South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI

The present plates were granted by Karna at his victorious camp fixed at the Karnatirtha which was probably a ghāt built by him at Allahabad.¹ The object of the inscription is to record the grant of the village Chandapahā, situated in the Kauśāmbapattalā, which was made by Karna after bathing in the Gangā at the Arghatīrtha and worshipping the god Śiva. The donee was the learned Śāntiśarman, the son of the Āvasathika Mālhū and grandson of the Upādhyāya Sīlū of the Vājasanēya śākhā and the Vidarbhī-Kaundinya gōtra,² with the three pravaras Āngirasa, Ambarīsha and Yauvanāśva. The grant was made on Thursday, the full-moon day of Kārttika, in the seventh year of the administration renowned by the illustrious Karna.

Unlike the Banaras plates, the present inscription does not mention any year of the Kalachuri era. It gives however ‘full titles of paramountcy’ to Karna, which makes it plain that the seventh year mentioned here is of his own reign. We have seen above³ that the samvatsara-śrāddha mentioned in the Banaras plates was performed on the first anniversary of Gāngēyadēva’s death. Gāngēyadēva must have, therefore, died on Phālguna va. di. 2 in the expired Kalachuri year 792 corresponding to 22nd January 1041 A.C. As the Kalachuri year was Kārttikādi, the month Kārttika in the first year of Karna’s reign fell in the expired Kalachuri year 793. The same month in his seventh year must, therefore,

have fallen in the expired Kalachuri year 799 (1047-48 A.C.) The full –moon tithi of Kārttika in this year ended 13 h. 30 m. after mean sunrise4 on Thursday, and was, therefore, civilly connected with that day. Thursday, the 5th November 1047 A.C. is thus the date of the present grant.

If, on the other hand, we suppose that the śrāddha mentioned in the Banaras plates dated K. 793 was performed not on the first, but on some subsequent anniversary of Gāngēya’s death, Karna’s accession will have to be dated before 1041 A.C. and his seventh regnal year will fall in some year before 1047 A.C. We know that Gāngēyadēva was reigning in 1030 A.C.5 We have , therefore, to see in which of the years between 1036 A.C. and 1047 A.C. the full-moon tithi of Kārttika was connected with Thursday. The only year which satisfies these requirements is 1044 A.C. In that year, the full moon tithi of Kārttika ended 20 h. after mean sunrise on Thursday, the 8th November 1044 A.C. This would place Karna’s accession in 1038 A.C. The date of Gāngēya’s death which occurred on Phālguna va. di. 2 will, on this supposition, be the 25th January 1038 A.C. This would suit somewhat better the Tibetan tradition, according to which Atiśa intervened during an invasion of Nayapāla’s territory by king Karna of the west before he started for Tibet in circa 1040 A.C. as shown by Prof. Levi.⁶ But it would make the coupling of Saturday with Phālguna va. di. 2 in the Kalachuri year 793 quite inexplicable⁷ The selection of Prayāga for the performance

of the śrāddha would, again, appear specially appropriate only on the supposition
________________

¹ The grant was made after bathing in the Gangā and worshipping Śiva, and the village was situated not very far from Allahabad. The ghāt was, therefore, probably built at the holy place of Prayāga.
² Hultzsch took the expression to mean ‘of the Kaundinya gōtra residing at Vidabhi.’ But it may be noted that a Brāhmana Vidarbhī-Kaundinya is mentioned in the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad, II, 6,3, and IV, 6,3.
³ See above, pp. 239 f.
⁴ According to Fleet’s calculations it ended 11 h. 45 m. after mean sunrise (for Ujjain), Ep. Ind., Vol. XI, p. 146.
⁵ Albērūni, writing in 1030 A. C. mentions Gāngēyadēva as the king of Dāhala.
⁶ Le Nepal, Vol. II p. 189.
⁷ The apparent irregularity can be explained if the śrāddha was performed on the first anniversary of Gāngēya’s death, see above, p. 240.