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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI Vakpati who was their father. The name of Rahila, the son of Vijayasakti is again lost in ll. 6-7, which describe him as âvanquishing the haughty enemies by the prowess of his arms.â Rahilaâs son was Harshadeva, whose name appears in l. 7 ; and the description of him in ll. 8-9, which obviously refers to his fame and valour as conquering the earth up to the ocean, is all conventional. The next line, which preserves only a foot of a verse which is otherwise completely lost, informs in that “he (a ruler whose name is not preserved) again (punar =) placed Kshitipāladēva on the throne”. The latter of these rulers has of course been unanimously taken to be the imperial Pratīhāra monarch, Mahīpāla,[1] and as for the former, Kielhorn has shown good grounds to identify him with the Chandēlla king Harshadēva and not his son Yaśōvarman, as was conjectured by Hoernle.[2] R. S. Tripathi has also given cogent reasons for taking this ruler to be Harshadēva.[3] Thus the incident appears to have an obvious reference to the long-drawn hostility between the two great powers of the North and the South India, viz., the Pratīhāras and the Rāshṭrakūṭas, culminating in the sensational achievement of Indra III (914-927 A.C.) in capturing, Kanauj,[4] some time between 915 and 918 A.C., and the subsequent recovery of the throne by Mahīpāla, soon after the retreat of the enemical forces whose main interest was in the south.[5]
On the other hand, however, there is a set of scholars who urge that the incident when Harsha rendered help to Mahīpāla has a reference not to the latter’s restoration after the field was left by the Rāshṭrakūṭas but to his very accession by defeating his rival and half-brother, Bhōja II, who, after the death of his father, Mahēndrapāla, succeeded in obtaining the throne with the help of the Kalachuri king Kōkalla I.[6] R. S. Tripathi, who belongs to this set, goes so far as to suggest that the word “punaḥ” of the verse under reference should be taken not to mean “again” but in the sense of “introducing further details about the achievements of the Chandēlla ruler.”[7] But this suggestion, though ingenious, is not corroborate by any other source, and there is no positive evidence to establish that there was actually a war between the two brothers. Whatever may have been the fact, it is doubtless that the help rendered by the Chandēlla king to his Imperial overlord speaks highly of a valorous feat which increased the prestige of the latterâs house. What remains of the inscription makes it fairly clear that it was a very important record throwing light on the Chandēlla ruling house, and its loss is indeed greatly felt. No geographical name occurs in the portion now available.
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