South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

second mentions that the wife of some person (perhaps of Vappulla himself) named Nayanāvalī¹ caused an image of Umā-Mahēśvara to be made.

The inscription is dated on Thursday, the 10th tithi of the bright fortnight of Māgha in the year 812 which was the ninth year of administration rendered glorious by the illustrious Karna.² The tithi and the year of the date are expressed in numerical figures only. This date must evidently be referred to the Kalachuri era and regularly corresponds, for the expired year 812, to Thursday, the 4th January 1061 A.C. The tenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Māgha ended 3 h. 10 m. after mean sunrise on that day. As the expired year 812 is here said to be the ninth regnal year, Karna seems to have been crowned in the expired Kalachuri year 804 (1052-53 A.C.).

This was evidently his second coronation. For, we have already seen from the Banaras plates that his father Gāngēyadēva died in the month of Phālguna in the expired Kalachuri year 792. The month of Māgha in Karņa’s first regnal year, therefore, fell in the expired Kalachuri year 793.³ The same month in this ninth regnal year should fall in the expired Kalachuri year 801 and not in 812 as stated in the present record.^⁴ Even supposing that the mistake lies in the numerical figures denoting the year, we find that the tithi in the expired Kalachuri year 801 fell on Friday, the 5th January 1050 A.C, and not on Thursday as required. The date would, therefore, appear to be irregular. On the other hand, if we suppose that Karna was crowned a second time in the expired Kalachuri year 804, the date would be quite regular as shown above. This second coronation in 1052-53 A.C. must have been celebrated when he was at the height of his power after annexing the Chandēlla and Pratihāra kingdoms.

The present inscription mentions two battles fought by Vappulla. The first of these, called the Battle of Horses, cannot be definitely located. The second was fought with a prince named Trilochana at the foot of the Yellow Mountain. Mr. Banerji⁵ identified this prince with Trilochanapala, a descendant of Barappa of the Chalukya dynasty who was ruling over Lata (Central and Southern Gujarat) in 1051 A.C.⁶ I do not know, however, of any Yellow Mountain in Gujoerat. Two other references to this mountain are known to occur in inscriptions found at Ajayagadh. One of them which is incised on a rock near the Tirhawan gate of the fort describes the Chandella Kirtivarman as the crest-jewel of kings in the districts of the Yellow Mountain.⁷ The other inscription which is also engraved on a rock near a gate of the same fort mentions the Yellow Mountain as the place of residence of Kirtivarman.⁸ As the mountain was thus situated in Bundelkhand, Trilochana whose forces Vappulla is said to have defeated may be identified with the prince Trilochanapala who belonged to the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty.^? We know
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¹Banerji took Pravara to be her proper name and Nayanavali as her second name. But pravara is only an adjective meaning, ‘distinguished’ or ‘excellent’.
²A similar expression ‘srimat-Karnna-prakasa-vyavahane’ occurs in the Goharwa plates 1.41. In the present record in the introduction Karna appears to have been described as meditating on the feet of Vamadeva.
³Because, as shown also, the Kalachuri year was Karttikadi.
⁴D.R. Bhandarkar thinks that the ninth year is a mistake for the nineteenth year (see his List of Inscriptions of Northern India, P. 164, n. 7). But the regnal year is given in words (not figures) where such a mistake is unlikely.
⁵H.T.M., P. 24.
⁶Ind. Ant., Vol. XII, P. 201.
⁷Ep. Ind., Vol. I, P. 333.
⁸A. R. A. S. I. for 1935-36, P. 92.
⁹Banerji makes the novel suggestion that Kirtivarman may have gone to Sindh in the train of Karna! See H.T.M., P. 24, n. 1.