North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE YAJVAPALAS OF NARWAR

Raṇthambhōr in 1234-35 A.C.^[1] and following his death in 1236 A.C., the ruling house of the slave kings was not free from internal troubles and also from the external struggles. This state of affairs continued till about 1266 A.C. when Balban ascended the throne of Delhi, after ruling de jacto for about two decades during the reign of his father-in-law Nasir-ud-dīn Mahmud (1246-1266 A.C.). Balban’s activities in the Punjab, the rebellion of Bengal against Delhi and in the Doab, and, above all, the incursion of the Mughals in the north-west frontiers of India, continued to occupy his thoughts incessantly ; and it is not unlikely that during this period of unrest, Hammīra, after strengthening his position at Raṇthambhōr, may have endeavoured to extend his dominions in the east and up to Gwālior also, which is only about 180 kms. north- northeast of Raṇthambhōr. Thus it is not unlikely, though this statement cannot be verified, that he may have appointed Jalhaṇa to control the region around Gwālior, as stated in our inscription. It has to be admitted, however, that this suggestion, which is purely tentative, cannot be finalised unless and until we have some definite information on the point.

   As for the place-names mentioned in the record, Nalapura (l. 3) has already been identified with the modern town of Narwar in the Shivpurī District and the capital of the house of the Yajvapāla princes. Gōpaśaila is, of course, the mountain at Gwālior ; and Vaṭapadra-grāma where the well is said to have been excavated (l. 22) can safely be identified with the modern village of Baḍōdī, near Narwar, where the inscribed slab was found on an adjacent hill, as seen above.

TEXT^[2]

[Metres :- Verses 1, 8, 11, 15, 18, 19 and 21, Upajāti ; vv. 2, 14, 24, 26 and 27, Śārdūlavikrīḍita ; vv. 3-4, 20, 22 and 25, Vasantatilakā ; vv. 5, 6, 7, 10, 13 and 16, Mandākrāntā ; vv. 9, 12, 23, 28 and 29 Anushṭubh (Ślōka); v. 17, Mālinī ]

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^[1] As we are informed by Minhāj-ud-dīn. See Elliot, Vol. II, p. 334. D. C. Sircar took the name Hammīra to denote the Sultān Iltutmish (1210-1236 A.C.).
^[2] From the original stone and impressions.
^[3] Denoted by a symbol.
^[4] As already stated, this letter is often a combination of the palatal and the dental sibilant.
^[5] The subscript is devoid of its oblique stroke, as also in some instances below. The bracketed letters perhaps also may have been But read as read by Sircar.
^[6] It is doubtful whether this akshara is ksha or kshya, as also in the preceding instance. Perhaps (Sanskrit), is intended.
^[7] That is, whose conduct is as pure as that of Bhīshma. For
^[8] The daṇḍa is redundant. It is perhaps intended to be the kāka-pada sign, showing that the word is completed in the next line.
^[9] This daṇḍa is thin and was engraved subsequently.