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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Chandragupta-rājya-saṁvatsarē 88, “ in the year 88 of the reign of the illustrious Chandragupta ”. By this we have not to understand that the inscription in question was incised in the eightyeighth regnal year of Chandragupta II but that it was engraved in the eightyeighth year of the Gupta era which fell in the reign of the said Gupta monarch. Just as in this case the year 88 of the Gupta era is represented as the rājya-saṁvatsara (i.e., a year of the reign) of Chandragupta II, in the Dhulēv plate the year 73 of an era is stated to have been the rājya-pratipatti-varsha (i.e., the year of the acquisition of kingdom, the year of accession to the throne, the first regnal year) of Mahārāja Bhētti, issuer of the charter. Of course the Dhulēv plate does not clearly state : śrī-Bhētti-rājya-pratipatti-varshē trisaptatitamē ; but we have numerous instances of dates without specific reference to the king. Thus the Udayagiri inscription[1] of the time of Chandragupta II simply gives the date in the words : Saṁvatsarē 82, while the Sānchi inscription[2] of the same reign merely has : Saṁ 93. As indicated by the Gadhwa inscription referred to above, the contracted dated of these two records were expected to stand respectively for śrī-Chandragupta-rājya-saṁvatsarē 82 and śrī-Chandragupta-rājya-saṁvatsarē 93.
We believe that the Dhulēv plate is dated in the year 73 of some era, the year corresponding to the first regnal year of Mahārāja Bhētti who issued the charter. This fact, however, does not prove that the era in question was founded by one of Bhētti’s ancestors. The records of certain kings of Kauśāmbī (modern Kosam near Allahabad) “ are characterised by the use of an era which seems to be no other than Kanishka’s reckoning, i.e., the Śaka era of A. D. 78, introduced in the locality during the rule of Kanishka I ”.[3] But the language, in which the dates are quoted in the inscriptions, reminds us of the dates of the Gupta records referred to above, e.g., śrī-Bhadramaghasya saṁvatsarē 86,[4] śrī-Bhīmavarmmaṇaḥ saṁvat 139,[5] etc. The era of 248-49 A.C. is believed by scholars, including Prof. Mirashi, to have started from the accession of the Ābhīra king Īśvarasēna.[6] But the year 245 of this era is quoted in an inscription of the Traikūṭakas as : Traikūṭānāṁ pravarddhamāna-vijaya-rājya-saṁvatsara-śata-dvayē pañchachatvāriṁśaduttarē,[7] although even Prof. Mirashi has not taken this passage to indicate that the era in question was founded by the Traikūṭakas. The years of the era of the Gaṅgas of Kaliṅga were originally introduced by the expression pravarddhamāna-vijaya-rājya-saṁvatsara[8], but later often by the expression Gāṅgēya-vaṁśa-pravarddhamāna-vijaya-rājya-saṁvatsara.[9] In a record of the Kadamba feudatories of the Gaṅgas, however, the era is introduced by the passage Gaṅga-Kadamba-vaṁśa-pravarddhamāna-vijaya-rājya-saṁvatsara.[10] This does not mean that the Kadambas has anything to do with the foundation of the Gaṅga era. As we have shown, the Dhulēv plats was issued by Mahārāja Bhētti in the year of his accession, i.e., his first regnal year, corresponding to the year 73 of an era, and there is nothing to suggest that this era was founded by one of his ancestors. That the charter was issued soon after Bhētti’s accession is also indicated by another passage of the Dhulēv plate, although it has been misunderstood by Prof. Mirashi. In line 2 of the record we have the passage : mahārāja-bappa-dattiḥ tasy=aiva puṇy-āpyāyana-nimittyarthaṁ which has been amended by the Professor as Mahārāja-Bappadattēḥ puṇy-āpyāyana-nimittaṁ. He thinks that the grant was made by Bhētti “ for the _________________________________________________
[1] Ibid., No. 1260.
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