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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RAIPUR changed to anusvāra as in tasmiṁ, 1. 11 and in several cases the proper order of the members of a conjunct is reversed; see mautkika-for mauktika-, 1. 5, nitavma-for nitamba-, 1.12, Phāgluna for Phālguna, 1. 10 etc. The inscription refers itself to the reign of the king Brahmadēva of Rāyapura. He belonged to the Haihaya or Kalachuri dynasty as is known from the next inscription. The object of it is to record the construction, by the Nāyaka Hājirāja, of a temple of Hāṭakēśvara¹ (Śiva) at Rāyapura. After the customary salutation to Gaṇēśa, Sarasvatī and the poet's preceptors, the inscription begins with eight verses in honour of Vighnēśvarā (i. e., Gaṇēśa), Bhāratī (the goddess of speech), the preceptors, Śiva, the Gaṅgā and the moon. It then proceeds to record than on Friday, the eighth tithi of the bright fortnight of Phālguna in the (Vikrama) year 1458 and the Śaka year 1322, the cyclic year being Sarvajit, during the reign of the Mahārājādhirāja, the illustrious king Brahmadēva, while his minister was Ṭhākura Tripurāridēva and the Court-Paṇḍita was Mahādēva, the Nāyaka Hājirājadēva² constructed a temple of Hāṭakēśvara (Śiva) at Rāyapura. After a verse descriptive of Rāyapura we get a genealogy of the ruling king in verses 10-12. At Rāyapura there reigned a great king, Lakshmīdēva. His son was Siṅgha, who in turn had a son named Rāmachandra. Brahmadēva³, who is mentioned next, was probably a son of Rāmachandra, though there is no explicit statement to that effect. The description of these princes is conventional and altogether devoid of historical interest.
The pedigree of Hājirāja commences in verse 13. It seems from that verse that his father also was named Brahmadēva. The subsequent verses seem to describe his sons, grandsons and also brothers, but owing to the careless manner in which the record is composed and written, their exact relationship to one another is in many cases uncertain. Hājirāja seems to have had two sons, Padmanābha and Pāhidēva. The former's son was Kānhaḍa and the latter's, Śivaśarman. Two brothers of Hājirāja are also named in verses 20 and 21. The elder of them was named Supau (?) and the younger Gēyāti. The former of these had two sons, Gōlha and Vishṇudāsa. The inscription finally mentions the artisan Nāmadēva.
The date of the inscription corresponds to Friday, the 10th February 1402 A.C. On that day the eighth tithi of the bright fortnight of Phālguna in the expired Vikrama
year 1458 ended 22 h. 20 m. after mean sunrise.⁴ The cyclic year was Sarvajit according
to the northern luni-solar system. The corresponding Śaka year was, however, 1323
expired, not 1322 as wrongly stated in the inscription.5 1 In both the places (11.11 and 19) where name occurs it is written as Haṭakēśvara, but this is
evidently a mistake for the usual form Hāṭakēśvara.
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