The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c30.s2: (2) The Kacchapaghātas of Dubkund

The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c30.s2

Language: English

(2) The Kacchapaghātas of Dubkund

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The existence of this branch is known mainly from one record, the Dubkund inscription of Vikramasiṁha dated in *V. S.* 1145 (A.D. 1088).² The genealogical portion of this record introduces the first two names of this line as follows:

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² *EI*, Vol. II, pp. 232-40.

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“There was an ornament of the Kacchapaghāta family, and a son of the illustrious Yuvarāja, who was white with fame that spread abroad in the three worlds, the illustrious prince (*bhūpati*) Arjuna, a leader of a formidable army of unparalleled splendour, a prince whom even the ocean did not equal in depth, and a bowman who by his skill in archery had completely vanquished the earth.

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Having, anxious to serve the illustrious Vidyādhara-deva (*Vidyādharadeva-kārya-nirataḥ*), fiercely slain in a great battle the illustrious Rājyapāla, with many showers of arrows that pierced his neckbones, he unceasingly filled all the three worlds with his imperishable fame, brilliant like pearl strings and like the orb of the moon and the foam of the sea.”³

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³ *EI*, Vol. II, pp. 233 and 237, lines 10-13.

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The identification of Rājyapāla and Vidyādhara of this passage with the Gurjara-Pratīhāra (A.D. 1018) and Candella (A.D. 1019) princes of the same name is generally accepted.¹ It is clear that the Kacchapaghāta Arjuna was a feudatory of Vidyādhara, described by Ibn ul-Athīr as the most powerful Indian prince of his time. I have already referred to the Candella inscription which extends the limit of the dominions of Dhaṅga (*c.* 954-1002 A.D.) in the west to the hill of Gwalior.² It seems likely that the Dubkund branch first grew into importance in the service of the great Candella Vidyādhara. The fact that the family *praśastikāra* failed to give Yuvarāja any other honorific than *Śrī* is probably a sufficient indication that he was a man of no importance. The fame and prestige acquired by Arjuna as a successful military leader, specially his destruction of Rājyapāla, must have laid the foundations of his family's fortunes. As he is called *bhūpati*, he may have even carved out a small principality round about the present Dubkund (Long. 77° 5½' E., Lat. 25° 43½' N.) on the river Kunu.

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¹ See my chapters on the *Later Gurjara-Pratīhāras*, and the *Candellas*. *DHNI*, Vol. , pp. 603 ff.; Vol. II, pp. 689.

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² *DHNI*, Vol. I, p. 593; Vol. II, pp. 677-78.

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Arjuna was succeeded by his son Abhimanyu, of whom the Dubkund inscription gives the following description:

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"Having powerfully vanquished in battle even the victorious, (he) valued other princes as lightly as a straw.

Since the highly intelligent king, the illustrious Bhoja, has widely celebrated the skill which he showed in his marvellous management of horses and chariots, and in the use of powerful weapons, what sage in the three worlds would be able to describe the qualities of this prince, who put to flight haughty adversaries by the fear inspired by the mere sight of his umbrella?"³

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³ *EI*, Vol. II, pp. 233 and 237-38.

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The Bhoja mentioned in the above passage is generally identified with the Paramāra of that name (*c* 1010-55 A.D.). It is however difficult to know what relation existed between the Paramāra prince and Abhimanyu. It is wellknown that the relations between the Candellas and the Paramāras were not very friendly during this period. A Candella inscription describes Bhoja as worshipping Vidyādhara 'full of fear like a pupil.'¹ We know for certain that Vidyādhara died some time before 1051 A.D., the only known date of his grandson Devavarman.² As the earliest known date of Bhoja's successor is 1055 A.D.³ it is probable that Bhoja survived Vidyādhara at least by some years. It is therefore possible that, taking advantage of the weakness of Vidyādhara's successors, Bhoja may have extended his influence in the north up to Dubkund; and the statement of the *praśastikāra* possibly contains a veiled reference to Abhimanyu's subservience to the great Paramāra.

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¹ *EI*, Vol. II, pp. 219 and 222, V. 22; see also *DHNI*, Vol. II, p. 689.

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² *IA*, Vol. XVI, pp. 201-02 and 204-07; see also *DHNI*, Vol. II, pp. 694-95.

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³ *EI*, Vol. III, pp. 48 ff.

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Abhimanyu was succeeded by his son Vijayapāla. Nothing definite is recorded of him in the Dubkund inscription. Some evidence of his military success may however be gathered if we accept his identification⁴ with the *Adhirāja* Vijaya of the *Biana stone-inscription*. This record was discovered on a pilaster of a Jaina temple, now used by Muslims as a mosque, in the town of Biana (Lat. 26° 55′ N., Long. 77° 21′ E.), on the river Gambhir, in the State of Bharatpur in Rajputana. It contains 18 lines, opening with *Oṁ oṁ namaḥ Siddhebhyaḥ*. It then records that in the kingdom of king *Adhirāja* Vijaya (line 5), at the city of Śrīpathā,⁵ there was a Jain teacher (*Sūri*) named Maheśvara, a leader of the Śvetāmbaras belonging to the Kāmyaka-*gaccha* (or sect), who occupied the seat of Viṣṇu Sūri. In lines 6-11, it records that Maheśvara Sūri died when the (*V.*) year one thousand one hundred was drawing to its close. In lines 17-18 we are told that the *praśasti* was incised by the *Sādhu* Sarvadeva in *V. Saṁ.* 1100 (A.D. 1043).¹

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⁴ *EI*, Vol. II, p. 235.

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⁵ According to Fleet the ancient name of Biana, *IA*, Vol. XIV, p. 10.

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¹ First noticed by Carlleyle, *ASR*, Vol. VI, p. 52, Plate VI. Then edited by Fleet, *IA*, Vol. XIV, pp. 8-10.

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The acceptance of this identification, first suggested by Kielhorn, would indicate that the Biana region was conquered by this branch some time before 1044 A.D. from the Gwalior branch, one of whose inscriptions, dated in the reign of Maṅgalarāja (*c.* 995-1015 A.D.), was discovered in the 'Ukha Mandar' at Biana.² Vijayapāla was succeeded by his son Vikramasiṁha, for whose reign we have the *Dubkund stone inscription* dated in *V.S.* 1145. It was discovered in the ruins of a temple at Dubkund in a dense forest on the left bank of the river Kunu, 76 miles to the S. W. of Gwalior. It contains 61 lines of writing, opening with *Oṁ oṁ namo Vītarāgāya* and 6 verses invoking the Jaina *Tīrthakāras* Ṛṣabha-svāmin, Śāntinātha, Candraprabha, the Jina (Mahāvīra), the sage Gotama, and the goddess of Scripture (*Śrutadevatā*) 'famous in the world under the name of *Paṅkajavāsinī*.' Then follows the genealogy of the Kacchapaghātas from Yuvarāja to prince Vikramasiṁha. The third part of the record gives the genealogy of Ṛṣi and Dāhaḍa, two Jain traders, on whom Vikramasiṁha had conferred the rank of *Śreṣṭhins* in the town Caḍobha.³ The *Śreṣṭhin* Jāsūka, their grandfather, 'is described as the head of a family or guild of merchants which had come from Jāyasapura.' Lines 39-48 contain an account of some Jain sages belonging to the Lāṭavāgaṭa-*gaṇa*, the last of whom, Vijayakīrti, not only composed this inscription, but also induced the people to build the temple at which the inscription was afterwards engraved. One of these sages, the *guru* Śāntiṣeṇa, father of Vijayakīrti, is said to have held a *sabhā* before the king Bhojadeva and defeated hundreds of disputants who had assailed Ambarasena and other learned men. The prose passage, commencing in line 54, records that the *Mahārājādhirāja* Vikramasiṁha “for the building of the temple and for keeping it in good repair, as well as for purposes of worship, assigned (a tax of) one *Vaṁśopaka* on each *goṇī* (of grain?), and gave a piece of land in the village of Mahācakra, capable of being sown with four *goṇīs* of wheat, and a garden with a well to the east of Rajakadraha; and that he moreover provided a certain amount of oil for lamps and for anointing the bodies of holy men.” The *praśasti* was written on stone by Udayarāja, and engraved by the *Śilākūṭa* Tilhaṇa. The date (*V.*) *Saṁvat* 1145 (A.D. 1088) comes in the last line.¹

Linked texts (1)

Dubkund