North Indian Inscriptions

THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

of the seventh century A.D., several Kannaḍa technical terms became current there.[1] They occur in the early grants of the Śilāhāras also. See especially the terms haṁjamana and nagara. They baffled scholars for a long time and were generally misunderstood.[2] It is only recently that they have been correctly interpreted when they were recognised as of the Kannaḍa language.[3]

THE ŚILĀHĀRAS OF NORTH KOṄKAṆ

.. THE Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ rose to power as feudatories of the Rāshṭrakūṭas. Before their rise Koṅkaṇ was ruled by the feudatories of the Early Chālukyas of Bādāmī. From the Aihoḷe inscription we learn that Pulakēśin II stormed the island of Purī, the flourishing capital of the Mauryas, with hundreds of ships and captured it. The Mauryas had been ruling from there probably as feudatories of the Early Kalachuris of Māhishmatī. The only inscription of the Mauryas of Koṅkaṇ so far discovered was found at Vāḍā in the Ṭhāṇā District.[4] It belongs to the reign of the Maurya king Sukētuvarman and mentions the god Kōṭīśvara installed by Siṁhadatta, son of Kumāradatta.

.. After conquering North Koṅkaṇ, Pulakēśin II annexed it to his Empire. It was probably under his direct rule together with North Mahārāshṭra. His second capital seems to have been situated at Nāsik. Yuan Chwang, who travelled in the Deccan during his reign, calls him the lord of Mahārāshṭra. He seems to have met him at Nāsik. As Fleet has shown, this city answers to the description of Pulakēśin’s capital given by the Chinese traveller.

.. Thereafter, Vikramāditya I, the son and successor of Pulakēśin II, placed his younger brother Jaysiṁha Dharāśraya in charge of the Nāsik District. Jayasiṁha’s own copper-plate grant dated in the Kalachuri year 404 (A.D. 653) has been found in that district.[5] South Gujarāt had been given in charge of the Sēndrakas by Pulakēśin. There generations of the Sēndrakas, represented by Bhānuśakti alias Nikumbha, Ādityaśakti and Allaśakti, ruled there.[6] During the reign of the last named Sēndraka king, North Gujarāt was invaded by Vajraṭa, who, as shown elsewhere,[7] was probably the Maitraka king Śīlāditya III Valabhī in Saurāshṭra. The Gurjara feudatory of North Gujarāt seems to have applied for help to his Chālukya Suzerain Vikramāditya I. The latter asked Jayasiṁha Dharāśraya, who was then ruling over the Nāsik District, to proceed to the north to the rescue of the Gurjara feudatory. Jayasiṁha won a decisive victory which is mentioned as one of the glorious achievements of the Early Chālukyas in the records of their political successors, the Rāshṭrakūṭas.[8] After this Victory the Sēndrakas were ousted from South Gujarāt and the country was given in charge of Jayasiṁha Dharāśraya. The latter placed his elder son yuvarāja Śryāśraya-Śīlāditya in charge of the new territory. Two inscriptions of Śryāśraya-Śīlāditya dated A.D. 671 and 693 have been found in South Gujarāt. They recorded grants of land made by him in that part of the country.[9]
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[1] See e.g. the word haṁjamana occurring in the Chinchaṇī plates of the Arab feudatory Sugatipa, Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXII, p. 48.
[2] All scholars including Fleet, who had a good knowledge of Kannaḍa, took haṁjamana as another name Saṁyāna, and nagara in the sense of a town. See e.g. Ep. Ind., Vol. XII, pp. 258 f.
[3] Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXV, pp. 291 f.
[4] Bomb. Gaz., (Old Ed.), Ṭhāṇā District, p. 373.
[5] C.I.I., Vol. IV, pp. 127 f.
[6] Ibid., Vol. IV, pp. 110-122.
[7] Ibid., Introd. pp. ix. f.
[8] See e.g. Ep. Ind. Vol. XXIII, p. 14.
[9] C.I.I., Vol. IV, pp. 123 f.

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