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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF CHANDRAVATI MUNGTHALĀ STONE INSCRIPTION OF DHĀRĀVARSHA p. 7 of ibid); but has not so far been transcribed or edited. It is edited here from my own reading of the text from the original stone and a set of fresh inked impressions prepared and supplied to me by the Superintending Archaeologist of the Western Circle of the Survey. ...The inscription consists of eleven lines of writing, covering a space 29.5 cms. broad by 21 cms. high, but the length of the last line is 25.5 cms. The average size of the letters varies from 1 to 1-5 cms in height. The writing is in a fair state of preservation, with the exception of two or three letters which are rather indistinct in two instances, as to be seen from the notes appended to the text below. There are also instances indicating slovenliness in the writing some of which may be ascribed to the writer himself and others th the engraver, e.g., the daṇḍa is occasionally put so close to a letter as to make it appear as the sign for the medial ā as after champaka, phaṇasa and aśōka, all in ll. 6-7, where each of the words is unnecessarily separated by a daṇḍa. Some of the letters too are misformed, as will be known from notes 5 and 11 appended to the text; and in one instance viz. in ll.4 and 10, the reading bhaṭṭaputra or bhadtaputra is doubtful and the sense is not clear. From the context I take this word presumably to denote a servant in general. It may be a local word. ...The inscription is written in the Nāgarī characters of the eleventh century. The initial long ī appears only once in īdraśa (for īdṛaśa) in 1.9, where it is formed by a serpentine curve above two hollow circles, subscribed by a sign resembling the mātrā of short u. The letter dh has developed a horn on its left limb and the verticals of bhā, which is in the middle by a horizontal stroke; cf. Dhārāvarsha, 1,2. The left limb of bh, which is in its older form, is sometimes tailed so as to make it appear as t, as in bhavati, 1.4; and r is engraved both ways, viz, as showing a wedge and also in its developed form; ef. rāṇaka-, 1.10 and mātarāya, in 1.5. ...The language is Sanskrit, which is often incorrect, or corrupt; and a number of local words, e.g., dhāṅdhala and nāraṅgī (1.7) are used. The record is entirely in prose.
... With references to orthography, we may note that (i) b is denoted by the sign for v, as in vudhē, 1.1; (ii) pṛishṭha-mātrās are generally used that (iii) the word īdṛiśa is spelt as īdraśa in 1.9. The dāṇḍa, which is often redundantly used, is occasionally placed so close to the preceding akshara as to appear as a mātrā, as already seen above. ...The object of the inscription is to record an order of the feudatory king, the illustrious Dhārāvarshadḍēva. to grow an orchard in the village of Philiṇi the temple in connection with Vasishṭhāśrama. [1] The date of the record is Wednesday, the first day of the bright half of Bhādrapada of the (Vikrama) year 1245, which regularly corresponds to 24th August, 1188 A.C. [2] ... The inscription begins with the date; and it is followed by the royal order in ll. 3 ff. Vasishṭhāśrama was on the Mount Ābū, as we learn from the Girviḍ inscription of Pratāpasimha; [3] and the distance between both these places, i.e, the find-spot of the present inscription and Girviḍ is not more than 6 kms. The royal order also mentions some trees to be grow in the orchard. ...The earliest and the latest known inscriptions of the Paramārā Dhārāvarsha are dated respectively in 1164 and 1219 A.C.
[4]
indicating that he enjoyed a long reign of at least about 55 years;
and the present record, which supplies an intermediate date, does not report any historical information. During this long period, as we have seen above while editing his Kāyadrā inscription of 1164 A.C., he was a contemporary of the Chaulukya Kumārapāla (1145-1172 A.C.),
Ajayapāla (1172-1176 A.C.), Mūlarāja II ( 1176-1178 A.C.) and Bhīma II (1179-1239 A.C.), and
was one of the most devoted feudatories of the Chaulukya throne, excepting during the reign of
the last of these kings, when he is known to have revolted against the Gujarāt sovereignly and
was suppressed by Arṇōrāja, son of Dhavala, the ruler of Bhīmapallī as we are informed by the
Sukṛita-kīrtti-kallōlinī of Jayasiṁha,
[5]
We have also seen how actively Dhārāvarsha participated
in Kumārapāla’s struggle against the Śilāhāra Mallīkārjuma of Northern Kōṅkaṇa; and his wars
with the Chāhamānas of Ajmer and the Gubilas of Mēwaḍ, the second of which at least appears
[1]
The word used here is maṭha, which means ‘a temple’ and also ‘a monastery’, Which of these meanings
is intended here is not known.
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