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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
KALCHURI OF TRIPURI roamed in the Kāmbōja country.1 The Bādal pillar inscription states that Dēvapāla humbled the arrogance of the lord of the Gurjaras.2 Bhōja seems to have ultimately succeeded in retrieving his position towards the end of Dēvapāla’s reign.3 Like Gunāmbhōdhi of the Sarayūpāra branch of the Kalachuri family,4 Kōkalla I apparently rendered help to the Gurjara Pratīhāra king in these wars. The relations between the Rāshtrakūtas and the Pratīhāras seem to have been more or less amicable during the reign of the Rāshtrkūta king Amōghavarsha I, since much of the latter’s time and energy was spent in quelling internal rebellions and in fighting with his eastern neighbours, the Chālukyas of Vēngī, as well as with his kinsmen who were probably the Rāshtrakūtas of Gujarat.5 Notwithstanding his matrimonial alliance with Amōghavarsha I, therefore, Kōkalla I could render help to Bhōja I in strengthening his position in the north. It is also not unlikely that the help he gave to the mighty king of Kanauj has been exaggerated in the aforementioned inscription of his descendants.
After the conclusion of his war with the Pāla king, Kōkalla seems to have entered into a matrimonial alliance with him. From the Bhāgalpur grant of Nārāyanapāla, we learn that his father Vigrahapāla, the son of Jayapāla, married a princess named Lajjā who had adorned the family of the Haihayas.6 The inscription does not name any ancestors of Lajjā; but in view of Kōkalla’s policy of making matrimonial alliances, it is not unlikely that she was his daughter or some near relative. Śrī-Harsha and the lord of Chitrakūta, who also are said to have received protection from Kōkalla, are usually taken to be identical. Kielhorn identified this Harsha with the homonymous prince of the Chandēlla dynasty;7 but it is doubtful if his rule had at this time extended in the north as far as Chitrakūta. From the Khajuraho inscription dated V. 1011 (954 A.C.), we learn that it was Yaśōvarman, the son of Harsha, who first annexed the hill of Kālañjara.8 Chitrakūta, which lies 25 miles north-east of Kālañjara, seems then to have been, like the latter, held by the Gurjaras. It has, therefore, been suggested that the Harsha who received protection from Kōkalla was the Guhila prince of that name whose rule might have extended to Chitrakūta (modern Chitor in Mewad).9 According to the Chātsū inscription of Bālāditya, this Harsha conquered the kings of the north and presented horses to Bhōja who can be none other than the great Pratīhāra Emperor. The identification, therefore, appears quite plausible in view of the alliance of both this Harsha and Kōkalla with Bhōja I. Finally, Śankaragana was identified by Keilhorn with Kōkalla’s own son. There
is, however, no point in saying that Kōkalla gave protection from fear to his
own son. Śankaragana is more likely to be the homonymous prince of the subordinate branch of the Kalachuri dynasty which had settled in the Gōrakhpur District
of Uttar Pradesh. The Kahla plates of Sōdhadēva state that this Śankaragana was the
father of Gunāmbhōdhi. The same record tells us further that Gunāmbhōdhi took away 1 Ep. Ind., Vol. XVIII, p. 305.
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