Gujjar Inscriptions

[AP Singh]

Sambhal Copper-Plate of Nagabhata II; Vikrama samvata 885

This is the first known charter of Nagabhatdeva, the son of Vatsarajadeva from Sundari Devi and the grandson of Devasaktideva, though there is an inscription of his time –the Buchkala inscription from Jodhpur region dated in the Vikrama year 872 (AD 815). That he was Nagabhata II, the fourth ruler of the Gurjara Pratihara family is too clear to require demonstration. It is well-known that he, after having defeated Cakrayudha before AD 815, annexed his kingdom and transferred his seat of government to Kanauj, which henceforth continued to be the capital of the dynasty.

This grant also exposes R.C. Majumdar who was the historian of Pala from Bengal, and he wilfully did cheating at many places in the history written by him. He said that” if Nagabhata really transferred his capital (to Kanauj), it is very likely towards the close of his reign circa AD 830 after (the Pala king) Dharmapala had died and his son and successor Devapala had enjoyed the position of the supreme ruler of northern India.” He was such a great cheat that he translated Gwalior Sagartal inscription and translated the term "Pratiharan Vidherya" as door keeper, whereas this term translate to the style of Gujjar Pratihars that surprise, defeat and kill the enemy at his own land with a magical speed, like Laxmana killed Meghnada in Ramayana.

The grant was written by Giyaka, the Dutaka being the Yuvaraja named Rama who was loved by all. The identity of Giyaka remains obscure. Rama is evidently Ramabhadra, also called Ramadeva, who was the son of Nagabhatadeva II from Istadevi and father of Bhojadeva I. The association of a crown prince, with the office of the Dutaka calls for attention. This is not the only case of an heir-apparent being charged with the conveyance of the grant. The Daulatpura plate of the Pratihara king Bhojadeva I, dated in the Vikrama year 900, refers to Dutaka Yuvaraja Nagabhata ( Ref:1). Records of other families refer to crown princes discharging the same function. Sometimes this office was combined with that of a Dandapasika (an official connected with police and judiciary) Dandapasika Amaraditya was the Dutaka of the Ahar stone inscription12 (no.10 of the Pratihara king Bhojadeva I, the grandson of Nagabhatadeva II. P. Bhatia has rightly remarked that ‘the Dutaka was a high officer who conveyed the ruler’s sanction of charter to local officials.




The copperplate, contents of which are published here for the first time was obtained in May 1993 by Sri Taufiq Ahmed Qadri Chisti. an antique dealer of Amroha, from one of the shops selling old and broken articles at Sambhal in the Moradabad district of UP.

1. Om swati/Sri mahoday-avasit-aneka-(a)no-hasty-asvaratah-patti-sampanna-skandhavarat-para-
2. mahavaisnavo maharaja-sri-Devasaktidevas=tasya puttras-tat-pad-anudhyatah sri-bhuyik (a)-
3. devyam=utpannah paramamhesvaro maharaja-sri-Vatsarajadevas=tasya puttras=ta
4. t-pad-anudhyatah sri-Sundaridevyam=utpannah param bhagavatibhakto maharaja-sri-Naga-
5. bhatadevah// ahicchatra-bhuktau Gunapure-mandala-visaya-samva (ba) ddha-sambhupallikagra-
6.hara-samu-pa-gatan=sarvvan=eva yathasthananiyukta=prativasinas=ca sama-
7. jnapayati/Uparilikhit-agraharas=sarvvaya-sameta a-candrarkka-ksiti-
8. kalam=purvvadatta-devavra (bra) hmadeya-varjjito rajasasana (m) drstva bhogan=ca jnatva ma-
9. ya pittroh puny-abhivriddhaye Bharadvaja-sagottra Madhadina-vajasaneyasa vra (bra0 10. hmacari-bhatta-suryarata/bhatta-nagarata/bhatta ravirata/bhatta-narayanarata/bha- 11.tta-Prabhakararat-anvayaja-brahmananam prag-bhogakramenaiva pratipadita iti
12. viditva bhavadbhir=anumantavyah prativasibhir=apy=ajnasravana=vidheyrai=bhutva sarvvayas-samu-
13. Paneya iti/Giyakena prayuktasya sasanasya sthirayateh/Dutako Yuvarajottra Ra-
14. makhyo janvallabhah/samvat 100 [X] 8[=800+]80[+]5[=885] Jyestha vadi 7 niva (ba) dham //

Translation

Om. May it be well! From the royal military camp furnished with many bullock carts, elephants, horses, chariots and foot-soldiers, which is situated at the glorious Mahodaya—(there was ) the devout worshipper of Visnu, the Maharaja Saktideva, his son, born of Bhuyikadevi, was the devout worshipper of Mahesvara, the maharaja Vatsarajadeva, who meditated on his (father’s) feet; his son, born of Sundaridevi was the maharaja Nagabhatadeva who was greatly devoted to (the goddess) Bhagavati and a meditator on the feet of his (father)—(the, that is, Nagabhatadeva) (thus) commands all the inhabitants and the officers appointed to several offices, assembled at the agrahara village of Sambhupallika attached to the Gunapura sub-division and district in the division of Ahicchatra:
After having seen the royal order and been acquainted with the periodical offerings, the above mentioned agrahara together with all the income, exclusive of all the gifts already granted for the gods and Brahmanas, have been given away by me to endure as long as the Moon, the Sun and the Earth exist, for the increase of the religious merit of my parents to the Brahmanas-Bhatta Suryarata, Bhatta Nagarata, Bhatta Ravirata and Bhatta Narayanrata—born of the family of Bhatta Prabhakararata of the Bharadvaja gotra and the Madhyandina-Vajasaneya Sakha, in accordance with the previous enjoyment. Knowing this, you should assent to it; the residents (of the village) also being obedient on hearing the order should make over all the dues to these donees. Of the firmly enduring charter, written by Giyaka, the dutaka is here the crown prince Rama, a favorite of peoples. Recorded on the Seventh day of the dark fortnight of Jyestha in the Samvat 885.

Notes and References:-

1. Ep. Ind., V. p. 209.
Bhojadeva I ascended the throne with a son young enough to be his heir-apparent, and when he died after a long reign of more than half a century, this crown prince named Nagabhata either predeceased him or was himself too old to rule. That is why the genealogical lists in the records of the later Pratiharas ignore him completely. Cf. Puri, B.N. The History of the Gurjara Pratiharas, 1957, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, p. 97, second revised edn. In 1986.
2. Puri, B.N.., op.cit.,p.165

3. Bhatia, P. The Paramaras, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1970, p. 213.
4. Word Om in Verse 1 is Expressed by the symbol in the inscription.
5. The word anos/anas in the inscription denotes carts/carriages for transporting military articles and food stuff. Etc.

[AP Singh]

Here is the orininal text of Rajor inscription. Rajor was the capital of Gurjar Pratihar Emperor Parambhattaraka Maharajdhiraja Parmeshwara sri Vatsarajdeva which later was shifted to Kannauj by his illustrious son PMP Sri Nagabhattadeva –II.

All other speculative and faluty theories spread by many historians about the origin of Gurjar Pratihar Empire became irrelevant after this inscription was published, where line 4 in the inscription clearly state that Pratihar Emperors belonged to the Pratihar clan ( Gotra) of Gurjjar Tribe.


RAJOR INSCRIPTION OF MATHANDEVAL

TEXT.

1. Om2 svasti II Paramabhattaraka-maharajadhiraja-Paramesvara-sri-Kshitipaladeva-padanudhyata-Paramabhattaraka-maharajadhiraja-paramesva.
2. ra-sri-Vijayapaladeva-padanam=abhipravarddhamana-Kalyanavijayarajye samvatsara-sateshu dasasu shodas-ottarakeshu Ma-3. ghamasa-sitapaksha-ttrayodasyam Sani-yuktayam-evam sam 1016 Magha-sudi 13 Sanav=adya sri-Rajayapur-avasthito maharajadhiraja-
4. paramesvara-sri-Mathandevo maharajadhiraja-sri-Savata-sunur=G-gurjjarapratihar-anvayah kusali svabhog-avapta-Vamsapotaka-bhoga-samva(ba) ddha-5. Vyaghrapataka-grame samupagatan=sarvvan=eva rajapurushan=niyogasthan= gamagamikan= niyuktak-aniyuktakams= tannivasi-mahattara-mahattama-
6. vanik-pravani-pramukha-janapadams=cha yatharham manayati vo (bo) dhayati samadisati ch=astu vah samviditam I trin-agra-lagna-jalavindu-samsthan-a-
7. sthirani sarira-sampaj-jivitan=it=imam samsar-asaratam kirtti-murttes=cha kalpasthayitam jnatva maya pittror=atmanas=cha punya-yaso-bhivri-
8. ddhaye7 aihik-amushmika-phala-nimittam samsar-arnnava-taran-artham svargga-margg-arggal-odghatana-hetoh sva-matri-sri-Lachchhuka-nam[n]a sri-
9. hadevaya pratyaham snapana-samalabhana-pushpa-dhupa-naivedya-dipa-taila-sudha-simdura-lagana-khandasphutita-samarachana-prekshanaka-pavittraka-
10. rohana-karmmakara-vatikapal-adi-vyay-artham=uparisuchita-Vyaghrapataka-gramah sva-sima-trina-yuti-goka(cha)ra-paryantah soddramgah savrikshama-
11. lakulah sajalo bhoga-mayut-adaya[bhy]am=api samasta-sasyanam bhaga-khala-bhiksha-prasthaka-skandhaka-margganaka-danda-dasaparadha-dana-nidhi-nidha-
12. n-aputtrikadhana-nashti-bharat-ochitanuchita-niva(ba) ddhaniva (ba) ddha-samasta-pratyadaya-sahitas=tath=aitat-pratyasanna-sri-Gurjjara-vahita-samasta-kshettra-sametas=ch=akimchi-
13. tpragrahyo=dya punye=hani snatva devasya pratishtha-kale udaka-purvvam parikalpya sasanena datto matv=aivam=adya dinad=arabhya srimad-Amarddaka-vinirggata-sri-
14. Sopuriya-samtatyam sri-Chchhattrasiva sri-Gopalidevitadagapali-matha-samva(mba)ddha-sri-Rajyapure sri-Nityapramuditadeva-matha sri-Srikanthacharya-sishya-sri-Ru-
15. pasivacharyas=tachchhishya-srimad-Omkarasivacharyasy=askhalita-vra(bra)hmachary-avapta-mahamahimnah parama-yaso-raseh sishya-pratisishya-kramena dev-o-
16. payog-arthan=tattim1=avyavachchheden=achandrarkkam yavat=kurvatah karayatova samad-vamsajair=anyatarair=vva bhavibhir=bhupalaih kala-kaleshv=apiparipamthana
17. na(na) karya pratyut=asmat-krita-prarthanaya sada tatti-sanathyam vodhavyam II Yatah saman=aiv=eyam punya-phal-avaptir=anumamtavya I Uktam cha bhagavatapa-
18. ramashina veda-vyasena Vyasena II Va(ba) hubhir=vvasudha bhukta rajabhih Sagar-adibhih I yasya yasya yada bhumis=tasya tasya tada phalam II Adityo Varu-
19. no Vayur=Vvra(bbra)hma Vishnur=Hutasanah I bhagavan (n)=Sulapanis=cha abhinandanti bhumidam II Shashtim varsha-sahasrani svargge tishthati bhumidah I achchhetta ch=anumam-
20. ta cha tany=eva narakam vaset II Yair=vvarnchhitam sisiradidhiti-subhra-kirtter=yais=ch=amara-pranayini-parirambhanasya I te sadhavo na hi haranti parena da-
21. ttam danad=vadanti paripalanam sadhu II*II Sasanam kritavn=Deddo likhitam tasya sununa I vyaktam Suraprasadena utkirnnam Harina tata iti II *
22. Tatha smushmsi devaya parsv [e] devakulika-chatushtayasdho-jagatyam7 pratishthita-Vinayaka-sahitya [ha]tta-dane gonim prati hatta-vyavaharu(ri)ka-virin [3] gha[taka]-kupakam prati ghri-
23. tasya tailasya cha palik[e] dve 2 vithim prati masi [(?)] vim 2tatha vahih-pravishta-chollikam prati parnnanam 50 etad=devasya kritam=iti II*II Sri-Matha[na]hII



[VIKRAMA-] SAMVAT-1016
Edited By F. KIELHORN, PH.D., LL.D., C.I.E.; GOTTINGEN.

The stone which bears this inscription was found, about eighteen years ago, near the temple of Nilkantha Mahadeva, among the ruins of the city of Paranagar which are to the south of the village of Rajor or Rajorgadh, on a lofty range of hills in the Rajgadh district of the Alwar State in Rajputana, about 28 miles south-west of the town of Alwar; and it is now preserved at Alwar itself. The inscription was first published by the late Dr. Rajendralal Mitra, in the Proceedings of the Bengal Asiatic Society, 1879, p. 157 ff. from a transcript prepared by Pandit Bhavanda and his brothers, of Alwar; and it has again been printed in the Prachinalekhamala of the Kavyamala, Vol. I. p. 53 ff., from another copy supplied by the same gentlemen. I now re-edit the inscription from rubbings which have been procured for me by Dr. Fleet.
The inscription contains 23 lines of writing which covers a space of about 1’/5” broad by 1’ 3-1/4” high, and is nearly throughout in a perfect state of preservation. The average size of the letters is about ½”.2 The characters are Nagari; they closely resemble those of the Harsha inscription of Vigraharaja, published with a photo-lithograph in the Epigraphia Indica, Vol. II. P. 116 ff. The language is Sanskrit, and excepting four benedictive and imprecatory verse, here ascribed to Vyasa, in lines 18-20, and another verse in line 21, which gives the names of the composer, the writer and the engraver, the text is in prose. The inscription has been written and engraved very carefully. In respect of orthography, I need only note the employment of the letter a for both a and b, the doubling of t and d in the conjuncts tr and dr, and the occasional use of revenue-terms, the exact import of which is not apparent, and some other words of unknown or doubtful meaning (pravani, tatti, chouskd, etc.) occur in lines 6, 16 and 17, and 22 and 23.
The inscription (in lines 1-3) refers itself to the reig of the Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara, the illustrious Vijayapaladeva, who meditated on the feet of the Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara, the illustrious Kshittipaladeva ; and is dated, in words and figures, on Saturday, the 13th of the bright half of Magha of the year 1016. On this day the Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara, the illustrious Mathanadeva, of the Gurjarapratihara lineage, and a son of the Maharajadhiraja, the illustrious Savats, residing at Rajyapura, (in lines 3-13) informs his officials, the Jamajaamikas3 and others, and the mahattaras, mahatamas, merchants, pravanis4 and other inhabitants of the village of Vyaghrapataka, pertaining to the Vamsapotaka bhoja which Mathanadeva held possession of, that on the occasion of the installation (of the image, or the consecration of the temple) of the god Lachchhukesvara Mahadeva (Siva), so named after his mother Lachchhuka, he has granted to the god (or his temple) the village of Vyaghrapataka,-‘up to its proper boundaries,

Note: See Sir A. Cunningham’s Archaeological. Survey of India, Vol. XX. P. 124-126. I have no doubt that Major Powlett rightly believed Rajor or Rajorgadh (i.e. Rajyapura) to the old name of Paranagar; and it seems to me highly probable that ‘the holy temple of Nilkantha Mahadeva, which is the most famous place of pilgrimage in this part of the country,’ and which Sir A. Cunningham has assigned to the 10th century A.D., is the very temple that is referred to in the inscription here edited.

The grass and pasture land, with its rows of trees, with its water, with the bhoja and mayuta1 income, with all customary and not customary, fixed and not fixed receipts, the shares of all sorts of grain, the khala-bhiksha,2 prasthaka, skandhaka, marganaka, the fines, ten offences,3 gifts, treasures and deposits, the aputrikadhana4 and nashtibharata, and together with all neighboring fields, cultivated by the Gurjaras,- for the purpose of defraying the expenses of bathing (the god) three times a day, of unguents, flowers, incense, naivedya offerings, lights and oil, of applying white-wash and red lead, of repairing what may become damaged or broken, of public shows and putting on the sacred thread, and of paying labourers, gardeners, etc.’ Lines 13-15 show that the administration of this grant, in the first instance, was entrusted to the holy ascetic Omkarasivacharya (a disciple of Rupasivacharya, who again was a disciple of Srikanthacharya), a member of the Sopuriya line or school (of devotees) started at Amardaka, and inmate of the Nityapramuditadeva matha at Rajyapura, which was connected with the Gopaladevitadagapali matha at Chhattrasiva.5 And the donor (in lines 13-17) exhorts his successors not to obstruct, but rather always to assist the ascetic’s disciples and disciples’ disciples in the management of the property6 for the benefit of the god (or his temple). Lines 18-20 quote four of the customary benedictive and imprecatory verses ; and the main part of the inscription ends, in line 21, with another verse, according to which this charter (sasana) was composed7 by Dedda, written by his son Suraprasada, and engraved by Hari.
Lines 22-23 then record certain additional taxes or tolls, the proceeds of which were to be made over to the same deity (or temple) jointly with the god Vinayaka (Ganesa, whose image or shrine was) set up in the lower grounds8 adjoining four chapels on one side (of the temple of Lachchhukesvara). So far as I understand this passage, these taxes were three vimsopakas, as customary in the market, on every jhataka-kupaka of clarified butter and oil ; two vimsopakas

In the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIX. P. 23, I have already had occasion to shew that the date of this inscription, for the expired Vikrama year 1016, corresponds to Saturday, the 14th January, A.D. 960. This date enables us to prove, with a fair amount of certainly, that the sovereign Vijayapaladeva, to whose reign the inscription professes to belong, was a king of Kanauj. In the Epigraphia Indica, Vol. II. P. 235, I have attempted to shew that the three kings Vijayapaladeva, Rajyapaladeva and Trilovhanapaladeva, who are mentioned in the Bengal Asiatic Society’s plate of Trilochanapala, edited by me in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XVIII. P. 33 ff., were rulers of Kanauj; and as that plate, for Trilochanapaladeva, gives us a date corresponding to the 26th June, A.D. 1027, there would, so far as regards the two dates, be no objection (of the year A.D. 960). And such an identification is supported by the fact that the Vijayapaladeva of this inscription is here stated to have been preceded by Kshitipaladeva. For we know that a king of this name, also called Mahipala and Herambapala, was actually ruling at Kanauj in A.D. 917-18, forty-two years before the date of our inscription.3 It is true that, according to the large Siyadoni inscription,3 Kshitipaladeva of Kanauj in A.D. 948 had been succeeded (not by Vijayapaladeva, but) by Devapaladeva ; but this would seem to be no very formidable objection to the proposed identification. For it might either be said that Vijayapaladeva was a younger brother of Devapaladev, in which case the omission of the elder brother’s name from the present inscription would not be without precedent; or we might assume that Devapaladeva and Vijayapaladeva are two names of one and the same king, an assumption in favour of which it might be urged that each of the three predecessors of Devapaladeva—Bhoja, Mahendrapala, and Kshitipaladeva—also bore each at least one other name. For the present, then, I do identify the Kshitipaladeva and Vijayapaladeva of this inscription with the sovereigns of the same names, known to us from the Siyadoni inscription and the plate of Trilochanapala ; and consider the Maharajadhiraja Paramesvara Mathanadeva, who made the grant here recorded, to have been a feudatory or subordinate of the kings of Kanauj.4 Of this Mathanadeva and his predecessor Savata nothing is known to me from other inscription; and I have not fund elsewhere any mention of the Gurjara-pratihara clan or family, to which they are stated to have belonged.

Of the localities mentioned, Rajyapura, apparently Mathanadeva’s capital, is of course Rajor or Rajorgadh, or rather Paranagar, close to the modern village of Rajor, where the inscription has been found; and the village of Vyaghrapataka is said to exist still, near Rajor, under the name of Baghor.6 The place Vamsapotaka, which gave the name to the bhoja or district to which the village belonged, I am unable to identify. Nor can I identify the places Amardaka and Chhattrasiva, which are mentioned in connection with the ascetics to whom the management of the grant was entrusted. Chhattrasiva ought to be looked for in .

The neighborhood of Rajor; and the name Amardaka I have previously found in the word Amardakatirtha-natha, the name or an epithet of a Saiva ascetic who is mentioned in the inscription from Ranod (Narod), published by me in the Epigraphia In Indica, Vol. I. p. 351 ff.

[aps]

Mar 4, 2009 18:26:56 GMT 5.5 AP Singh said:

This is one of the earliest inscription of one of the Gujjar kingdom of Dadda II.

It is regarding the history of Decimal Number System which has been later used by Arabs and European Countries.

It is in Sanskrit which itself explain the origin of Gujjar Tribe which is undivided India.



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Dear Ashok,
Please see my above mail. Earlier I was also doing the same mistake till the time of writing this post. My information was also based on the secondary information which is book and not the original inscriptions.
Regards.
APS

[Ashok Harsana]

As per your above link the date of Magha is 650 AD and as per the Inscription his grand father, who served Varmalata (Chap Gurjar king of Bhinmal). Please read following:

Chronology of Gurjar (Chap) rulers
Janendra Samrat Yashodharman (475 - 535 CE)
Samarat Karan (535 - 580 CE)
Samrat Vermlaat (580 – 626 CE)
Samrat Vyaghramukh (626 – 680 CE)

I don't think that there was a difference of 250 years. And 50-80 years difference is quite acceptable and normal in history.

Regards