South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

Yuvarājadēva I, whom he has made the hero of his Sanskrit play Viddhaśālabhañjikā. If we suppose that he was a young man of sixteen when he went to the court of Kanauj towards the end of Mahēndrapāla’s reign (in circa 905 A.C.), his age at the beginning of the reign of Yuvarājadēva II (circa 975 A.C.) when the present inscription seems to have been put up, would be about eighty-five years, which is not altogether improbable.¹ Such a long life is also warranted by the poet’s prolific literary activity.

It is not difficult to conjecture why this eulogy of Kalachuri princes pleased Rājaśékhara. The characteristics of his own poems as noted by ancient critics² are his fondness for the metre Śārdūlavikrīdita and the poetic quality samādhi which means an alternate combination of heavy and light syllables.³ A third mannerism noticed in his works is his reference to the several parts of India on some pretext or other. All these qualities can be illustrated from the present inscription. It is, therefore, no matter for surprise to read that it evoked or deserved praise from Rājaśēkhara, who must have seen in it a clever imitation of his own style.

The last verse states that the eulogy was written by Nāī, the son of Dhīra who was a writer of legal documents, and incised by Nōnna, the son of the artisan Sangama.

As for the geographical names occurring in the present inscription, Madhumatī, from which the name of the sage Mādhumatēya was evidently derived, is probably identical with Mahuā which is now a small hamlet one mile south of Tērahi in Madhya Bharat. It contains the ruins of three temples, two of which are dedicated to Śiva. From the characters of the inscription incised on the front lintel of the porch of one of them, it appears that the shrine dates back to the seventh century A. C.⁴ The river which flows by Mahuā is mentioned as Madhuvēņī in an inscription found at Tērahi.⁵ It seems that Mahuā was an important seat of Śaivism in mediæval times. Kadambaguhā, which is mentioned in the present inscription as the original seat of the Śaiva sect, figures also in an inscription at Rānōd. In his article on the latter Dr. Kielhorn identified it with Kadwāha about six miles south of Tērahi.⁶ It may, however, be noted that Kadambaguhā is mentioned in the Rānōd inscription as the place of residence of the spiritual ancestor of the sage Purandara who was brought from Upēndrapura by Avantivarman who ruled in Central India. Kadambaguhā and Upēndrapura are not, therefore, likely to have been situated in the latter’s territory. Kadambaguhā may be identical with Kadambapadraka situated in the mandala of Upēndrapura which is mentioned in a grant of the Paramāra king Naravarmadēva.⁷ It will, therefore, have to be searched for in Mālwā. Of the villages granted by Nōhalā, Nipānīya is probably Nipāniā in the Sihōrā tahsil, 10 miles south-west of Bilhāri.⁸ Ambipātaka may be Āmkuhi, 8 miles north by east, and Dhangatapātaka Dungarhai, 7 miles south of Bilhāri. Pōndī Which still retains its old name lies 4 miles to the northwest.⁹ Nāgabala and Khaila-
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¹Like Rājaśēkhara, Umāpatidhara was a contemporary of three successive kings, viz., Vijayasēna, Ballālasēna and Lakśhmaņasēna, Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 306.
²See ‘Śārdūlakrīditair =ēva prakhyātō Rājaśekharah/ śikhar =īva param vakraih s-ōllēkhair=uchcha-śēkha- rah II’ in the Suvrittatilaka of Kshēmēndra; and ‘Samādhi-guņa-śālinyah prasanna- paripaktrimāh/ Yāyāvara- kavēr=vāchō munīnām= iva vrittayah II in the Tilakamañjarī of Dhanapāla.
³ See the definition of Samādhi in the Kāvyālankārasūtra of Vāmana, III, I, 12.
⁴ M. B. Garde, Archœology in Gwalior, pp. 100 ff.
⁵ Ind. Ant., Vol. XVII, p. 202.
⁶ Ep. Ind., Vol. I, P. 353.
⁷ Ibid., Vol. XX, pp. 105 ff.
⁸ I. C.P.B., p. 24.
⁹ C.A.S. I.R., Vol. IX, p. 104.