|
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
“ In the twelfth year (of the reign) of king Râjakêsarivarman[1] alias the lord śrî-Râjêndradêva, who was pleased to be seated on the throne of heroes,─ during the full-moon
tithi of the month of Phâlguna in the . . . . year (which was) the Śaka year 984.”
This date does not admit of verification. All that I can say about it, is, that if the Śaka
year is Śaka-Saṁvat 984 expired, the date, which is stated to be of the twelfth year of the
king’s reign, will ordinarily correspond to the 15th February A.D. 1063. From No. 38, below,
it will be seen that this day fell really in the eleventh year of the king’s reign.
38.- In the Râjagôpâla-Perumâḷ temple at Maṇimaṅgalam.[2]
13 â¦. kô=Ppara[k]êśari[panmar]=âna [u]ḍai[y]âr śrî-
Râjêndradêvar[ku] yâṇḍu nâlâva-
14 du [nâ*]ḷ 8[2] || …. ivv-âṭṭai Si[ṁ*]ha-nâyarru
apara-paksha[t]tu ashṭamiyum Viyâla-kkilamaiyum
15 perra Rôja(hi)ṇi-nâḷ.
“ On the 8[2]nd day of the fourth year (of the reign) of king Parakêsarivarman alias
the lord śrî-Râjêndradêva,─ on the day of Rôhiṇî, which corresponded to a Thursday and
to the eighth tithi of the second fortnight of the month of Siṁha in this year.”
Of the years indicated in a general way by the two preceding dates, the one which yields a
correct (and a most satisfactory) result for this date, is Śaka-Saṁvat 977 expired. In that
year the month of Siṁha lasted from the 27th July to the 26th August A.D. 1055 ; and during
that time the 8th tithi of the dark half (which was the 8th tithi of the dark half of the amânta
nija Śrâvaṇa) commenced 14 h. 20 m. after mean sunrise of Thursday, the 17th August A.D.
1055, when the nakshatra was Rôhiṇî, from sunrise (or, by the equal space system, from about
midday) to the end of the day. Although the tithi commenced so late in the day, the result is
correct, because the tithi with which we are concerned is the Janm-âshṭamî or Kṛishṇ-âshṭamî,
a tithi which must be joined with that day of which the time of midnight is occupied by it,
and which therefore, in the present instance, could have been joined only with the Thursday on
which it commenced about four hours before midnight. The occasion was the more auspicious
as the nakshatra at midnight was Rôhiṇî.[3]
The equivalent of this date, then, undoubtedly is Thursday, the 17th August A.D. 1055.
As this was the 82nd day of the fourth year of the king’s reign, the first day of the fourth year
was the 28th May A.D. 1055, and Râjêndradêva’s reign commenced (approximately) on
the 28th May A.D. 1052. The result shews that the equivalent of the date No. 36 (the 27th
October A.D. 1057) fell in the sixth year of his reign, while the equivalent suggested for No. 37
(the 15th February A.D. 1063) fell in the eleventh, not in the twelfth year.
For convenience of reference the commencement of the reigns of the seven Chôḷa
kings whose dates have been examined in the preceding, may now be given thus :─
1.─Râjarâja : between the 25th June and the 25th July A.D. 985.
2.─Râjêndra-Chôḷa I. : between the 26th November A.D. 1011, and the 7th July 1012.
3.─Râjâdhirâja : between the 15th March and the 3rd December A.D. 1018.
4.─Râjêndradêva : (approximately) the 28th May A.D. 1052.
5.─Kulôttuṅga-Chôḷa I. : between the 14th March and the 8th October A.D. 1070.
6.─Vikrama-Chôḷa : (most probably) the 18th July A.D. 1108.
7.─Kulôttuṅga-Chôḷa III. : between the 8th June and the 8th July A.D. 1178.
_______________________________________________________
[1] In all other published inscriptions the king bears the surname Parakêsarivarman.
[2] South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. III. No. 29, pp. 61 and 63.
[3] Compare Ind. Ant. Vol. XXVI. p. 182, Śrâvaṇa-kṛishṇapaksha VIII.
|