North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF RATANPUR

The characters are Nāgarī, and the language Sanskrit. The record originally contained thirty verses, all of which except the last two were numbered, and some portion in prose in lines 24-27. The orthography does not present anything calling for special notice.

The inscription refers itself to the reign of the king Pṛithvīdēva (II) of the Kalachuri Dynasty of Ratanpur. The object of it seems to be to record in one place all the religious and charitable works which Vallabharāja, a feudatory chieftain of the Kalachuri kings Ratnadēva II and Pṛithvīdēva II, did from time to time. It is dated in the year 910 (expressed in decimal figures only) which is expressly referred to the Kalachuri era. The date corresponds, for the expired year 910, to 1158-59 A.C. It does not admit of verification in the absence of the necessary details.

The first two verses, which, to judge from the Akaltarā inscription of the same chieftain,^¹ were probably in praise of Śiva and the moon are completely lost. The third verse describes the Kalachuri family. The next five verses, of which four are common to the Akaltarā inscription, eulogize Ratnarāja (I), Pṛithvīdēva (I), Jājalladēva (I), Lāchchhalladēvī, the queen of Jājalladēva (I), and Ratnadēva (II). Verse 9 seems to have described Pṛithvīdēva II,^² but it is almost completely effaced. It was followed by a description of Vallabharāja's ancestors as in the Akaltarā inscription, but only the name of Harigaṇa the father of Vallabharāja can be read in the pre- served portion. The eulogy of Vallabharāja seems to have commenced in verse 13 and to have contained inter alia a description of the town he founded and the tank he excavated. The name of Dēvapāṇi, who composed the praśasti, occurs in line 23. Then comes an enumeration, in prose, of the religious and charitable works of Vallabharāja. He made a lake to the east of Ratnapura, using the range of hills near the village Khāḍā as a dam. He dug another small tank, raised a grove of three hundred mango trees at the foot of the hill near the village Saḍaviḍa, and excavated a large lake Ratnēśvarasāgara, named evidently after his earlier suzerain Ratnadēva II. On the outskirts of Vikarṇapura he made a tank, raised a garden containing many temples and monasteries, erected a temple of Rēvanta and dug a very deep well near a hill called Dēvaparvata. Another tank was excavated in a village, the name of which appears to be Rāṭhēvaisamā. To the east of the town called Bhauḍā, on the way to Hasivadha, he excavated a tank, full of water-lilies. Finally, we are told that the work was done at the instance of Vallabharāja's pious wife Svētalladēvi.^³

As for the geographical names occurring in the present inscription, Ratnapura has already been identified with Ratanpur. The village Khāḍā, near which a lake was formed, taking advantage of the position of the neighbouring hills, is probably identical with Karrā, about a mile and a half to the east of Ratanpur, near which there is still the extensive Khārung Tank. Vikarṇapura was probably the old name of Kōṭgaḍh, 1½ miles north of Akaltarā. Hasivadha may be Hasod in the Jānjgir tahsil, about 22 miles east of Sheōrinārāyaṇ. The hills Bijjala and Dēvaparvata cannot be definitely located. The former may, however, be connected with Baijalpur, a village in the jānjgir tahsil. The remaining places I am unable to identify.
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¹ No. 84, above.
² It occurs near the end of the Raipur Museum stone inscription (No. 85, 1. 22, above)
³ The first akshara is slightly damaged. Her name may have been Śvitalladēvī.