North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA

BEṬMĀ COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF BHOJADEVA

been chosen to celebrate the victory of Bhōja who was a fervent devotee of that goddess, and the tithi of the Beṭmā grant, which appears to be more specific, may be taken to have been the day when he won the victory and thus it has to be taken earlier. Thus we cannot be dogmatic on the point.

...The occasion when the present grant was issued is stated, in 1. 15, to be Koṅkaṇa-grahaṇa- vijaya-parvva. as seen above, whereas that of the Bāṅswāḍā grant is mentioned as Kōṅkaṇa- vijaya-parva (text 1. 10). This is obviously a reference to Bhōja’s victory over Arikēsarin (c. 1015- 1025 A.C.), the Śilāhāra prince of Northern Kōṅkaṇa.[1] But both these expressions are so worded as to invite a discussion among scholars. The late Dr. Hultzsch, who edited the Bāṅswāḍā grant, translated the expression appearing therein as ‘the anniversary of the conquest of Kōṅkaṇa.’[2] This means that the region of Kōṅkaṇa was vanquished one year before the date of the grant. But here we are to note that the word parvan means a ‘festival’ and not ‘anniversary’ ; and hence Hultzsch’s interpretation of the expression cannot be accepted. D. R. Bhandarkar, who too edited the same record, probably gives a correct translation of the expression, viz., ‘on the festival day (parvaṇi) in consequence of the conquest of Kōṅkaṇa.’[3] D. B. Diskalkar who edited the present grant agrees with Bhandarkar and also suggests that “ the expression in the Bāṅswādā grant means that Bhōja conquered Kōṅkaṇa and that in the Bēṭmā grant means perhaps that the occupied it”.[4] Here it may however be pointed out that the expression used in the present grant is-grahaṇa-vijaya-, and if it is to be interpreted as suggested by Diskalkar, it would mean that Bhōja’s occupation of Kōṅkaṇa took place first and its conquest afterwards. It appears therefore that what Diskalkar suggested was not intended by the composer of the inscription ; and the expressions used in both the grants, though with a slight difference in the meaning, point to one and the same incident. And being an important event, this conquest probably continued to be celebrated at most of the places in the Paramāra kingdom for the whole yare––on a different date at a different place.[5]

...The inscription is one of the Parama-bhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara, the illustrious Bhōjadēva, whose pedigree mentioned here is practically identical with that in the preceding grant and who therefore can safely be taken as belonging to the Paramāra house of Mālwā. The purpose of the charter is to record the grant of a village, as we shall presently see.

...Of the localities mentioned in the inscription, Sthāṇvīśvara is obviously the same as the modern Thānesar situated in the Karnāl District of the Punjab. The gift village Nāla-taḍāga has been identified, by Diskalkar, with the modern Nār or Nāl in the Kairā District, and the Nyāyapadra sub-division in which it was situated, with the town of Nēpāḍ in the same District. While proposing these indentifications, Diskalkar himself was aware of the difficulty, viz., that both these place are at a long distance from Beṭmā where the plates were discovered. Kairā is about 180 miles (290 kms.) straight west of the find-spot of the plates. And, taking it for granted that the dealer from whom the plates were purchased by the Indore Museum furnished a correct information regarding their find-spot, we have to be satisfied with the assumption that the donee himself or some one of his descendants may have subsequently migrated to the region of Mālwā. There is, however, a suggestion here. The map at my disposal does not show any locality in the region as situated near the find-spot of the plates, excepting Nālchhā, lying in Lat. 22º 26’ N. and Long. 75 º 29’ E. ; it is about 16 miles or 26 kms. straight south of Dhār, on Dhār-Māṇḍū road, and about 40 miles or 64 kms. straight south-west of Beṭmā. The place contains some archaeological remains and there is a big tank (taḍāga). But bedides its situation in the locality, we have nothing definite to identify it with Nāla-taḍāga ; and there is no place in this locality bearing a name resembling Nyāyapadra. Viśālagrāma, the ancestral place of the donee, is also not known to me. Viśālā is of course identical with Ujjain[6] but like Thānēsar with which its was associated, it must be sought somewhere in the Punjab.
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[1] For details, see Ind. Cult., Vol. II (1935-36). pp. 408 f.
[2] Ep. Ind., Vol. XI, p. 181.
[3] Ind. Ant., Vol. XLI, p. 201.
[4] Ep. Ind., Vol. XVIII, p. 321.
[5] Any territory is known to have been occupied by the conqueror immediately after its conquest and not later as taken by Diskalkar in the present case. Moreover, he takes Bhōja’s conquest of Kōṅkaṇa as referring to the long-drawn war between the Paramāras and the Chālukyas, but from the word ;Kōṅkaṇa’ used in the expression, it has to be taken exclusively as referring to Bhōja’s relation with the knig of that region. particularly so if we hold with Mm. V. V. Mirashi that Bhōja’s invasion of Kōṅkaṅa may be due to oust Chhittarāja and place a son of Arikēsarin, who was his father’s friend, upon the throne. See Ind. Ant., Vol. LXII. p. 107.
[6] Mēghadūta, I, 31, Also see Skanda-Purāṇa, Rēvā-khaṇḍa Ch. 47.

.....................CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM
VOL.VII ...........................................................................PLATE XII
.BETMA COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTION OF BHOJADEVA: (VIKRAMA) YEAR 1076

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