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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN
to his own kingdom. Thereafter, we do not hear of this Araba feudatory state on the western coast. He next conquered Punaka (Poonā), Saṅgamēśvara and Chipulaṇa, amd thus extended his rule to Southern Koṅkaṇ and the Deśa. A verse in his Jañjira plates states the boundaries of his kingdom as follows:[1]− “From Lāṭa (Southern Gujarāt) in the north to Chandrapura (Chāndōr in the Goā region) in the south, and from the ocean in the west to the territory of Bhillama (i.e. Khāndesh) in the east”. Another verse which occurs in the Khārepāṭaṇ plates states that he gave shelter to Gōmma, who had sought his protection ; he firmly established Aiyapa on the throne and gave security from fear to Bhillama, Ammaṇa and Mambuva. He thereby became famous as Birud-aṅka-Rāma. None of these princes except Bhillama II, the Yādava king, have been identified. ..Aparajita was an ambitious king. He sought to extend sphere of influence by allying himself with mighty rulers of other countries. He is probably meant by the Vidyādhara king Śikhanḍakētu, mentioned in the Navasāhasāṅkacharita of Padmagupta, who sent his son Śaśikhaṇḍa to render help to the Paramāra king Sindhurāja (A.D. 993-1010) in his invasion of South Kōsala at the request of the Nāga king of the Bastar District (M.P.).[2] ..Aparājita’s extensive conquests, his alliance with the Paramāras, his assumption of grandiloquent titles and his refusal to recognise the suzerainty of the Later Chālukyas exasperated prince Satyāśraya, the son of Tailapa II. He invaded the kingdom of Aparājita and pressed as far as his capital. Aparājita fled to the sea coast. Ranna, the Kannaḍa Court-poet of Tailapa II, says in his Gadāyuddha or Sāhasa-Bhīma-vijaya composed in A.D. 982 that hemmed in by the ocean on one side and the sea of Satyāśraya’s army on the other, Aparājita trembled like an insect on a stick, both the ends of which are on fire.[3] Satyāśraya burnt Aṁśunagara and levied a tribute of 21 elephants on Aparājita. As this event is mentioned in Ranna’s kāvya composed in A.D. 982, it must have occurred in c. A.D. 980 at the latest. It is, therefore, note- worthy that Aparājita does not mention the suzerainty of the Chālukyas in his grants issued later in A.D. 993 and 997. He seems to have soon thrown off the yoke of the Later Chālukyas. He closed his reign in c. A.D. 1010.
..Aparajita was succeeded by his son Vajjaḍa II, about whom only conventional praise is given in the records of his successors. An inscription from Hangal, however, tells us that Kuṇḍaladēvī, the queen of the Kadamba king Chhaṭṭadēva (Shashṭhadēva II) (c. A.D. 1005-1055) was the daughter of the king Vāchhavya of Ṭhāṇā.[4] As Altekar has conjec tured, this king of Ṭhāṇā was probably the Śilāhāra king Vajjaḍa II. .. Vajjaḍa was succeeded by his younger brother Arikēsarin. While yet a prince, he had taken part in the Paramāra Sindhurāja’s campaign in Chhattisgarh, and has also marched with his army to Saurāshṭra, where he worshipped Sōmēśvara (Sōmanātha) and offered his conquests to the god.[5] Arikēsarin had another name of Kēśidēva [I].
..It was during the reign of Arikēsarin that North Kōṅkaṇ was invaded by the Paramāra
king Bhōja. Two of his grants made in celebration of the victory are dated in the year A.D. 1020,
one in January and the other in September of the Year.[6] The causes of this invasion are not
known. D.R. Bhandarkar thought that the invasion was undertaken by Bhōja to avenge the
murder of his uncle Muñja. This reason does not appear convincing; for there is an interval of
44 years between the murder of Muñja (A.D. 975) and Bhōja’s invasion of Koṅkaṇ. Perhaps,
[1] No. 5, lines 40-42.
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