The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c19.s2.t1: (a) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura
The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c19.s2.t1
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(a) The Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānapura
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The existence of this family is known from the *Undikavāṭikā grant* of the Rāṣṭrakūta Abhimanyu. The exact find-spot of this is unknown. It contains·22 lines, incised on 3 plates. It is not dated, but has been referred approximately to the 7th century A.D. on palaeographic grounds.² The seal contains the figure of a lion couchant facing the proper right, with jaws open and tongue protruding.³ The grant opens with *Oṁ svasti* and in the introductory portion gives the following genealogy of the donor:—
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² Fleet in *BG*, Vol. I, Part II, p. 386; *EI*, Vol. VIII, p. 163. Jackson referred the grant to about 450 A.D., see *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 120.
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³ The seals of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Mānyakheṭa contain the figure of a *Garuḍa*.
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``` Māna or Mānāṅka......ornament of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas.
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Devarāja.
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Bhaviṣya. × ×
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| \ . . . . . /
| |
| (Names not given.)
|
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Abhimanyu. ```
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This last ruler, while residing at Mānapura¹ granted the small village of Uṇḍikavāṭikā² to the god Dakṣiṇa-Śiva, through Jaṭāvāra, a *Pāśupata* ascetic in charge of the temple situated at Peṭha-Paṅgaraka.³ The grant was made in the presence of Jayasiṁha, the Harivatsa-*Koṭṭa-nigraha*.⁴
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¹ Identified by Hultzsch with Manpur, near Bandhogarh, in Rewa, *EI*, Vol. VIII, p. 166; Bhagvanlal Indraji thought that it was an older form of the name Mānyakheṭa (mod. Malkheḍ), about 60 miles S.E. of Sholapur; *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 120. Fleet at first identified it 'with the modern Mânpur in Malwa, about 12 miles S. W. of Mhow,' in the Indore Residency, C.I. (*ibid*, Part II, p. 386; *IA*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 233-34), but later thought it not impossible that Mânpur may have been the older name of Shohagpur, or Sobhapur, which is a large village 6 miles on the N.E. of Shohagpur (*ibid*, Vol. XXX, p. 514).
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² Identified with the mod. village of Oontia, near Pagara; the latter is 4 miles N. of Pachmarhi in Hoshangabad district, C.P., *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 514.
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³ The Mahāśiva temple at Pagara, about 4 miles north of Pachmarhi, in Hoshangabad district, C.P., has been identified with this Dakṣiṇa-Śiva temple; *BG*, Vol. I, Part I, p. 132; *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 511.
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⁴ Does it mean 'commandant of the fort of Harivatsa' ? *nigraha*=*pāla*? Its ordinary sense is, chastiser, but Fleet took *nigraha*=*pāla*, see *IA*, Vol. XXX, p. 510. The inscription was first published by Bhagvanlal Indraji in *JBRAS*, Vol. XVI, pp. 88 ff., and critically examined by Fleet in *IA*, Vol. XXX, pp. 509 ff. It was noticed in the *BG* by both Jackson and Fleet, and finally edited by Hultzsch in *EI*, Vol. VIII, pp. 163-66.
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This land-grant of Abhimanyu seems to be the earliest inscription of the princes who designated their family as Rāṣṭrakūṭa. The lion-seal of the family of Mānāṅka may indicate that his line was quite distinct from the Malkheḍ family, who had the figure of Garuḍa on their seals. The town named Mānapura, from which the grant of Abhimanyu was issued, was probably founded by Mānāṅka. If its identification with Manpur near Mhow is accepted,⁵ we may infer that this family ruled over the valley of the Narbada from Mhow to Pachmarhi.
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⁵ Fleet rejected this identification, suggested by him (in *BG*, Vol. I, Part II, p. 386) on the ground that it was north of the Narbada. This does not appear to me to be a sufficient reason.