MISCELLANEOUS CONTRIBUTIONS. I-Inscription of Udayas'ri By N. G. Majumdar, B. A. This inscription was discovered by the late Dr. Theodor Bloch on the pedestal of a Buddhist image at Bodh Gayā though he could not trace the image itself. In his paper, entitled Notes on Bodh Gayā, published in the Annual Report of the Archæological Survey of India, 1908-09, p. 157, will be found a notice of the inscription together with its transcript and translation. It is now in the Patna Museum (No. 146). The reading given by Dr. Bloch needs some correction. It is therefore re-edited here. Sanskrit. It consists of two lines only which make up a single verse. The writing covers a space of 9'' x 1''. The language is The characters belong to the North the North Indian alphabet of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They bear a close affinity with the characters of the Sarnath inscription of Kumāradevi,1 a Queen of the Gahaḍavāla King Govindachandra for whom we have dates ranging from 1114 to 1168 A.D. The object of the short epigraph is to record the installation of (an image of) the Blessed One (Bhagavān) by a certain individual named Udayaśrī, a pilgrim from Ceylon. 1 Epi. Ind., Vol, IX, p. 319 ff. TEXT.* 1. Kārito Bhagavān-esha Saiṁhalen-Odayaśriyā duḥkhambhonidhi-nirmmagna- 1 jagad-uttāra 2. nechchbaya ||. 2 1 Bloch read nirmagna. • Bloch read uddhāru-echchhyā. TRANSLATION. "This image of the] Lord was caused to be made by Udayasri, from Ceylon, with a desire to deliver the world submerged in an ocean of woe." *The new reading has been compared by Mr. H. Panday with the original and found correct. No facsimile is published.—K. P, J. II.—The Janibigha Inscription and Bisapi Grant. By H. Panday, B.A. In the September number of this Journal for 1918 (Vol. IV, page 275), when discussing the date of the Jānībigha inscription I alluded to the evidence of the Bisapī grant of Śiva-Simha which put the commencement of the Lakshmana-Sena Samvat thirteen years earlier than the accepted date for it. Sir George Grierson who first brought the grant to light in 1885 1 has kindly drawn attention to subsequent papers by him in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in which he has shown that the grant is a palpable and clumsy forgery. The date of the commencement of the Lakshmaṇa-Sena era arrived at by the late Dr. Kielhorn, namely, the 7th October, 1119 A.C., is therefore the only date which rests on good evidence. The date of the Jānībigha inscription is thus, as stated in my first note, November, 1202 A.C. 1 Ind. Ant., 1885, p. 100. 1 J. A. S. B., 1899, p. 96; 1905, p. 228. [The “Fasli san” cited in the plate, as Sir George points out, never existed—K. P. J.] III.-Purushottama Deva, King of Orissa. By Tarini Charan Rath, B.A. The past glories of Orissa achieved by her later independent Hindu Kings are still fresh in the memory of our countryOrissa alone asserted boldly her independence for full four centuries long after the most of India succumbed to the feet of the sturdy Muhammadan invaders. The last independent Hindu prince of Bengal is said to have escaped through the back-door of his palace at the approach of the Muhammadan hordes and taken shelter in Orissa till his death. The Telingana King on a similar occasion suppliantly approached the Orissan monarch to lend him a helping hand, and had it. Even the brave general of Emperor Akbar so late as 1580 A.D., repulsed by the Orissan forces, had to turn his back exclaiming at the sight of her network of grand religious edifices, venerable rivers and strong forts, "This is the land of gods and no fit subject for human conquest." Purushottama Deva Gajapathi, one of the most conspicuous Kings of Orissa, ruled the vast country left to him by his father, Kapilendra Deva, during the last quarter of the fifteenth century. He was present by the side of his brave father when the latter died at Kondapalli on the banks of the river Krishna, where he was incessantly engaged in several wars and was crowned as the King of Orissa by the Orissa armies at the very place. ́Among his numerous sons Kapilendra Deva had decided beforehand that his mantle should fall on Purushottama Deva, the youngest, to whom he was very fondly attached, owing to his very superior qualities of head and heart. Purushottama Deva had at the outset to encounter with numberless difficulties from his brothers. 1 1 [See J.B.O.R.S., Vol. IV, p. 266 ff K.—P. J.] The most remarkable event in the reign of Purushottama Deva Gajapathi is his expedition to the south known in Orissa as the "Kanchi-Kaveri " expedition. The eventual success achieved by the King therein together with his marriage with Padmavathi or Rupambika, the lovely daughter of the King of Karnata, has left a landmark in the history of ancient Orissa. The event is so popular that it is talked of in almost every household with no small pride. It would be highly interesting to give a brief account of the same. The daughter of the King of Karnata or Vijayanagara named above had been betrothed to King Purushottama Deva Gajapathi. The King of Karnata subsequently learnt that it is customary for the Orissan King to sweep the car of Śrī Jagannatha at Puri during the car festival days, held in the month of Ashāḍha, with a golden broomstick. This the former regarded as an act derogatory to the position of a Kshatriya, and refused to give his daughter in marriage to such a "chaṇḍāla " (sweeper) as characterized by him. At this Purushottama Deva considered himself highly insulted and resolved to punish the King of Karnata by fighting against him, taking his daughter a prisoner and marrying her actually to a real "chaṇḍāla." In the first attempt he failed but the second time he fully succeeded. He then sacked Kanchi, the modern Conjeeveram, laid waste the country as far as the river Kaveri, took Padmavathi a prisoner and returned to his capital victorious. He then entrusted her to his minister for being married to a "chaṇḍāla." This wise minister took pity on the lovely girl of royal birth, and at the next car festival which immediately followed while the King was actually sweeping the car of the famous deity of Sri Jagannatha, offered him the beautiful daughter of the Karnata King to marry. Purushottama Deva who was by this time already pacified accepted Padmavathi or Rupambika in marriage. 1 [1The same story differing in a few details is given in Hunter's Orissa, Vol. I, pp 320-22.-K.P.J.] |