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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Sibsagar area formed a part of the dominions of the Bhauma-Nāraka kings of Kāmarūpa at least during the reign of Bhūtivarman who, as will be shown below, must have flourished in the sixth century A.C. Another important fact recorded in the inscription under review is the celebration of the Aśvamēdha attributed to Bhūtivarman. As I have pointed out elsewhere[1] this information has to be reconciled with the evidence supplied by the legend on the seals of Bhāskaravarman of the Bhauma-Nāraka dynasty, who flourished about the first half of the seventh century A.C. and was a contemporary of king Harshavardhana (606-47 A.C.) of Thanesar and Kanauj. The information supplied by the seals may be summarised as follows :─ 1 Mahārājādhirāja Pushyavarman, lord of Prāgjyōtisha and descendant of Naraka as well as of Bhagadatta and Vajradatta ; 2 Mahārājādhirāja Samudravarman, son of No. 1 ; 3 Mahārājādhirāja Balavarman, son of No. 2 from Dattavatī ; 4 Mahārājādhirāja Kalyāṇavarman, son of No. 3 from the queen Ratnavatī ; 5 Gaṇapativarman, [son of No. 4] from Gandharvavatī ; 6 Mahēndravarman, [son of No. 5] form Yajñavatī ; 7 Nārāyaṇavarman, performer of two Aśvamēdhas and [son of No. 6] from Suvratā ; 8 Bhūtivarman, [son of No. 7] from Dēvavatī ; 9 Chandramukhavarman, [son of No. 8] from Vijñānavatī ; 10 Sthiravarman, performer of two Aśvamēdhas and [son of No. 9] from Bhōgavatī ; 11 Susthitavarman, son of No. 10 from Nayanaśōbhā ; 12 Supratishṭhitavarman, son of No. 11 from Dhruvalakshmī ; 13 Bhāskaravarman, younger brother of No. 12 and son of No. 11 from Dhruvalakshmī.
It will be seen that Bhūtivarman, called an aśvamēdha-yājin in the Baḍagaṅgā inscription, is not credited with the performance of the horse-sacrifice in the legend on Bhāskaravarman’s seals, although his father Nārāyaṇavarman and grandson Sthiravarman are both endowed with the epithet ‘ performer of two Aśvamēdhas ’. As has been explained in my paper referred to above, I do not accept Dr. Bhattasali’s suggestion that, according to the legend on Bhāskaravarman’s seals, Mahēndravarman, father of Nārāyaṇavarman, performed the two horse-sacrifices and am inclined to attribute them to Nārāyaṇavarman. It has been shown by me that the epithet dvir-aśvamādha-yājin admittedly refers to the following name of Sthiravarman in the legend and that, on the same analogy, the epithet dvis-turagamēdh-āharttā should refer not to the preceding name of Mahēndravarman but to the following name of Nārāyaṇavarman.[2] I have further shown that the position of the queen-mothers’ names in the two expressions, viz. Śrī-Bhōgavatyāṁ dvir-aśvamēdha-yājī Śrī-Sthiravarmā and dvis-turagamēdh-āhartā Śrī-Suvratāyāṁ Śrī-Nārāyaṇavarmā, does not make any difference in Sanskrit syntax. Now the omission in the legend on Bhāskaravarman’s seals of any reference to the horse-sacrifice that was celebrated by Bhūtivarman according to the Baḍagaṅgā inscription is really inexplicable ; but I suggested that the second of the two Aśvamēdhas attributed by the seal-legend to Bhūtivarman’s father ______________________________________________
[1] IHQ, Vol. XXI, pp. 143-45.
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