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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
KALACHURI OF TRIPURI inscription dated K. 866 boasts that the lord of Chēdi had sought his friendship by means of presents.1 Soon after Karna’s death, Yaśahkarna seems to have lost Kanauj and the surrounding territory. The Basāhi plate says that when king Bhōja became a guest of the eyes of the celestial damsels and Karna existed only in renown, and when the earth was sorely troubled, the husband whom she chose from love and took with confidence as the protector was Chandradēva.2 The aforementioned Ratanpur inscription of Jājalladēva dated K. 866 (1114 A.C.) mentions the king of Kānyakubja as different from the lord of Chēdi. This clearly indicates that the latter had lost his control over Kanauj, as it had passed into the possession of the Gāhadavālas. As stated before, the eulogistic portion of the Jabalpur plates is an almost exact copy of that of the Khairhā plates. The date of the former is now lost as the second plate is not forthcoming, but there are grounds to suppose that it was K. 836 (1084 A.C.). 3 If the description in the plate could be relied on, Yaśahkarna was master of Banaras till that date. Soon thereafter, he seems to have lost that city also to the Gāhadavālas; for, the Chandrāvatī plates, which record the earliest grant of the Gāhadavālas found in the Banaras District, are dated V. 1148 (1090 A.C.).4
In the latter part of his career, Yaśahkarna seems to have made a supreme effort to regain his lost possessions in the north. He carried his arms as far as Champāranya (modern Champāran in Bihar) and devastated the country;5 but he did not probably succeed in annexing any territory; for, after 1090 A.C. we have several grants of the Gāhadavālas from the Banaras District, which shows that they were securely established there.6 This conclusion receives an additional support from a copper-plate inscription dated V. 1177 (1122 A.C.) which records the sanction of the Gāhadavāla king Govindachandradēva to the transfer of two villages in the Antarālapattalā (i.e., Antarvēdī or Gangā-Yamunā Doab) which had been previously granted by Yaśahkarna to the Śaiva ascetic Rudraśiva.7 This clearly shows that the Kalachuris did not succeed in regaining possession of the Doab during the reign Yaśahkarna. With the loss of the northern provinces, the kingdom of Yaśahkarna seems to have
shrunk to the home province of Dāhala, and Tripurī again became his sole capital.
From the Nagpur praśasti we learn that the city was stormed by the Paramāra king
Lakshmadēva (circa 1086-1094 A.C.), who annihilated his warlike and spirited adversaries,
and encamped on the bank of the Rēvā, his elephants allaying the fatigue of the battle
by bathing in the stream of the river.8 Yaśahkarna seems to have suffered another defeat at the hands of the Chandēlla
Sallakshanavarman (circa 1100-1110 A.C.); for, in an inscription of the latter’s descendant
Vīravarman, Sallakshanavarman’s sword is said to have robbed the Chedis of their 1 No. 77, v. 20.
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