South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

monastery built by his preceptor on the bank of the Śōņa. These two buildings are referred to in the Chandrēhē inscription also. The next five verses are almost wholly damaged, but the few words preserved at the end of 1. 30 indicate that verse 24 probably contained the name of another Śaiva ascetic who succeeded Prabōdhaśiva. The next two or three verses were devoted to his description, but they have unfortunately been too much mutilated, so that even the name of the ascetic has not been preserved. The aksharas at the end of 1.31 suggest that his fame had spread from the Mahēndra to the Arbuda mountain. Verse 26 mentions the village Sāmantapāţaka, but in what connection it cannot be determined.

The second part of the inscription, which comprises vv. 27-34, contained a description of Kalachuri kings and their military exploits. Their family is introduced in v. 27 as ēņānkānvaya ‘the lineage of the deer-marked (moon)’. Verse 28, which mentions the defeat of a Gujarat king, probably describes Yuvarājadēva I; for, the latter is said to have conquered the north in the Viddhaśālabhañjikā of his court-poet Rājaśēkhara, which means that he had inflicted a defeat on the contemporary Gujarat-Pratihāra Emperor of Kanauj. The names of his successors who were eulogized in the next four verses have been lost ; but verse 33 mentions the king Kōkalladēva who is doubtless the second king of that name, the great-grandson of Yuvarājadēva I. The following verse refers to his victories over a Gurjara King and the rulers of Gauda (Western Bengal) and Kuntala which comprised the Southern Maratha country and the adjoining Kanarese districts.¹

The third part of the inscription, which commences with verse 35, records the grants which the king Kēyūravarsha made for the benefit of the god Śiva installed in the temple where the present inscription was put up, and for the support of the Śaiva ascetics who were in charge of it. The name of the god was Sōmanātha as appears from v. 42. It was also mentioned in the opening obeisance, but only the last two aksharas of it are now legible. Among the village granted by the king, the names of the following can be made out with certainty─Sārasadōllaka, Vakkadōllaka, Rajayauddha Nāsapuņdikā, Khaţōllikā, Ābhīrapallī, Sarasvatī (which may be a river), Sāmantapāţaka, Bhaddhachiurā, Kusumbā^², Kukkudiyā, Rajōgrāma, Karōdhaka, Brahmapurī, Susiddhārthaka and Pōņdik. Besides these, two fields called Kavachakshētra and Nannēśvarakshētra are also mentioned in the same connection. Verse 43 expresses the hope that the provision for the maintenance (vŗitti) of the Śaiva ascetics which was originally made by the illustrious Yuvarājadēva and was preserved by his successors may last for ever. This clearly indicates that this Yuvarājadēva, who is evidently identical with Kēyūravarsha mentioned before in v. 35, is the first king of that name. The use of the plural in connection with his successors (anantarair=nŗipaih) in v. 43 shows that at least three kings had followed him before the time of the present record.^³ This is also corroborated by the fact that Kōkalladēva II is the last king mentioned in it; for we know from other records⁴ that he was the fourth successor of Yuvarājadēva I. The present inscription, which apparently mentioned in verse 24, a successor of Prabōdhaśiva is later
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¹These victories were ascribed to Gāngēyadēva by Mr. Banerji on the ground that Gāngēyadēva is known to have raided Kuntala, but the record does not carry the genealogy of the Kalachuris further than Kōkalla II. Vanavāsa means ‘dwelling in a forest’ and has no reference to Banavāsī in North Kanara, as Banerji supposed.
²Banerji read this name as Tujumvā.
³So he cannot be Yuvarājadēva II as supposed by N. P Chakravarti. Besides, there is no evidence to show that Yuvarājadēva II also bore the biruda Kēyūravarsha.
⁴Viz., the Bilhāri stone inscription (No. 45, above) and the Banaras plates of Karņa (No. 48, below).