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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI The inscription refers itself to the reign of Kīrttivarman of the Chandēlla ruling Dynasty (v. 2) and the object of it is to record the construction of a flight of steps (ghaṭṭa) by the king’s Counsellor and Chief Minister Vatsarāja, who was the son of Mahīdhara (v. 7). The inscription is dated at the end of l. 8, in figures only, on Sunday, the second of the bright half of Chaitra of the (Vikrama) era 1154. The day and the date regularly correspond to Sunday the 7th March, 1098 A.C., according to the Kārttikādi Vikrama year 1154, expired, when the second tithi ended 22 h. 13 m. after mean sunrise.1 After the introductory Oṁ namaḥ Śivāya, the inscription introduces the name of Vidyādhara, “whose wide-spread fame was to the Chandēlla family what the moon is to the night-lotuses.” From him was born the king Vijayapāla (v. l). The next verse states that the latter’s son was the illustrious Kīrttivarman, whose fame spread far and wide. Verse 3 goes on to describe the same prince, saying that in withdrawing royal fortune from (enemical) kings and making it firm, he appeared to be a new Vishṇu who recovered Lakshmī from the sea and made her leave off her fickleness. This is evidently a reference to his conquest of the Kalachuri Karṇa, alluded to in a number of inscriptions of the house and will be discussed at length below.2 The next verse informs us that Kīrttivarman, among the other kings, resembled the moon moving in the midst of stars, and also that Yudhishṭhira, Sadāśiva and Rāmachandra ─ all these three have entered his graceous person which was endowed with all (lit. these and those) virtues.3 It may be noted here that these three in particular have probably been chosen by the poet with the intention of signifying the best specimens of satya, śiva and sundara, respectively.
The royal genealogy appearing in the present document is also known from some other inscriptions of the house, and in this respect it adds nothing new to our knowledge. Verse 5 introduces Kīrttivarman’s Councellor and Chief Minister Vatsarāja who was the illustrious son of Mahīdhara and a native of Ramaṇīpura. We are informed in verse 6 that Vatsarāja wrested the surrounding region from the enemy and constructed the fort of Dēvagiri, which, from the use of the expression idam appears to be the fort of Dēvagarḥ itself where the inscribed slab was found. The enemy from whom Vatsarāja snatched the neighbouring region is not mentioned here, but the appears to have been Karṇa or Lakshmī-Karṇa of the Kalachuri dynasty who is referred to above, though vaguely, in the description of Kīrttivarman himself. As we shall see below, the credit of repelling Karṇa from the Chandēlla territories is ascribed to kīrttivarman’s Brāhmaṇa general Gōpāla; however, it is possible to hold in view of the information supplied by the present record, that Vatsarāja too may have had some significant share in that exploit. It is stated in the last of the verses (v. 8) that Vatsarāja caused this flight of steps (ghaṭṭa) which was known after him. And with the date as seen above, the record comes to a close. Of the geographical names mentioned in the inscription, Kīrttigiri appears, as stated above, to be the hill near its findspot, probably named after Kīrttivarman. I am unable to identify Ramaṇī-pū, i. e., Ramaṇīpura, or -purī, the native place of Vatsarāja. TEXT4 [Metres: Verses 1, 4 and 6, Vasantatilakā ; vv. 2-3, 5 and 7, Anushṭubh]. ________________________ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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with a dot over it, as is often the case. See
Nos. 113, 133, 151, 187, etc.