|
The Indian Analyst
|
|
North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI The record occupies an oblong shape, more in height than in breadth, and consists of 18 lines, the last of which is about half in length of the others. Each of the lines contains about ten letters, but in a few instances, this number goes up to fourteen. The dimensions of the writing are not recorded. The inscription is in a good state of preservation. The characters are of the Nāgarī alphabet of the 12th century A.C. Attention may be drawn to the formation of k which loses the loop when it is the first member of a conjunct consonant, e.g., in –kshatriya-, l. 4 ; to the consonant gg appearing as gn, as in some of the inscriptions of the time, e.g., in –durggīyē, l. 2 ; and finally, to the form of dh resembling v, as in ś(s)ūtradhāra, l. 18, also showing a curved horn above its limb, and not joined to it but to the vertical of the letter, as in Mahīdhara, l.10. Some of the letters cannot be easily recognised and some others are cramped, e.g., the vowel u in –Rāüta– and the conjunct grā in grāmiya, both in l. 5. The other instances are drawn attention to in the text and the foot-notes appended to it. The language is Sanskrit, and the record is all in prose. As to the general orthographical peculiarities, we may note the use of the dental for the palatal sibilant, as in sanau, l. 2, and vice versa, in Śōmarāja- for Sōmarāja, in ll. 13-14, which is obviously due to the local pronunciation of the name. The record was carelessly drafted ; and the vertical bar is used to separate names in ll.4, 10 and 11. The local influence is throughout visible, particularly in proper names.
The inscription refers itself to the reign of the illustrious Madanavarman, who is undoubtedly the Chandēlla king bearing the same name and reigning from about 1129 to 1163 A.C. The record opens with the year 1208 (given in figures only), which must be taken as of the Vikrama era, and the tithi was the 15th of Mārga, i.e., Mārgaśīrsha, when it was a Saturday. The date, as calculated by Cunningham himself, regularly corresponds to the 10th November, 1151 A.C.[1] The year was Northern Vikrama, expired, and the month pūrṇimanta The purpose of the record cannot be definitely made out, but from the expression pratipādanaṁ kṛitaṁ in l. 7, and also from the use of the word kshētra in l. 6, it appears to mention some donation which was perhaps made in a sham-fight (krīḍā-yuddhē, l. 6). The gift was to be enjoyed by the public of the fort of Jayapura, i.e., Ajaygaḍh, where the inscription was found. The donor was the illustrious Rāüta Vēda, who was a Kshatriya by caste, a son of the Rāüta Jauṇapāla and a resident of the village of Kōṭiā. The names of the illustrious Śrī-karaṇika and Ṭhakkura Ghalēśvara (?), the illustrious Ṭhakkura Jālhaṇa, the illustrious Ṭhakkura Mahīdhara and the illustrious Ṭhakkura Pāsala, and some others are also recorded ; possibly these persons were witnesses. In l. 12 the record also shows the figures 13 and 52, the significance of which cannot be made out ; possibly they represent the numbers of persons who were present on the occasion ; and that they were residents of some neighbouring villages, we can make out from Saṅkaliā, figuring as the name of a place in another record also.[2] It is stated in the last line that the record was engraved by the mason Sūpraṭa. Nothing of importance can be gleaned from the inscription, except that it offers an intermediate date for the Chandēlla king Madanavarman, who was on the throne from about 1129 to 1163 A.C., as already seen above.
As for the names of the places occurring in the inscription, Jayapura (l. 2) is evidently
Ajaygaḍh where the stone was found. This name and not Ajaygaḍh is invariably to be seen in
the Chandēlla inscriptions.[3] The villages of Kōṭiā (l. 4) and Saṅkaliā (l. 12), which appear
from the description to have been in its neighbourhood cannot be identified. It may be suggested, however, that about 16 kms. due southwest of the find-spot of the inscription is a village
bearing the name Kōrār ; and it is not unlikely that this place may have been intended. The
name bears some resemblance to that appearing in the inscription, though philologically it
cannot be connected with it. It may also be connected with that of kōṭi-tīrtha, at kālañjar, appearing in No. 108, l. 15.
[1] A. S. I. R. Vol. XXI, p. 49. Also see Ind. Ant., Vol. XIX, p. 167, No. 85. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| > |
|
>
|
