LATE RADHAKRISHNA CHOUDHARY

 

 

3. THE DYNASTY OF KHAYARWALAS(131)

The district of Rohtas was once the important centre of Khayarwalavamsa (or the modern Kharwaras, an important tribe of Bihar). They were the feudatories of the Gahadawalas who had extended their sway up to Munger in Bihar. The authority of the Palas was now confined to a very limited area of Bihar, mainly in the district of Munger, and most of their later inscriptions have been found from Noulagarh, Jayanagar, Valgudar, Kiul etc. They were pressed by the Gahadawalas in the west whose feudatories were consolidating themselves in the Rohtas area. They belonged to the semi-primitive tribes. They also claim to belong to the solar race. The Chandras of Vikramapur and the Tungas of Orissa also claimed their descent from the Hindus of Rohtas whom the former replaced.

Pratapadhawala’s inscriptions(132) throw sufficient light on the history of this dynasty. He is mentioned in three inscriptions of the twelfth century AD from Rohtasgarh, Sasaram and Tutrahi. The family of Mahanayaka Pratapadhawala of Japila ruled over these regions. The Tutrahi Falls Rock Inscription of Pratapadhawala is dated VS 1214 (=1158 AD).(133) Rohtasgarh Phulwariya Rock Inscription is dated VS 1225 (=1169 AD)(134) and the Tarachandi Rock Inscription(135) is dated VS 1225 (=1169 AD), while the first inscription records the consecration of an image, the second records the construction of a road up to the top of the hill. The third inscription is of peculiar administrative importance. It records an interesting fact that the Brahmanas of Suvarnahala secured a forged document in respect of two villages by bribing Deu, an officer of Vijayachandra Gahadawala. He ordered that the spurious document is not to be recognised by his descendents and that they should collect the revenue and tolls from the two villages as usual. Pratapadhawala was a Mahanayaka under the Gahadawalas and appears to have been a powerful feudatory chief verging on semi-independent status. Though he used to collect tolls it was up to the overlord to issue charters and grant lands. When the irregularity came to the notice of the Mahanayaka, he cautioned his descendents. He made a pilgrimage to Tutrahi falls accompanied by his family members, servants, priests and officials whose names are specified.

One more inscription of his dynasty is available. The Sone-East Bank Copperplate Inscription(136) of Indradhawala and Udayaraja is important from historical point of view. It refers to the reign of King Indradhawala, son of Sahasadhawala and grandson of Pratapadhawala. It records the grant of the village of Ganbhari by Mahamandalika Udayaraja of the Kadamba dynasty, whose overlord was king Indradhawala. The grant was issued by his feudatory family with overlord to the Brahmanas. It was caused to be written by Thakkura Sri Siyan, the Aksapatalika. The document is important as it gives a dynastic list of Pratapadhawala in the following order:

1. Khadirapala.

2. ...................

3. Pratapadhawala – founder of the Line.

4. Sahasadhawala.

5. Indradhawala.

Pratapadhawala was a feudatory of the Gahadawala king Vijayachandra of Kannauj and was the real founder of the greatness of his family. The inscription is dated in VS 1254 (=1197 AD). The Rohtasgarh Inscription(137) of Pratapa, dated VS 1279 (=1223 AD) refers to king Pratapa (whom Kielhorn takes as a descendent of Pratapadhawala) who is said to have routed the Yavanas and is believed to have resisted the muslim army for at least twenty seven years. The feudatories, in their own way, were trying to protect their territories against the Turkish invasion but the conditions obtaining all over north India were not favourable and like other feudal chiefs of Bihar and Bengal, the Khayarawalas of Rohtas passed out of history in the first half of the thirteenth century AD.

 

4. THE MINOR GUPTA DYNASTY

The Panchobh Copperplate(138) inscription of Samgramagupta introduces a hitherto unknown dynasty of rulers whose names end in ‘Gupta’. It was discovered in the village of Panchobh, six miles west of Lakhisarai in the district of Darbhanga in 1915-16. The dynasty claims descent from Arjuna and is designated Somavamsi. The mention of ‘Gupta-Vamsa’ is suggestive of the royal line having some cognate relationship with the later Gupta dynasty of Magadha. The letters in the epigraph leave close resemblance to the Deopada inscription of Vijayasena and Vaidyadeva’s grant of 1143 and on this basis we can assign it to the twelfth century AD. The Bull counchant is confirmed by the epithet Vrsabhadhwaja. The use of the term ‘Patra’ in this inscription is also found in the Garga Inscription of Orissa. The inscription records the grant of village by Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhiraj Parmeswara, Mahamandalika Samgramagupta, lord of Jayapura and the devout worshipper of Maheswara. The charter is issued from the royal camp of victory, Jayaskandhavira, the name of which is not mentioned. The grant was made over to a Brahmana from Kolancha.

The true status of the donor is evident from the title ‘Mahamandalika’ under some Karnata ruler of Mithila, may be Nanyadeva’s ministers Sridharadasa and his father Batudasa were also honoured with the title of Mahamandalika. Jayapura of the inscription is to be identified with Jayanagar (now in the district of Madhubani) and Jamuvani is to be identified with either Jayanagar or Yogabani in Tirhut and not with Jamui (which was known as Jambhiyagrama in the Jain texts). Siva has been a very favourable deity in Mithila and Vrsabhadhwaja is indicative of the fact that Samgramagupta was a devotee of Siva. The most important point that goes in favour of the record being one of Mithila is the use of the expression ‘Batuka’ in line twelve indicating that the done was a boy and further many administrative technical terms, used in the epigraph, stand corroborated by the Varnanaratnakara of Jyotiriswara. He was a powerful Mahamandalika of Mithila and issued the grant in the seventeenth year of his rule.

The Panchobh Copperplate inscription introduces a line of kings which is represented by the following genealogical tree:

1. Yajnesa Gupta (simply referred to as a king)

2. Damodar Gupta (simply referred to as a king)      

3. Deva Gupta (simply referred to as a king)

4. Rajaditya Gupta

5. Krishna Gupta

6. Samgramagupta (He is the donor and a Mahamandalika).

Both Rajaditya Gupta and Samgramagupta are described as Parama-maheswara-Vrsabhadhwaja-Somanvyaja Arjunavamsaodabhava Jayapura Parameswara. The use of the term mahamandalika along with imperial titles suggest that this feudatory family had assumed wide powers in Mithila under the Karnatas when they had become weak after Nanyadeva. The epigraph is important from the administrative point of view as it contains a long list of officials with the epithet of Maha (or great). No last word can be said about this minor Gupta dynasty of Mithila until further evidence is forthcoming.

 

5. THE CHEROS – THE DYNASTY OF MASANIKESA

Buchanan(139), in course of his survey, found many mounds associated with the Cheros and Kharwars in the districts of Patna and Shahabad. He found ruins of buildings erected by the Kharwars and Cheros between Tarachandi Hills and Sasaram. Local traditions associate Baliyadih (Patna) soth-west of Naubatpur with Cheros. Important places of Bihar like Deo-Markandeya (Shahabad), Dighwa-Duboni, Palamu, Kumhrarh, Mundeswari Temple (Shahabad), Kasturiya (Champaran), Kaua Dol (Gaya), Manjhi (Saran), Vaishali etc. are associated with the Cheros. It is said that the Mundeswari temple was formerly a Vaisnava temple and then a Saiva one. When the Cheros conquered it, they converted it into a Sakta temple.(140) Semi-primitive tribes of Bihar like the Kharwars, Cheros, Oraons, and other believe that Rohtas was their original home. The association of the Cheros with Saran is also suggested. It is believed that Bhoja of Malwa subjugated the Cheros of Bhojpur.

Following the decline of the Palas many tribes rose to power in Bihar. The Bhars emerged as a dominant community in UP and Bihar and the portions of the present districts of Begusarai and Madhipura were under the virtual control of the Bhars whose descendents are still found there. It was during this very period that the Kharwars also emerged but the Cheros outshone all of them. They founded powerful kingdoms in Shahabad, Saran, Champaran, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Palamu and were a force to reckon with for about three or four centuries. Their account is also available from the Tarikh-i-Ujjainiya. They were an established power in western Bihar by the twelfth century AD and their territory lay from the east of Benaras to the west of Patna and Biharsharif and from south of the Ganges to the north of Vidhya range. In the absence of any formal record, it is very difficult to sketch an outline of their political history on a scientific basis.

Dr D C Sircar(141), on the basis of the non-sanskritik names found in the Antichak Inscription of Masanikesa, suggests that they were probably descendents of an aboriginal tribe like the Cheros (Ceravu) king Bhulla, son of Dwelabha and grandson of Parau known from the Bihia Copperplate Inscription (Bhojpur) dated 1324 AD. The Antichak Inscription introduces Rajadhiraja Parameswara Kesara as an early king of the family. In his family was born Hansana, considered to be an incarnation of Visnu and after him came Sahura or Sahavara, who was received by the lord of Gauda, and received latter’s grace. He subdued Sonadamana sent by the king of Vanga and established an image in the Viahara built by Rajyapala. He was followed by Masanikesa under whom Manjusri wrote the present eulogy. Though Sahura or Sahavara was a Buddhist, the epigraph exhibits considerable Brahmanical influence as we find references to Chakrapani, Bharga, Krsna, Gauri, Laxmi (Jaladhitanaya). The inscription appears to be outlandish and may refer to some indigenous tribal people, may be Cheros as suggested by Sircar. The area right from the Rajmahal hills via Kahalgaon-Patharghatta up to Santhal Parganas is hilly and forested and is inhabited by a large number of tribal people of various specifications.

The tribal people of the area appear to have taken advantage of the weakness of the Palas after Nayapala and under Kesara appears to have wielded some political influence in and around Patharghatta region and might have accepted the suzerainty of the Palas for the sake of convenience.

The Palas, then, were in search of friends and found one in Sahura or Sahavara. Masanikesa was his son and a patron of Manjusri, the composer of this epigraph. Sahura led the foundation of the greatness of his family.

The inscription introduces a new line of rulers in the Antichak area of Bhagalpur:

1. Kesara – is referred to as Rajadhiraja, Parameswara, Divyamurti and Sakalabhumipatipradipah.

2. Hanasana – described as Lord Chakrapani incarnate.

3. Sahura or Sahavara – a friend of the king of Gauda and the victor over the army of the Vangas (possibly the Senas). He might have been a dependent of the Palas and not their vassal.

4. Masanikesa.

We do not hear anything after him from any source known to us so far. It seems that with the destruction of the University of Vikramasila, the dynasty of Masanikesa passed out of history unwept, un-honoured and unsung as is the case with all feudal families of the time. This much is sure that the dynasty did not belong to any historical line of kings but to some aboriginal tribes about whom wee have no information at present.

 

6. THE RANAKAS OF EASTERN INDIA

The Kandi Buddhist Image Inscription(142) of the Ranaka Samudraditya, assigned to 12th century AD does not mention the name of his Pala overlord. The inscription, in three lines, is engraved on the pedestal of a broken Buddhist image at Kandi in Jamui subdivision of Bihar. It records the gift of Ranaka Samudraditya, a son of Ranaka Nanda. Though the word Ranaka denotes a subordinate ruler, Samudraditya was probably a de facto independent chief as he does not mention his overlord. They appear to have been the feudatory chiefs of the Palas who had asserted their independence during the later Palas and began to rule in the district of Munger in an independent manner.

A seal of another Ranaka Srideva was discovered at the Antichak (Bhagalpur) site in course of excavation. The discovery of his seal from the site of Vikramasila monastery suggests that the fortress was in charge of the feudal lord. Srideva had some political authority in the area.

The Lai Inscription(143) of Vikramadevi, dated in the year 32, refers to the chief queen of Ranaka Yaksapala, whose suzerain was a Pala monarch.

From these three inscription, it is certain that the Ranakas in the districts of Munger and Bhagalpur were in charge of the local administration under the Palas and did not fail to take advantage of the weakness of the overlord.

 

7. THE MANA DYNASTY

The Mana Dynasty had established a kingdom in the hilly region between Midnapur and Gaya districts and extended its dominion up to Orissa in the time of Sasanka. In the last quarter of the sixth century AD, we find the Manas and Sailodabhavas ruling respectively in parts of Bihar and Orissa. They rose on the ruins of the Gupta empire. The rise of the Mana family is recorded in an inscription found in the district of Hazaribag.(144) It is written both as Manas and Mana. Through the favour of King Adisimha of Magadha, to whom this region belonged, Udayamana became the ruler of the village and appointed his two brothers as rulers subordinate to him over two other neighbouring villages. Thus grew a small principality in the hilly regions between Gaya and Midnapur districts. They had gone from Ayodhya to Tamralipti on business as they were all merchants and it was on their way home that they stayed in a village where Dudhapani Rock Inscription has been found. The date of the foundation of this dynasty is not known but it seems that many generations had ruled after Udayamana. The Manas probably gave their name to the district of Manbhum. The Kara king Santikara II married the daughter of Simhamana. Two other Mana kings are mentioned in a record of the 12th century AD.(145)

The Dudhapani rock inscription ends with a prayer for the uninterrupted continuance of the family of the prince Udayamanadeva. It can be hazarded that the Manas continued to rule up to the end of the 12th century AD and they were possibly descendents of the Manas of Hazaribag. The Govindapur inscription of the time of Rudramana dated Saka 1059 (=1137 AD) throws some light on the history of the Manas. The region around the present district of Nawada came under the authority of the Mana dynasty in the first half of the 12th century AD. Rudramana, son of Varnamana, was ruling in that area. It is reasonable to suggest that the descendents of Udayamana had settled in this area and had acquired some power. When the Palas became weak, the Manas took advantage of the situation and usurped power in this region. It appears that the Manas were ultimately defeated by Govindapala. The inscription referred to above is composed by the poet Gangadhara himself. He describes himself as a councillor and confidant of Rudramana, the ruling chief. Like many small ruling chiefs of Bihar in the 11th-12th-13th century AD, the Manas, under Varnamana and Rudramana, appear to have wielded some political authority in the region of Nawada but disappeared from history by the second half of the 12th century AD, the reason of which we do not know.

 

8. RULERS ENDING WITH THE TITLE ‘ADITYA’

The recent discovery of a few inscriptions from south and north Bihar throws up names of rulers ending with the title ‘Aditya’. We do not know anything about them from history as yet but the inscriptions describe them as kings having some authority in their regions and as such they deserve mention here:

1. The Singhbhum Copperplate Inscription of Kramaditya of 1024-25 AD refers to the reign of Maharajadhiraja Kramaditya who meditated on the feet of Maharajadhiraja Prachandaditya and records the grant of a village. Prachandaditya and his son Kramaditya appear to have been independent kings ruling over a fairly large kingdom but they are not known to us from any other source. The inscription is dated in the expired year of 1081 of the era of Parameswara Paramabhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Vikramaditya. The supposed founder of the Vikrama era, Vikramaditya, has been prefixed with full imperial titles.(146)

The Bagaha Copperplate Inscription refers to a king of the name of Suryaditya. He was the son of Hamsaraja and grandson of Helavarah. He belonged to a branch of the solar race of which the progenitor was a royal hero named Malayaketu. The inscription is dated 1020 AD and records the grant of a village. It mentions Vyalisi-Visaya within the Darada-Gandiki-Mandala. Another Visaya mentioned in the same Mandal is Dvichatvarimsatika-Visaya. (147)

 

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