it is but natural' that this eulogy of the Sun-god was inscribed on stone and embedded in the wall of the celebrated Sun-temple at Bhilsa,28
Chittapa is one of the few Sanskrit poets whose date can be fixed with some certainty.
As for internal evidence, it may be observed that the poet refers to Malavarāja in two verses and specifically to Bhoja in three verses. This Bboja is obviously the Paramāra king Bhoja of Mālavā (A, D. 1026 to 1055) In two verses he alluded to the king of Kuntala whose aggression on the Mālavā territory brought about the distress of Mālaví ladies. This reference seems to imply some clash which took place between Bhoja and the king of Kuntala. A perusal of history27 of this period, particularly the history of the later Cālukyas of the Deccan, reveals that Jayasimha II (A. D. 1015-1043) had defeated Bhoja sometime before A. D. 1024. He was succeeded by his son Someśvara whose reign ranged from A. D. 1043-1068. About A. D. 1017, Someśvara I invaded the adjoining territory of Mālavā and plundered Ujjayini and Dhārā, the capital of Paramara Pboja 'who fled away. Therefore the king of Kuntala referred to here must be either Jayasimba II or Someśvara I. The fact is well known that the territory of the later Cālukyas of Kalyāṇa was known as Kuntala.28 . From this internal evidence it may be inferred that Chittapa flouri. shed during the regin of Paramāra king Bhoja (A. D. 1026-1055 ) of Mälavā.
The external evidence corroborates this conclusion, Bhoja himself quotes some of Chittapa's verses in SKA. (Sarasvatikanthabharana) and Ŝr. Pra. (Śrngåra Prakasa), without specifying the author's name. It is wellknown that Bhoja has cited illustrations from the works of the earlier and even contemporary poets. Verses of Chittapa are cited by later authors such as Vardhamāga (A. D. 1143) and Prabhācandrasuri (A. D. 1278). Thus the end of the reign of Bhoja can be regarded as the lower limit for the date of Chittapa.
In the Prabhävakacarita (A. D. 1278) the author has specifically in. dicated that Chittapa was a member of Bhoja's court and that the fame of this poet excelled even that of Dhanapala. Merutunga mentions in his Praband hacintamani (A.D. 1304),29 Chittapa in connection with Bhoia's court.
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