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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Kumārapāla’s time merely credits Karṇa I with a victory over the Mālavas at the Sūdakūpa pass, the Pṛithvīrājavijaya, Sukṛitasaṁkīrtana and Surathōtsava refer to his conquest of the Mālava country.[1] An inscription[2] in the Nagpur Museum refers to Udayāditya’s conquest of the earth (i.e. the Paramāra kingdom) which had been occupied, jointly with the Karṇāṭas, by Karṇa who is identified by some scholars with Chaulukya Karṇa I but by others with the Kalachuri king of Ḍāhala bearing the same name.[3] Verses 36-37 speak of Naravarman (c. 1101-1135 A.D.), son of Udayāditya, but pass over his elder brother Lakshmadēva or Jagaddēva (c. 1090-1101 A.D.) in silence. The next stanza (verse 39) mentions Yaśōvarman (c. 1135-45 A.D.) without specifying the fact that he was the son and successor of Naravarman. Verses 40-41 speak of Ajayavarman, son of Yaśōvarman,[4] while the next two stanzas describe Ajayavarman’s son Vindhyavarman (verse 42) and grandson Subhaṭavarman (verse 43) without stating the fact that Subhaṭavarman was the son and successor of Vindhyavarman. Arjunadēva (i.e. Arjunavarman, known dates between V.S. 1267 and 1270, i.e. 1211-15 A.D.), son of Subhaṭavarman, is mentioned in verses 44-45, in the first of which he is described as devoted to Kṛishṇa.
There is a valuable reference to a historical event in verses 46-48 in the description of the next king Dēvapāla (known dates between V.S. 1275 and 1289, i.e. 1218-32 A. D.) who is mentioned without specifying his relationship with Arjunavarman. Dēvapāla belonged to a branch of the Paramāra family, being the grandson of Mahākumāra Lakshmīvarman (known date V.S. 1200, i.e. 1144 A.D.) who was a brother of king Ajayavarman of the main line. In the branch line, ruling independently over the region about Bhopal, Indore, Hoshangabad, Khandesh and Nimar, Lakshmīvarman was succeeded as Mahākumāra by his son Hariśchandra (known dates V.S. 1235-36, i.e. 1179-81 A.D.) whose successor was his son Mahākumāra Udayavarman (known date V.S. 1256, i.e. 1200 A.D.). Dēvapāla was the younger brother and successor of Udayavarman. With Dēvapāla’s accession to the throne of Arjunavarman of the main branch of the Paramāra family, the two parts of the Paramāra kingdom became reunited. Verse 48 states that Dēvapāla killed an adhipa (i.e. a king or chief) of the Mlēchchhas in a battle fought near the city of Bhaillasvāmin. This no doubt refers to the invasion of the city of Bhaillasvāmin (modern Bhīlsā) by Iltutmish (1212-36 A.D.), the Turkish Sultān of Delhi. According to Muslim historians, in 632 A.H. or 1233-34 A.D., Iltutmish reduced Gwalior to subjection and turned his arms against Malwa ; he captured the fort of Bhīlsā where the temple of Bhaillasvāmin was demolished and marched into Ujjayinī where he destroyed the great temple of the god Mahākāla.[5] The claim of Dēvapāla in the stanza of our inscription, referred to above, seems to suggest that the Paramāra king succeeded in recovering the city of Bhīlsā shortly after its conquest by Iltutmish. The Mlēchchhādhipa mentioned in the verse was probably the Muslim governor in whose charge the city was placed by the Sultān. That the Paramāras reconquered Bhīlsā is also suggested by the fact that, after half a century, the Khaljī Sultāns of Delhi had to reconquer the city from the Hindus.[6] ___________________________________________________
[1] Cf. Ganguly, op. cit., pp. 130-31.
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