History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c16.s1.t5.37

c16.s1.t5.37

Further, Dr. H. C. Raychaudhuri has brought to light a piece of evidence, which tends to show that Bhoja’s authority was recognised in Saurāṣṭra or Kāthiāwād.¹ According to the Vastrāpatha Māhātmya, a section in the Prabhāsa Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa dealing with the sacred sites of Girnar (Vastrāpatha), there lived in ancient times a righteous king named Bhoja who ruled over Kānyakubja.² Once a Warden of the forests (Vanapāla) reported to him as follows: “Sire! I have seen a woman with the face of a doe roaming with a herd of deer in the forests at Raivataka.” The king felt curious, and collecting his forces he advanced towards Raivataka and encircled the hill with a net. The Balādhyakṣa ultimately succeeded in capturing the deer-maiden, and brought her to Kānyakubja. She then related the story of her previous births, and also dilated upon the sanctity of the waters of the Suvarṇarekhā. The king was so much impressed with what he learnt about Saurāṣṭra that he made up his mind to abdicate in favour of his son and go on a pilgrimage to its holy sites. Much of the story is no doubt absolutely unworthy of credence, but the connection of Bhoja of Kanauj with Saurāṣṭra, as evidenced by the appointment of a Vanapāla (VI, 22 f.) and sending of an army (Ib., 25 f.), appears to be the substratum of truth. Dr. Raychaudhuri even accepts the story of Bhoja’s abdication, and finds confirmation for it in the Ahar stone inscription, whch gives the dates 864-65, 865-66, 867-68, 886, 886-87, 888-89, 902-03, 904-05, although purporting to belong to the reign of Bhoja. But I venture to differ from the views of the learned Professor on this point, since the earliest known date for Mahendrapāla is 893 A. D., and the anomaly presented by the Ahar record can satisfactorily be explained by supposing with Mr. C. D. Chatterjee that “a portion of this inscription was engraved in 259 Harṣa *Saṃvat* = 865-66 A. D. during the administration of Bhoja I and other portions were added later on,” or that “there was a transfer to stone of a copy of all the deeds made on less durable materials, later than 298 H. E. = 904-05 A. D.”¹ Thus under Bhoja the kingdom of Kanauj grew to enormous dimensions, and it may be roughly defined as limited by the Satlej in the north-west; the foot of the Himālayas in the north; the western boundaries of the Pāla dominions in the east; Bundelkhand and the Vatsa territories in the south and south-east; possibly the lower course of the Narmadā and Saurāṣṭra on the south-west, and including the major portion of Rajputana on the west.