The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c30.s1.22

v2.c30.s1.22

The only other recorded achievement of Kīrttirāja is his building of 'a wonderful temple of the lord of Pārvatī, which shines like a column of fame' at the town of Siṁhapānīya.³ He was succeeded by his son Mūladeva, also known as Bhuvanapāla and Trailokyamalla.⁴ Nothing definite is known about this prince. But his sudden assumption of two additional names and the statement in the Sasbahu epigraph that 'his body was decorated with the irreproachable marks of a universal sovereign' may indicate his freedom from the hegemony of the Candellas. I have already shown that the period between the reigns of Vidyādhara (1019 A.D.) and Kīrttivarman (1098 A.D.) is one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Candellas.⁵ If our suggestion for Kīrtirāja's date (*c.* 1015-35) be correct, his son's reign must have fallen in *c.* 1035-55 A.D. It is thus likely that Mūladeva, taking advantage of the disastrous defeats of the Candellas by the Kalacuri Lakṣmī-Karṇa, asserted his complete independence.