History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c15.s2.t3.6

c15.s2.t3.6

Having arrived at this rough indication, we may now try to ascertain more definite limits of his reign. The Chinese authorities mention that a “king of Central India,” of the name of I-cha-fon-mo, sent his minister Seng-po-ta to China in 731 A. D., and the former has, I suppose, been correctly identified with Yaśovarman of Kanauj.¹ Probably he despatched this embassy in order to enlist the support of the Emperor of China, who was by far the most powerful Asiatic potentate of those times, soon after his accession, which we may, therefore, approximately date in the year 725 A. D. With regard to the last limit of his reign, the Jain writers seem to give us a fairly correct clue. Most of them state that he was ruling in V. E. 800 or 743 A. D., and Rājaśekhara, the author of the Prabandhakoṣa, leads us a step further. He informs us that a Jain saint named Bappabhaṭṭi, who was initiated as a monk in V. E. 807, converted to Jainism Amarāja, the son and successor of Yaśovarman. Bappabhaṭṭi was next raised to the dignity of Sūri in V. E. 811 after his royal disciple had ascended the throne. It is thus evident that Yaśovarman must have died sometime between the years 807 V. E. and 811 V. E., corresponding to 750 and 754 A. D., i.e., about the year 752 A. D. These dates (725-752 A. D.) fit in very well with the dates of Lalitāditya, and we may be sure that they leave little margin for error.¹