Sambodhi 2009 Vol 32

Author(s): J B Shah, K M patel
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 49

Authorship of the Dāhod Inscription
of Mahmud V. S. 1545
Satya Vrat Varma
Of the various sources of Mahmuda's career (1458-1511 A. D.) the Dāhod inscription of V. S. 1545( 1488 A.D.) is notable as much for its contents as for its medium. It seeks to detail in Sanskrit verse his military exploits and philanthropic activities besides underscoring some of his other virtues. That a staunch Muslim like him opted for Sanskrit for one of his crucial epigraphs sounds surprising, if not incredible. The surprise is, however, somewhat allayed by the fact that he had drafted earlier his protege Udayarāja to compose a full-fledged poem in Sanskrit, Rājavinoda-mahakāvya (RVM)2 by name, on his careier which settles down as a fractured biography of the Sultan. Notwithstanding its somewhat bardic overtones, the RVM. yields trustworthy data that uphold or supplement what is known from his Dāhod inscription.
Much against the wont of the panegyrics of its ilk, the Dāhod inscription chose to omit the name of its author. That by itself is not of much consequence and could well have been dismissed as an insignificant issue. H. D. Sanklia the first editor of the inscription, too did not think it worthwhile to bestow thought on it. But for the RVM. which has a definite bearing on the issue, it would have been hazardous to float a surmise about the authorship of the epigraph. A close appraisal of the contents and diction of the inscription vis-a-vis the RVM. unmistakably points to their common origin. The similarities that the inscription bears with Udayarāja's poem are so striking that they could not have sprung up out of nothing. They lead to only two options : either the author of the inscription plagiarized the contents of the RVM. or he was identical with Udayrāja. There are considerations to prove that he was not different from the author of the RVM.
Goddess Kasmiravāsini, invoked in the beginning of the Dāhod inscription,