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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
SUPPLEMENTARY INSCRIPTIONS
No. 190 PLATE CLXVI THIS inscription was very briefly noticed by N. P. Chakravarti in the Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, 1935-36, p. 94. As the stated therein, he found it “lying in the compound of the Dewan’s house at Chhatarpur, the principle town of a State of the same name and now the headquarters of a district in Madhya Pradesh. Some time subsequently, it was removed to the Museum at Dhubēlā, an adjoining village, where it is now exhibited.[1] The record was edited by B.C. Jain, Deputy Director of Archaeology and Museum in Madhya Pradesh, in the Journal of the M.P. Historical Association, No. VI (1968), p. 44. The same scholar also favoured me with a rubbing, from which, and also from a photograph which I owe to the Chief Epigraphist, Archaeological Survey of India, the inscription is edited here. The record is incised on the pedestal of a black stone status representing Śāntinātha, the sixteenth Jaina Tīrthaṅkara. The figure, which is in the kāyōtsarga posture, measures 150 cms. by 56 cms. The inscription consists of four lines of writing, measuring 28.5 cms. wide by 8 cms. high. It is in a perfect state of preservation. The writing shows slovenliness. The average size of the letters ranges between .8 and 1 cm. The alphabet is Nāgarī. The letter dh has developed a horn on its left limb, as in sādhu-, l. 1 ; the mātrā of long ū is marked so as to appear a subscript t, as in pūrvva- in the same line ; and the form of ch is distinct from that of v, as in cha in l. 1, and –varma in line 4.
The language is Sanskrit, but the names in the last line are all without any case-ending. The record has two verses in the Anushṭubh metre, followed by a portion in prose, giving the date along with some other details. The orthographical peculiarities are that the consonant following r is reduplicated, as in dharmma, l. 1 ; the dental sibilant is put for the palatal except in one clear instance, śrēshṭha in l. 2 ; and the pṛishṭha-mātrās are occasionally used. The inscription refers itself to the reign of the illustrious Madanavarman, whose dynasty and the royal titles are not mentioned in it, but he appears to be doubtless the homonymous king belonging to the Chandēlla house of Jējākabhukti. The object of the record is to show the installation of the statue of Jinōttama (Śāntinātha), by Lakshmīdhara, the son of Hariśchandra,[2] whose predecessors are mentioned in it. The names are all without any historical interest. We are further told that the image was regularly worshipped by his successors. The date is given in the last line, as Saṁvat 1293, Phā (Phālguna) sudi[3] 9th Monday, which corresponds to the 10th February, 1147 A.C.[4] It is an intermediate date for the reign of Madanavarman who is known to have occupied the Chandēlla throne from 1125 to 1163 A.C. The inscription is sectarian and devoid of any historical interest. It does not mention any geographical name. It appears to have originally belonged to Ajaygaḍh, one of the strongholds of the Chandellas.
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