North Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

which must have held them together ; but the ring together with the seal on it had been lost when the plates reached Prof. Pathak.

..The record consists of 84 lines, of which twenty-one are inscribed on the first plate, twenty-two on each side of the second plate, and the remaining nineteen on the third plate. The characters are of the Nāgarī alphabet resembling those of the Early Śilāhāras; but while the initial i and dh continue in the old forms, the letters kh and ś show developed forms. The left limb of kh has now a distinct tail (see Shaṇmukhaḥ, line 18, and śrīmān, lines 16-17). The language is Sanskrit, and like the other grants of the Early Śilāhāras, the present one also is written partly in verse and partly in prose. The first eighteen verses of it are repeated from the earlier records of the family such as the Khārepāṭaṇ plates of Anantadēva I. They carry the genealogy of the Northern Śilāhāras from Kapardin I to Anantapāla (Anantadēva I). The next four verses (19 to 22) are new, and give valuable historical information about the next king Aparāditya as shown below. As regards orthography, v is often used for b, and the dental s for the palatal ś. The consonant following r is reduplicated in a few cases such as dayālur-Jjīmūtavāhana, line 3, but they are far less than those in the previous grants.

..The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Śīlāra prince Aparāditya I (called Aparājita in lines 30 and 37), who bears here the same titles as his predecessors do in their grants, including Rāyapitāmaha (Brahmā among kings). Verse 20 mentions one Chhittukka, who is described as an Asura (demon) and who invaded the kingdom of the Śilāhāras and devastated the country. Verses 20 and 21 describe very graphically the calamity in the following words:— “A demon named Chhittukka invaded the kingdom and the feudatories sided with him. Dharma was lost, the elders were put to the sword, the subjects became exhausted and country’s prosperity was at an end. Still, undaunted Aparāditya, single-handed, rushed to the battle on horse-back, relying on the power of his arms and his sword. Then the enemy knew not whether to fight or to flee. He took shelter with the Mlēchchhas.” Aparāditya was as liberal and learned as he was brave. He is described as proficient in saṅgīta and vidyā. We have no evidence of his proficiency in music, but he is the reputed author of the well-known commentary Aparārka-ṭikā on the Yājñavalkya-smṛiti.

..The object of the present inscription is to record the grant, by Aparāditya, of the village Vaḍavalī in the Karakūṭa vishaya and also of a field in the village Mōra in the Varēṭikā vishaya. The former was bounded on the east by a royal road and the boundary of (the village) Vāḍani, on the south by the Nehā field, on the west by the river Ghōrapaḍa and the temple of the god Saṅgamēśvara, and on the north by the river Mōvvalī and a salty field. The boundaries of the field are also similarly mentioned in lines 65-66. The donee was the Brāhmaṇa Trivikrama, the son of Ananta Agnihōtrin, of the Vārshēya gōtra and the Mādhyandina sākhā. The purpose of the grant was to provide for the performance of the six religious duties and the pañcha-mahā-yajñas as also for the maintenace of his family. The grant was made by the king after bathing at a holy tīrtha on the sacred day of the Kārttikī, on Friday, the Fifteenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Kārttika in the Śaka year 1049 (expressed both in words and figures), the cyclic year being Plavaṅga. The date regularly corresponds to the 21st October A.D. 1127, which was a Friday, and the cyclic year also, according to the southern system, was Plavaṅga as stated in the grant.

.. According to Pillai’s Ephemeris, the Kārttikī paurṇimā commenced on Thursday, the 20th October at 23 h. 45 m. after mean sunrise and ended 1 h. 30 m. after mean sunrise on Saturday, the 22nd October A.D. 1127. It is evidently cited here as it was current throughout Friday, and, therefore, at the time when the grant was made.

.. Some officers of the king, mentioned in this, are noticed in some other grants of the Śilāhāras. His Mahāmātya was Lakshmaṇanāyaka, his Sandhivigrahika, who was also his