Indian Epigraphy c6.s5.21

c6.s5.21

In some cases, the poets are found more eager to display their skill in rhetoric rather than in the accuracy of their statements. The Candella king Yaśovarman (middle of the 10th century A.D.), who was a feudatory of the Gurjara Pratihāra emperor of Kanauj, is described in a Khajuraho inscription⁴ as a subduer of the Gauḍas, Khaśas, Kośalas, Kaśmīras, Mithilās, Mālavas, Cedis, Kurus and Gurjaras, though during the period in question neither were Kośala, Mithilā and Kuru separate states nor was the Candella king likely to have had anything to do with them. It seems that the lure of alliteration (cf. kośalaḥ Kośalānām, śithilita-Mithilaḥ, Kuru-taruṣu marut, etc.) carried the poet far away from historical accuracy.⁵