South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

same official or professional position is also indicated by the epithet Paurāṇika applied to Vaijāditya, a courtier of Chāhamāna Hammīra (1238-1301 A.D.) of Raṇastambhapura (Ranthambhor), in the Balvan (Koṭah District, Rājasthān) stone inscription.^[1]

Allāvadīna is a Sanskritised form of the Muslim name ’Alāuddīn and undoubtedly refers to ’Alāuddīn Khajī (1296-1316 A.D.), Sultān of Delhi. It is well known that the imperial Chāhamānas who had their capital at Sākambharī (modern Sambhar in the Jaipur District) were overthrown by the Turkish Musalmans about the close of the twelfth century.^[2] A member of the fallen house is known to have accepted the suzerainty of the Musalmans and many smaller chiefs must have done the same. During the weak rule of the successors of Sultān Iltutmish (1211-36 A.D.), a branch of the Chāhamāna dynasty established a powerful kingdom with its headquarters at Raṇastambhapura.^[3] The Khalji Sultān ’Alāuddīn killed king Hammīradēva of this line and conquered the fort of Raṇastambhapura in 1301 A.D. Minor chiefs of the Chāhamāna lineage, like those mentioned in our record, must have then acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sultān. But even before the overthrow of Hammīradēva, there were Chāhamāna partisans on the Sultān’s side. Thus Bhōja, described as a natural brother and general of Hammīra, joined the Muslim side according to Nayachandra’s Hammīramahākāvya.^[4] This Bhōja, however, seems to the different from the Chāhamāna chief of that name mentioned in the inscription under study.

TEXT^[5]

1 [Siddham^[6]] || Svasti || Śrī-Jagajjananyai namaḥ || Saṁvat 1362 Varshē Phālguna-vadi tatkāla-dvādaśī 12 Guru- ||
2 || dinē Uttarāshāḍhā-nakshatrē Makara─sthitē chaṁdrē Variyā^[7]-nāma-yōgē samasta-bhūpāla-māna-marddana-mahā- [||]
3 || rājādhirāja-śrīmad-Allāvadīna-vijaya-rājyē mahāsha(kha)ḍgadhara-śrī-Bhōjadēvō va(ba)- bhūva | tasya pūrvva- |[|]
4 || jaḥ Chāhumān-ānvayē śrīmān=Māḍh[ū]dēvō va(ba)bhūva [|*] tasmād=dhīmān Dhēnūdēvaḥ saṁjātaḥ [|*] tasmād=Gōpa- ||
5 || tidēvaḥ puṇya-karmmā jātaḥ [|*] tasya bhāryā Dharmmādēvī va(ba)bhūva [|*] tasyāṁ mahā- sha(kha)ḍgadhara-śrī-Bhōjadēva-Padma- |[|]
6 || siṁbadēvau putrau jātau [|*] trā(tā)bhyām=iyaṁ vāpi puṇyāya yaśasē cha kāritā | Vyāsa- Śivarājēna li-
7 [khitaṁ^[8](tam) ||]

2. Toḍā-Rāising Inscription of the time Asalema-Sāhi (Islām Shāh) ; V. S. 1604, Śaka 1469

The inscription^[9] was briefly noticed by Daya Ram Sahni in his Archaeological Remains and Excavations at Sambhar, p. 8. Unfortunately the notice is rather misleading, as Sahni failed to

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^[1] Above, Vol. XIX, pp. 45-52.
^[2] Ray, DHNI, Vol. II, pp. 1086 ff.
^[3] Ibid., pp. 1094 ff.
^[4] Ibid., p. 1100.
^[5] From an impression.
^[6] Expressed by a symbol which is damaged.
^[7] The correct name of the Yōga is Varīyān.
^[8] These two aksharas, standing below the last three letters of the previous line (line 6), are almost cut off in the impression.
^[9] As the inscription is partly written in a dialect of Hindi, in which the vowels e and o are often short, macron over these vowels is not used in this section even in transliterating passages in Sanskrit. This is to avoid confusion. See above, Vol. XXIX, p. 106, note 2.