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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA HINGNI BERDI PLATES OF RASHTRAKUTA VIBHURAJA ; YEAR 3 resemble closely the forms of letters found in the Añjanēri plates[1] of Pṛithvīchandra Bhōgaśakti. The writing on the second side of the second plate shows a very crude hand. It is strongly doubted if all the three sides of the two plates were engraved by one and the same person. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. The composition is in prose and is full of mistakes, but the sense can be clear, if proper restorations are made in the text. The inscription refers to the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty which is styled Rāshṭrakūṭēśvarāṇām-anvavāya in the initial portion. It is stated that the Rāshṭrakūṭa princess Śyāvalaṅgī Mahādēvī, the Queen-consort of Rāshṭrakūṭa Dēvarāja and mother of Māṇarāja, donated an agrahāra called Kamalībhūhaka to a Brahmin called Nannasvāmin, belonging to the Agastya gōtra, for the purpose of carrying on religious duties. In addition to this land a dakshiṇā of fifty bars (śalākā) of gold was given to the Brahmin with the consent of Rāshṭrakūṭa Vibhurāja. The grant was made on the full-moon day in the month of Vaiśākha in the third regnal year of king Vibhurāja. The plates refer to the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty thrice (lines 1, 9 and 16) and from the find-spot of the plates it seems certain that the family must have been ruling somewhere in Mahārāshṭra. The royal persons belonging to this family are described in the usual panegyric and as such do not yield any historical information. King Vibhurāja is mentioned twice and there is no specific reference to his period, except that the palaeography of the grant, which as stated above, places it in the 5th century A. C. In the absence of these details it would have been difficult to identify this king Vibhurāja, as none of the branches of the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty anywhere refers to him.
The mention of king Dēvarāja, however, affords some clues. Recently Principal V. V. Mirashi, in his article[2] entitled “ The Rāshṭrakūṭas of Mānapura ”, has suggested that there was a minor branch of the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty ruling in certain parts of the Satara District during the 4-6th centuries A.C. Hitherto only three copper-plate grants of this family have been found, viz., Uṇḍikavāṭikā grant[3] of Rāshṭrakūṭa Abhimanyu, Pāṇḍuraṅgapalli plates[4] of Rāshṭrakūṭa Avidhēya, and Gokak plates[5] of Rāshṭrakūṭa Dējja Mahārāja. From the identification of the place names recorded in the first two of these grants, it has been shown that the members of this branch of the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty were ruling in the Māṇa tāluk of the Satara District. The genealogy and the approximate period assigned to them is given as follows :─ Rāshṭrakūṭas of Mānapura Mānāṁka (375-400 A.C.) Dēvarāja (400-425 A.C.)
Son Avidhēya Bhavishya (455-470 A.C. ) Abhimanyu (470-490 A. C.) Dējja Mahārāja (530-550 A.C.) _________________________________________________
[1] Above, Vol. XXV, pp. 225-238 and plates. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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