LATE RADHAKRISHNA CHOUDHARY

 

 

NOTES (Continued)

 

 

168 RR – 60-61. The arrangement suggested by Chandeswara is indicative of the feudal atmosphere then obtaining in Mithila.

169 CHB – II, p 128 ff; 144 (for List of Officials).        

170 R K Choudhary, ‘Important Inscriptions of India’, Meerut, 1983; Cf: CIB.

171 Ancient Monuments of Bihar and Orissa, 1931; Cf: CIB; N N Vasu, ‘History of Sridharadasa’, minister of Nanyadeva and Laksmanasena and the author of ‘Saduktikarnamrta’. The matter is still disputed.

172 JBRS – XLIX, 253-59.

173 IHQ – XXVII, 241; G Roerick (ed.), ‘Biography of Dhamaswami’, 67-68, 82.

174 JBORS – II, 441-47.

175 Minhaj, ‘Tabaqat-i-Nasri’ (abbreviated TN); Cf: A B M Habibullah, ‘Foundation of Muslim Rule in India’, 69-70, 83 etc.

176 JBRS – XLI (1955), 143-53. It has been suggested that it was unsuccessfully defended by Palapala whose very historicity is disputed.

177 ‘Pag-Sam-Jon-Zang’ is a late work and based on the account of earlier writers.

178 JASB – LXVII (1898), p 26. This is confirmed by Dharmaswami. His uncle, elder Dharmaswami was at Vikramasila and knew Sakyasri and Buddhasri. His account on Vikramasila is not yet available.

179 CHB – II, p 42.

180 JASB – 1873, p 220; JIH – LVI (ii), pp 213-235.

181 The CP inscription of Narasimhadeva II in Saka 1217 (=1295 AD) mentions Jharkhand for the first time as a distinct historical region and was applied to the adjoining plateau and hilly regions of Orissa, Bengal, Bihar and Madhyapradesa and became coeval, in modern times, with Chotanagpur. It was penetrated by the Hindu influence and became the centre of Saiva and Tantric cults, e.g. Vaidyanathadhama, Jharkhandi Mahadeva in Raj Dhanwar, Tarapitha, Rajrappa etc. JASB, 1896.

182 In his onward march, he founded the city of Bakhtiyarpur near Patna and in his return journey, he founded another Bakhtiyarpur in the district of Saharsa. That area today is known as Simri Bakhtiyarpur on the north-eastern Railway.

183 R C Majumdar appears to be apologetic on this score while defending Mahipala I or other Pala rulers. RCM – 135 ff. According to Taranatha, Turks from Bengal (identified with Bhagalpur or at best with East Bengal) used to raid the University. He does not give the name of any specific Turkish invasion. His information was also based on second hand report.

184 The beggars said, “We shall not allow you to take Atisa to Tibet. We are not going to sacrifice our food share as we are poor and unprotected.” The departure of Atisa was kept a guarded secret and all his luggages in different packs sent during the night. It was disclosed that he was going on a pilgrimage to Svayambhunath in Nepal.

185 The recent excavation also proves the point. An interesting constructional feature of this phase is the use of Buddhist deities like Mahakala and Tara as substitutes of building materials. These images were found kept flat upside down in masonary. These images were not only used to raise the height of the structure but an element of hatred and vengeance seems to be prominent in the minds of builders against Buddhism.

186 For Vikramasila, see Radhakrishna Choudhary:

1. ‘The University of Vikramasila’ (Published by Bihar Research Society), Patna, 1975.

2. ‘Decline of the University of Vikramasila’, JIH, August, 1978.

3. ‘Vikramasila, A Radiating Centre of Culture in the East’ (Published in ‘ANCIENT BIHAR’), Ramakrishna Mission, Patna, 1984.

 

****

 

Concluded.

February 9, 1985.

 

 

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