North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF BHINMAL

No. 92 ; No. PLATE
BHINMĀL STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF KṚISHṆARĀJA
[Vikrama] Year 1117

...THIS inscription was brought to notice, in 1896, by A. M. T. Jackson, who published its transcript and translation in the Bombay Gazetteer. [6] After about a decade it was again noticed by D. R. Bhandarkar in the Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of the Western Circle for 1907-08, p. 37. As observed by both these scholars, the record is inscribed on the lower part of a pillar in a dharma-śālā to the east of a temple, locally known as of Bārājī and standing to the east of the town of Bhinmāl in the present Jālōr District of south-west Rājasthān. [7] At my request, the Superintending Archaeologist of the Western Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India deputed his Technical Assistant, Shri N. M. Ganam, to prepare fresh estampages of the record for my study; but when he reached the place in September 1968, he was surprised to find a wall raised against the pillar containing the inscription which was hidden behind it, and thus it was not possible for him to prepare an impression, which is now not forthcoming from any other source too. This being the case, I am left only to the alternative of editing the record from Jackson’s transcript of it and adding my notes to it.

...The inscription consists of twenty-three lines of writing. The characters are Nāgarī; and the language is Sanskrit. With the exception of a verse to eulogise the Sun in the beginning, the record is entirely in prose. It refers itself to the reign of the Mahārājādhirāja Kṛishṇarāja of the Paramāra lineage. The orthography calls for no special remarks.
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[1] As n. 6 on the preceding page.
[2] Here Shastri observes that the reading seems to be क्षमे माथुके but the sense is not clear. While publishing the article in the Ep. Ins., op. cit., the editor observes that the reading appears to be क्षममाथुके, and may mean ‘at क्षममाथुक where the temple of Mahādēva Siddhēśvara seems to have been situated. But I am unable to trace out the place in the maps at my disposal.
[3] Delete the punctuation mark.
[4] D. R. Bhandarkar read मातृकः, See I. N. I. No. 103.
[5] Incorrect, to suit the metre. The correct expression would be मदूर्ध्व प्रभविध्यति, which would also be suitable metrically. In the preceding pāda the use of हि is unnecessary and this word can be deleted by reading भूस्वामी or भूजानिः.
[6] Vol. I. pt. i. Hist. of Gujarāt, appx. III, p. 472, No. IV.
[7] Bhinmāl, or Bhīnmāl, is the principal town of a tehsīl, lying about 50 kms. straight south-west of Jālōr. The antiquities of this place have been described by Campbell in the Bombay Gazetter, which mentions the temple of Sūrya existing some time at the place. Portions of the monument were in tact in Campbell’s time, but when D. R. Bhandarkar visited the place in 1907, he found it completely demolished and he was also informed that the material was utilised for constructing the Police Superintendent’s bungalow, See A. S. I. R., W. C., for 1907-08, pp. 36 ff. And possibly the stone containing the present inscription was then taken to the dharma-śālā and set up there.

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