Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c22: Section XVI. The Śilâhâras of Kolhâpur

Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c22

Language: English

Section XVI. The Śilâhâras of Kolhâpur

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Three distinct families of chiefs or minor princes with the name of Śilâra or Śilâhâra ruled over different parts of the country They all traced their origin to Jîmûtavâhana the son of Jîmûtaketu, who was the king of a certain class of demigods called Vidyâdharas, and who saved the life of a serpent named Śankhachûḍa by offering himself as a victim to Garuḍa in his place¹ One of the titles borne by the princes of all the three families was *Tagarapuravarâdhîśvara* or "lords of Tagara, the best of cities," which fact has a historical significance We have seen that Kâmvadeva, the donor of the Râjâpur grant who was a Châlukya, called himself *Kalyâṇapuravarâdhîśvara*, and one of the titles of the later Kadambas after they had been reduced to vassalage and of the rulers of Goa was *Banavâsîpuravarâdhîśvara* As these titles signify that the bearers of them belonged to the families that once held supreme power at Kalyâṇa and Banavâsî, so does *Tagarapuravarâdhîśvara* show that the Śilâhâras who bore the title belonged to a family that once possessed supreme sovereignty and reigned at Tagara In one Śilâhâra grant it is expressly stated that "the race known by the name of Śilâhâra was that of the kings who were masters of Tagara "² As mentioned in a former section, Tagara was a famous town in the early centuries of the Christian era and retained its importance till a very late period, but unfortunately the town has not yet been identified, nor have we found any trace of the Śilâhâra kingdom with Tâgâra as its capital Perhaps it existed between the close of the Andhrabhṛitya period and the foundation of the Châlukya power

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¹ This story has been dramatized in the Sanskrit play Nâgânanda attributed to Śrî-Harsha

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² Grant translated by Dr Taylor and published in the Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, Vol III शिलाहाराख्यवंशीयं तगरीश्वरभूपताम् ।

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The three Śilâhâra dynasties of Mahâmaṇḍaleśvaras or dependent princes which we have been considering were founded in the times of the Râshṭrakûṭas One of them ruled over Northern Koṅkaṇ, which was composed of fourteen hundred villages, the chief of them being Purî, which probably was at one time the capital of the province As represented in an inscription at Kaṇheri noticed before, Koṅkaṇ was assigned to Pullasakti by Amoghavarsha a few years before Śaka 775 Another Śilâhâra family established itself in Southern Koṅkaṇ The founder or first chief named Sanaphulla enjoying the favour of Kṛishṇarâja acquired the territory between the sea-coast and the Sahya range³ There were three Râshṭrakûṭa princes of the name of Kṛishṇarâja but the one meant here must be the first prince of that name who reigned in the last quarter of the seventh century of the Śaka era [122] or between 753 and 775 A D⁴ The genealogy of this dynasty is given in the Khârepâṭaṇ grant, the last prince mentioned in which was on the throne in Śaka 930 while the Châlukya king Satyâśraya was reigning The capital must have been situated somewhere near Khârepâṭaṇ

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³ Khârepâṭan plates, Jour B B R A S, Vol I, p 217 The name of the first chief is read "Jhallaphulla" by Bâl Gaṅgâdhara Śâstrî, but the first letter looks like स though there is some difference That difference, however, brings it nearer to स The letter which was read by him as ल्ल is clearly फ For दैमंसमावनी I find देयमंससाधनी on the plates

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⁴ From Sanaphulla the first chief to Raṭṭa the last three are ten generations Somehow each succeeding chief in this line happens to be the son of the preceding Though in a line of princes some of whom bear to others the relation of brother or uncle, the average duration of each reign is from 19 to 21 years, the average duration of a generation is always much longer, and varies from 26 to 28 years One can verify this by taking any line of princes or chiefs in the world Raṭṭa was on the throne in Śaka 930, and supposing him to have begun to reign about that time, nine generations or about 27 x 9 years must have passed away from the date of the foundation of the family to Śaka 930 Subtracting 27 x 9 = 243 from 930, we have Śaka 687 as the approximate date of Śanaphulla If we take the average to be 26, we shall have 696 as the date In either case we are brought to the reign of Kṛishṇa I The dates of Kṛishṇa II range from Śaka 797 to 833 and of Kṛishṇa III from Śaka 862 to 881, and therefore neither of these will do Even if we take the other average of a reign in the present case and subtract 19 x 9 = 171 from 930, we get Śaka 759, which will not take us to the reign of Kṛishṇa II whose earliest date is Śaka 797 The Khârepâṭaṇ family therefore was the oldest of the three, and was founded in the reign of Kṛishṇa I

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The third Śilâhâra family the history of which falls within the scope of this paper ruled over the districts of Kolhâpur, Miraj, and Karhâḍ, and in later times Southern Konkan was added to its territory This dynasty was the latest of the three and was founded about the time of the downfall of the Râshṭrakûṭa empire, as will be hereafter shown The first prince of the family was Jatiga, who was succeeded by his son Nâyimma or Nâyivarman

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Bâl Śâstrî read the name of the last chief in the grant as Rahu, but the second syllable of the name is certainly not हु the form of which in the grant itself is different It looks exactly like the ट्ट in the word परमभट्टारक and आघट्टनानि which occur elsewhere in the grant

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Nâyımma was followed by hıs son Chandrarâja, and Chandrarâja by hıs son Jatıga, who ıs called “the lıon of the hıll-fortress of Panhâlâ ”⁵ Jatıga’s son and successor was Gomka, otherwise called Gomkala or Gokalla He ıs represented to have been the ruler of the dıstrıcts of Karahâṭa-Kuṇḍı⁶ and Maırıñja and to have harassed Konkan He had three brothers named Gûvala, Kîrtırâja, and Chandrâdıtya, of whom the fırst at least appears to have succeeded hım Then followed Mârasımha the son of Gomka, whose grant fırst publıshed by Wathen ıs dated S’aka 980 He ıs represented to have constructed temples , and to have been reıgnıng at hıs capıtal, the fort of Khılıgılı, whıch probably was another name of Panhâlâ ın the Kolhâpur dıstrıcts Mârasımha was succeeded by hıs son Gûvala and he by hıs brother Bhoja I Bhoja’s two brothers Ballâḷa and Gaṇḍarâdıtya governed the prıncıpalıty after hım ın successıon

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⁵ See the grant of Gaṇḍarâdıtya publıshed by Paṇḍıt Bhagvânlâl Indraji ın Jour B B R A S, Vol XIII, p 2, of Mârasımha ın Jour R A S, Vol IV, p 280, and Arch Surv W I, No 10, p 102, and of Bhoja II ın Trans Lıt Soc Bom, Vol III

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⁶ Mârasımha’s grant Kuṇḍı or Kuhuṇḍı was some part of the Belgaum dıstrıct, as stated before Maırıñja ıs Mıraj

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An ınscrıptıon at Kolhâpur mentıons another brother named Gangadeva and the order ın whıch the brothers are spoken of ıs Gûvala [123] Ganga, Ballâḷa, Bhoja, and Gaṇḍarâdıtya ⁷ But the grants of Gaṇḍarâdıtya and Bhoja II agree ın representıng Bhoja as the elder and Ballâḷa as the younger brother, and ın omıttıng Gaṅga

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⁷ Inscrıptıon No 4, Major Graham’s Report

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Of all these brothers the youngest Gaṇḍarâdıtya seems to have been the most famous He ıs the donor, as indicated above, in the grant published by Paṇḍit Bhagvânlâl Indrajı,⁸ and in others recorded on stone at Kolhâpur and in the districts His dates are Śaka 1032, 1040, 1058⁹ He ruled over the country of Miriñja along with the seven Khollas and over Konkan, which thus seems to have been subjugated by the Kolhâpur Śilâhâras before 1032 Probably it was added to their dominions in the time of Gomka or soon after From the grant of Bhoja II it appears that the part of Konkan ruled over by the Dekkan Śilâhâras was the same as that which was in the possession of the family mentioned in the Khârepâṭaṇ grant,¹⁰ wherefore it follows that the Śilâhâras of southern Konkan were uprooted by their kinsmen of the Kolhâpur districts Gaṇḍarâditya fed a hundred thousand Brâhmans at Prayâga This must be the place of that name which is situated near Kolhâpur, and not the modern Allahâbâd He built a Jaina temple at Âjarem, a village in the Kolhâpur districts,¹¹ and constructed a large tank, called after him Gandasamudra or "the sea of Gaṇḍa," at Irukuḍi in the Miraj district, and on its margin placed idols of Iśvara or Śiva, Buddha, and Arhat (Jina), for the maintenance of each of which he assigned a piece of land Several other charities of his, in which the Jainas also had their share, are mentioned, and his bountiful nature as well as good and just government are extolled.¹² He first resided at a place called Tîravâḍa and afterwards at Valavâḍa, which has been identified with the present Valavḍem¹³

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⁸ In *loc cit*

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⁹ Bhagvânlâl's plates, and Inscriptions Nos 1, 2, and 3, Major Graham's Report The Saka in Bhagvânlâl's grant and No 1 of Major Graham's inscriptions is the same, *t o* 1032, though in the translation of the latter it is erroneously given as 1037, but the cyclic vears are different As to this see Appendix B

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¹⁰ For the village granted is Kaśelî, which is near Jaitâpur and Khârepâṭaṇ

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¹¹ Ind Ant, Vol X, p 76, note

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¹² His grant in loc. cit.

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¹³ Bhagavânlâl's plates and Major Graham's Ins. No. 2.

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Gaṇḍarâditya was succeeded by his son Vijayârka, who was on the throne in Śaka 1065 and 1073.¹⁴ He restored the chiefs of the territory about Thâṇâ to their principality which they had lost, and replaced the princes of Goa on the throne and fortified their position which had become shaky.¹⁵ He assisted Vijjaṇa¹⁶ in his revolt against his masters, the Châlukyas of Kalyâṇa, and enabled him to acquire supreme sovereignty. This event, as we have seen, took place about 1079 Śaka.

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¹⁴ Ins. Nos. 4 and 5, Major Graham's Report.

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¹⁵ Grant of Bhoja II. in loc. cit.

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¹⁶ In the transcript of the inscription in Vol. IV. Trans. Lit. Soc. Bom. we have Vikshaṇa for Vijjaṇa. There is no question this must be a mistake of the reader of the inscription or of the engraver. For the Kalachuri usurper at Kalyâna is called both Vijjala or Vijjaṇa in his inscriptions, and there was none who about the date of Vijayârka obtained the position of a Chakravartin or paramount sovereign, as stated in the inscription.

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[124] After Vijayârka, his son Bhoja II. became Mahâmaṇḍaleśvara and reigned in the fort of Paṇhâlâ. His dates are Śaka 1101, 1109, 1112, 1113, 1114, and 1127.¹⁷ He granted the village of Kaselî in Koṅkaṇ near Khârepâṭan on the application of his son Gaṇḍarâditya for feeding Brâhmaṇs regularly,¹⁸ and gave lands for Hindu and Jaina temples in other places also Two of the grantees in one case at Kolhâpur are called Karahâṭakas, which shows that the caste of Karhâḍe Brâhmans had come to be recognized in those days, and two others bore the family name of Ghaisâsa, which is now found among Chitpâvan Brâhmans ¹⁹ In the reign of Bhoja II a Jaina Paṇḍit of the name of Somadeva composed in Śaka 1127 a commentary entitled *Śabdârṇavachandrikâ*²⁰ on Pûjyapâda's Sanskrit Grammar The Kolhâpur chiefs enjoyed a sort of semi-independence Vijjana, the new sovereign at Kalyâna, however, endeavoured probably to establish his authority over Bhoja But that chief was not content to be his feudatory, and to reduce him to subjection Vijjana marched against Kolhâpur a little before his assassination in Śaka 1089 ²¹ On the establishment of the power of the Devagiri Yâdavas, Bhoja seems similarly to have assumed independence, but Siṅghana subdued him completely, and annexed the principality to the Yâdava empire ²²

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¹⁷ Major Graham's Ins. Nos. 6, 7, 8, the grant, and Ind. Ant., Vol. X., p. 76, note.

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¹⁸ There are, however, some mistakes here in the transcript of the grant and the sense is not clear, though it appears pretty certain that it was the village that was granted and not a field in it or anything else, from the fact that the boundaries of the village are given.

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¹⁹ Ins No 8, Major Graham's Report

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²⁰ Ind Ant, Vol X, p 76, note The manuscript here mentioned is in the Dekkan College library and I have seen in it the colophon given in the note

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²¹ Vijalarâya Charitra in Wilson's Mackenzie MSS p 320

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²² See XV

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The number of generations from Jatiga, the founder of the dynasty, to Gaṇḍarâditya is seven The latest date of the latter is Śaka 1058 and the earliest of his successor Vijayârka is 1065, so that, if we suppose Gaṇḍarâditya to have died in 1060 and allow about 27 years to each generation, we shall arrive at Śaka 871 as the approximate date of the foundation of the family At that time the reigning Râshṭrakûṭa sovereign was Kṛishṇa III, the uncle of Kakkala the last prince

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One of the many titles used by the Śilâhâras was *Śrîman-Mahâlakshmî-labdha-vara-prasâda*, *i e* "one who has obtained the favour of a boon from the glorious Mahâlakshmî" Mahâlakshmî was thus their tutelary deity, and they were clearly the followers of the Purâṇic and Vedic religion, but they patronized both Brâhmaṇs and Jainas alike, and their impartiality is strikingly displayed by the fact noticed above of Gaṇḍarâditya's having placed an idol of Buddha, whose religion had well nigh become extinct, along with those of the gods worshipped by the other two sects, on the margin of the tank dug by him

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There are at the present day many Marâṭhâ families of the name of Selâra reduced to poverty, and the name Selâravâḍi of a station [126] on the railway from Khaṇḍâlâ to Poona is also, I believe, to be traced to the family name of the sovereigns of Tagara

Linked texts (2)

Nāgānanda — Harṣavardhana, Sanskrit
Toḷachguḍ stone inscription of the time of Sadāśivarāya, Śaka 1466 — Kannada