History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t8: Iśvaravarman
History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s1.t8
- Language
- English
Iśvaravarman
c9.s1.t8.1
The fragmentary condition of the Jaunpur inscription unfortunately causes some difficulty in the correct attribution of the exploits recorded therein. The lacunæ being extensive, Fleet remarked that “it is impossible to say whether the historical information given in them refers to Iśvaravarman, or to one of his descendants.”⁴ Let us, therefore, closely follow the evidence of the extant portion. Iśvaravarman is described in it as having “allayed the trouble (caused) by the approach of cruel people, and which affected the happiness of mankind,” and as being “a very lion to (hostile) kings.”⁵ Immediately after this description occurs an account of some of his victorious engagements. We are told that “a spark of fire that had come by the road from (the city of) Dhārā ... the lord of the Andhras, wholly given over to fear, took up (his) abode in the crevices of the Vindhya mountains ......... went to the Raivataka mountain ...... among the warriors of the Andhra army who were spread out among the troops of elephants (and) whose arms were studded with the lustre of (their) swords drawn out.”¹ The specific mention of these achievements in the very next passage after a tribute in general terms to Iśvaravarman for his heroic qualities probably shows that the author intended to ascribe them to the same king. But the damaged condition of the inscription does not make it clear whether the claims of instilling fear in the minds of the “lord of the Andhras” and the adversary who “went to the Raivataka mountains” are mere rhodomontade, or actually refer to some victories achieved by Iśvaravarman against these southern monarchs. One thing, however, appears certain from the description that “a spark of fire,” i.e., the king of Dhārā, undertook an aggressive campaign against Iśvaravarman, and the latter probably emerged triumphant in this trial of arms². His successful resistance against these odds must have considerably enhanced Iśvaravarman’s power and prestige, and we may therefore consider him as the first Maukhari king who really brought the family into prominence. He did not, however, attain to imperial dignity, as the Asirgaḍh seal gives him the unostentatious title of Mahārāja only. This seems an additional reason to hold that the Jaunpur inscription simply registers Iśvaravarman’s successful defence of the kingdom, and has no bearing on any of his “imperial ambitions,” or the extension of his “conquests towards the west up to Dhārā, to the Vindhya and Raivataka (Girnar) mountains in pursuit of the Andhras,” as Dr. R. K. Mookerji would have us believe.¹ Like his predecessors, Iśvaravarman was also a Brahmanist, and he is said to have “invoked Indra in many a sacrifice” performed “in accordance with the canons.”
c9.s1.t8.2
⁴ Ibid., No. 51, p. 229. See also Hīrānanda Śāstrī, Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 112, note 6; Aravamuthan, The Kaveri, Maukharis and the Sangam Age, p. 90..
c9.s1.t8.3
⁵ C. I. I., III, p. 230.
c9.s1.t8.4
¹ Ibid.
c9.s1.t8.5
² Was there any confederacy formed by these southern powers against the rising state of Kanauj?
c9.s1.t8.6
¹ *Harṣa* (Rulers of India Series), p. 54.