History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c18.s1.t2.1

c18.s1.t2.1

The Candravati plates³ furnish us with the Vikrama year 1156 or 1099 A. D. as the last date for Candradeva’s reign, and we learn from the Basahi plate of Mahārāja-putra Govindacandra⁴ that his father Madanapāla was on the throne in Vikrama *saṃvat* 1161 = 1104 A. D. Hence we may safely assume that Candradeva died and his son Madanapāla⁵ succeeded him sometime between the years 1100 and 1104 A. D. The Sarnath inscription of Kumāradevī describes the latter as “a crest-jewel among impetuous kings........ , the lord who brought the circle of the earth under one sceptre, the splendour of the fire of his valour being great and mighty, and who even lowered the glory of Maghavan by his glory”.⁶ Similarly, other charters bestow high praise on Madanapāla,⁷ but much of it is simply conventional and vague bombast, which is of no value to the historian. In fact, he does not even seem to have taken any active part in the state affairs, for except confirming the gift of the village of Ahuāma in the Dhanesaramaua Pattalā made by his father to the Brahman Vāmanaśvāmideva,¹ no grants by Madanapāla are known, and those that refer to his reign were executed on his behalf by the crown-prince (Mahārājaputra) Govindacandra and his two queens Rālha-Devī (Rālhaṇa-Devī) and Pṛthvī-Śrikā. Was this circumstance due to Madanapāla’s wars, which mostly kept him busy far away from the capital? Or, does it show that he was an invalid? If the latter alternative be true, he may have studied the science of medicine during his illness, and the *Madana-Vinoda-Nighaṇṭu* ascribed to a king Madana, lord of Kasi,² may be his compilation. It may, however, be added that no undue weight should be attached to this suggestion.