History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c22.29

Language: English

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Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya was succeeded by Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti, who was, most probably his son. Mahāśivagupta is stated in his copper plate inscriptions as “meditating on the feet of Mahābhavagupta I Janamejaya.” His earliest known record is to be found on his Maranjamurā plates of the third year of his reign. These plates were discovered in the village of Duṅgri in the Sonpur State, about fourteen miles to the north-east of Sonpur town. The charter was issued from the Royal Camp at Suvarṇapura, *i.e.*, modern Sonpur. The first part of this inscription states that Mahābhavagupta I was the conqueror of Karṇāta, Lāṭa (Gujarat), Gurjara, Kāñchī and perhaps Draviḍa; that he had conquered Kaliṅga, Koṅgada, Utkala, Kośala, Gauḍa and Rāḍhā, and that he had earned the title of *Tri-Kaliṅgādhipati* with his own arms. In the prose portion immediately following this we are informed that Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti gave the villages of Bṛihad-bhusāyī in the Bhrāṇḍa district of Kośala and that of Mārañjamura in the Santovardā Khaṇḍa of the Sambaravāḍi division (*maṇḍala*) to a Brāhmaṇa named Yaśaḥkara of the Kāṇva branch of the Yajur-Veda, who was an immigrant from the village of Hastigrāma in the Middle Country (*Madhya-deśa*).

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The charter was issued in the third year of the reign of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti on the 5th day of the bright half of the month of Vaiśākha and was written by the Rāṇaka Rudradatta, the nephew of Siṃhadatta and the grandson of the Sāndhivigrahi Harṣadatta.¹ This charter was issued from Suvarṇapura or Sonpur. The second record of the king is the Paṭna plates of the year eight; they were issued from the Royal Camp at Vinītapura and record the grant of some land in the village of Talakajja with a river named Turadāśānariyā in the district of Sānulā in the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Kāmadeva of the Kāśyapa gotra and the Vājasaneya-Madyandina branch, who was an inhabitant of Jalajaḍḍa in Kośala and an emigrant from Mādhvila in the eighth year of the King's reign on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrṣa. The order was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahi and Rāṇaka Dhāradatta.² The third record of this king, the Kaṭak plates of the ninth year, is historically the most important. It is the first inscription of this dynasty which refers to a place in Orissa proper. The first part of this inscription is in verse and the name of the place from which the charter was issued is introduced in prose after the fourth verse as Tasmāt Śrī-Vinītapurāt, "from that Vinītapura." The next three verses are devoted to Janamejaya and his son, Yayāti. The prose portion gives the complete Imperial titles both to Mahābhavagupta I and Mahāśivagupta.

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The charter records the grant of the village of Chāndagrāma in the Maraḍa district (vishaya) of Southern Tosala to a Brāhmaṇa named Śaṅkhapāṇi of the Bhāradvāja gotra of the Kauthuma branch of the Sāmaveda, who was an inhabitant of Śīlabhañja-pāṭi in the Oḍra country and who was an emigrant from Śrīvallagrāma in the Middle Country. The order was issued in the ninth year of the reign of the king on the thirteenth day of the bright half of Jyaiṣṭha. The king's name is given towards the end of the inscription as Yayāti. The record was composed by the Sāndhivigraha Chhichchhaṭeśa.¹ The most important point established by this inscription is the fact that in the ninth year of his reign Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti had obtained possession of a portion, at any rate, of the flat plains of Orissa. Tosali or Toshala was divided into two parts, the Northern Toshala around Bhuvaneśvara and Purī, and the Southern Toshala to the south of the Chilka Lake. Toshala is mentioned for the first time in the Dhauli separate edict of Asoka.² Vinītapura has been identified with Binka on the river Mahānadī in the Sonpur State. Far more interesting than Toshala is the name Śīlabhañj-pāṭi in the Oḍra country of which the donee was a resident. It provides a landmark in the chronology of Orissa and fixes the sequence of the kings of the Bhañja and Somavaṁśī dynasties. Śīlabhañja-pāṭi must be a village founded by one of the two Śīlabhañjas of the Bhañja dynasty.

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Śīlabhañja I was the father of Śatrubhañja and the grandfather of Raṇabhañja I and Silabhañja II was the father of Vidyādharabhañja. Whichever Śīlabhañja may have founded the village it is certain that one of them, at any rate, was the founder of the village which was existing in the time of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti. It is, therefore, certain that one at least of the two Śīlabhañjas preceded the second king of the Somavamśi dynasty. It is more probable from the nature of the characters of the Somavamśi inscriptions that it was Śīlabhañja II who was the nearest to Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti in point of time, as Śatrubhañja, the son of Śīlabhañja, was alive in 744 A. D. This important point has been totally neglected by scholars like Mr. Hira Lal who want to place Raṇabhañja I in the 12th century A. D. Writers like Mr. B. C. Mazumdar creep over this important point noiselessly.¹ The fourth record of the reign of Mahābhavagupta-Yayāti is that on the Sonpur plates. There is no metrical portion in this record, which was also issued from the Royal Camp at Vinitapura. By this charter Mahāśivagupta gave the village of Niviṇḍā in the Gaṇutapāṭa Maṇḍala of the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Dikshita Puṇḍarika of the Bhāradvāja gotra, an inhabitant of Marameṇḍā in Kośala, who was an emigrant from Bhaṭaparoli.

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The order was issued in the 15th year of the reign of the king on the 13th day of the bright half of Mārgaśirsha and, according to the usual practice the king is called Yayāti at the end of the grant. The charter was composed by the order of Mahāsandhi-Vigrahika and Rāṇaka Charudaṭṭa by the Mahākshapaṭalika Utsavanāga. The fifth record of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti is the Patna plates of the 24th year. This charter was issued from Yayātinagara and the first portion contains a number of verses which introduce Janamejaya and his son Yayāti. In the prose portion immediately following we find these kings named as Mahābhavagupta and Mahāśivagupta with Imperial titles. The charter records the grant of the village of Delāḍeli in the district (vishaya) of Teḷātaṭa in the Kośala country to a Brāhmaṇa named Mahodadhi of the Kauśika gotra and the Gautama branch, an inhabitant of Antaraḍi in the Lāvaḍā district, who was an emigrant from the village of Kāsili in the Maṇḍala of Śrāvasti. The order was issued on the fifth day of the bright half of Āṣāḍha of the 24th year of the reign and the king is called Yayāti at the end of the inscription.

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The order was written by the Mahāsāndhivigrahī Kāyastha Tathāgata with the consent of the Mahāsāndhi-vigrahika and Rāṇaka Dhāradatta, who is also mentioned in the grant of the year 8.¹ Yayātinagara is identified with Vinitapura or Binka and the district of Teḷātaṭa is the country on the banks of the river Tel, a tributary of the Mahānadī rising in Kalahandi State and joining it at Sonpur. The district of Lāvaḍā has been identified with Lebdā, forty-eight miles south-west of Bolangir in the Patna State.² The last known record of Mahāśivagupta-Yayāti was also discovered in the Patna State. In composition it is exactly similar to the charter of the year 24 and was issued from Yayātinagara. The charter records the grant of the village of Luttarumā in the district of Teḷātaṭa to the same Mahodadhi, who received the previous grants. This order was issued in the year 28 of the reign, on the fifth day of the bright half of Bhādrapada and was written by a Kāyastha named Sūryasena with the consent of the Sāndhivigrahi for Kośala, Simhadatta. The last record is the least instructive from the historical point of view, as it does not enable us to determine whether the village granted was situated in Kośala proper or not. The mention of the Lāvaḍā district as the residence of the donee and the Telātaṭṭa district in which the village granted was situated indicate that the area was Kośala and not Orissa proper.