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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE YAJVAPALAS OF NARWAR an opportunity, captured the hill-fort of Narwar, as stated in the inscription of the time of Gōpāladēva of V.S. 1349,[1] and establishing himself there, began to raid the surrounding region and also to extend his kingdom. Thus he was the first ruler of the Yajvapāla house of Narwar. Verse 9-10 of the inscription state that Chāhaḍa was succeeded by Nṛivarman, who ‘knew the vulnerable points of his adversaries,’ and he by Āsallarāja ‘who closed the lotuses which were the faces of his enemies’. Here the relationship that either of these princes bore to his predecessor is not stated, but we know from the other records pertaining in the house that they were Chāhaḍa’s son and grandson, respectively. The description of both these in too vague. It is however, worth noting here that the last year when Chāhaḍa issued his coins is recorded to be V.S. 1311 or 1254 A.C., as seen above, which is also the first known year of the coins of Āsalladēva ;[2] and presuming this record to be correct, we have to conclude that Chāhaḍa was succeeded by his grandson Āsalla and also that Nṛivarman predeceased him. It is possible, however that Nṛivarman may have been a governor of some part of the kingdom under his father when he also participated in his warfare, as we learn from the following inscription, which states that he vanquished the haughty ruler of Mālava and exacted a tribute from him.[3]
Verses 12-13 describe Āsalla as a great warrior and a daring prince vanquishing his enemies; but this description is all poetic, supplying no historical information. The verse that follows mentions his capital Naḷapura (i.e., Narwar), situated in a vishaya (territorial division) known as Pādōnalaksha i.e., comprising 75,000 (villages). The second part of the praśasti, which comprises vv. 15-64, contains the description of a family known as Jēyavāla (perhaps Jāyaswāl of the modern days), in which Jaitrasiṁha, who built the temple, was born. The first of his ancestors mentioned here is Sāḍhadēva, whose son was Kumāra, who, again, had a son named Nāgaṇa, who married Rājalladēvī and from her had a son named Jaitrasiṁha. This person is described here as ‘an ornament of the royal assembly.’ obviously that of Āsalladēva (vv. 16-20). He was a zealous devotee of Jainism. His wife was Śrī, who was a daughter of one Kēśava (about whom nothing is known) and who bore him seven sons of the names of Udayasiṁha, Śṛingārasiṁha, Rājasiṁha, Vīrasiṁha, Lakshmaṇasiṁha Ratnasiṁha and lastly, Nayanasiṁha, successive in age (vv. 22-29). Incidently some other members of the horse are also mentioned here. Thus, the record states that Udayasiṁha, the eldest of the brothers, married Ajaïṇī, who bore him four sons, viz., Karṇasiṁha, Dēvasiṁha, Padmasiṁha and Dharmasiṁha ; and the wives of the three of his successive younger brothers were Laduäḍā, Padmā and Vijayadēvī, respectively. Vijayadēvī’s son was Kshēmasiṁha (vv. 24-33). Verses 34-36 inform us that following the example of his ancestors, viz., Vīlha, Agaṇē (?) and Kshmāsaṁkaṭa, the last of whom was honoured by the lord of Śākambharī, whose name is not mentioned, and realising that some of them consecrated one Jaina lord every day, the blessed Jaitrasiṁha, whose mind had been purified by the doctrine of Jainism, erected a temple for Jina (name not mentioned) at Palāsavāha. The next verse describes the temple in a poetic way, using varieties of the figure known as utpreksha. In the following four verses (37-40) it is stated that Nāgadēva, the foremost among the Jaina society, performed the consecration ceremony. He was the son of the brother of Śrīdhara.[4] He had two brothers Chāhaḍa and Gāṅgadēva and two sons. Āmradēva and Sōmadēva by name. We are further informed that the consecration was supervised by Vasantadēva, who was ‘the moon sprung from the ocean of nectar in the form of enlightenment’ and by Amarakīrtidēva, who was ‘a thunderbolt for (to shatter) the mountains of false reasoning and was of chaste fame’ (v. 41).
The next twenty-three verses (42-64) record the names of those who were on the managing
committee (gōshṭhikas)[5] for the construction and consecration of the temple. In all they were
21 ; and this portion being historically worthless, only their list is given below. It may, however, be observed here that some and not all are mentioned here with their family names and
[1] Below, No. 175. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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