North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE CHANDELLAS OF JEJAKABHUKTI

held the region around Tēonthar, lost it to the Chandēlla king ; and thus the claim stated in favour of Madanavarman in the present inscription may be supported. About his conflict with the king of Mālava, reference may be invited to the former’s Augasī grant, edited above,¹ where we have seen that the Paramāra king vanquished by the Chandēlla ruler was no other than Yaśōvarman, the son of Naravarman.

The king of Kāśī, who too is referred to in the present inscription, is evidently either Gōvindachandra of the Gahaḍavāl dynasty, the dates of whose reign range from 1114 to 1154 A.C., or his son Vijayachandra (1154-1170 A.C.). Both these ruler were contemporaries of Madanavarman ; and the statement of the inscription, as rightly pointed out by Dr. S. K. Mitra, merely goes to suggest that the Chandēlla and the Gahaḍavāl rulers realised the strength of each other and may have formed a sort of alliance for mutual peace.²

The second part of the inscription, which commences with v. 17, gives the genealogy of the person who constructed the temple and also made some other benefactions. This account is traced back to the creator of the world, i.e., Brahmā, whose son was Aṅgiras ; and in his lineage was born the holy sage Gautama, also known as Akshapāda, who is credited with expounding the Nyāya system of philosophy (vv. 18-19). In course of time, in this family was born Prabhāsa, who was held in high esteem, as the holy shrine at Prabhāsa (v. 20). He was the chief minister of Dhaṅga and Gaṇḍa (vv. 20-22). His son was Śivanāga, who resembled Bṛihaspati and who was the minister (sachiva) under Vidyādhara (vv. 23-24).³ His son was Mahīpāla who was chief minister under Vijayapāla (vv. 25-26). From Mahīpāla were born Ananta and Yogeśvara ; and the former, who was the master of elephants and horses, was appointed minister by the king Kīrttivarman (vv. 27-32). Mahīpāla had two wives ─Āsarvā was one of them, and the other’s name is lost in v. 34. He had many sons. Mahīpāla continued as minister under Sallakshaṇavarman also. One of his sons, Vatsa by name, was appointed Pratīhāra by Jayavarman (v. 40), and another son, probably Gadadhara by name, was the chief minister of Pṛithvīvarman and continued in the same position under Madanavarman (vv. 41-42) also.

All the persons mentioned above are highly eulogised in the present record, but the description is entirely conventional, hardly furnishing any historical information. It may also be noted here, that the names of the kings are repeated in the present record in the same order in which they appear in the earlier part thereof. After describing this long line of the hereditary ministers and other officers, and also mentioning two of Gadādhara’s sons, viz., Śrīdhara and Vidyādhara, in v. 45, the inscription goes on to narrate his (Gadādhara’s) charitable deeds. Besides constructing the temple of Nārāyaṇa in v. 46, which stood apparently at the place where the stone was originally found, he is also credited with building a tank with broad stones (v. 47), a cistern (?) with dressed stones on the boundary of the village Dēddu (v. 48), and a stepped well in the vicinity of a place, the name of which appears to be Kēṇḍī (v. 49). The rest of the inscription is lost.

Of the geographical names figuring in the inscription, Antarvēdī (v. 38) is the region between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā, and Prabhasa (v. 20) is the famous place of pilgrimage, at Vērāval is Saurāshṭra, as also noted by Kielhorn. The village Dēddu and kēṇḍi. as already suggested by the same scholar, must have been somewhat in the vicinity of the find-spot of the inscription. I am, however, unable to identify them.

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¹ Above, No. 118.
² E. R. K., pp. 116 f.
³ It may be noted here that v. 17, which begins the account of the ancestors of Gadādhara, uses the word mahāmātya which denotes a chief minister.