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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
ADMINISTRATION
Mummuṇi, for instance, mentions as many as twenty birudas assuṁed by him, which occupy five lines out of sixteen in the formal part of the grant. The Rāshṭrakūṭas, their suzerains, contented themselves with mentioning only the usual imperial titles, such as Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara, but their Śilāhāra feudatories assumed several titles and birudas indicative of their lineage, original habitation, power, character, learning, liberality, insignia, religious devotion, freedom from astrological influence, etc. The North Koṅkaṇ and south Mahārāshṭra branches mention with pride their title Tagarapura-paramēśvara[1] or Tagara-puravar-ādhīśvara,[2] as their ancestors had originally hailed from Tagara, modern Ter in the Osmānābād District of Mahārashṭra. They, again, state that they were born in the family of the semi-divine Vidyādhara prince Jīmūtavāhana,[3] and they call themselves Sahaja-Vidyādharas[4] (Vidyādharas by birth). They mention their golden eagle banner in one of the birudas.[5] They identified themselves with glorious kings and personages of the past in such birudas as Kaliyuga-Yudhishṭhira,[6] Nija-bhuja-Vikramāditya,[7] Kōdaṇḍa-Sahasrārjuna[8], and Narēndra-Nāgārjuna.[9] When they achieved any memorable victory they commemorated it by assuming a suitable biruda referring to it. See e.g. the biruda Niśśaṅka-Laṅkēśvara[10] assumed by Anantadēva I evidently after his conquest of the Goā territory. Some of their feudatories imitated them. Chāmuṇḍarāja, a feudatory of the Śilāhāra Chhittarāja, assumed, for instance, the biruda Lāṭa-prākāra-rājya-dhvaṁsaka.[11] suggesting his devastation of the country of Lāṭa. The biruda Tyāga-jagaj-jhampa[12] proclaimed their liberality, Śaraṇ-āgata-vajrā-pañjara[13] their protection of princes that sought their help, Para-nārī-sahōdara[14] their self-control, and Śanivāravijaya[15] their self-confidence of success even in inauspicious times. As they controlled the Western Sea-routes, they called themselves Paśchima-samudr-ādhipati.[16] As the power of the Śilāhāras increased, they began to assume imperial titles such as Rājādhirāja, Kōṅkaṇachara Vartin[17] etc.
..
Most of the inscriptions of the Śilāhāras are in Sanskrit, and so, many of the titles and
birudas they assumed are also in that classical language. But some of them are in Kannaḍa.
This due to the fact that the Śilāhāras originally hailed from Tagara. This place was a famous
emporium in ancient times. Though its modern representative Ter is now included in Mahārāshṭra, it was originally situated in the kannaḍa territory. As the mother tongue of the Śilā-
hāras was Kannaḍa, many of their titles and birudas are naturally in the same language. See,
for instance, the following:- Vimala-gala-gaṇḍa[18] (a hero with a spotless neck), Gaṇḍargaṇḍa[19]
[1] No. 5, lines 47-48.
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