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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
This celebrated historical poem, written to sing the glories of the last Hindu emperor of India, the illustrious Pṛithvīrāja. Chauhān, records the gallant deeds of the Chauhān kings of Ajmer, and is of great importance to the history of India. Only one manuscript copy of the poem is known to be in existence. It is a birch-bark MS. in Śāradā characters and is in the Deccan College library, Poona, where it is numbered 150 in the catalogue of the collection of 1875–6. It was discovered in Kashmir in a.d. 1875 by Dr. Bühler in the course of his tour in search of Sanskrit MSS.
page 259 note 1 Catalogue of the Collections of MSS. deposited in the Deccan College, by S. R. Bhāndarkar, 1888, p. 81.Google Scholar
page 259 note 2 Journal of the Bombay Branch of the RAS., extra No. xxxiv a, 1877 a.d., p. 63.
page 259 note 3 Ibid.
page 260 note 1 Journal of the Bombay Branch of the RAS., extra No. xxxiv a, 1877 a.d., p. 63.
page 260 note 2 See also DrBühler, 's letter in the Proceedings of the Bengal Asiatic Society for 1893, p. 94.Google Scholar
page 261 note 1 Duff, 's Chronology of India, p. 171Google Scholar. His brother Jayadratha lived about a.d. 1150 (ibid., p. 153).
page 261 note 2 Bombay edition, p. 64.
page 261 note 3 Duff, 's Chronology of India, p. 167.Google Scholar
page 261 note 4 Raverty, 's Ṭabaqāt-i-Nāṣiri, p. 452Google Scholar; also Duff, 's Chronology of India, p. 162.Google Scholar
page 262 note 1 The greatest of the dramatists who flourished before the time of Kālidāsa. Only recently some thirteen dramas of Bhāsa were discovered in Travancore, though Viṣṇudhārmah is not one of them. Vide Vāsavadatta, Svapna (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, No. xv), Introduction, p. 1.Google Scholar
page 262 note 2 For a detailed account of Pushkar see Ajmer: Historical and Descriptive, pp. 136–46.Google Scholar
page 264 note 1 According to the Bijolian inscription, Vāsudeva's capital was Ahichhetrapur. An inscription recently found in the possession of the descendants of Gyanji Jabi, Colonel Tod's guru, says that Ahichhetrapur was the capital of Jāngludésa—the country which subsequently came to be known as Sapādalakhsh.
page 264 note 2 Tradition says that when in s. 741 (a.d.684) Dula Rai, the Chauhān king of Ajmer, was slain, and his younger brother “Mānik Rai fled, pursued by his foe, the goddess Sakambhari appeared to him and bade him establish himself in the spot where she manifested herself, guaranteeing to him the possession of all the ground he could encompass with his horse on that day, but commanded him not to look back until he had returned to the spot where he left her. He commenced the circuit with what he deemed his steed could accomplish, but, forgetting the injunction, he was surprised to see the whole space covered as with a sheet. This was the desiccated sirr, or salt lake, which he named after his patroness Śācambhari, whose statue still exists on a small island in the lake, now corrupted to Sambhar”.—Tod, 's Rajasthan, vol. ii, p. 490 (Calcutta edition).Google Scholar
page 265 note 1 No. 1135 of the Government collection of MSS. in the library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It is an epic poem of twenty cantos, and was written at the request of Surjana Singh of Bundi, at Chunār, during Akbar's reign, by the poet Chandra Śekhara, a Bengāli Vaidya by caste.
page 266 note 1 The genealogy given at the end of the Prabandhakośa MS., which is stated to be four or five centuries old, gives v.s. 608 (a.d. 551) as the date when Vāsudeva flourished. Vide Gaüḍaraho (Bombay Sanskrit Series, No. xxxiv), Introduction, p. cxxxv, note.Google Scholar
page 266 note 2 Called Jayantrāja in Jonarāja's Commentary. According to the Prabandhakośa genealogy, this Ajayorāja was the founder of Ajmer.
page 266 note 3 The Harṣa Stone inscription (Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii, p. 121, verse 13, u. 26)Google Scholar says that Gūraka “attained pre-eminence as a hero in the Assembly of the prince” Nāgāvaloka. This Nāgāvaloka was undoubtedly the Pratihāra king Nāgabhata of Mārwār and Kanauj, whose Buchakalā inscription is dated the v.s. 872 (a.d.815), and who died in s. 890 (a.d. 833). Gūvaka must, therefore, have flourished about a.d. 820. Mr. Morison omits this “Govindarāja” in the genealogy given in his article in the Vienna Oriental Journal, vol. vii, pp. 188–92Google Scholar, though the MS. plainly says:—
(Sarga, v, 21.)Google Scholar
page 266 note 4 The Harṣa Stone inscription (Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii, pp. 116–30).Google Scholar
page 266 note 5 Viryarāma was a contemporary of King Bhoja of Mālwā (a.d. 1010–53).
page 266 note 6 Durlabharāja III assisted King Udayāditya of Mālwa (a.d. 1059–86) in defeating King Karan of Gujarāt, who reigned a.d. 1063–93.
page 266 note 7 The Jina Mātā Temple inscription (unpublished) of v.s. 1162, vide Progress Report of the Archaeological Survey of India, Western Circle, for 1909–10, p. 52.
page 266 note 8 The genealogy after Ajayarāja is given in cantos vi–viii.
page 266 note 9 Another inscription in the temple of Jina Mātā, of the time of Arnorāja, , vide Progress Report A.S. India, W.C., for 1909–1910, p. 52.Google Scholar
page 266 note 10 Though the Pṛithvīrāja Vijaya nowhere mentions the name of Arṇorāja's eldest son by Sudhavā, we find from the Hammīra Māhākāvya, the Prabandhakośa, and the Surjan Caritra, that his name was Jugdeva and that he succeeded Arṇorāja as king of Ajmer. The Gwalior and Kamaon MS. genealogies consulted by General Cunningham also mention Jugdeva; see A.S. Reports, vol. i, p. 158.Google Scholar
page 266 note 11 The Harakēli Nāṭaka, by Emperor Vigraharāja IV (Indian Antiquary, vol. xx, p. 212)Google Scholar, gives the date of the play as Mārgha Sudi 5, S. 1210 (November 22, a.d. 1153), and the Delhi Siwalik pillar inscription of Vigraharāja (Ind. Ant., vol. xix, p. 218)Google Scholar is dated the Vaiśākha Śuti 15, v.s. 1220 (April 9, a.d. 1164).
page 266 note 12 Mr. Morison omits this name in his article in the Vienna Oriental Journal, but the MS. contains it. Sarga viii, verse 54, says—
The Prabandhakoṣa genealogy mentions him as Visaldeva's (Vigraharāja) successor and names him Amargāngeya. The historian Abū-1-Faẓl mentions him, but calls him Amargangu. The Kainaon and Gwalior MS. genealogies call him Gangadeva or Amardeva; ride Archaeological Survey of India, vol. i, p. 158.Google Scholar
page 268 note 13 The Hansi inscription (Indian Antiquary for 1912, p. 19)Google Scholar. See also the Maināl inscription of a.d. 1169 in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. Iv, pt. i, p. 46. Pṛithvībhata died in a.d. 1169, as his successor Someśvara is mentioned as reiguiug in the Bījolian inscription of v.s. 1226, Phalguu Vadi 3 (Februarys, a.d. 1170); -vide Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, vol. IV, pt. i, p. 40.
page 268 note 14 The (unpublished) Ānvaldā inscription of the time of Somesvara in P. Gauri Shankar's collection is dated the Bhādrapad Sudi 4, v.s. 1134 (a.d. 1177).
page 268 note 15 The earliest known (unpublished) inscription of the time of Emperor Prithvīrāja is the Sati Pillar inscription in Lohāri (Mewār), and is dated the 12th day of the dark half of Asāṛh, v.s. 1236 (a.d. 1179).
page 268 note 16 The Tāntoli inscription (unpublished) of King Harirāja, dated Vaiśākh Vadi 4, v.s. 1251 (April 13 or 14, a.d. 1194), discovered in February, a.d. 1912, now in the Rajputana Museum, Ajmer. The Tāju-1-Ma'ā
ir of Ḥasan Ni
āmi says that in a.d. 1193, Hariraja drove out Prithvīrāja's son (Govindraja) from the throne of Ajmer, on which Sultān Mu'izz-ud-dīn (Shahāb-ud-dīn) Ghori had placed him after Pṛithvīrāja's death, and not only proclaimed his independence, but advanced towards Delhi to recover it from Quṭb-ud-dīn Aibak (Elliott's History of India, vol. ii, p. 225). It was in a.d. 1195 that Harirāja was finally defeated and Ajmer passed under Quṭb-ud-dīn. Vide Duff, 's Chronology, p. 170Google Scholar, and Raverty, 's Ṭabaqāt-i-Naṣiri, p. 519.Google Scholar
page 268 note 1 The Harsha Stone inscription (Epiyraphia Indica, vol. ii, p. 117)Google Scholar, says Chandana defeated or slew in battle the Tomara leader Rudreṇa (probably Tanwar Rudrapāla of Delhi).
page 268 note 2 Vākpatirāja I put to flight Tantrapāla, a neighbouring chief, by whom he had been attacked; see ibid., p. 117.
page 268 note 3 The Harṣa Stone inscription also mentions his building a Śiva temple, and adds that he “defeated the Tomara leader together with Lavaṇa, and annihilated in war rulers of men in every direction” (Epigraphia Indica, vol. ii, p. 127)Google Scholar. According to the Prabandhakośa genealogy, Sinharāja defeated Hājji-ud-Dīn at Jethān (Jethānā, 20 miles from Ajmer). The Hammīra Māhākāvya (p. 14)Google Scholar says Sinharāja killed the Mussalman general named Hātim.
page 269 note 1 The Prabandha Chintāmani of Merutunga also mentions this event; ride, Tawney, C. H.'s Translation, pp. 23–24Google Scholar. The Hammīra Māhākāvya (p. 14)Google Scholar says Vigraharāja killed King Mulrāja and conquered his country.
page 269 note 2 According to the Prabandhakośa (Gaüdavaho, Introduction, p. cxxxvii)Google Scholar, Govindrāja defeated Sultān Maḥmūd. If this Sultān was Maḥmūd of Ghazni, then the event is the one that took place in a.d. 1025 on Sultān Maḥmūd's way to oSomnāth (Duff, 's Chronology of India, p. 113Google Scholar; also Tod, 's Rājasthan, Calcutta edition of a.d. 1884, vol. ii, p. 493).Google Scholar
page 269 note 3 The Chitor inscription of s. 1331 (a.d. 1254) published in the Indian Antiquary, vol. xxii, p. 80Google Scholar, calls him Āmbra Prasāda, while the (unpublished) inscription of s. 1517 (a.d. 1460) found at Kumbalgaṛh in Mewār (in P. Gauri Shankar's collection) gives the name as Ambā Prasāda; so also the Eklinga Māhātama, written during the reign of Rān7amacr; Kumbhā of Mewār (a.d. 1433–68). The Chitor and Kumbalgaṛh inscriptions make him the successor of Śakti Kumāra, whose Atpur inscription (Ind. Ant., vol. xxxix, p. 191)Google Scholar is dated the v.s.1034 (a.d. 977).
page 272 note 1 The Bijolian inscription (v. 14) also makes Chamunḍarāja as the successor of Vīryarāma (Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, vol. Iv, pt. i, p. 40).
page 272 note 2 Narwar is situated in Kishengarh territory at a distance of about 15 miles from Ajmer.
page 272 note 3 Vigraharāja III is the famous Vīr Visala. According to the Bijolian inscription, his queen's name was Rajadevi.
page 272 note 4 Prithvīrāja's queen was Rasalladevi: Bījolian inscription.
page 272 note 5 The Bījolian inscription says that Ajayar¯ja captured in a battle Sulhaṇa, the commander-in-chief of the army, tied him to the back of a camel, and brought him to Ajmer. He is further stated to have killed three kings named Chāchig, Sindhul, and Yaśorāja (verse 15). A stone inscription found in the Adhai dinkā Jhonprā, Ajmer, and now in the Rajputana Museum, Ajmer, says that Ajayarāja conquered the country up to Ujjain.
page 274 note 1 This lake, called Anā Sāgar, after Arṇorāja, who is popularly known in Rajputana as Ānāji, is the most beautiful sight of Ajmer. Sanskrit writers call Arṇorāja, Ānāk Annalladeva; vide the Delhi Siwalik Pillar inscription (Indian Antiquary, vol. xix, p. 218)Google Scholar. The Hammīra Māhākāvya (p. 15)Google Scholar says that “Anala dug a tank at Ajmer”.
page 274 note 2 Now called the Bandi River. Further down its course it is known as the Luni River.
page 274 note 3 This is the well-known temple of Ajayapāla, situated in a beautiful valley 7 miles from Ajmer, to the south of the Taragarh Hill.
page 274 note 4 The Kīrti Kaumadi of Someśvara says that Sidharaja Jayasingh differed from Vishnu in this respect, that while Vishnu conquered Arnorāja (ocean) and took his daughter (Lakhshmī), Sidharāja Jayasingh conquered Arṇorāja (King of Ajmer) but gave his own daughter to him in marriage (Kīrti Kaumadi, Bombay Sanskrit Series, canto ii, verses 27–9, p. 11Google Scholar).
page 275 note 1 Malikarjuna was the name of this prince. An inscription of his time, dated the Saka year 1078 (April 24, 1156), is given in Kielhorn's List of Inscriptions of Southern India, No. 311. Malikarjuna must have been killed some time between a.d. 1160 and a.d. 1162 (vide Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i, pt. i, p. 186Google Scholar, where, however, Ambaḍa, Kumārpāla's general, is stated to have cut off' Malikarjuna's head).
page 275 note 2 The Hammīra Māhākāvya (p. 17)Google Scholar also mentions this marriage. So does the Surjana Carita of Chand Śekhar.
page 276 note 1 Vigraharaja himself was a great poet and was a patron of learning. His work Harakēli Nāṭaka, parts of which inscribed on stone slabs are preserved in the Rajputana Museum, Ajmer, is described in the Indian Antiquary, vol. xx, p. 201Google Scholar, where Dr. Kielhorn says: “Actual and undoubted proof is here afforded to us of the fact that powerful Hindu rulers of the past were eager to compete with Kālidasa and Bhāvabhuti for poetical fame.” According to the Bijolian inscription (verse 22) Vigraharāja conquered Delhi. The Delhi Siwālik Pillar inscription of a.d. 1164 says he conquered the country between the Vindhya and the Himālaya Mountains and cleared the country of Aryāvarta of the Musalmans and again made it Aryāvarta, the abode of Aryas. The Prabandhakośa calls him “the defeater of Turushkas” (vide Gaüdavaho, Introduction, p. cxxxvii).Google Scholar
page 276 note 2 An (unpublished) inscription dated the Jaishta Vadi 13, v.s. 1225 (a.d. 1168), on a pillar in the temple of Ruthi Rāni at Dhod, in the Tahāzpur district of Mewār, says that Pṛithvīrāja (Pṛithvībhata) “obtained a victory over the King of Śākambhari by the strength of his arms”. This plainly shows that he defeated Amargāngeya, the son and successor of Vigraharāja IV (Visaladeva), and took back the kingdom his father (Jugdeva) had lost to Vigraharaja. This inscription says that Suhavadevi was the queen of Pṛithvībhata.
page 276 note 3 The kingdom of Ajmer was so called in those days. The Hindi translation Sawālākh, or Siwalikh, is used by Musalman writers to denote this country.
page 277 note 1 Dr. Bühler read it as Kādamb Vām, but the transcript obtained by me has Kādamb Vāsa.
page 278 note 1 The sage Agastya was the first Arya who is said to have crossed the Vindhyā Mountains and gone to the Deccan.
page 278 note 2 Indra had removed the wings of all mountains except Menāka, the son of the Himālayās.
page 278 note 3 Nāgas evidently means the Nāgavanśi tribe.
page 279 note 1 I am unable to identify this Guḍpur. The affair may be a rebellion of a son of Vigraharāja IV.
page 281 note 1 Duff, 's Chronology of India, p. 167Google Scholar. Also Raverty, 's Ṭabaqāt-i-Nāsiri, p. 460.Google Scholar