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JULY, 1889.)
INSCRIPTIONS OF THE KINGS OF CHEDI.
213
5 simbadev&-charaṇaḥ 11
Vadyava-gråmakasya 6 japutra - eriksa(ka)vaditya - putra - Va(ba)llaladevakasya 7 Salm]vat 909 Sra(bra)vana-sudi 6 Vuddh[@] [*]
Rauta-śrf. Va(ba)llaladeva[h 11"]
mahå-ravahah (11) Sri[b]" (11
C.-Alha-Ghat Stone-Inscription of Narasimhadeva.
The (Vikrama) year 1216. This inscription, together with two others, is on a block of stone which is about a hundred yards from a large cave, somewhere near the foot of the Alha-Ghat, “one of the natural passes of the Vindhya hills by which the Tons river finds its way from the table-land of Réwah to the plain of the Ganges;" Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 89, about Lat. 24° 55'N., Long. 81° 27' E. It was discovered in 1883-84 by Sir A. Cunningham, by whom a transcript of the text, accompanied by & photolithograph, was published in Archæol. Survey of India, Vol. XXI. p. 115, and Plate xxviii.
The inscription contains seven lines. The writing covers a space of about 2' broad by 1' high, and is well preserved nearly throughout. The size of the letters is between and 11. The characters are Nägarf. The language is ungrammatical Sanskřit, exhibiting, e.g. . in line 4 the form karápitá, and in line 6 wdharita), a word which may have its origin in
the vernacular and the meaning of which is not apparent. As regards orthography, bis denoted by the sign for o; and j is used for y in juga, line 3; s for é in Kausamvi, line 5; and sh for kh in lishitazi, line 6.
The object of the inscription is, to record in lines 2-5) that the Ranaler, the illustrious Chhihula, a son of the illustrious Jalhana, Maháránaka of Pipal[au P]durga, performed some meritorious deed in connection with or near the Shatashadika Ghat, which may have consisted in the building of a road or the erection of a temple of the goddess Ambika, or both, but the exact details of which are not clear to me. Line 5 appears to mention some person from Kaukambi who had something to do with carrying out the Ránaka's orders; and lines 6 and 7 give the names of the writer of the inscription and of the artizans who were engaged in the work spoken of before.
But the really important part of the inscription are the introductory lines 1-2, from which we learn that what is stated in the sequel, took place " in the reign of victory of the illustrious Narasimhadeva, the Mahárljádhiraja of Pahala," and which contain the date - "the year 1216, the first lunar day of the bright half of Bhadrapada, on Ravi or Sunday." For these statements, on the one hand, give us some idea of how far the kingdom of Narasimhadeva extended in the north or north-east; and on the other hand, the date being clearly recorded in the Vikrama era, they enable us to test in a general way the correctness of any conclusion regarding the epoch of the Chedi era which may be arrived at on other grounds, and they have been so nised by me, ante, Vol. XVII. p. 218. As regards the epithet Dahaliya which is applied here to the king Narasimha, it has long been known that lexicographers give Dáhala as a synonym of Chédi; and for passages in which the word is actually used in literature, I may refer to the Vikramánkadévacharita, i. vv. 102 and 103, and xviii. vv. 93 and 95, and to Professor Peterson's Third Report on Sanskrit MSS., Appendix, p. 243, 1.5, where, in an enumeration of places and countries, Dabala is placed near Košala.
This sign is superfluous.
10 Read Budhe; as the matter is of some importance, I may as well state that the first akshara and the Qonsonants of the second akshara are clear in the rubbing.
11 I believe that the aksham Srf of this word is quite certain.
13 According to Sir A. Cunningham, Archeol. Survey of India, Vol. IX. pp. 1 and 94, these words (which I give from a separate rabbing) are below the rest, apparently separated from lines 1-7 by an empty space; but they were olearly engraved by the same artizan. 1 Archeol. Survey of India, Vol. XXI. p. 114, and preface, p. iv.
The name is spelt Narasinghadiva. Here Karna, one of Narasimhadeva's ancestors, is described as ári-Dúhala-kshitiparivrulha and Pihal-udhisa, and his country is called Dihal-orvi.
