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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
SUPPLEMENTARY INSCRIPTIONS under study seems to push back the accession of Naravarman by about a couple of years than known at present. The view expressed above, however, appears to be one-sided when we take into account what is stated in ll. 33-36 of the present record, namely, that Raṇadhavala, who had originally made the grant as a subordinate prince, again got it verified in the office of the Mahākshapaṭala, in order that the next king (obviously Naravarman) may know all about it, for restoring the same. From this statement it is evident that the grant may have been issued by Raṇadhavala, during the reign of Udayāditya ; and thus we can neither place Naravarman’s accession earlier than the generally accepted date, nor Udayāditya’s abdication in favour of any of his sons. Another historical information furnished by the present record is that Naravarman had under him a feudatory of the name of Raṇadhavala, who governed the southern region of the Paramāra kingdom. This name, which is otherwise unknown, may perhaps s be recognised in its Prakrit form Rindhuvula, mentioned in the Rāsamālā, as a son of Udayāditya[1] and thus a brother of Naravarman, by whom he was appointed as the governor of the region around Rājpur, the find-spot of the inscription. This place lies to the south of the Narmadā, and thus it is rightly said to have been included in the Dakshiṇa-pathaka, in l. 12 of the inscription.
The reason why the grant was renewed is not stated but can be conjectured in view of the political events of the time. In this respect, the present charter of course shares the peculiarities of the Kadambapadraka grant which is referred to above and which was originally issued in V. 1167, and also records the confirmation of it along with two other grants made previously, by the king. One of these was made by the Mahāmaṇḍalīka Rājadēva in V. S. 1154 and the other by his daughter-in-law (vadhū) Mahādēvī, probably on the same date. A reference to all these grants in the Kadambapadraka charter, is, as observed by R. D. Banerji and N. P. Chakravarti, may have been made with a view to bringing together all the grants of land made to the donee up to the time when that charter was issued ;[2] but the case of the present grant is altogether different. It is possible that the grant made by the feudatory Raṇadhavala would probably not be valid unless it is confirmed by his sovereign, and that appears to have been done in the present case, under his sign-manual engraved in the end. The confirmation or re-issuing of the original grant after the long of twenty-nine years leads us also to presume that it may have fallen into abeyance due to reasons which are not stated, or which cannot be made out due to the uncertainty of the reading, and thus we are reduced to making a conjecture in this respect. We know that Naravarman was pre-occupied with his enemies on all sides, viz., the Chaulukyas on the west, the Chāhamānas in the north, and the Chandēllas in the north-east of his kingdom ; but particularly in the south of his territory, beyond which lay the kingdom of the Western Chālukyas, who were the most inveterate enemies of his house. As is evident from the present epigraph, the region to the south of the Narmadā and around Rājpur, the find-spot of the plates, was under the Paramāras in V. S.1148 (1091 A.C), but the recently published Aśvī plates, dated Śaka 1020 (1098 A.C.)[3] show that the Yādava king Āïrammadēva was at Narmadāpura, which we have identified with Nemāwar (now in Dēwās District), just opposite to it, on the north bank of the Narmadā.[4] Āïrammadēva was a zealous feudatory of the Chālukya king Tribhuvanamalla Vikramāditya VI (1076-1126 A.C.), whose principality lay in the south ; and unless it be presumed that he made an encroachment on some territory lying to the north of the river, his feudatory could not have issued the grant from that region. This part of land appears to have been subsequently re-conquered by the Paramāras, some time before the date when the grant was confirmed or re-issued. Most of the geographical names occuring in the inscription can fortunately be identified. Rēvā is doubtless the Narmadā ; and Kapila, which is mentioned as its tributary, as in the Sehōre grant of Arjunavarman and the Māndhātā grant of Jayavarman II, edited above, dated
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