The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c29.s2.43

v2.c29.s2.43

The references to Malaya and Kerala are so vague that they seem to have no historical basis. Excepting the Bilhari inscription, most of the Kalacuri records are silent about the achievements of Prasiddhadhavala. He does not appear to have been powerful enough to pierce through the heart of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa territory and reach the Malabar coast. It is however not impossible that he may have been associated with some of the southern campaigns of his Rāṣṭrakūṭa relatives. The conquest of Pāli from ' the lord of Kosala ' looks like a statement of fact. Some scholars show a tendency to identify this Pāli with 'the village of Palia in the Balasore district, six miles from the sea shore,' ² but it seems more likely that it is to be identified with the village of Pali situated 12 miles to the north-east of Ratanpur in the Bilaspur district. Cunningham visited this place in 1873-74 and found here ' a fine large tank and the remains of several temples on its banks ' in the style of the Khajraho temples.³ There can be no doubt therefore that the village marks the site of an important city. It is however difficult to identify the *Kosalendra* from whom this place was taken by Mugdhatuṅga. It is possible that this prince was a member of the dynasty conveniently designated as ' Sarabhapura kings.' Land-grants of two kings of this line, named Mahājayarāja and Mahāsudevarāja, have been discovered in Raipur, Arang, Khariar and Sarangarh, all situated in the Raipur district of the Central Provinces.⁴ The grants contain circular seals with the standing figure of *Gaja-Lakṣmī*. They are written in the ' boxheaded variety of the Central Indian alphabet,’ and are all issued from Śarabhapura.¹ It has been suggested that these Śarabhapura princes drove away the line of rulers known as ‘Śrīpura kings’ from the Raipur region into the middle Mahanadi valley, but were themselves gradually supplanted by the Kalacuris.² The records of these ‘Śrīpura kings’ were issued from Śrīpura (mod. Sirpur) and were all found near about the Raipur district.³ Their seals bear the figure of Garuḍa, and they claim to belong to the *Pāṇḍu-vaṁśa* and assume the title ‘lord of Kosala’ (*Kosalādhipati*). The characters in their inscriptions belong to the northern class of alphabets of about the 8th or the 9th centuries A.D. ‘In spite of overwhelming paleographic evidence,’ some scholars have tried to link together these ‘Śrīpura kings’ with the so-called ‘Somavaṁśī kings of Kaṭak,’ who also called themselves ‘lords of Kosala,’ and had similar names and titles.⁴ If this be accepted then the *Kośalendra* defeated by Prasiddhadhavala may possibly have been some princes of this dynasty,⁵ and not of the Śarabhapura line, for the latter, though it ruled in Kosala, never seem to have assumed the title of *Kosalendra*. After the conquest of Pāli from the king of Kosala, Prasiddhadhavala may have reached the shores of the Bay of Bengal by following the lower courses of the river Mahanadi.