North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RATANPUR

downwards and added to the middle of the vertical stroke ; see, e.g., -vidyud-, I.18; medial diphthongs are expressed by pṛishṭhamātrās in many cases; k shown two forms, one in combination with the vowel ṛi and consonants and the other in other cases, see kṛitī and kāla-kramēṇ-, 1.8; ṅ has developed a dot, see -śaśāṅka-, 1.6; the left limb of dh is seen developed in a few cases, but the earlier form is predominant; see nidhi-, 1.5, -vudha-, 1. 11, etc. The sign of the avagraha occurs in 11.5, 9, 11, 13, 16 and 21 and that of the jihvāmūlīya in I.17. The language is Sanskrit and except for the introductory obeisance and the date at the end, the record is metrically composed throughout. The verses are all numbered and total 30. They were composed by Dēvagaṇa, the son Ratnasiṁha. The record was written by Kumārapāla^¹ and incised by Sāṁpula. As regards orthography, we may notice that v is written for b everywhere and the dental s for the palatal ś in some places; see, e.g., -pravōdhana-, 1.2, suṇḍā-, I.2, Sach=īva, I.10; the dental n wrongly takes the place of anusvāra in -karṇṇ- āvatansaḥ,I.4 and of the palatal ñ in chancharīkaḥ, 1.11, kin=ch=, 1.13, -chakran=cha-, 1.23; finally, m has not been changed to anusvāra in dhavalam=vilōkya, 1.12 and -idam= ridagdhō-, 1.20, in violation of Pāṇini's rule (VIII, 3, 23).

The inscription refers itself to the reign of Pṛithvīdēva, who, as we shall see below, was the second prince of that name in the Kalachuri Dynasty of Ratanpur. The object of it is to record the erection of a temple of Śiva at the village Sāmbā by one Dēvagaṇa.

After the customary obeisance to Śiva, the inscription has two verses in praise of Śiva and Gaṇapati. It then states in the race of the moon was born Jājalladēva (I). His son, whose name is lost,^² is described as the submarine fire to the ocean of the invincible army of the Chēdi king. He is also said to have destroyed, like Rāhu devouring the full moon, the brave warriors of the proud Chōḍagaṅga.^³ This last named prince is evidently the well-known Gaṅga king Anantavarman who was called Chōḍagaṅga, because he was the son of a Gaṅga king by a Chōla princess. The son of Jājalladēva whose victory over Chōḍangaṅga is spoken of here is, therefore, Ratnadēva II. This victory of Ratnadēva II, though not referred to in his own records, is mentioned with pride in several records of his successors.^⁴ His defeat of Chēdi forces, however, is not alluded to elsewhere. The contemporary Chēdi king was probably Gayākarṇa who, we know, was ruling in K. 902.^⁵ The present inscription next mentions Pṛithvīdēva (II), the son of Ratnadēva II, during whose reign it was set up.

After this introductory account of the Kalachuri dynasty, the record devotes as many as fifteen verse to the glorification of Dēvagaṇa who erected the afore-mentioned temple of Śiva, his ancestors, wives and children. His great-grandfather Gōvinda of the Vāstavya family had come down to Tummāṇa from the Chēdi country. He had two sons, Māmē and Rāghava. The former had, from his wife Rambhā, a son named Ratnasiṁha who was the father of Dēvagaṇa. We are next told that Dēvagaṇa had two wives Prabhā and Jāmhō, two sons Jagatsiṁha and Rāyarasiṁha and a daughter Bhōpā. Next are mentioned Vālhū and Dēvadāsa, whose relation to
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¹ His name appears in v.27 as kumarapāla due to the exigencies of the metre.
² The name śrī-Ratnadēva was clear when Rajendralal's rubbing were taken. See below, text, p. 486, n .6.
³ Kielhorn understood this personal name in the sense of Chōḍa and Gaṅga champions (Ep. Ind., Vol. 1, pp, 46 and 49). Though he corrected himself later on, the mistake has been repeated by Hiralal in his Inscriptions in C. P. and Berar (second ed., p.117).
⁴ See Nos. 97, 100 and 101.
⁵ See the Tēwar stone inscription of Gayākarṇa, No. 58, above.