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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
thirty verses with genealogical matter, and lines 51-57 ten benedictive and imprecatory verses
(dharma-ślôkâḥ, l. 51) ; the latter are all numbered with numeral figures (from 1 to 10), but of
the former only the last verse has the number 30 placed after it. The rest of the text is in prose.
Unusual terms which occur in the latter will be drawn attention to below. As regards orthography, the sign for v throughout serves for both v and b ; the dental sibilant is frequently employed for the palatal ; the palatal for the dental in âśît, ll. 3, 5, 7 and 22, ajaśram, l. 16, śâśana (for śâsana), l. 22, and sahaśra, l. 53 ; for the palatal sibilant preceded by anusvâra we have ns in vansa, ll. 6 and 50, vansya, l. 3, vinsati, l. 37, and trinsat, l. 39 ; j is used instead of y in Kṛitavîrjja, l. 3, Kârttavîrjjô, l. 4, and jâtô, l. 23 ; gh instead of h in Naghushaḥ, l. 2, and siṁghâsana, l. 13 ; and âmra and tâmra are spelt âmvra and tâmvra, ll. 38 and 57.
The inscription belongs to a hitherto unknown branch of the Kalachuri family. It records
a grant of land by the Paramabhaṭṭâraka Mahârâjâdhirâja Paramêśvara, the devout worshipper
of Mahêśvara (Śiva), the glorious Sôḍhadêva, who meditated on the feet of the P. M. P., the
glorious Maryâdâsâgaradêva (l. 33). The introductory verses give an account of Sôḍhadêva’s
ancestors.
After the words ôṁ svasti. Verses 1-4 eulogize the following mythical and legendary beings :─
the Moon who was Atri’s son, Budha, Purûravas, Nahusha, Haihaya, Kṛitavîrya, and Kârtavîrya Arjuna.[1] In the family descended from the last there was a personage who by conquering Ayômukha[2] and subduing the Krathas possessed himself of Kâlañjara (v. 5.). This
ornament of the Kalachuris, after having conquered his enemies, gave the kingdom to his
younger brother, and the latter, Lakshmaṇarâja, in turn conquered Śvêtapada[3] (v. 6). In
Lakshmaṇarâja’s family there was the king Râjaputra, who captured the lord of horses Vâhali (or Bâhali), defeateds the kings of the east, and lowered the fame of Kirîṭin and other princes
(v. 7). From him spring Śivarâja [I.], and his son was Śaṁkaragaṇa [I.] (v. 8). His son
again was Guṇâmbhôdhidêva (Guṇasâgara [I].), who had some dealings with a Bhôjadêva[4] and by a warlike expedition took away the fortune of the Gauḍa (v. 9. From his first wife Kâñchanadêvî this king had a son named Ullabha who, after reigning himself, placed on the
throne his brother Bhâmânadêva (a son of Guṇasâgara from another wife named Madanâdêvî), who had distinguished himself in a war with a king of Dhârâ (vv. 10-15). Bhâmâna’s
son from Dêhaṭṭadêvî was Śaṁkaragaṇa [II.] Mugdhatuṅga (vv. 16 and 17) ; his son from
the queen Vidyâ was Guṇasâgara [II.] (vv. 18 and 19) ; his son from Râjavâ was Śivarâja [II.] Bhâmâna (vv. 20-22) ; his son from Sûgalladêvî was Śaṁkaragaṇa [III.] (v. 23) ; and
his son from Yaśôlêkhyâdêvî was Bhîma (v. 24). The inscription then, after stating that
Bhîma by the decree of fate lost his lost his kingdom (or was dethroned), records that the king Guṇasâgara [II.] had by Lâvaṇyavatî a son named Vyâsa and that this Vyâsa[5]─if I understand
the text rightly─ was raised to the throne, when the (royal) camp was at Gôkulaghaṭṭa, on
Monday, the day of the eighth tithi in the bright half of the second Jyaishṭha of the
year 1087 (given in words, v. 27). Vyâsa’s son was the king Sôḍhadêva, who (in v. 30) is
described as the life of Sarayûpâra (or ‘the bank of the Sarayû’), and who is the donor this
grant. Since, as has been already stated, Sôḍhadêva is represented as meditating on the feet of
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[1] CompareEp. Ind. Vol. II. p. 5, and other inscriptions of the Kalachuris of Chêdi (or Ḍâhâla).
[2] I do not know the legend here referred to. Ayômukha is the name of a demon and of a mountain, Kratha the name of a race or people. The well-known mountain or fort of Kâlañjara was taken from the (Kalachuri)
kings of Chêdi by the Chandêllas, who from it took the title Kâlañjarâdhipati ; but the Kaḷachuryas of the South,
at any rate, kept the hereditary title of ‘lords of Kâlañjara, the best of towns.’
[3] This must be the name of a country, but the name has not yet been found elsewhere.
[4] The compound of which this name forms part is somewhat ambiguous. The Bhôjadêva referred to may be
Bhôjadêva of Kanauj (see my List of North. Inscr. No. 14).
In line 28 of the text there seem to be references to a person named Sasva(?), but the text is damaged in that
line, and the sense is not clear to me.
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