North Indian Inscriptions

THE SILAHARAS OF NORTH KONKAN

..Chhittarāja was a patron of arts and letters. He commenced the construction of the magnificent temple[1] of Śiva at Ambarnāth near Kalyāṇ. He also patronised Sōḍḍhala, the author of the Udayasundarīkathā. Appreciating one of his verses containing the word pradīpa, the king gave him the sobriquet Kavipradīpa.[2] He also gave liberal patronage to some other learned men and poets who were contemporaries of Sōḍḍhala.

..Chhittarāja was succeeded by his younger brother Nāgārjuna, who had probably a short reign. Only one grant of his recorded in the Ṭhāṇā plates[3] dated Śaka 961 (A.D. 1039) has been discovered. Besides the birudas borne by his predecessors, he assumed two new ones viz. Narēndra-Nāgārjuna (a veritable Nāgārjuna in dealing with kings or masters of charms) and Kōdaṇḍa-Sahasrārjuna (Sahasrārjuna with his bow).[4] He may be referred to the period c. A.D. 1035-1045. His queen Līlādēvī is mentioned in the Chāmje inscription of his son Aparāditya I (No. 22, line 10).

..We have seen above that Satyāśraya, son of Taila II of the Later Chālukya dynasty, had inflicted a defeat on Aparājita some time before A.D. 982.[5] The Śilāhāras did not, how-ever, continue to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Later Chālukyas for a long time. As shown before, they make no mention of their Chālukya overlords in their grants. Sōmēśvara I seems, therefore, to have resolved to bring the recalcitrant contemporary Śilāhāra king to book. He called to his aid several feudatories and generals such as the Kākatīya Prōla, the Kadamba chief Chāmuṇḍarāja of Vanavāsī, the Yādava Ajjavasa, the Haihaya Rēvarasa and the generals Madhusūdana alias Madhuva, and Pulikēśin.[6] He invaded the Śilāhāra kingdom with a mighty force.[7] The Śilāhāra king Nāgārjuna seems to have been killed in the action.[8] This overthrow of the Śilāhāra king is mentioned in several inscriptions, but the earliest of them is that dated Śaka 969 (A.D. 1047) at Taḍkhel in the Nāndeḍ District.[9] So the invasion may have occurred in c. A.D. 1045 in the reign of Nāgārjuna. The Chālukyas seem to have placed Mummuṇi on the throne and then retired to their country. Nāgārjuna’s son Anantapāla (or Anantadēva I) was then a minor. So the throne seems to have been given to his uncle.

.. Four records of the reign of Mummuṇi have been discovered so far. The earliest of them, a copper-plate grant[10] dated Śaka 970 (A.D. 1049), registers the donation of some villages in three vishays or districts, viz., Varēṭikā. Abhyantara-Shaṭshashṭi and Śūrpāraka-Shaṭshashṭi. The Varēṭikā-vishaya seems to have comprised part of the Karjat tālukā of the Kolābā District as most of the villages mentioned as situated therein can still be satisfactorily identified in it. Abhyantara-Shaṭshashṭi was probably so named because it included the Śilāhāra capital Sthānaka (Ṭhāṇā). Śūrpāraka-Shaṭshashṭi comprised the territory round Sopārā. Another Grant[11] of Mummuṇi is dated Śaka 971 (A.D. 1049) . It registers the gift of the village Kiїchchhita
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[1] See No. 17, line 6. Dr. Bhau Daji took it to mean that a palace of Chhittarāja was built. J.B.B.R.A.S. (Old Series), Vol. IX, pp. 219 f.
[2] Udayasundarīkathā, p. 152.
[3] No. 13.
[4] Loc. cit.
[5] Above, p. xii.
[6] H.C.I.P., Vol. V, p. 171.
[7] The Kadambas of Chandrapura also, who had acknowleged the supremacy of the Later Chālukyas, seem to have taken part in this expedition. Shashṭha II, was then too old to join it, but he sent his son Jayakēśin I to take part in it. The latter is described as Kāpardika-dvīpa-nṛipāla-kālaḥ (the exterminator of the king of Kāpardika island, i.e. North Koṅkaṇ). J .B. B. R. A. S., p. 266 f.
[8] D. C. Ganguli identified the Śilāhāra king killed in the battle with Mummuṇi, but the later was ruling till A.D. 1060. See No. 17.
[9] Inscriptions from the Nāndeḍ District, Introd., p. xxii. Taḍkhel Stone inscription, which mentions Sōmēśvara’s victory in Kōṅkaṇa, is dated Śaka 969 (A.D. 1047).
[10] No. 14.
[11] No. 15.

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