South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

TWO PLATES OF TRIBHUVANAMAHADEVI FROM BAUD

however, appears more probable that Lōṇabhāra was the son of a brother of Śubhākara (III). This brother had probably predeceased Śubhākara (III), after whose death his nephew became the sole heir. Tribhuvanamahādēvī ruled he kingdom on behalf of her grandson who was still minor at the time of the death of Śubhākara (III). This assumption alone can explain away the inconsistency of the facts stated above.

As regards the identity of Gōsvāminī it may be noted that she is stated in the present plates to have succeeded Śubhākara (III) alias Kusumahāra (I) and made over the kingdom to her grandson Lōṇabhāra on his attaining majority. In the Talcher plate of Śubhākara (IV), the mother of Śubhākara (III) is described as having succeeded her son and made over the kingdom to her grandson Lōṇabhāra. She was also known as Tribhuvanamahādēvī. Thus both Gōsvāminī and Tribhuvanamahādēvī were successors of Śubhākara (III) and grandmothers of Lōṇabhāra. So they cannot but be identical. Gōsvāminī was probably the original name of the wife of Śāntikara (I) alias Gayāḍa and mother of Śubhākara (III), and Tribhuvanamahādēvī was her assumed name. This assumption is corroborated by the allusion to Gōsvāminī as having ruled in the past in the Dhenkanal plate of Tribhuvanamahādēvī.

I may here point out that Tribhuvanamahādēvī of the Dhenkanal plate is not the wife of Śāntikara (I), as assumed by Pandit Misra, for the following reasons. For one thing, nowhere is Śāntikara (I) called Lalitahāra. As pointed out above, the name of Śantikara’s wife was, in all probability, Gōsvāminīdēvī. Tribhuvanamahādēvī was an assumed name as is evident from the passage ; yā jagatsu Tribhuvanamahādēv=īti=viśrutā occurring in Śubhākara (IV)’s Talcher plate, the same passage being employed in the present plates with reference to Pṛithvīmahādēvī. Thus, both Gōsvāminīdēvī and Pṛithvīmahādēvī had the assumed name Tribhuvanamahādēvī. The date of the Dhenkanal plate is clearly 160, as it is represented by the letter symbols lu and chu which stand for 100 and 60 respectively.^[1] Śāntikara (I)’s wife was the first queen in the Bhauma-Kara dynasty to rule over the kingdom, and the reference to Gōsvāminī as having ruled the kingdom in the Dhenkanal plate proves that another queen had reigned prior to Tribhuvanamahādēvī of that plate ; hence she must have been the wife of Śāntikara (I). That Gōsvāminī is not a fictitious figure but the grandmother of Lōṇabhāra is proved by the plates under discussion. As stated before, the inciser of the Dhenkanal plate and the plate B under discussion is the same person, Harivardhana, son of Rahasavardhana. In view of the above facts, Tribhuvanamahādēvī of the Dhenkanal plate cannot be regarded as the wife of Śāntikara (I). She was the wife of Śivakara (III) alias Lalitahāra. So it would be quite natural to identify Lalitahāra of the Dhenkanal plate with Śivakara (III), the younger brother of Śubhākara (IV) alias Kusumahāra (II). Thus there were three queens bearing the name Tribhuvanamahādēvī. Śāntikara (I)’s wife was Gōsvāminīdēvī alias Tribhuvanamahādēvī (I), Śubhākara (IV)’s wife Pṛithvīmahādēvī was Tribhuvanamahādēvī (II) and Śivakara (III)’s wife (original name not known) was also Tribhuvanamahādēvī (III).

After Śubhākara (IV) and Śivakara (III) their wives ascended the throne under the names Tribhuvanamahādēvī. The former was ruling in the year 158 and the latter in 160. This gives credit to the assumption that, after Śivakara (III) there was a quarrel for succession. Pṛithvīmahādēvī ascended the throne probably with the aid of her father Svabhāvatuṅga and, after her, Śivakara (III)’s wife became queen. Her claim was probably backed by her father Rājamalla. The hints of a state of chaos befalling the Bhauma-Kara family are there in the Dhenkanal plate (lines 9-10). Further, it is stated therein that Tribhuvanamahādēvī was approached by the ministers for her accession to the throne (line 20). These hints confirm the belief that there ensued a civil war for succession after Śivakara (III) alias Lalitahāra, and the two queens of Kusumahāra and Lalitahāra ascended the throne one after another. Then came Śāntikara (III) and Śubhākara

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^[1] Buhler’s Tables, Pl. ix.