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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA their various records which were published before the time when the Sirûr inscription came to notice. And, for purposes of easy discrimination, it will be desirable to continue the use of that appellation, and to speak still, as hitherto, of the Râshṭrakûṭa kings of Mâlkhêḍ and the Raṭṭa princes of Saundatti. We have now to consider which of the two names, Raṭṭa and Râshṭrakûṭa, was evolved from the other name, and how it was done. And, in the first place, it is to be remarked that we have been told by Mr. Pathak that “ the word raṭṭa, according to Trivikrama, is a Prâkṛit form of the Sanskṛit râshṭra.”[1] I have, however, been assured, by the very best authority, that Trivikrama does not give in his grammar any rule at all about the word râshṭra, and that the word raṭṭa has not been found in Prâkṛit literature. And, as far as our actual knowledge goes, the forms which the Sanskṛit word râshṭra, ‘ a country,’ would assume in the Prâkṛits, are raṭṭha, raṭha and raṭa. We have the form raṭṭha Suraṭṭha, = Surâshṭra, and Sôraṭṭha, = Saurâshṭra, which instances Professor Pischel has given me from, respectively, Hêmachandra, 2, 34, and Trivikrama, 1, 4, 14 ; and the use of it evidently underlies the Jaina-Mahârâshṭrî, Śaurasênî, and Apabhraṁśa word Marahaṭṭha, for Maharaṭṭa, = Mahârâshṭra, and the Mahârâshṭrî word Marahaṭṭhî, for Maharaṭṭhî, = Mahârâshṭrî.[2] In Pâli, we have the independent word raṭṭha itself, = râshṭra, in the sense of ‘ kingdom, realm, country, land, district.’[3] And, in epigraphy, we have Sâtâhani-raṭṭhê, “ in the province of Sâtâhani.”[4] We have the form raṭha, in epigraphy, in Suraṭha, = Surâshṭra, in one of the Nâsik inscriptions of Puḷumâyi.[5] And we have the form raṭa, attributable no doubt to the tendency to avoid aspirates in the Drâviḍian languages, in Soraṭa, = Saurâshṭra, which is given as an instance of the changes of au to o and of shṭ to ṭ in the illustrations of Kêśirâja’s Kanarese Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa, sûtras 270, 283.[6] So far, no authority can be obtained for saying that the form raṭṭa, = râshṭra, ‘ country,’ actually occurs. However, according to the Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa, sûtra283, the Sanskṛit shṭ may become ṭṭ, as well as ṭ, in Kanarese ; and there are cases, such as duṭṭa, = dushṭa siṭṭi, = sṛishṭi, and iṭṭige, = ishṭaka, in which that change has occurred. And so, also, in the Prâkṛit language technically so called, while the Sanskṛit shṭ usually becomes ṭṭh,[7] there are some cases in which it has become ṭṭ ; as, for instance, in uṭṭa, = ushṭra, and a few other words.[8] And we are, therefore, not prepared to say that the form raṭṭa, = râshṭra, may not be found to occur, though it was not taught by Trivikrama, and though we cannot at present quote any instance of it.
But the name Raṭṭa was certainly not obtained from the word râshṭra, or from the name Râshṭrakûṭa. The family-name, in its Sanskṛit form, was, not Râshṭra, but Râshṭrakûṭa. There was no name Râshṭra, from which to obtain the name Raṭṭa. From the name Râshṭrakûṭa we obtain, by corruption, in the most natural manner, Râshṭrôḍa, actually presented in a Verâwal inscription of A.D. 1384, which speaks of Râshṭrôḍa-vaṁśa, “ the race of the Râshṭrôḍas,” and describes it as a third race famous like the Solar and Lunar Races ;[9] and we shall not be
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