North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

No. 16 : PLATE XLIV (A)
DIVE AGAR PALTE OF MUMMUṆIRĀJA : ŚAKA YEAR 975

..THIS copper plate was discovered by one Smt. Chandrabai Pandurang Nakti in her field in Survey No. 88 at Dīvē Āgar in the Śrīvardhana tālukā of the Kōlābā District in North Kōṅkaṇ. It was obtained from her by Prof. G. H. Khare of the Bhārat Itihāsa Saṁśōdhak Maṇḍal, Poona. It is being edited by Dr. M. G. Dikshit in the Epigraphia Indica. It is edited here from an excellent estampage supplied by Dr. G. S. Gai, Chief Epigraphist, Mysore.

..The record consists of a single plate measuring 34.5 cm. in length, 24 cm. in breadth and 3 cm. in thickness. In the middle of the top of the plate there is a hole, 1 cm. in diameter, for a ring. But neither the ring nor the seal which it may have carried has been discovered. The plate weighs 2780 gm.

..The record consists of 18 lines neatly engraved on the one side of the plate. The characters are of the Nāgarī alphabet. The following peculiarities may be noted. The left member of initial ē is not yet separated from the right vertical ; (see ētān, lines 12-13) ; the guttural nasal ṅ is still without a dot (see yatr-āṅkatō-pi, line 2) ; dh does not show any horn on the left (saptaty-adhikēshu, line 1); the akshara dhi is written cursively in adhipati, lines 7-8; the left limb of the palatal ś is separated from the right vertical (see śamvachchhara, line 1). Punctuation is indicated by a dot, but in most places it is redundant. The language is Sanskrit, and the whole record is in prose. As regards orthography, v is in some places used for b (see vrāhmaṇaiś -cha line 14), s for ś (see Saka in line 1) and vice versa (as in navaśu, line 1); the consonant following r is doubled in some places (see e.g. mārttaṇḍa, line 4).

.. The inscription is dated, both in words and figures, on the fifth tithi of the dark fortnight of Āshāḍha in the Śaka year 975, the cyclic year being Vijaya. It corresponds to the 22nd July A.D. 1053. This date does not admit of verification for want of the necessary details, but the cyclic year corresponding to the expired Śaka year 975 was Vijaya according to the southern luni-solar system.

..The plate refers itself to the reign of the Śilāhāra king, the Mahāmaṇḍalēśvarādhipati Mummuṇirāja, who bears in this record not only the birudas noticed in his other grants but some others also which occur here for the first time. See e.g. the following:—Sīlāra-mār-taṇḍa (the Sun of the Silarafamily), Ḍamara-megha-ḍambara (thunder to the hostile multitude). Vīra-Purandara (Indra among heroes), Niśśaṅka-Laṅkēśvara (the fearless Lord of Laṅkā), Ripu-muṇḍa-māl-ālaṅkṛita-vasumatī-svayaṁvara (the self-chosen consort of the Earth adorned with the garland of the cut-off heads of enemies), Vīra-charita-Bhārat-āvatāra (an incarnation of the heroic descendant of Bharata), Ari-vīra-patana-Kēdāra ( Śiva causing the downfall of hostile warriors), Pratirāja-prajāgara (he who causes sleeplessness to hostile princes), Rāya-chatur-aṅgajaya-chatura (clever in vanquishing the four-membered army of kings), Daitya-ripu-dalanaDāmōdara (veritable Kṛishṇa in destroying demon-like foes), Taruṇī-hṛiday-ākṛishṭi-mantrākshara (an incantation attracting the hearts of young women), and Śaurya-mada-gandha-sēndura (a scent-elephant with the rut of valour). Unlike other early records of the Śilāhāras, the present plate does not give the genealogy of the reigning king.

..The object of the present inscription is to record a vyavasthā[1] (settlement) in respect of the village Dīpakāgara together with its three hamlets, viz. Vōritalī, Katila and Kalaija,
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[1] Such charters of settlement are known from some other records also. See the inscription of Vishṇushēṇa (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXV, PP. 163 f.) where such a charter is called āchāra-sthiti-patra. See also C.I.I., Vol. IV, pp. 154 f., where a similar vyavasthā was laid down in respect of some villages which were resettled.