South Indian Inscriptions

KALCHURI OF TRIPURI

Vamarājadeva. Both Sankaragana and Vāmarājadēva are mentioned in this record with the imperial titles Paramabhattāraka, Mahārājadhirāja and Paramaēśvara. This Vāmarājadēva is plainly identical with Vāmadēva who is invariably mentioned with the same imperial titles in the beginning of the formal portion of all official records of the Later Kalachuris of Tripuri and on whose feet they are described as meditating.¹ Vāmaraja² was held in such a veneration by all Kalachuri kings of Tripuri probably because he was the founder of the northern Kalachuri power.³

When did this Vāmaraja flourish ? The aforementioned Saugor inscription is the earliest record which names him. It is not dated; but on the evidence of palæography, it can be referred to the middle of the eighth century A.C. Though this inscription states that Sankaragana, during whose reign it was put up, meditated on the feet of Vamaraja, it would be rash to assert that the latter was his immediate predecessor; for, we find the expression Vāmadēva-pād-ānudhyāta repeated in connection with the names of as many as five other kings. But it would not perhaps be wrong to refer Vāmarāja to the end of the seventh century A.C.⁴

We have seen above how after the overthrow of Buddharāja, the Kalachuris had to remain in obscurity and acknowledge the suzerainty of the Chālukya Emperors. But their stubborn spirit and the memory of their past achievements did not allow them to remain in a subordinate position for a long time. As the Chālukyas were then supreme in the south, the Kalachuris turned their attention to the north where they found a favourable field for the expansion of their power in the latter half of the seventh century A.C. After the death of Harsha, his extensive kingdom crumbled to pieces. In the consequent confusion and scramble for power, Vamaraja seems to have found the opportunity he was seeking. He overran Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand and established himself at Kalañjara, the impregnable fort in the Banda District, 90 miles west-south-west of Allahabad.⁵ From very ancient times this fort has been sacred to Siva. It is mentioned as one of the nine holy places in North India.⁶ In the beginning of the sixth century A.C., it was in the occupation of Udayana of the Somavamsi dynasty.⁷ The subsequent history of the fort is not clear until its occupation by the Kalachuris. It seems to have remained in their

___________________

¹ Kielhorn has shown that the expression Paramabhattāraka-Mahārājadhirāja-Paramaēśvara-sri-Vāma- dēva-pad-ānudhyata occurs in connection with five Kalachuri kings, viz., Karna, Yasahkarna, Narasimha, Jayasimha and Vijayasimha. For the different interpretations of this expression, see my article on Vamadeva mentioned above, p. lxvii, n. 6.
² In subsequent records, his name has been contracted into Vāmadēva.
³ The expression Vamadeva-pad-anudhyata occurs also in connection with the name of the Chandella king Trailökyamalla or Trailokyavarman in the Dhureti plates of his reign (No. 72) and also in a record of his feudatory Kumarapaladeva of Karkaredi. Ind. Ant., Vol. XVII, pp. 230 ff. But this is plainly due to the ignorance of the drafters of the records, who blindly copied the expression from earlier inscriptions. It may be noted in this connection that the ancestors of Kumarapaladeva were feudatories of the Kalachuris. Two of their records (Nos. 65 and 68) actually use this expression in connection with the name of the contemporary Kalachuri suzerains.
⁴ As shown below, he was probably identical with the unnamed brother of Lakshmanraja mentioned in the beginning of the Kahla plates, who lived towards the close of the 7th century A. C.
⁵ The fort of Chitrakuta near Kamta in Bundelkhand may also have been occupied by Vamaraja. The Kanarese poet Pampa says that it was situated in the Chedi country. J. R. A. S. for 1882, p. 19. In some Rashtrakuta records, its name is coupled with Kalañjara and the two are described as important out- posts of the Rashtrakutas. See, e. g., Ep. Ind, Vol. IV, p. 284.
⁶ See Padmapurana, Svargakhanda, adhyaya 39, v. 54.
⁷ A stone inscription of this king recording the erection of a temple of Vishnu has been found at Kalañjara. C. A. S. I. R., Vol. XXI, p. 40 and Plate IX. His descendants moved to Chhattisgarh where we find them ruling in the sixth and seventh centuries A.C. See Ep. Ind., Vol. XXIII, pp. 116. ff.