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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE YAJVAPALAS OF NARWAR to have vanquished Vīravarman, the king of Jējābhukti, in a struggle on the banks of the river known as Sikatā. The Chandēlla ruler Vīravarman’s reigning period is known to be from c. 1247 to 1286 A.C. and the battle referred to here is the same in which his distinguished general Balabhadra Mallaya vanquished the lord of Narwar, as seen above, while commenting on the Dāhī grant of the Chandella king.[1] What is new in the genealogy of the royal house of Narwar is only the name of Āsalla’s son Gōpāla, as stated in v. 9 of the present record, which also goes to corroborate the account of the battle between him and Vīravarman, as seen above.[2] The second part of the praśasti which commences from v. 10, mentions the ancestors of Gāṅgēyadēva who got excavated a stepped well, evidently at Narwar, the place where the inscribed stone was found. The first name mentioned here is that of Vijayadēva, whose son was Suraśrī, who was a warrior and who killed enemical forces consisting of elephants in a battle (v. 13). Here the reading viśvala-prabhu-balāni is doubtful ; but it is not unlikely, as suggested by Dr. Sircar, that the word Bundēla may have really intended here. The successor of this man there was one Jayadēva “who put the mark of gold in the form of his weapon on the army of the Mlēchchhas which was the touch-stone”. It is a poetic way of saying that he struggled with the Muslim forces and conquered them, which appears to be a reference to his battle with the army of Gayās-ud-dīn Balban who was then carrying on raids in Rājasthān and in the surrounding region.[3] Jayadēva’s wife was Saubhāgyadēvī (v. 16). She gave birth to Gāṅgadēva, who became Minister of Gōpāladēva and who actively participated in his master’s warfare with Vīravarman, the struggle with the Chandēlla king, as we have seen above. Verse 18 supplements our information by recording that in this battle he was associated with Jayanta, the Minister of the son of Nṛivarman, i.e., Āsalladēva.
Verses 21-24 state that Gāṅgadēva, gratified the distressed (his subjects), spread merits, directed welfare, removed sins and distributed wealth. With a desire to increase his merits, he excavated the well where good water was obtained, and also planted a beautiful garden for the satisfactions of his ancestors, gods and travellers. The next verse expresses the hope that the well may be everlasting. Verse 26 gives the name of the poet, Śivanābhaka, who composed the praśasti. He was the son of the Treasury-Officer, Lōhaṭa by name, and a grandson of Damōdara, who had emigrated to Gōpādri from Mathurā. The verse giving all this account is reproduced from the preceding inscription which too was composed by the same poet some three years earlier. The last verse states that the record was written (on the stone) by Maharāja. Here the inscription closes with the date, as seen above, and with the expression śubham = astu (may it be well) and the Nāgarī letter chha showing auspiciousness. The name of the engraver, which does not appear in the main body of record, is incised on the lower border of the stone. He was Jiṇ(n)ēs(ś)vara belonging to the engraverâs clan.
As for the geographical names mentioned in the inscription, Ratnagiri (v, 3) may be the
hill near Narwar, as seen above, and Nalagiri (v. 6) is the hill adjoining to Narwar where the
stone was discovered probably the same. Sikata-nimnagā (v. 19), also appearing as Saikata-taṭini (v. 9) is the stream known as Baruā or Baluā, a tributary of the Sindh which flows near Narwar ;
and Gopadri (v. 26) is, of course, Gwalior.
[1] ASIR., Vol. XXI, pp. 74 ff. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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