South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

BAMHANI PLATES OF PANDAVA KING BHARATABALA ; YEAR 2

Mēkalā as a country. We are familiar with Mēkala-kanyakā^[1]. as one of the various names of the holy river Narmadā (Nerbuda), as well as with Mēkala^[2] as the name of a mountain range wherein is located the soiree of the river.^[3] Mēkalā, as referring to a country, is, on the other hand, not so well known, though it is mentioned as such even in the epics, the Rāmāyaṇa^[4] and the Mahābhārata,^[5] in association with some of the neighbouring countries, like Daśārṇa, Chēdi, Utkala, etc. Some of the Purāṇas^[6] likewise make mention of it. All these words acquaint us with Mēkala as a people and also as a country peopled by them. Drawing upon these sources, Dr. B. C. Law gives us a brief account of the Mēkalas whom he describes as “a small tribe inhabiting the tract of country comprising the modern Amarakaṇṭaka hills and the surrounding region.”^[7] All these are, however, bare references which it is possible to enliven only by historical data of a more tangible nature, like the record under discussion. Some of the Purāṇas no doubt refer to a line of seven kings in Mēkalā,^[8] who are supposed to have ruled in about the third century A. D., but that is all. They do not mention the name of a single king. In the later literature, references to Mēkalā become more scarce. An outstanding example is that of Varāhamihira’s Bṛihatsaṁhitā,^[9] wherein Mēkala is mentioned among the mountains and the peoples in the eastern region.^[10]

For our purpose, however, the most valuable, reference is that found in a Vākāṭaka grant namely in the Bālāghāṭ plates of Pṛithvishēṇa II,^[11] which has a very intimate bearing upon the subject under consideration. This leads us to the question of the history of the ruling house of

^[1] Compare Rēvā tu Narmadā Sōmōdbhavā Mēkalakanyakā (Amarakōsha, I, 10, 32) ; and Mēkalakanyā cha Narmadā Rēvā (Abhidhānaratnamālā, III, 52). Mēkalasutā, meaning the same thing, is mentioned in a verse ascribed to Rājaśēkhara in Bhagaḍatta Jalhaṇa’s Sūktimuktāvalī, as quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, (above, Vol. IV, p. 280) ; as also by Sten Konow in his edition of Rājaśēkhara’s Karpūramañjarī, p. 182. The published edition of the Sūktimuktāvalī (Gaekawad’s Oriental Series, No. LXXVII, p. 47, V. 88), has Mēkhalasutā instead of Mēkalasutā. This contusion of Mēkala into Mēkhala is noticed also in different recensions of the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, etc., as pointed out below.
^[2] That is Maikal or Maikala.─“Range of hills in the Central Provinces and Central India, lying between 21º 11′ and 22º 40′ N. and 80º 46′ and 81º 46′ E. It is the connecting link between the great hill systems of the Vindhyas and Sātpurās, forming respectively the northern and southern walls of the Narbadā valley.” Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908), Vol. XVII, p. 29.
^[3]The particular spot where the river is supposed to take its origin is known as Amarakaṇṭka. The village of that name is within the Rewa State, “situated in 22º 41′ N. and 81º 46′ E. on the easternmost extremity of the Maikala range.” Ibid., Vol. V, p. 274. Amarakaṇṭaka is one of the most sacred places in India and is highly glorified as such in the Purāṇas.
^[4]Kishkindhā-kāṇḍa, XLI, 9. The reference is to the Nirṇaya-sāgar edition of the Rāmāyaṇa, with Rāma’s commentary Tilaka, the only complete edition to which I have had access. The relevant portion reads Mēkhalān=Utkalāṁś=ch=aiva Daśārṇa-nagarāṇy=api. In Govindanath Guha’s Laghu-Rāmāyaṇa (3rd edition, Calcutta, 237─Kishkindhyā-kāṇḍa, VII, 17), an abridgement, which evidently follows the Bengal recension, the corresponding reading is Mēkalān=Utkalāṁś=Chēdīn Daśārṇān Kukurān=api, which appears to a much better text. By the way, the slight difference between the forms Mēkhala and Mēkala is again apparent. A short note on the Kukuras, another little known people, is to be found in Dr. B. C. Law’s article on Some Ancient Indian Tribes in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. XXII, 1941, p. 96.

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