North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA

UJJAIN COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF MAHĀKUMĀRA LAKSHMIVARMAN

and resumed the government, proclaiming himself as a sovereign lord ; and the younger brother Lakshmīvarman continued to remain in the Bhopāl region as a subordinate ruler, where he and his descendants governed the territory and were satisfied with the lower title of MahāKumāra. Professor Hall’s theory that Lakshmīvarman was the elder of the two, [1] cannot be accepted as it is not based on any substantial evidence ; and the very fact that Jayavarman is called a Mahārājāhirāja not only in his but also in the grants issued by the Mahākumāras who were the descendants of Lakshmīvarman, goes against Hall’s observations.

...In connection with what Kielhorn, Hall, and some other scholars following them, hold that Jayavarman and Ajayavarman were two different rulers and were connected as brother’s [2] we have to observe, in the first place, that we have nor even a single record mentioning both these names. There are some which mention the name Jayavarman, whereas there are others where we read the name Ajayavarman. Moreover, we also find that the earlier of the inscription which are all in prose so far as the genealogical portion is concerned, mention the first of these names : whereas the later ones, which are all in poetry, have the name Ajayavarman. The earliest Paramāra record where the name Ajayavarman figures is the Pipliānagar grant of Arjunavarman, of (V.) S. 1267 (1210 A.C.); and the genealogical portion it gives is all metrical and it is possible that the name Ajayavarman may have been incorporated in it for metrical exigencies. The two other records of the same king which are dated Saṁvat 1270 and 1272, and the late Māndhātā grant of Jayasiṁha [3] have their genealogical portion as a true copy of the same. [4]

...As for the localities mentioned in the inscription, Dhārā (1. 6) is obviously the modern Dhār, now the principal town of a district of the same name ; and the maṇḍala mentioned by the name of Mahādvādaśaka (1. 5) comprised parts of the modern districts of Bhilsā (now called Vidishā) and Bhopāl ; this maṇḍala is also mentioned in the Bhopāl charter of Lakshmīvarman’s son Hariśchandra, below, No. 44. Rājaśayana (1. 5) exists even today in its corrupt form Rāisēn, which is about 50 kms. east-northeast of Bhopāl and connected with it by a matalled road. Is is the chief town of a district of the same name and also possesses an old fort. Suvāsaṇī (1. 5) appears to be no other than the modern village Siwāsni, lying about 13 kms. west of Rāisēn ; the place still retains its old name. The identity of Vaḍauda (1. 5) cannot be definitely traced ; about 25 kms. west of Siwāsni is a village bearing the name Barō ; and to the north-west of Siwāsni there is another village of the name of Barōd, which is philologically connected with the name Vaḍaüda ; but it is about 80 kms. off from it, and therefore it is less likely that it is the place mentioned in the present inscription. [5] I am unable to of Ukāvad, about 50 kms. north of Barō.

... TEXT [6]
[Metres : Verses 1-2 and 4-5 Anushṭubh ; v. 3 Vasantatilakā ; v. 6 (incomplete) Śālinī].

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[1] Journ. Am. Ori. Soc., Vol, p. 36.
[2] Kielhorn in op. cit; Hall in Journ. Am. Ori. Soc., Vol. VII, p. 36 ; also see H. C. Ray, D.H.N.I., Vol. II, pp. 888 ff. ; and D. C. Ganguly, H.P.D., pp. 181 ff.
[3] Nos. 48-49 and No. 60, below.
[4] In the age we are dealing with, the words jaya and ajaya carried the same meaning. The Śākambharī Chāhamāna Jayadēva, for example, was also known as Ajayadēva (see J.B.A.S., Vol. LV. Pt. I. p. 4, verse 14, and Pṛithvīrāja Vijaya, V, v. 85.
[5] Vaḍaüda, however, appears to be the same as the village of Barkhēḍā, situated about 12 kms. south-west of Siwasanī to which it is said to have belonged. This village, which was included in the Rāja- śayana-bhōga, is doubtless different from its namesake mentioned in the Mahuaḍapathaka in line 37 of the Māndhātā grant of V. S. 1317 (No. 57); and the identification of both these places by H. C. Ray and D. C. Ganguly cannot be accepted. See D.H.N.I., Vol. II, p. 904, n. 1 ; and H.P.D., p. 185.
[6] From a photograph.
[7] Expressed by a symbol.
[8] Sandhi is not performed here.