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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PARAMARAS OF MALWA ...As to the king of Khēṭaka, at whose instance the grants are stated to have been made, we have to observe that neither his name nor the family to which he belonged is mentioned in the records. It appears possible, however, as already suggested by Dikshit and Diskalkar while editing the grants, that this chief may have been a successor of Prachaṇḍa of the Brahmavāk family, on whom, according to the Kāpaḍvanj grant of Śaka 832 (910 A.C.), Khēṭaka-maṇḍala was bestowed by the Rāshṭrakūṭa sovereign Akālavarsha who was ruling at Harshapura or the modern Harsōlā, where the present grants were obtained.[1] ....Counting back from 974 A.C., the earliest known date of Vākpati-Muñja (his Dharampurī grant), and allowing 25 years to each of the three rulers mentioned in the present inscriptions, Bappaiparāja may be taken to have begun his career some time about 900 A.C., as a participient in the warfare of the Rāshṭrakūṭa Kṛishṇa II (878-914 A.C.) in the latter’s invasion of Gujarāt and the surrounding regions ;[2] and he may have gained for himself the region of Khēṭaka. His son and successor Vairisiṁha appears to have pressed further in the east and entered Mālava, probably during the Rāshṭrakūṭa campaign is the north; and his son and successor Sīyaka, who may be presumed to have taken a further bold step, established himself in this region, capturing Ujjain, probably from Mādhava, a governor under the Pratīhāra king Mahēndrapāla II.[3] But it appears that almost at the same time he had to lose his hold over the portion of Gujarāt, since we know that Mūlarāja, the founder of the Chaulukya dynasty of Anhilwāḍ, was then busy struggling against Bārappā, a general of the Chālukya king Tailapa, who led an expedition in that region, from Lāṭa, i.e. southern Gujarāt ; and from the north, Mūlarāja could not have come in a hostile contact with Bārappā, without capturing that part of Gujarāt which was then under Sīyaka, who was then engaged in a war in the east.
....All the localities mentioned in the inscriptions have been identified by the editors of the
grants. Khēṭaka maṇḍala is stated to have been roughly equivalent to the modern Kairā, including some parts of the Ahmedabad District in Gujarāt ; the district (vishaya) of Mōhaḍavāsaka with Mōhḍāsā or Mōḍāsā in Prāntija tālukā of the Ahmedabad District ; and the gift villages
Kumbhārōṭaka and Sīhakā with the present Kāmrōḍ and Sikā, lying about 20 kms. east and
13 kms. south of Mōdāṣā, respectively. It is noteworthy here that a copper-plate grant of Bhōjadēva of the dynasty has been recently found at Mōḍāsā.[4] Māhī is the well-known river which rises
in the Jhābuā District of Madhya Pradesh, and flowing in the north so as to separate this state
and Rājasthān on its east from Gujarāt on its west, takes a sudden turn to the south and enters
the gulf of Cambay. Śivanātha, the shrine on this river and the place of encampment of the
king, has been suggested to be identical with Sarnāl, lying near the place where the Māhī is now
crossed by the Ānand-Gōdhrā section of the Western Railway. “It is still looked upon with
sanctity in the neighbourhood and has an ancient Śiva temple named Gaḷtēśvara which is now
a protected monument”. And lastly, Ānandapura, the original home of the donees, is the
modern Vaḍnagar in Barōdā, which is also the original home of the Nāgar Brāhmaṇas. It is
often mentioned in the Valabhi inscriptions, and is about 80 kms. due south-southwest of Mōḍāsā, on metalled road to Gōdhrā. ...Chandēlla king kṛishṇapa who was placed in charge of the region around Dudāhī by his brother Dhaṅga, firmly established the ruler of Rālā-maṇdala, Rōḍapa and some other places (J.A.S.B., XXXI, p. 111. n. 2). Now, in view of the fact that the Chandēlla territory then extended up to Vidishā in the south-west, the principality of the ruler who is stated to have been placed on the throne by Vāchaspati should be looked for still further in the south or south-west of Vidishā. From the Partābgaḍh inscription of Mahēndrapāla II (946 A.C.) we know that the Pratīhāra king had posted imperial officers at Ujjain and Maṇḍapikā, i.e., Mānḍū (Ep. Ind., XIV. p.176). In view of all these considerations, it is not unlikely that the ruler crowned by the Chandēlla minister may have been in the region comprising the Ujjain-Māṇḍū area or somewhere in its vici- nity ; and from the maps I could trace a place of the name of Rājāmaṇḍala, situated about 24 kms. south- west of Māṇḍū, and another, now known as Rōḍadā, lying at almost the same distance north-west of Rālāmaṇḍala, Both these places are on the west of Māṇḍū, and their close proximity from each other and also nearness to the headquarters of the Pratīhāra governor goes very strongly to suggest that the ruler crowned by the Chandēlla minister was one in charge of this region, who appears to have been troubled by Sīyaka whose principality lay in the further south-west in Kairā and who was a feudatory of the Rāshṭrakūṭas. the deadly enemies of the Pratīhāras. Also see C.I.I., Vol. IV. p. xxii (topmost note).
[1] B.G., Vol. I. pt. i. p. 129; also see Ep. Ind., Vol. I, p. 52.
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