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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA religious merit of Mahārāja Bappadatti, who may have been the king’s father ”. But in this interpretation the expression tasy=aiva is totally ignored. There can be little doubt that the intended reading of the passage is mahārāja-bappa-dattau tasy=aiva puṇy-āpyāyana-nimittaṁ which has to be read with Ūbbarakagrām-āgrahārē in the following line. Here bappa means ‘ father ’ and datti, ‘ a gift ’. The expression tasy=aiva stands for bappasy=aiva. The village in question was apparently granted by Mahārāja Bhētti’s father who was also a Mahārāja, although his personal name is not mentioned in the record. Bhētti had to ratify the grant made by his father for the religious merit of the latter obviously because the original donor had died before the execution of the deed. A similar case is offered by the Hirahaḍagalli plates of Pallava Śivaskandavarman, which record the ratification of a grant previously made by the king’s mahārāja-bappa-svāmin.[1] Epigraphic passages like paramabhaṭṭāraka-mahārājādhirāja-paramēśvara-śrī-bappa-pād-ānudhyāta, paramadaivata-bappabhaṭṭāraka-śrī-pād-ānudhyāta, etc.,[2] show that the word bappa in these cases has to be taken in the sense of ‘ father ’ and not in that of a personal name[3]. The above comments will show that Prof. Mirashi’s first suggestion regarding the foundation of the era by an ancestor of Mahārāja Bhētti is, to say the least, inconclusive. The other suggestions, based on this one, do not therefore require elaborate refutation. The second suggestion that the founder of the era in question was another Bhētti who was the grandfather of the issuer of the Dhulēv plate may be passed over without comments. The third suggestion that Bhāṭika is a later modification of Bhētti can hardly be seriously considered as it is a philological speculation of little value. The contention that the year 73 of the Dhulēv plate is to be referred to the Bhāṭika era, known only from two Jaisalmer inscriptions of 1438 and 1616 A.C., is unsatisfactory not only because Dhulēv is far away from Jaisalmer but also because there is no evidence regarding the prevalence of the Bhāṭika era before the fifteenth century A.C. The Bhāṭika era may have been a solar modification of the Hijrī like the Faslī, Bengali and other Sāls of a later date.[4]
The fourth suggestion of Prof. Mirashi that the dynasty represented by the issuer of the Dhulēv plate ruled over “ a great empire ” goes clearly against the known facts of Indian history and epigraphy. The very nature of the document under review as well as its issuer’s humble title shows beyond doubt that Mahārāja Bhētti was not an imperial ruler. Hiuen-tsang’s account and epigraphic records discovered in Rājasthān do not indicate the possibility of the existence in that area, about the seventh century A.C., of a great empire with which Bhētti can be reasonably associated. Whether Harshavardhana succeeded in extending his political influence over the whole of Rājasthān need not be discussed in this connection. Suffice it to say that his paternal kingdom comprised the Eastern Panjab together with the contiguous areas of Rājasthān, that he succeeded in making himself master of the erstwhile Maukhari dominions in the U. P. and Bihār and that he led an expedition against the Maitraka king of Valabhī ruling over Kathiawar and the adjoining regions, who was subdued and became one of Harsha’s subordinate allies. Dhulēv lying about 45 miles to the south of Udaipur was apparently not far away from the dominions of the Maitraka king.[5] It is therefore more probable that the Dhulēv area was not outside the sphere of Harshavardhana’s influence at least during the years when he was leading an expedition against Kathiawar. Prof. Mirashi’s calculations do not appear to preclude the possibility of the Harsha era being used in the Dhulēv plate.[6] _____________________________________________________
[1] Cf. Select Inscriptions, p. 438.
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