South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

century A.D.─ by which the village of Sômakuṇḍakâ in the Kuṇḍadhânî vishaya of the Śrâvastî bhukti, which had been previously held by a Brâhmaṇ on the strength of a forged charter, was granted to two other Brâhmaṇs. The king’s order was issued from the royal residence or camp of Kapitthikâ (l. 1), and is dated on the 6th of the dark half of the month Mârgaśîrsha of the year 25 (apparently of the king’s reign^[1]). The actual order is preceded by the genealogy of Harsha, in the course of which it is stated that his immediate predecessor, his elder brother Râjyavardhana, after defeating Dêvagupta and other kings, was treacherously slain in his enemy’s quarters. On this event and on the genealogy generally it is now unnecessary to comment.

Of the localities mentioned in the inscription, Kapitthikâ apparently is the Kie-pi-tha (Kapittha) of Hiuen-Tsiang,^[2] which, again, is the same as Sâṁkâśya, identified by the late Sir A. Cunningham^[3] with the modern Sankisa,^[4] on the Kâlînadî river, about 40 miles north-west of Kanauj. And Śrâvastî, after which the Śrâvastî-bhukti was called, is the modern Sahet-Mahet^[5] in the Gonda district of Oudh. Kuṇḍadhânî, from which the Kuṇḍadhânî-vishaya received its name, and the village of Sômakuṇḍakâ have not been identified.

TEXT.^[6]

1 Ôṁ^[7] svasti [||*] Mahâ-nau-hasty-aśva-jayaskandhâvârât=Kapitthikâyâḥ^[8] mahârâja- śrî-Naravarddhanas=tasya puttras=tatpâdânudhyâtaḥ śrî-Vajriṇîdêvyâm=utpannaḥ paramâdityabhaktô
2 mahârâja-śrî-Râjyavarddhanas=tasya puttras=tatpâdânudhyâtaḥ śrî-^[9]Apsarôdêvyâm= utpannaḥ paramâdityabhaktô maharaja-śrîmad-A(â)dityavarddhanas=tasya puttras= tatpâdânudhyâtaḥ śrî-Mahâ-
3 sênaguptâdêvyâm-utpannaś=^[10]chatussamudr-âtikkrânta-kîrttiḥ pratâp-ânurâg-ôpanat- ânyarâjâ^[11] varṇṇ-âśrama-vyavasthâpana-pravṛitta-chakra êkachakkraratha iva
prajânâm=ârtti­-haraḥ
4 paramâdityabhaktaḥ paramabhaṭṭâraka-mahârâjâdhirâja-śrî-Prabhâkaravarddhanas= tasya puttras=tatpâdânudhyâtaḥ sitayaśaḥpratâna-vichchhurita-sakalabhuvanamaṇḍalaḥ
parigṛihîta- 5 Dhanada-Varuṇ-Êndra-prabhṛiti-lôkapâla-têjâḥ satpath-ôpârjjit-ânêka-draviṇa-bhûmi- pradâna-samprîṇit-ârthihṛidayô=tiśayita-pûrvvarâja-charitô dêvyâm=amalayaśômatyâṁ
6 śrî-Yaśômatyâm=utpannaḥ paramasaugataḥ Sugata iva parahit-aikarataḥ paramabhaṭṭâraka-mahârâjâdhirâja-śrî-Râjyavarddhanaḥ Râjânô^[12] yudhi dushṭa-vâjina iva śrî-Dêvagupt-â-
7 dayaḥ kṛitvâ yêna kaśâprahâra-vimukhâḥ sarvvê samaṁ saṁyatâḥ [|*] utkhâya dvishtô vijitya vasudhâṁ kṛitvâ prajânâṁ priyaṁ prâṇân=ujjhitavân=ârâti-bhavanê saty-ânurôdhêna yaḥ [||*] Tasy=ânuja-

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^[1] If the Harsha era dates from the commencement of Harsha’s reign, the date must fall in A.D. 630-31.
^[2] See Beal’s Si-yu-ki, Vol. I. p. 202 ; compare also Jour. Roy. As. Soc. 1897, p. 421
^[3] Archæol. Survey of India, Vol. I. p. 271.
^[4] See the Imperial Gazetteer of India, 2nd ed., Vol. XII. P. 223.
^[5] See ibid. p. 126. Compare also Dr. Bloch in Jour. As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. LXVII. Part. I. pp. 289 and 290 ; to the inscriptions there enumerated as mentioning Śrâvastî may now be added the Lucknow Museum plate of Kîrtipâla, above, p. 96, l. 12 of the text.
^[6] From impressions supplied by the Curator of the Provincial Museum, Lucknow.
^[7] Denoted by a symbol.
^[8] Here and in other places below the rulers of saṁdhi have not been observed ; read ºkâyâ.
^[9] Read śry-.
^[10] Originally ºtpannaḥ and ºśchatuḥ was engraved.
^[11] Read ºrâjô.
^[12] Metre ; Śârdûlavikrîḍita.