North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

is not possible to obtain an impression, and therefore the record is edited here from the smallscale lithograph published by Cunningham.

The inscription consists of one long line, the length of which is not known. The characters are Nāgarī of the twelfth century A.C., to which the record belongs. The language is Sanskrit and the record is all in prose. The orthography does not call for any special remark, even taking the inscription reproduced is a faithful eye-copy.

The record refers itself to the victories reign of the illustrious Paramardin, the sole lord of Kalañjar ; and thus he is undoubtedly the homonymous Chandēlla king ruling at Mahōbā from 1166 to 1202 A.C. The aim of the inscription is evidently to record the installation of the image of a Jaina pontiff, whose name does not appear in it.

The inscription is dated in the year 1224, on Sunday, the 2nd tithi of the bright half of Āshāḍha. The year and the tithi are expressed in numerical figures only. The year, as in the other cases, has to be referred to the Vikrama era, and the date, according to Kielhorn’s calculations, corresponds to Sunday, 9th June, 1168 A.C., taking the year 1224 to be the Southern Vikrama, expired.¹ The present inscription was thus incised only a couple of years subsequent to Paramardin’s accession to the throne, and it speaks of the popularity of Jainism during his reign.

TEXT²

No. 128 ; PLATE CXV

AJAYAGAḌH STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF PARAMARDIDĒVA

[Vikrama] Year 1227

THIS inscription was discovered by Alexander Cunningham ; and a transcript of it with a rough translation and a facsimile was published by him in his Archaeological Survey of Indian Reports, Vol. XXI (for 1884-85), pp. 49-50, and Plate xii-B. Subsequently, F. Kielhorn corrected and discussed its date, as to be seen below, but it has not been systematically edited so far. The record is edited here from an inked impression kindly supplied by the Chief Epigraphist, Archaeological Survey of India, to whom I am grateful for taking the trouble of preparing it fresh, at my request.

The record is inscribed on a jamb of the upper gate in the fort of Ajayagaḍh, in the Pannā District of Madhya Pradesh.⁶ Just beneath it, and as if in continuation thereof, is another inscription which will be edited below.⁷ The present record consists of eleven lines of writing, covering a space 26.5 cms. long and 42.5 cms. high. The length of the last of the lines is only about 10 cms. The height of the individual letters varies from 2 to 3 cms. The writing has suffered considerably by exposure to weather, and consequently, one letter at the beginning of l. 10 and probably some more at the end of ll. 9 and 11 are altogether lost. Besides, the portion on which the record was inscribed was not originally well dressed and the technical execution too is most sloven.

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¹ See Ind. Ant., Vol. XIX, pp. 36-37, No. 64.
² From Plate xxiii-G in Cunningham’s A. S. I R., Vol. XXI.
³ An ornamentation is engraved between the double daṇḍas
⁴ Cunningham read which is evidently wrong or a misprint. The inscription appears to be incomplete. In the eye-copy published by him, the consonant of the first akshara is clearly .
⁵ The installation of an image appears to have been intended here.
⁶ For the situation of the place and reference to its antiquities, see above, No. 112.
⁷ No. 137.