South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

see-ratnam 1.3,-vandha, II. 5-6 etc.; the forms of v and ch have in some cases been confused, see, e.g., -abhūvan, 1.7, van-āśraya-, 1.30 and –charitam, 1.28; similarly those of p and y, see nithyam,, 1. 1, -madhya-, 1.5 and ripu-, 1. 20. The vertical dash is introduced here for the first time at the end of the lines 33,36,39,43 and 47. The akshara chh with two upright strokes on either side is used to mark the end of a section in ll. 33, 35 and 44.

The language is Sanskrit.. The first thirty-three lines which contain the eulogistic portion are in verse with the exception of the opening Svasti, ōm Vra(Bra)hmaņē namah. There are thirty verses in this portion of which three (viz., 1, 12 and 18) are common to the earlier Banaras inscription. It is noteworthy that one of them (viz., v. 12) occurs there in a different context. It praises there not Yuvarājadēva II as in present record, but his grandfather of the same name, i.e., Yuvarājadēva I. The formal part of the grant which is in prose begins in line 33. Then come six benedictive and imprecatory verses, and finally the mention of the writer’s and engraver’s names and the customary mangalam mahā-śrīh. The record is carelessly written. Final consonants are not so indicated in many cases, which has resulted in the neglect of sandhi are seen in –pranrityata vētālō, 11. 26-27, -vaśāta bhaikshāch-cha, 1.30 etc. Cases of wrong sandhi are seen in -vandyō Chēd-indra=, 1 11, -āśram-ēka-, 1.30 etc. The visarga is incorrectly omitted in some places (see –grāmaņi, 1.6, ākrāmmata, 1.25) and added in others (see –vihitahśrīkaņţha, 1.6).. In a few cases, consonants are seen wrongly omitted, added or substituted by others, see, e.g., -samārambē, for –sangam-ārambhē, 1.14, svam =indrajāl-ōpamam for svapn=ēndrajāl-ōpamam, 1.6. As regards orthography, we may notice that the sign for v is employed to denote b, see vrāhmī 1.2, Vudhah, 1.3. etc; ś is used for s in –śruta, 1.26 and vice versa in bhrisam and āsā-, both in 1.15; the vowel ri is used for ri in tri-bhuvana-, 1.4, p for ph in pūtkara-, II. 15 and 24, j for y in iyāja, 1.33,, and sh for kh in -mayūsha- ,1.3: the anusvāra before s is incorrectly changed to n in yaśānsi, 1.32, while in -tāmvra- 1.32, and ś-āmvra- 1.39, a superfluous v is inserted after m.

After two verses in praise of Brahman, begins the eulogy of Karņa of the Later Kalachuri Dynasty and his ancestors. Karņa’s pedigree is here traced back to the moon. The first historical personage, mentioned after such mythical and legendary heroes as Budha, Purūravas, Bharata and Haihaya, is Lakshmaņarāja (II), who is said to have won victories over the kings of Bangāla Pāņdya, Lāţa, Gurjara and Kāśmīra. His son was Yuvarājadēva (II). The name of Yuvarājadēva’s elder brother Śankaragaņa (III) is here omitted, probably because he was a collateral. Verse 12 states that he attained an Imperial position, but, as already pointed out, the verse was originally composed for his grandfather Yuvarājadēva I. Yuvarājadēva II was succeeded by his son Kōkalla (II), whose description given here is purely conventional. About his son and successor Gāńgėyadēva, however, the record gives more information. He is said to have thrown the king of Kīra into prison, exacted a heavy tribute from the lord of Ańga, vanquished the ruler of Kuntala, and raised his arm like a pillar of victory after defeating the prince of Utkala. He was followed by his son Karņa who granted the present plates. Though the poet has devoted as many as eleven stanzas to his glorification, the description is entirely conventional and altogether devoid of historical interest.

The prose portion, which follows v.30, gives the same description and mentions the same Imperial titles of Karņa as the corresponding part of his Banaras plates. Besides these, there is one more tittle of Karņa mentioned here, which is not noticed in the earlier record. He is said to have, by his arm, attained overlordship over the three kings, the lords of horses, elephants and men.