South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

TWO GRANTS FROM DASPALLA

Chaṇḍīhara Yayāti Mahāśivagupta III (circa 1025-60 A.C.) and his son Uddyōtakēsarin Mahābhavagupta IV (circa 1060-80 A.C.)^[1]

That Śatrubhañja Tribhuvanakalasa who issued the charter under review flourished about the second quarter of the eleventh century (so that the Bahuma-Kara era started about the corresponding period of the ninth century) is further indicated by another interesting piece of evidence that has recently come to light. The unpublished Baud plates of Pṛithvī-mahādēvī, which were examined by me some time ago, are dated in the year 158 of the Bhauma-Kara era and state that this Bhauma-Kara queen was the daughter of king Svabhāvatuṅga of the lunar dynasty of Kōsala (South Kōsala). One of the grants^[2] of the Sōmavaṁśī king Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I (circa 970-1000 A.C.) of South Kōsala seems to apply the name Svabhāvatuṅga to that monarch. There is therefore no doubt that Pṛithvī-mahādēvī alias Tribhuvana-mahādēvī II, who was on the Bhauma-Kara throne in the year 158 of the era in question, flourished about the last quarter of the tenth century A.C. This would also point to the beginning of the era about the second quarter of the ninth century.

The inscription begins with the symbol for Siddham and the expression Ōṁ svasti, which are followed by three verses known also from all other records of the Bhañjas of Vañjulvaka. The third of these verses introduces the reigning king under his coronation name Tribhuvanakalasa. Next comes a long passage in prose (lines 10 ff.) in which the Paramavaishṇava Rāṇaka Śatrubhañja (i.e., Tribhuvanakalasa), son of Śilābhañja and great-grandson (possibly a mistake for ‘grandson’) of Vidyādharabhañja, is represented as making a grant of the village of Kōṅkaïrā in the Paśchima (i.e., Western) khaṇḍa (sub-division) in the Ramalava vishaya (district) in favour of a Brāhmaṇa named Bhaṭṭa Ājapāla (or Ajapāla). The donee is stated to have belonged to the Maudgalya gōtra, Vājasanēya charaṇa and Mādhyandina śākhā. He was the son of Bhaṭṭa Nīlakaṇṭha and grandson of Bhaṭṭa Madhusūdana. The original home of the donee’s family is stated to have been the Bhaṭṭagrāma Khaḍuvāvallī in Madhyadēśa ; but he was settled in a locality called Santōshamādhava. The gift village was made a revenue-free holding on the occasion of the Vishuva-saṅkrānti falling on a Sunday when the nakshatra was Mṛigaśiras and the tithi the fifth of the dark or bright fortnight of an unspecified month. Lines 27-39 quote several of the usual imprecatory and benedictory verses. They are followed by certain endorsements indicating that the document was lāñchhita (registered with the seal) by Pṛithvī-mahādēvī (apparently a queen of king Śatrubhañja), anumata (approved of) by Bhaṭṭa Rājaḍa, pravēśita (entered into the donee’s possession, i.e., executed) by Pratihāra Prabhākara

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^[1] See IHQ, Vol. XXII, pp. 300-07.
^[2] See JPASB, 1905, p. 15 ; of. IHQ, Vol. XX, pp. 76-82 ; also Vol. XXII, pp. 300 ff. Elsewhere (IHQ, Vol. XXVIII, p. 227) we have seen how Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I probably ousted the Bhañjas from Dhṛitipura and drove them to Vañjulvaka. These Bhañjas appear to have been feudatories of the Bhauma-Karas. This fact points to a struggle between the Bhauma-Karas and the Sōmavaṁśīs. The success of Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I against the Bhauma-Karas is further demonstrated by one of his charters (above, Vol. III, pp. 351-55) which is dated in his ninth regnal year and records the grant of a village in Dakshiṇa-Tōsala (within the Bhauma-Kara kingdom), although the early Sōmavaṁśīs were really kings of Kōsala (South Kōsala). The Baud plates show that Pṛithvīmahādēvī ignored the claims of Śāntikara III and Śubhākara V for the Bhauma-Kara throne and may have been engaged in a civil war with the letter. In this she many have been supported by her father. In any case, the grant of a village in the Bhauma-Kara territory by the Sōmavaṁśī king does not appear to be unconnected with the above fact. If the ninth regnal year of Mahāśivagupta Yayāti I fell near about the year 158 of the Bhauma-Kara era, the beginning of the era may be roughly assigned to 820-25 A.C. The astronomical details supplied by our record (year 198, Vishuva-saṅkrānti, Sunday, Pañchamī, Mṛigaśiras) suggests March 23, 1029 A. C. (Swamikannu Pillai, Indian Ephemeris, Vol. III, p. 60). It has to be noticed that the above combination does not suit any other date in the period in question. It therefore appears that the Bhauma-Kara era started from 831 A.C.