The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c31.719

v2.c31.719

The first important event in the reign of this prince was the downfall of his father’s two great ministers, Vastupāla¹ and Tejaḥpāla. According to the Jain writers, it was Vastupāla who was instrumental in securing the crown for Vīsaladeva. Someśvara records that in spite of this service, they suffered great indignities at the hands of the king, and were nearly obliged to undergo the ordeal of *ghaṭa-sarpa* in order to prove themselves innocent of peculation.² On another occasion Vastupāla came into violent conflict with Siṁha, the king’s maternal uncle, and ‘abandoned the hope of life.’³ On both these occasions, we are told, the royal priest Someśvara saved them by his intervention. Before these incidents, it seems that the king had relieved them of their high offices and appointed a Brāhman named Nāgaḍa as his chief minister. The Kadi grant shows that Nāgaḍa was transacting the business of the Seal as late as V.S. 1317. The appointment of Nāgaḍa like that of Kapardin in the reign of Ajayapāla probably marks a Brāhmanical reaction in the king’s administration; and we are therefore not at all surprised to see the Jain chroniclers completely ignoring Vīsaladeva after recording the incidents about the Jain ministers.⁴ But the inscriptions of the king shows that his reign was not without its share of military glory.