History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c29.s1.23

v2.c29.s1.23

The history of the Chauhāns, however, differs from that of the Guhilots in the fact that we have very little information about the founder of the greatness of this most valiant Rajput clan. We have already discarded the Agnikula myth originated by Chand Bardai, the bard of Pṛithvīrāja. The first hero named Chāhamāna (or sometimes Anahila in later records) may be regarded as fabulous as also the date assigned to him by Surajmal Bhat, author of Vamśa-Bhāskara and bard of the Bundi kings. Again the 136 kings mentioned by him as Chāhamāna’s successors down to Pṛithvīrāja we are also compelled to treat as unhistorical. Even the kings mentioned in the Pṛithvīrāja Rāsā, 36 in number, as successors of Chāhamāna upto Vīśaladeva are unhistorical (for they are not borne out by inscriptions found relating to this family). It seems indeed strange that Chand Bardai a contemporary of Pṛithvīrāja of 1167 A. D. should not have been able to give a correct or even reliable genealogy of the family before Vīśaladeva who belonged to the tenth century A. D. For the period, therefore, of which we are treating in this volume (800 to 1000 A.D.), we have very meagre information indeed and we have to rely for meagre details chiefly on the Harsha stone inscription (Ep. Ind. Vol. II p. 119) in which two dates are given V.E.1013 and 1030 or 955 and 972 A.D., this being the oldest inscription available for this line of kings. This inscription is supported to a great extent by the Bijolia inscription which is about 200 years later being dated St. 1226 or 1169 A.D. (A. S. J. Bengal LV. p. 41). Copies of both these inscriptions are given in the appendix for the curious reader. Many other inscriptions belonging to this line have been found but they do not give any information before the above mentioned date viz., 972 A.D. and some of them confine themselves to one king only. There are thus three inscriptions of the Chāhamānas of Nadul V. E. 218 (Ep. Ind. IX. p. 68) and Sunda hill inscription of Chāchiga Deva St. 1319 (Ditto) published by Kielhorn and several inscriptions of the same line (Ep. Ind. XI p. 169) published by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar and the inscription of Chāhad Deva of Ranathambhor (Ep. Ind. XII. p. 224).