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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RATANPUR BILAIGARH PLATES OF PRITHVIDEVA II : YEAR 896 The date of the present inscription must evidently be referred to the Kalachuri era. No details of the solar eclipse mentioned in it are given, but supposing that it occurred in the same year in which the plates were issued, as seems probable, we get some date for verification. According to the epoch of 247-48 A.C., there were two solar eclipses in the expired Kalachuri year 896, one of which occurred in the pūrṇimānta Māgha (on the 26th December 1144 A.C.) and the other in the pūrṇimānta Āshāḍha (on the 22nd June 1145 A.C.), while there was none in the current Kalachuri year 896. The plates were therefore granted some time in the year 1145-45 A.C. The genealogy of Pṛithvīdēva II down to his father Ratnadēva II is given here in verses 3-10 which are repeated verbatim from the earlier grants of the dynasty¹ as the praśasti had then become stereotyped. Verse 11 which describes the reigning king is, however, new and occurs only in the present grant. It gives the interesting information that Pṛithvīdēva II filled the contemporary Gaṅga king with anxiety when he devastated chakrakōṭa, as the Gaṅga king realised that the only way to save his life was to cross the ocean. Chakrakōṭa has been identified with the central portion of the former Bastar state.² The Gaṅga adversary of Pṛithvīdēva II is not named, but as the devastation of Chakrakōṭa had taken place some time before 1144-45 A.C. When the present grant was made, it must have occurred during the reign of Anantavarman-Chōḍagaṅga.³ This mighty Gaṅga Emperor had invaded the Kalachuri kingdom towards the close of the reign of Ratnadēva II, but he suffered an ignominious defeat. Soon after his accession Pṛithvīdēva II seems to have attacked and devastated Chakrakōṭa. The Rājim stone inscription, dated in the same year as the present grant, viȥ., K. 896, stated that Jagapāla conquered Kākayara, modern Kāṅker, which borders the former Bastar State on the north, during the reign of Pṛithvīdēva II.⁴ The Kalachuri kings were often at war with the Nāga rulers of Chakrakōṭa. Pṛithvīdēva II‘S grandfather Jājalladēva I had taken the Nāga king Sōmēśvara prisoner and released him only at the intercession of his mother.⁵ The history of the Nāga kingdom of Chakrakōṭa is still enveloped in obscurity. Sōmēśvara was succeeded by Kanharadēva who was reigning in 1111 A.C.⁶ His successors, whose name is still unknown, must have been the adversary of Pṛithvīdēva II.
Pṛithvīdēva II's devastation of Chakrakōṭa is said to have struck terror in the heart of Anantavarman-Chōḍagaṅga, who ruled over the neighbouring kingdom of Kaliṅga. The Kalachuri king does not seem to have attacked the Gaṅga kingdom on this occasion. Jagapāla's inscription also does not mention any victory over the Gaṅga king though it mentions the conquest of Bhramaravadradēśa which was probably identical with the Bhramarakōṭyamaṇḍala in the Nāga kingdom. Pṛithvīdēva invaded the Gaṅga territory later on during the reign of Jaṭēśvara alias Madhukāmārṇava, the son and successor of Anantavarman.7 The pedigree of the donee begins in verse 12. His grandfather was Hāpūka who
belonged to the Vatsa gōtra. He was famous for his knowledge of the Vēdas. His son
was Jīmūtavāhana and the latter's son was Dēlhūka to whom the present grant was
made. He is eulogised as proficient in the Vēdānta philosophy and the Śākambhari 1 See, e. g., the Sarkhō plates of Ratnadēva II, No. 83, above.
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