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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
KALACHURI OF TRIPURI fortune.1 Yaśahkarna was also unsuccessful in his encounter with the Chālukya Vikramāditya VI.2 1 It is difficult to state definitely the limits of Yaśahkarna’s reign. The earlier of his two grants seems to have been issued in K. 827.3 He must have been reigning then for about 3 years and, therefore, may have come to the throne in circa K. 824. The only date of his son and successor Gayākarna is K. 902. Gayākarna’s reign seems to have closed soon thereafter; for, in K. 907 he was dead and his son Narasimha was on the throne. So the period of about 80 years (K. 824 to K. 904) is covered by only two reigns. It seems probable that Yaśahkarna had a longer reign than his son, of whose achievements very little is known. He may, therefore, be referred to the period K. 824 to K. 874 (1073-1123 A.C.). Yaśahkarna assumed the same imperial titles as Karna; but he had neither the ambition nor the military genius of his father. During his reign the Kalachuri kingdom lost the northern provinces of Kanauj, Prayāga and Banaras, and became very much circumscribed. He tried to regain his possessions by forming alliances4 and even invaded northern and southern countries; but his raids produced no permanent effect and did not extend the limits of his dominion. The Paramāra invasion of his capital must have dealt a shattering blow to his power and prestige. 4
Yaśahkarna was succeeded by his son Gayākarna. Only two inscriptions of his reign are known. The earlier5 of these, dated K. 902, which was discovered at Tewar, records the erection of a temple dedicated to Śiva by the Pāśupata ascetic Bhāvabrahman. The second inscription6 is from Bahuribandh in the north of the Jabalpur District. It has partially lost its date.7 It mentions Gōlhanadēva of the Rāshtrakūta family as the Mahāsāmantādhipati (Chief Feudatory) of Gayākarna. He was evidently a descendant of a scion of the Rāshtrakūta family which had settled in the Chēdi country in the 8th or 9th century A.C., when the Kalachuris and the Rāshtrakūtas were matrimonially connected. The proper object of the inscription is to record the erection of a temple of the Jina Śāntinātha by a private individual named Mahabhoja. These inscriptions, both of which come from the Jabalpur District, do not help us
in determining the extent of Gayākarna’s kingdom. The discovery8 of a hoard of the
Chandēlla Madanavarman’s silver coins at Panwar in the Teonthal tahsil of the former
Rewa state in 1910 seems to indicate that Gayākarna had lost the territory north
of the Kaimur range. That he had come into a conflict with the Chandēllas is clear from
an inscription found at Mau which says that ‘the Chēdi king, being vanquished in a fierce
fight, runs away in haste at the mention of Madanavarman’s name.’9 As Madanavarman
was ruling from circa 1124 A.C. to 1164 A.C., the Chēdi king defeated by him was probably
Gayākarna. 1 Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 327.
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