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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
INCRIPTIONS OF THE EARLY CHALUKYAS OF GUJARAT that the Tājika army which had conquered the Saindhava, Kachchhēlla, Saurāshtra, Chāvōtaka, Maurya, Gurjara and other kings, invaded the district of Navasārikā during the course of its campaign to conquer all southern kings. There they were opposed by Avanijanāśraya-Pulakēśin. A fierce battle was fought, in which Pulakēśin won a decisive victory. Thereupon the illustrious Vallabha-narēndra, who was plainly the contemporary Chālukya suzerain, in token of his appreciation of Pulakeśin’s heroism, conferred upon him the following four titles, viz., Dakshiņāpathasādhāra (the Piller of the Deccan), Chalukkikulālankāra (the Ornament of the Chalukya family), Pŗithivīvallabha (the Lover of the Earth), Anivartakanivartayitŗi (the Repeller of the unrepellable). The vigorous style of the description of the battle, which is unique in inscriptional literature, suggests that the present record dated K. 490 was composed soon after it was fought. Again, as shown above, in its eulogistic portion, the record has, for the first time, incorporated a passage which is known to occur only in Gurjara grants. This makes it probable that it was composed after the Gurjara kingdom was annexed. The last date of the Gurjaras is K. 486 (736 A.C.). The Arab invasion must therefore be dated during the period K. 486-490 (736-739 A.C.)1 and may have taken place in 737 A.C. The contemporary Chālukya Emperor, who appreciated Pulakēśin’s heroism, was probably Vikramā- ditya II (circa 734-747 A.C.).
The object of the present inscription is to record the grant of the village Padraka in the āhāra and vishaya of Kārmaņēya on the Mahākārttikī (i.e., the full-moon day of Kārttika) for the performance of bali, charu, vaiśvadēva, agnihōtra and other rites. The donee was the Brāhmana Gōvindali, the son of the Dvivēda Brāhmana Kāñchalē, who belonged to the Vatsa gōtra and was a student of the Taittirīya śākhā. He had emigrated from Vanavasi. The grant was intended to be dated both in words and numerical symbols, but the former have, for the most part, been omitted through inadvertence, and the date is given in numerical symbols as the fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kārttika in the year 490. Like the dates of Śryāśraya-Śīlāditya’s grants, this date must be referred to the Kalachuri era. According to the epoch of 248-249 A.C., it would correspond, for the expired2 year 490, to the 21st October 739 A.C. It does not admit of verification. As for the geographical names occurring in the present grant, Vanavāsī, from which the donee had emigrated, is a well-known place of the same name in North Kanara. Navasārikā and Kārmanēya have been already shown to be identical with the modern Navsāri and Kamrēj.3 The village Padraka may be represented by the modern Pārdi, 4 miles east of Navsari. 1 The Prince of Wales Museum plates of Jayabhata IV were dated towards the close of the
Kārttikādi Kalachuri year 486, while the present inscription was incised in the beginning of the Kalachuri
year 490. Hence there is a difference of only three years between the Christian equivalents of
the two dates.
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