History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v3.c35.s19.3

v3.c35.s19.3

We have, however, to accept Vamśāvalis as some evidence, though not as reliable as inscriptions, and some history may be deduced out of Mandi Vamśāvalis. As already stated in Volume I p. 380, according to Cunningham, the founder of the Suket-Mandi family, Virasena, founded the state about 765 A. D. Cunningham calculated this date from the fact that from Virasena to Śāhusena and Bāhusena under whom the state divided into two, Suket and Mandi, there were 10 generations and upto Samudrasena who recorded the Nirmand inscription there were 6 more. From Samudrasena to Ajbarsena whose date is fixed from a copperplate inscription dated for the first time in Vikrama era viz. St. 1584 or A. D. 1527, there were 11 more kings. Thus there were 27 generations from Virasena to Ajbarsena of 1527 A. D. and taking 30 years for each generation we get for Virasena 1527-810=717 A. D. and for Bāhusena who founded the Mandi state 1017 or 987. "Roughly speaking we may take Bāhusena founding Mandi about 1000 A. D. and Samudrasena recording inscription at Nirmand about 1150 A. D." Hutchinson and Vogel think that even if we take 25 years' average we shall have to take into consideration that some names might have dropped out of the Vamśāvalis and hence we may accept the date assigned by Cunningham as fairly correct, especially as it tallies with the legend current in Chambā that the pregnant queen of a king of Chambā had taken refuge with a king in Suket and her son Moshanāśva was set up in Chambā by this king. If we take 25 years average, we get for Virasena (1527-675) 852, for Bāhusena (852 plus 250) 1102 and for Samudrasena (1102 plus 150) 1252 A. D. In any case, Suket may be taken as founded not later than 800 A. D. and Mandi than 1100 A. D. Dr. Fleet does not believe that the Nirmand inscription of Samudrasena is dated in St. 1227 or 1170 A. D. as Cunningham thought. The date given in that inscription is only 6 which may belong to the Śāstra era and on palæographic grounds the inscription cannot be later than the 7th century, A. D. This difficulty, however, need not disturb the dates above given for the founding of Mandi and Suket, as Samudrasena of the Nirmand inscription can be treated as a king different from the Samudrasena of the Vamśāvalis which really appears to be the case from the difference of the names of his immediate ancestors given in the inscription and in the Vamśāvalis.