North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

It consists of seven lines, covering a space 54 cms. broad by 33 cms. high, and has suffered considerably from exposure to weather and also due to human frivolities. Two aksharas in l. 3 and one in the next line, which were read by Hiralal when he prepared his transcript, as stated above, have now totally disappeared, and two or three in l. 5 have been either wholly or partly damaged. The letters are sparely written and their size ranges between 3 and 3.5 cms.

The characters are Nāgarī. They are not well formed ; but except the three letters which are now lost, as stated above, they are legible throughout. The only palaeographical peculiarities are that the letter ṇ resembles l without the vertical stroke, e.g., see Paṭumaṇa¬- and Jaipāla-, both in l.7, and r is denoted by a vertical bar with a horizontal stroke attached either to its middle on the left, as in bhaṭṭāraka-, or with a slanting stroke at its top, as in Mahārāja, both in l. 3.

The language is corrupt Sanskrit; and the record is all in prose. The orthography does not call for any special remark except that the consonants m and t are doubled after r in -varmma- and –varttamāna-, respectively in ll. 2 and 4, and that j is used for y in bhārjā in l. 6. Some local words are put in the last line.

The inscription refers itself to the reign of Hammīravarmadēva who is described with his imperial title Paramabhaṭtāraka (Lord paramount) and is also mentioned as a lord of Kālañjara, which indicates that he was no doubt the Chandēlla king bearing this name. It is a Satī record, dated in the year 1365 (in numerical figures only), without further particulars; and taking the year to be Chaitrādi expired, of the Vikrama era, the corresponding Christian year would be 1308 A.C.

The inscription refers itself to the reign of Hammīravarmadēva who is described with his imperial title Paramabhaṭtāraka (Lord paramount) and is also mentioned as a lord of Kālañjara, which indicates that he was no doubt the Chandēlla king bearing this name. It is a Satī record, dated in the year 1365 (in numerical figures only), without further particulars; and taking the year to be Chaitrādi expired, of the Vikrama era, the corresponding Christian year would be 1308 A.C.

The purport of the record is that in the overlordship of Hammīravarmadēva when the Mahārājaputra Vāghadēva was enjoying the village V(B)rāhmaṇī, Bhūmiputra (?) Pālhaṇa’s wife Malhai immolated herself on his funeral pyre, and in memory of her (or due to devotion to her), the stone was erected by her son Jāmē (?). The inscription was written by Paṁ, i.e. Paṇḍita. Jaipāla.

The way in which Vāghadēva is mentioned in this inscription denotes his feudatory rank and it is obvious that he owed allegiance to the Chanēlla king Hammīravarman who is styled here as an imperial lord. This is also known from an inscription discovered at Hinḍoriā, mentioning him as a feudatory of Bhōjavarman, who was Hammīravarman’s predecessor on the Chandēlla throne.¹ The name of this local ruler figures in as many as three stone inscriptions, one found at Pāṭan, about 80 kms. south-east of Damōh and dated V.S. 1361 (1303 A.C.), another discovered at Salaiyā, about 5 kms. south of Bamhnī and dated V.S. 1362 (1304 A.C.) and the third at Siṅgorgaḍh, about 48 kms. south-east of Damoh, dated V.S. 1366 (1308 A.C.); and that he was a Pratīhāra chief is known, as has been drawn attention to by Hiralal, from the tradition recorded by General Cunningham to the effect that the Pratīhāra kings ruled at Siṅgōrgaḍh itself,² with portions of the Damōh and Jabalpur Districts under their sway. The hold of the Chandēllas in this region, however, appears to have ended soon; for we find that the neighbouring country went under the Muslim rule as we are informed by a record of V.S. 1366 (1308 A.C.) discovered at a deserted village Arṇaiyā Khēḍā in the same region and stating that it was under Alāvadīna,³ i.e., Alā-ud-dīn (Khiljī), who was then extending his sway in all the surrounding region.

The importance of the present record lies in furnishing the information that Hammīravarman, whose earliest date us supplied to be V.S. 1346, or 1289 A.C. by his preceding grant,⁴ continued to occupy the Chandēlla throne at least up to 1309 A.C. and also, as we know from the Salaiyā inscription, that some time about this year portions of the Damōh-Jabalpur region, which were included in the Chandēlla kingdom at the time of his predecessor Bhōjavarman, slipped out of his hands because of the penetration of the Muslim power in this region.⁵

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¹ I.C.P.B. (second edn.), p. 56.
² Ibid. All these have been referred to by Hiralal in his article in the Ep. Ind., Vol. XVI, pp. 9 ff., which is mentioned above.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Above, No. 151.
⁵ As also known from an inscription of Jallāl Khōjā, who was then in charge of the country now comprised in the Damōh District and dated V.S. 1385 (1328 A.C.), found at Batiāgaḍh, about 35 kms. north-west of Damōh and in the same region as Bamhnī. See I. C. P. B., p. 58.