North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF CHANDRAVATI

NĀNĀ STONE INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF SOMASIṀHA

record has still further suffered due to its exposure to weather since Bhandarkar visited that place in 1907-8. [1]

...The inscription contains thirteen lines of writing which covers a space of about 28.5 cms. broad by 29 cms. high. From some faint traces below the thirteenth line, it appears possible that there may have been some more lines which are now lost. The existing portion of the record too is in a very bad state of preservation, and being not deeply engraved, the letters are extremely worn out. The impression also shows that the stone was not properly made smooth before the record was incised on it. The average height of the letters is about 1.5 cms.

... The characters are Nāgarī of the thirteenth century A.C., to which the record belongs, They evince much carelessness on the part of the engraver, e.g., ma in Sōmasiṁha, 1. 2, is engraved as na; pra in –prasāda-, 1. 5, as tra; and the consonant t in -kṛiti-, 1. 6, appears as v. Similar misformation and omissions of limbs of letters are to be noticed in some other instances also. It is also worthy of note that the form of r is wedged throughout, e.g. in –rāja-, 1.2; the medial dipthongs are denoted both by the pṛishṭha-mātrā and the śirō-mātrā, as in naivēdya-, where both these appear side by side in 1.8; the sign of avagraha is also to be found, as in the first line; and lastly, the word -siṁha- is written as –sīha in 1.6. The language is Sanskrit and the record is throughout in prose.

... The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Mahārājādhirāja, the illustrious Sōma-siṁhadēva. His dynastic name is not given, but the mention of Chandrāvatī as in the preceding inscription leaves no room for doubt that he was identical with Dhārāvarsha’s son Sōmasiṁha of the preceding inscription which was engraved only thirteen years before it and which also comes from the same region.

... The object of the inscription is to record some donation, the nature of which cannot be made out, though it appears to have been some land or a village, as the name of a village, Sōdēra, is mention along with it. The purpose of the donation was to provide the daily naivēdya for Nīlakaṇṭhadēva (1. 8), near the temple of which the stone was found. The grant was made from his jāgīr of Sōdēra, by one Lākshā, who is stated to have been appointed an officer by Sōmasiṁha and a favourite of the heir-apparent Kānhaḍadēva, i.e., Kṛishṇadēva III, the son of Sōmasiṁha. The inscription is dated (Vikrama) Saṁvat 1290 and the day was Monday, the 15 th of the dark fortnight of Mārga, i.e., Mārgaśīrsha, The date regularly corresponds to 13th December, 1232 A.C., for the current Vikrama year, taking the month as amānta. It is one of the few dates showing the current year. [2]

...Of the geographical names occurring in the inscription, Chandrāvatī (11. 1-2) is, of course, the capital town of the Ābū branch of the Paramāra rulers, as we have been seeing; and Sōdēra may be identical with the modern village Sēdlā which lies about 5 kms. north by east of Nāṇā where the inscription was found. Or, it may have been the modern village Sadrā, about 25 Kms. north by east of Nāṇā. [3]

TEXT [4]


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[1] In my personal visit to the temple on 13-9-1972 I closely examined the record which I found incised on a stone slab set up on a platform on the proper left side of the entrance to the maṇḍapa of the temple. The inscription occupies the middle of the slab, leaving the top and the bottom blank, I also found the inscription completely coated with white-wash, which had to be cleaned for my examination of it. The incisions are very shallow.
[2] D. R. Bhandarkar read the month as Māgha. for which see I. N. I., No. 509, and n. in the text, below. The only probable equivalent of this date would be 2nd January, 1234 A.C., on which Amāvāsyā commenced at .51 moment of Sunday, and ended at .45 moment of Monday, after mean sunrise.
[3] The map at my disposal shows still another village suggesting its identity with Sōdēra. It is Sandairāo which lies about 40 kms. north-northeast of Nāṇā and about 15 kms. north-northwest of Bālī, the headquarters of the tehsīl in which all these places are situated, None of these suggestions can be said to be final.
[4] From impressions and subsequent personal scrutiny.
[5] One expects here a symbol denoting auspiciousness, as also shown by the traces.
[6] The first two digits, which are obliterated and illegible in the impressions, are adopted here from Bhandarkar’s reading. The second akshara of the name of the month is clearly g with a rēpha above, and hence I take the month as Mārga-(śīrsha) and not Māgha as read by him.

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