The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c8.s5.3

c8.s5.3

THE genealogy of the Yâdavas is given in the introduction to the Vratakhaṇḍa attributed to or composed by Hemâdri who was a minister of Mahâdeva, one of the later princes of the dynasty. Some of the manuscripts of the work, however, do not contain it, and in others it begins with Bhillama, as it was he who acquired supreme power and raised the dynasty to importance. Others again contain an account of the family from the very beginning, the first person mentioned being the Moon who was churned out of the milky ocean. From the Moon the genealogy is carried down through all the Purâṇic or legendary ancestors to Mahâdeva. But it is not difficult from the account itself to determine where the legend ends and history begins. Besides, the names of most of the historical predecessors of Bhillama agree with those occurring in the copper-plate grant translated by Paṇḍit Bhagvânlâl Indraji.¹ He considered the Yâdava dynasty mentioned in his grant to be different from that of Devagiri and called it "A New Yâdava Dynasty," as, of course, in the absence of the information I now publish, he was justified in doing. But it is now perfectly clear that the princes mentioned in the grant were the ancestors of the Devagiri Yâdavas. The following early history of the family is based on the account given in the Vratakhaṇḍa² and on the grant published by the Paṇḍit. The latter, however, brings down the genealogy only to Seunachandra II. who was on the throne in 991 Śaka or 1069 A.D., and omits the names of some of the intermediate princes. Two other grants by princes of this dynasty found at Saṃgamner and Kalas-Budruk of earlier dates¹ have been recently published, and these also have been compared.