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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA as I have demonstrated elsewhere,[1] it refers to the usual conventional claim of dig-vijaya over the chakravarti-kshētra covering the whole of India. That the claim has not much history behind it is clear from the fact that the same verse, describing the exploits of Mahīpāla’s forces in the present record, has been employed in the Bāṇgarh plate of the same king to eulogize the achievements of the army of the king’s father Vigrahapāla II. Again, the same verse is also found in the Jājilpārā plate of Gōpāla II as well as the Āmgāchhi[2] and Belwā plates of Vigrahapāla III (grandson of Mahīpāla I) in the description of the exploits of the armies of the reigning monarchs. Lines 23-27 of the charter introduce the place of issue which was the jaya-skandhāvāra at the city of Sāhasagaṇḍa. It is interesting to note that the same description is employed in all the Pāla charters, beginning with those of Dharmapāla, although the jaya-skandhāvāras (probably temporary capitals) themselves were different. This stereotyped description suits only a city on the Bhāgīrathī (i.e., the Ganges) and it suggests that the various jaya-skandhāvāras, some of which cannot be satisfactorily indentified, were all situated on the Ganges.[3] This is supported by the fact that most of the grants were made by the Pāla kings after taking a bath in the waters of the Ganges. Lines 27-28 introduce the reigning monarch, who was in good health while making the grant, as the Paramasaugata (devout Buddhist) Paramēśvara Paramabhaṭṭāraka Mahārājādhirāja Mahīpāladēvawho meditated on (or was favoured by) the feet of the Mahārājādhirāja Vigrahapāldēva.
Lines 28-31 give details regarding the gift land which consisted of three localities all situated in the Puṇḍravardhana bhukti. The first of the three was Ōsinna-Kaivarttavṛitti which measured 210 and was attached to the territorial unit called Amalakshudduṅga within the Phāṇita vīthī. The expression sva-sambaddh-āvichchhinna-tal-ōpēta (i.e., ‘ land that pertains to the king’s own self and has its ground not yet alienated’), found in the description of the piece of land, is also known from other Pāla charters. The standard land measure, according to which the area of Ōsinna-Kaivarttavṛitti was calculated to have been 210, has not been specified. The Belwā plate of Vigrahapāla III, edited below, speaks of the land measures udamāna, āḍhavāpa, drōṇa (i.e., drōṇavāpa) and kulya (i.e., kulyavāpa) as prevalent in the same locality. Of these, 4 āḍhavāpas made 1 drōṇa, 8 of which were equal to 1 kulya. As I have shown elsewhere,4 about 45 udamānas (otherwise called udāna or unmāna) probably made an āḍhavāpa (originally from 4 to 5 modern Bengal Bighās of land). It is difficult to determine as to which of the four land measures has been regarded as the standard one in the record under discussion, especially in view of the fact that all the four are known to have been the standard land measure in different localities, although the area of each may not have been the same in all places. The high number in the specification of the area suggests that the reference is possibly not to the kulya or kulyavāpa. The second piece of the gift land comprised the locality called Nadisvāminī which measured 490 of the standard land measure and was situated in Shaṭṭāpāṇāyichatra which incorporated Pañchakāṇḍaka and lay in the Puṇḍarikā maṇḍala. The third plot of the gift land was the locality called Gaṇēśvara to which some village tanks were attached. The area of this plot was 151 or the standard land measure and it was situated in the Pañchanagarī vishaya. _________________________________________________
[1] J. R. A. S. B., L., Vol. V, pp. 407-15, especially p. 410. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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