The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c16.277

v1.c16.277

The Varmans claim to come from *Siṁhapura*. Mr. Basak identified this place with the Sīhapura of the *Mahāvaṁśa* which was situated in Lāḷa (Rāḍha) between Vaṅga and Magadha, while Mr. Banerji drew attention to the *praśasti* of Lakha-mandal (at Madha in Jaunsar Bawar district on the Upper Jumna), which refers to 11 generations of Candragupta, the prince of Jālandhara (*c.* 300-600 A.D.), who claims to belong to the Yādavas of the lunar race reigning at Siṅghapura.³ This Siṅghapura is undoubtedly the Seng-ha-pu-lo of Yuan Chwang situated to the north side of the Salt Range in the Punjab.⁴ But Dr. Hultzsch has pointed out a dynasty of Varmans who ruled in a Siṁhapura nearer home.⁵ The Komarti (near Narasannapeṭa, Ganjam District) plates of Candravarman and the Bṛhatproṣṭhā (in Palakonda Taluka, Vizagapatam) grant of Umāvarman reveal the existence of a line of kings of Kaliṅga who resided in Siṁhapura or Sīhapura.¹ According to Hultzsch, this Siṁhapura "is perhaps identical with the modern Siṅgupuram between Chicacole and Narasannapēṭa."² The same scholar has also pointed out that "according to Singhalese inscriptions, the two kings Niśśaṅkamalla and Sāhasamalla, the second of whom ascended the throne in A.D. 1200, were sons of the Kaliṅga king Goparāja of Siṁhapura. The Buddhist chronicle *Mahāvaṁsa* stated that Tilokasundarī, a queen of Vijayabāhu I (*c.* 1054-1109 A.D.), was a princess of Kaliṅga, and three relatives of hers......came to Ceylon from Sīhapura." It is thus not entirely impossible that this enterprising city may have sent a colony northwards to Bengal, where they supplanted the Candras. The script of the Belava grant, which is later than the Rampal plate of Śrīcandra, and the fact that the Varmans issued their charters from the same place (Vikramapura) and grant land in the same area (Puṇḍra-Bhukti) appear to confirm this suspicion.³ In their campaign against the Buddhist Candra rulers the Varmans may have posed as the champions of orthodox Hinduism. In Verse 5 of the Belava grant, we are told that "(the knowledge of) the three Vedas is a covering for men, and those who are devoid of it are certainly naked; (thinking) so the kinsmen of Hari, the Varmans, mailing themselves with their hair standing on end in their enthusiasm for the three Vedas and for marvellous fights, and wearing the very solemn name and possessing noble arms, occupied Siṁhapura." The date of these princes is approximately fixed by the suggested identification of Karṇa, whose daughter Vīraśrī was married to Jātavarman, with the Kalacuri king of that name (*c.* 1041-70 A.D.). Mr. A. K. Maitreya, to whom we are indebted for the suggestion, has also identified Divya, whose strength was put to shame by Jātavarman, with the Kaivarta ruler Divyoka, who according to the *Rāma-carita* killed Mahīpāla II, the son of Vigrahapāla III.¹ If these identifications are accepted, then we may represent the relations of the 4 dynasties thus : ²