Observations on the History and Culture of Daks.in. a Kosala∗ Fifth to Seventh Centuries ad Introduction The historiography of the region called Daks.in. a Kosala, nowadays generally known as Chhattisgarh, is beset with difficulties of a predominantly chrono- logical nature. Apart from quite a number of inscriptions, we do not possess written sources that can help us to unravel its early history. The chronological problems are due to the fact that, with one isolated exception, the charters of its kings are dated in regnal years. Moot questions, such as the dating of the kings of Sarabhapur,´ the relation, if any, between the P¯an. d. ava dynasties of Mekal¯aand Kosala, or the date of King T¯ıvaradeva, have been discussed again and again by a number of scholars during the last fifty years, a debate that has been dominated by three eminent Indian epigraphists, V.V. Mirashi, D.C. Sircar, and A.M. Shastri. A first reading of this facinating corpus of learned articles gives the uncomfortable feeling that these three scholars dis- agree among themselves on almost every issue. Only laborious study makes one realize that in this debate a large body of historical evidence has been dis- closed and evaluated, as a result of which we know to date considerably more about the history and culture of this region than half a century ago. Still, many inscriptions await publication and this is, unfortunately, in particular true for those on stone. Unlike copperplate charters, stone epigraphs often inform us about particular historical circumstances and details beyond the official royal records. They are less formal and regulated, but they are usually more difficult to decipher and this may have hampered their publication. It seems a whim of fate that the only inscription belonging to this period and said to be found in this area that is dated in a known era, scil. the Gupta Era, has no apparent connection with any of the other data. I refer to the ∗ The first version of this article was published in Balbir, Nalini & Joachim K. Bautze (eds.), Festschrift Klaus Bruhn zur Vollendung des 65. Lebensjahres, dargebracht von Sch¨ulern,Freunden und Kollegen. Inge Wezler Verlag f¨urorientalistische Fachpublika- tionen, Reinbek 1994. Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik. pp. 1–66. 235 Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 12:58:46AM via free access 236 Hans Bakker Ara¯ ˙ngCopper-Plate of Bh¯ımasena II. Though in this case the era is known, there is uncertainty with regard to the reading of the year. Hiralal, who edited the inscription (EI IX, 342–345), read 282, which would mean ad 601/2. This would make it the latest record dated in the Gupta Era in an area in which Gupta influence had virtually disappeared one century earlier. 1 Mirashi has vigorously argued against this interpretation, which was accepted by Sircar and Shastri, and has made it plausible that we should read 182 instead of 282. 2 This would place Bh¯ımasena of the S¯urafamily´ in that phase of the history of Daks.in. a Kosala, in which it emerged as a politically and culturally autonomous state. Bh¯ımasena may therefore be seen as a figure who, in the turmoil of the age, hoped, by pledging allegiance to the once mighty Guptas, to secure a dominant position in the political arena of his days. However, Gupta support no longer amounted to much, and Bh¯ımasena and his dynasty disappeared from the scene without leaving a trace. 3 His inscription can therefore not be used for absolute dating of the dynastic history of Kosala, 4 and hence we have left it out of account in the following reconstruction. There is another important source of the history of Kosala, viz. the archae- ological materials in which this region abounds. Major contributions to their systematic and coherent treatment were made by Donald Stadtner in his the- sis Sirpur to Rajim: the Art of Kosala During the Seventh Century, 5 and by Krishna Deva in the Encyclopedia of Indian Temple Architecture (II.1, Chap- ter 18, 1988). But whereas the archaeologists and historians of art concentrate on the abundance of material remains, and the historians and epigraphists on a sizeable corpus of inscriptions, very few attempts have been made to an integral treatment. Although, in my opinion, only such a study can really deepen our understanding of the cultural history of this region, the present article does 1 ‘The Sumandal copperplate inscription of King Pr.thiv¯ıvigraha who was the ruler of Kali ˙nga,refers to the sovereignty of the Guptas in the year 250, i.e. A.D. 569/70. This was perhaps the last flicker of an extinguishing lamp.’ (Agrawal 1989, 269). Cf. Bakker 2014, 60. 2 EI XXVI, 227; see also many of Mirashi’s later publications. Although the Plate is reported to have been found in Arang, this seems by no means certain. The place of issue, Suvarn. anad¯ı,is identified by Sircar as the River Son, though the Mah¯anad¯ımight be another possibility. The characters of the inscription, according to Sircar (op. cit. 342), ‘belong to the Northern class of alphabets’. 3 A king named Harir¯aja,son of Nis.t.hurar¯aja,grandson of Bh¯agrahar¯aja(?), said to belong to the S¯urafamily,´ is known from a copperplate charter found in V¯ar¯an. as¯ı.The open nail-headed letters of this inscription point to Central India (possibly Daks.in. a Kosala), which led Michael Willis (2014, 109) to conclude that ‘this plate, although belonging to the fifth century, was found outside of its first geographical context’. King Harir¯ajaand his Queen Anantamah¯adev¯ı may have belonged to the same vam. ´s a as Bh¯ımasena,though the latter’s inscription does not mention Harir¯ajaand his ancestors in its pedigree. Neither the place of issue, S¯antanapura,´ nor the village in which land was donated, Ambrakanagara,¯ have been identified. See Bhattacharya 1945, 167–73. Also Chhabra 1949, 47–48 and Plates XXI–XXII. 4 In this article ‘Kosala’ is shorthand for Daks.in. a Kosala. 5 Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley 1976. Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 12:58:46AM via free access 12 / History and Culture of Daks.in. a Kosala 237 not have that pretention. It was written after a short visit to Chhattisgarh and touches only on a fraction of its historical wealth. What it does hope to illustrate, however, is that the methodology employed, consisting in utilization of sources of various sorts with the aim of cross-fertilisation, is in principle a sound and fruitful one. Whether this is borne out by the following essay is up to the reader to decide. Figure 2 Historical map of Mekal¯aand Daks.in. a Kosala The Pan¯ . d. avas of Mekala¯ This lineage of P¯an. d. avas is known from two inscriptions, both to be ascribed to the last recorded member of the dynasty, S¯urabala,alias´ Ud¯ırn. avaira, dating from the 2nd and 8th years of his reign. 6 6 Bamhan¯ıPlates of P¯an. d. ava king Bharatabala: year 2 (EI XXVII, 132–145; also in CII V, 82–88). This charter, found in the village Bamhani in Shahdol District, is probably Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 12:58:46AM via free access 238 Hans Bakker Figure 3 Dynasties of Mekal¯aand Daks.in. a Kosala Figure 4 Dynastic capitals of Mekal¯aand Daks.in. a Kosala to be ascribed to Bharatabala’s son S¯urabala,as´ a comparison with the latter’s ‘Malhar Plates’ (JESI III, 183–193) suggests. A third, incomplete inscription in nail-headed characters, is reported by K.D. Bajpai 1977-78, 433–37. It concerns the second of three plates, found in B¯urh¯ıkhar (near Malhar). It contains a prose passage, followed by two verses in praise of King N¯agabala and one incomplete verse referring to his Queen Indrabhat.t.¯arik¯a. Hans Teye Bakker - 9789004412071 Downloaded from Brill.com10/10/2021 12:58:46AM via free access 12 / History and Culture of Daks.in. a Kosala 239 A descendant of the legendary P¯an. d. u, this king considers himself to belong to the Lunar Race (somavam. ´s a ). The first two kings in the genealogy according to both inscriptions are styled r¯aja and nr.pati, the later kings mah¯ar¯aja. Son of Jayabala, founder of the dynasty, is Vatsar¯aja,from whose marriage with Dron. abhat.t.¯arak¯a mah¯ar¯aja N¯agabalais born. From the latter’s marriage with Indrabhat.t.¯arak¯ais born mah¯ar¯aja Bharatabala, who is eulogized as a great warrior. 7 Bharatabala married a daughter of a family descending from Amara (amarajakula), a fact that is particularly emphasized. This princess, designated as ‘Lokaprak¯a´s¯a’,is said to hail from Kosal¯a. 8 The accentuation of her origin seems to indicate that this relationship of the P¯an. d. avas of Mekal¯awith a lead- ing family in Daks.in. a Kosala was of some importance to them. According to the inscription of the 8th regnal year, the son born out of this marriage, S¯urabala´ Ud¯ırn. avaira, allowed a donation to be made by one Narasi ˙ngha, son of Bot.a, of a village at a confluence (sam. gama), situated in the southern province of 9 Mekal¯a(mekal¯ay¯am. daks.in. ar¯as..tre), to a temple of Jaye´svarabhat.t.¯araka.