History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c9.s2.22

c9.s2.22

Lastly, we may notice the testimony of the Nirmand inscription, found at a place almost on the bank of the Sutlej in the Kangra District of the Punjab³. It mentions the grant of a Mahārāja Sarvavarman; and “as we know of no other Sarvavarman of about this period,” says Mr. Aravamuthan, “we may tentatively assume that the Maukhari Sarvavarman had been able to extend his dominions so far west in the course of his wars with the Hūṇas.”⁴ The assumption, however, does not seem cogent. The Maukhari Sarvavarman is uniformly given the paramount titles of Mahārājādhirāja and Parameśvara in the dynastic records, whereas the Sarvavarman of the Nirmand inscription is a mere Mahārāja. Moreover, it would involve the supposition that the Maukharis exercised suzerainty over the intervening Vardhana dominions, and Prabhākara, who certainly was an independent king, had to fight against the Maukharis to wrest independence. Of this there is not a shred of evidence, but on the contrary the manner of description in the Harṣacarita shows that both the powers were on very amicable and cordial terms.