North Indian Inscriptions

ADDITIONAL INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS

No. 61
BHOIGHAR PLATES OF CHHITTARAJA : SAKA YEAR 946

.. THESE copper plates were found by Mr. Natu while digging in his orchard at Bhoighar in the former Janjirā State (now Muruḍ Mahāl of the Kolābā District). Some old coins are also reported to have been found with them, but they are not forthcoming. The plates were later sent to the authorities of Muruḍa, but they have since been lost. Mr. Natu had read the record on the plates, but instead of reducing it to writing, he committed it to memory. Some years later, when Mr. Rajadhyaksha, the Chief Justice of Janjirā, visited Bhoighar, Mr. Natu recited the record on the plates before him. Mr. Rajadhyaksha wrote it down and sent it to Prof. H. D. Velankar of the Wilson College, Bombay. Dr. M. G. Dikshit, who obtained the transcript from Prof. Velankar, published it just as recited by Mr. Natu and discussed its contents in his book entitled some Ancient Copper Plates and Stone Inscriptions from Māhārāshṭra (Marathi), pp. 32-45. The text recited by Mr. Natu is defective in several places. He has omitted some portion of the record, and has transposed some other. Still, it is surprising that though he was wholly unacquainted with the records of the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ, he could correctly recite a considerable portion of it. It is specially noteworthy that his transcript comprises two new verses and the name Padmalā of a Śilāhāra queen, which were not known till then and have since been corroborated by newly discovered Śilāhāra inscriptions. It will not, therefore, be wrong to suppose that the other portion of Mr. Natu’s text is also fairly correct. As the plates are not procurable now, the available transcript has been rearranged and supplemented with the help of other records of the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ, because some information in it is historically important.

.. Like most other and written plates of the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ, these also must have been three in number and written in the Nāgarī characters. The language is Sanskrit. The record must have contained the genealogy of the ruling prince Chhittarāja from the beginning as in other cognate records, but the verses describing Pullaśakti, Kapardin II, Vappuvanna, Aparājita and Vajjaḍa have been omitted. The later portion is fairly complete.

..The inscription is dated in the Śaka year 946, and is the earliest known record of the reign of Chhittarāja. Its date Śaka saṁvat, 946, Bhādrapada va. di. 13 corresponds to the 3rd September A.D. 1024. It does not admit of verification in the absence of the necessary particulars such as a week-day or a nakshatra.

..The present plates mention the birudas of the reigning king Chhittarāja (called here Chhittapaiya) as in his other plates. His Officers mentioned here included his Mahāmātya Nāgaṇaiya, his Sarvādhikārin Dādapaiya and ministers Saṅgalaiya and Tikkapaiya. Of these, only Nagaṇaiya and Daddhpaiya find mention in other contemporary records. The record mentions at the end the Bhāṇḍāgārasēna Mahākavi Nāgalaiya and his nephew Jōupaiya. The latter wrote the present record at the instance of Mahārājñī Padmalādēvī and with the consent of the reigning king. The engraver was Dhārapaiya, the son of Vēdapaiya. Nāgalaiya and Jōupaiya are mentioned in several other records of the period. Padmalādēvī also finds mention in the Dive Āgar plate of Mummuṇi. Dikshit supposed that the she was the queen