The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c28.7

v2.c28.7

³ *EI*, Vol. I, pp. 122 ff. This is the earliest record of the line, as far known, which supplies any information about the origin of the family. There are slight variations in other records. Thus in the Khajraho stone inscription of Kokkala (V. S. 1058) we have: Atri: From his eye the Moon; His son the sage Candrātreya:—In the family of the *Candrātreya-vaṁśajaḥ* princes, Nannuka; see *ibid*, pp. 137 ff. The copper plates usually begin with the praise of *Candrātreya-narendrāṇāṁ vaṁśa* and then give the name of the grandfather of the donor of the grant; see *IA*, XVI, pp. 207 ff. Sometimes the inscription begins with the praise of only the Moon, the progenitor of the *Candrātreya-narendrāṇāṁ vaṁśa*; see *EI*, Vol. XVI, pp. 9 ff. A fragmentary Mahoba inscription, however, begins with the genealogy with "From the beloved of the night there sprang a race beloved by all." The preserved portion does not contain the word Candra or Candrātreya; *ibid*, Vol. I, pp. 217 ff. Generally speaking, the earliest inscriptions refer to the dynasty as *Candrātreya-vaṁśa*. But the Dudahi stone inscriptions of Devalabdhi, a grandson of Yaśovarman, describe the family as *Candrell-ānvaya*, from which no doubt the later form Candella is derived. Kielhorn suspected that the name *Candrātreya* was really a later Sanskritised form of the word *Candrella*. According to him this last word was formed from Candra by the addition of the Prakrit suffix *illa*. The form *Caṁdella* occurs in the Deogarh rock-inscription of Kīrtivarman, *IA*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 237 ff. The form Candella is found in the Benares grant of the Kalacuri Lakṣmī-Karṇa *EI*, Vol. II, p. 306; while the form *Candela* occurs in the Madanpur inscription of Cāhamāna Pṛthvīrāja III, (V.) *Saṁvat* 1239; see *ASR*, Vol. XXI, p. 174. We reserve for discussion the question of the origin of the Candellas in Vol. III of the present work.