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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN
..The characters are of the Nāgarī alphabet. The following peculiarities may be noted :- The medial ā is shown by a vertical stroke turned upwards (see Prajāpati, line 1); the medial ṛi is shown by a curve turned to the left (see prasākṛitaḥ, line 3) ; the medial ē is in some cases denoted by a pṛishṭhamātrā (see rājyē, line 3); n is generally looped and t unlooped; h has developed a tail (see Mahārājādhirāja, line 2); the superscript ñ appears horzontal (see pañcha, line 3). The language is Sanskrit, incorrect in several places. The orthography shows the usual peculiarities of the use of v b (see vahula, line I) and the anusvāra for the final n as in asmīṁ, line 4. As in the preceding inscription, akshai is written for akshaya- in line 4. Such wrong forms as kārāpitā and likhāpitā occurring here are often noticed in Buddhist inscriptions. ..The inscription refers itself to the reign of the (Rāshṭrakūṭa) king Amōghavarsha I, who bears the imperial titles of Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja and Paramēśvara, and who is described as meditating on the feet of the Paramabhaṭṭāraka, Mahārājādhirāja, Paramēśvara Jagattuṅgadēva (i.e. Gōvinda III). It is dated Wednesday, the second tithi of the dark fortnight of Āśvina in the expired Śaka year 775, (expressed both in words and numerical figures), the cyclic year being Prajāpati. The inscription mentions two Śilāhāra princes, viz. the illustrious Pullaśakti, who had obtained the five mahāśabdas,[1] who was the chief feudatory of Amōghavarsha I and who had obtained the whole country of Koṅkaṇa by his grace, and his successor Kapardin (II), who also had the same titles and meditated on his feet.
..âThe object of the inscription is to record that during the reign of the aforementioned Kapardin II, the Gōmin Avighnākara, a devout worshipper of the Sugata (Buddha), who had hailed from the Gauḍa country, made a permanent endowment (akshaya-nīvi) of one hundred drammas for the construction of the meditation rooms and raiment of monks residing in the Mahārāja Mahāvihāra at Kṛishṇagiri.[2] The interest on the endowment was to accrue to the donor during his life time, and after his death it was to be applied for the said purpose by competent persons. The inscription mention two witnesses, viz. Pāttiyāṇakayōga[3] and an Āchārya of Chikhyallapallikā. The inscription contains at the end an imprecation against those who would misappropriate the endowment.
..â
Kielhorn calculated the date Wednesday, the second tithi of the dark fortnight of Āśvina in the Śaka year 775, and took it as corresponding to the 12th September A.D. 854,[4]
which was a Wednesday as stated in the inscription, but the cyclic year was Bhava, not Prajāpati as required. Besides, the Christian year corresponding to the expired Śaka year 775 should
be A.D. 853-54, not 854-55. Kielhorn corrected his mistake in his List of Inscriptions of Southern
India (Ep. Ind., Vol. VII), p. 13, where he showed the correct corresponding Christian date
to be the 16th September A.D. 851[5]. On this date the second tithi of the amānta Āśvina ended
11 h. 20 m. after mean sunrise, and the week-day was Wednesday as required. The cyclic
year also was Prajāpati as stated in the present record. But the expired Śaka year for this
[1] This refers to the privilege of having five musical instruments such as the following played before oneself,
viz. śṛiṇga or the horn, tammaṭa or the tabor, śaṅkha or the conch, bhērї or the kettle-drum, and jayaghaṇṭā or the
gone. See C.I.I., Vol. III, p. 296, n. 9, and Ep. Ind., Vol. XII, p. 255.
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