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INTRODUCTION
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hora
Author's Ancestry-Soddhala, the author of this composition which is called "Champoo" in Sanskrit, was, as can be seen from the evidence furnished by himself in his autobiographical statements, born in the country called Lâta, the southern part of Gujarat, described by him as the land watered by the river Narmada. He belonged to the Kâyastha caste. He traces his descent from Silâditya's brother Kalâditya, whom he praises as an incarnation of the Gaņa, called Kayastha, a follower of God Śiva. By describing Kaladitya as being born in the Kshatriya caste he takes pride in his own descent as a Kshatriya. Thus his lineage in brief is this:-In the Vâlabha branch of the Kâyastha caste, of which Kalâditya was the founder, he was born of Soora, who was the son of Sollapeya, who again was the son of Chandrapati.
Author's Life and Time-The internal evidence does not enable us to ascertain the exact place of his birth; still this much is pretty certain that he did not flourish in the place where he was born. He lost his father when he was a mere boy and was brought up by his maternal uncle Gangadhara. He got his education from a teacher by name Chandra and after finishing his studies, through some coincidence of circumstances, he went to Sthânaka (modern Thânâ), then the capital-city of the kingdom of Konkaņa. There he flourished at the court of the three royal brothers, Cćhittarâja, Nâgârjuna and Mummuņirâja, who succeeded one another as kings of Konkaņa. He describes himself as a contemporary of these three kings, as also of Vatsarâja, the Chalukya King of Lâta, who also honoured him by inviting him at his court,
ćéhittarâja, the eldest brother, who came to the throne of Konkaņa first, engraved a metal plate inscription dated 1026 A. D. (Vide Indian Antiquary, Part V. page 277). Mummuņirâja, the youngest brother, who came to the throne last, also engraved a stone-tablet in 1060 A. D. (Vide Journal of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, Part XII page 329). As our author was a contemporary both of chittarâja and Mummuņirâja, we can infer with certainty that he must have flourished in the eleventh century of the Christian era.
Date of Composition–The present work seems very likely to have been composed between 1026 A. D. and 1050 A. D. The author by his words
fata Farra' (p. 156. 1. 2)-suggests that the work was finished while Vatsarâja, the King of Lâta country, was alive. This Vatsarâja was very probably dead before 1050 A. D., because his son Trilochanapala made a giftdeed in 1050 A. D. in which he (Trilochanapâla) designates himself as the king, which he can do only if Vatsarâja was dead. On the other hand it appears that the work was written after 1026 A. D., for he writes that within
