Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c18.186

c18.186

Vikramâditya II was succeeded in Śaka 1048 and in the cyclic year *Parâbhava* (A D 1127) by his son Someśvara III, who assumed the title of Bhûlokamalla ⁶⁷ He had a short reign of about 11 years He is represented to have "placed his feet on the heads of the kings of Andhra, Draviḷa, Magadha, Nepâla, and to have been lauded by all learned men "⁶⁸ This last praise does not seem to be undeserved, for we have a work in Sanskrit written by Someśvara entitled Mânasollâsa or Abhilaṣhitârtha-Chintâmaṇi, in which a great deal of information on a variety of subjects is given The book is divided into five parts In the first are given the causes which lead to the acquisition of a kingdom, in the second, those that enable one to retain it after he has acquired it, in the third, the kinds of enjoyment which are open to a king after he has rendered his power firm, in the fourth, the modes of diversion which give mental pleasure, and in the fifth, sports or amusements Each of these consists of twenty kinds In the first are included such virtues as shunning lies, refraining from injury to others, continence, generosity, affability, faith in the gods, feeding and supporting the poor and helpless, friends and adherents, &c Under the second head are described what are called the seven *angas*, *i e*, the ideal king, his ministers including the priest and the astrologer, the treasury and the way of replenishing it, the army, &c. The enjoyments are—a beautiful palace, bathing, anointing, rich clothing, ornaments, &c. The diversions are—military practice, horsemanship, training elephants, wrestling, cockfights, bringing up of dogs, poetry, music, dancing, and others. The last class comprises sports in gardens and fields, or on mountains and sandbanks, games, enjoyment of the company of women, &c. In connection with these subjects there are few branches of learning or art in Sanskrit the main principles of which are not stated. We have polity, astronomy, astrology, dialectics, rhetoric, poetry, music, painting, architecture, medicine, training of horses, elephants, and dogs, &c. The king does appear to have been a man of learning, and it was on that account that he received the title of *Sarvajñabhûpa*⁶⁹ or the "all-knowing king." In the Mânasollâsa, in connection with the preparation of an almanac, the day used as an epoch from which to calculate the positions of certain heavenly bodies is stated as "Friday, the beginning of the month of Chaitra, [90] one thousand and fifty-one years of Saka having elapsed, the year of the cycle being *Saumya*, while the king Soma, the ornament of the Châlukya [race], who was the very sage Agastya to the ocean of the essences of all the Sâstras,⁷⁰ and whose enemies were destroyed, was ruling over the sea-begirt earth."⁷¹ This work, there-