The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v1.c20.115.2

v1.c20.115.2

de Sacy and Elliot when they assumed this Barū-jaybāl to be identical with Rājaybāl or Rājyapāla.² The difference of the two names of course remains an obstacle in accepting the identification. But in Arabic ر is often written in MSS. as د and can readily be mistaken for a ب. It is not impossible that the initial ب was originally the Arabic preposition meaning ‘to, at or with,’ which was wrongly thought by the scribe to be a part of the name. The mistake thus started may have been perpetuated in all subsequent spellings of the name.³ In any case if we accept ‘Utbī’s account as real history it seems impossible that Barū-jaybāl should be identified with the son and successor of Rājyapāla though it is not impossible that he may have been a contemporary ruler of some other dynasty. But there is another objection. The Dubkhund stone-inscription of the Kacchapaghāta Vikramasiṁha dated in V.S. 1145 (A.D. 1188) tells us that his great-grandfather Arjuna, being “anxious to serve the illustrious Vidyādhara deva had fiercely slain in a great battle the illustrious Rājyapāla……”⁴ A Candella inscription from Mahoba tells us that Vidyādhara “caused the destruction of the king of Kanauj."'¹ These two inscriptions when jointly read leave us in no doubt that this Rājyapāla was the Gurjara-Pratīhāra king of Kanauj and the same ruler whose name is spelt by the Arab writer as Rājaybāl.