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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI and Gayākarna may have continued to rule till K. 905.1 So the reigns of the two cover a long period of 83 years. It is not unlikely that Yaśahkarna had a longer reign than his son, say, of 50 or 55 years. In that case, the date of the Jabalpur plates as fixed by Dr. Kielhorn would not appear altogether impossible. But Dr. Kielhorn’s date (1122 A.C.) appears to be doubtful on other grounds. From verse 13 of the Jabalpur plate the inscription seems to have been drafted at Banaras. We find that only five months before, the Gāhadavāla king Gōvindachandradēva issued his Kamauli plate2 from Banaras on the 21st July 1122 A.C. Two years later we find him again at Banaras, issuing his Banaras plates3 on the 14th August 1124 A.C. Is it likely that Yaśahkarna ousted Gōvindachandradēva from Banaras some time after July 1122 A.C. and still refrained from mentioning the glorious achievement in the plates issued only a few days after, as he has mentioned his defeat of the Andhra king? The eulogistic portion of the Jabalpur plate is almost an exact copy of that of the Khairhā plates. It would be strange, indeed, if Yaśahkarna had nothing to record to his credit during the interval of nearly 50 years,––not even his successful invasion of Banaras !
In the absence of a thoroughly reliable transcript of the second plate, it is not, of
course, possible to date the Jabalpur inscription definitely. As in the case of numerals,
there may be a mistake, due to mislection, in the specification of the month, day or
fortnight in the Nagpur Museum transcript. Of these, a mistake in the specification
of the week-day is more possible than any other. Owing to the close resemblance
between the letters s and bh of that period it is not unlikely that the writer of the
transcript, who was none too accurate in his decipherment, read Sōmē (on Monday)
for Bhaumē (on Tuesday).4 Now, we find that in 1084 A.C., Māgha va. di. 10
commenced 10 h. 30 m. after mean sunrise on Tuesday (the 24th December). The
Makara-sankrānti had taken place earlier on the same day, 2 h. 40 m. after mean
sunrise. But as the auspicious time (parva-kāla) of the Makara-sankrānti extends to
as many as 40 ghatikās5 it is not unlikely that Yaśahkarna made the grant on account
of the sankrānti in the evening of that day, when the 10th tithi was current.
Tuesday, the 24th December 1084 A.C., corresponding to the expired Kalachuri
year 836, may, therefore, be the date of the Jabalpur inscription. It may be noted, in this
connection, that the eulogistic part of the present grant closely agrees with that of the
Khairhā plates and the writer of both was probably the same.5 This shows that the
Jabalpur plates must have been issued within a few years of the Khairhā plates and
before Yaśahkarna had lost Banaras to the Gāhadavālas some time before A.C. 1090.6 1 The Bhērā-Ghāt inscription of his widow Alhanadēvī (No. 60) is dated in the year 907 of the Kalachuri era.
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