Jayasimha of Dhara
| Author: Laxman Burdak IFS (R) |
Jayasimha (reigned c. 1055-1070 CE) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Malwa in central India. He was the successor, and possibly the son, of the dynasty's most powerful king Bhojadeva. He appears to have ascended the throne with the support of the Kalyani Chalukya prince Vikramaditya VI, and appears to have been dethroned by Vikramaditya's rival brother Someshvara II.
Variants
- Jayasimha I of Malwa
- Jayasimhadeva (जयसिंहदेव)
Source of information
The only known inscription that mentions a Paramara ruler named Jayasimha is the 1055-56 CE Mandhata copper-plate inscription. It is very similar to Bhoja's inscriptions, and records the grant of the Bhima village to Brahmins. The inscription is dated 1112 Vikrama Samvat; the exact date corresponds to either 27 May 1055 CE (assuming Chaitradi year) or 13 July 1056 CE (assuming Karttikadi year). It mentions Jayasimha's predecessors as Bhoja, Sindhuraja and Vakpatiraja. Jayasimha's titles and name are given as "Parama-bhattaraka Maharajadhiraja Parameshvara Jayasimha-deva".[1]
No other Paramara inscription mentions Jayasimha. The Udaipur Prashasti and the Nagpur Prashasti of the later Paramara kings omit Jayasimha's name, and mention Bhoja's brother Udayaditya as the next king after Bhoja.[2]
(88) Mandhata Copper-Plates of Jayasimha of Dhārā
[p.62]: Mandhata is an inland in the Narmada river, 32 miles from Khandwa.
The inscription refers itself to Jayasimhadeva (जयसिंहदेव), who meditated on the feet of Bhojadeva (भोजदेव), who again had meditated on the feet of Sindhurajadeva (सिन्धुराजदेव), who had meditated on the feet of Vakpatirajadeva (वाक्पतिराजदेव). He, residing at Dhārā (धार), granted a village named Bhīma (भीम) , forming part of the Maktula (मक्तुला) grant of forty-two in the Purnapathaka mandala (पूर्णपथक मण्डल) to the Brahmans of the Pattashala (पट्टशाला) at the holy Amaresvara (अमरेश्वर) on the 13th of the dark half of Ashadha of the (Vikrama) year 1112, corresponding to A. D. 1055.
The importance of this inscription lies in this that, with the date A. D. 1055-56, it gives the name of the (Paramara) king who was then ruling, and since this Jayasimhadeva was the successor of Bhojadeva, it furnishes a sure and fairly definite limit beyond which the reign of Bhojadeva cannot have extended. According to both the stone and copper-plate inscriptions hitherto published, Bhojadeva was succeeded by his relative Udayaditya (उदयादित्य), and it is perhaps correct to say that it was this king who put an end to the troublous state of affairs connected with Bhojadeva's death. But the omission of Jayasimhadeva's name elsewhere can be no reason for doubting the correctness and authenticity of the information conveyed by these copper-plates. In a similar manner the name of Udayaditya's immediate successor Lakshmadeva (लक्ष्मदेव) is omitted from all inscriptions except the Nagpur prasasti, and that very prasasti intimates that sometime elapsed between the reigns of Bhojadeva and Udayaditya. It, however, seems that Jayasimhadeva's reign was not a long one.
The geographical places mentioned in the record remain unidentified, but Amaresvara is a temple on the left bank of the Narmada, near Mandhata.
Wiki Editor Notes:
- Pattashala (पट्टशाला) : Paṭṭa-śāla.—(CITD), Sanskrit ºśālā; a reading hall; probably, ‘the main hall’; in Kannaḍa, ‘a silk-shop’. (EI 3), name applied to the abode of certain Brāhmaṇas. (LP), cf. Gujaratī Paḍaśāla; the first room in a house. paṭṭa-śāla is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions commonly written in Sanskrit, Prakrit or Dravidian languages.[3][4]
History
Jayasimha was probably Bhoja's son.[5] At the time of Bhoja's death, a confederacy of the Kalachuri king Karna and the Chaulukya king Bhima I had attacked Malwa.[6]It is possible that Jayasimha and Udayaditya were rival claimants to the throne under these conditions.[7]
Bilhana, a court poet of the Kalyani Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI mentions that his patron had helped re-establish the rule of a king in Malwa. Bilhana does not name the king of Malwa, but it appears that he was Jayasimha. P. N. Kawthekar theorizes Jayasimha sought help from the Chalukya king Someshvara I, who dispatched prince Vikramaditya to help Jayasimha ascend the throne.[8]
After the death of Someshavara I, there was a war of succession between the Chalukya princes Someshvara II and Vikramaditya VI. It appears that Someshvara II considered Jayasimha an ally of Vikramaditya, and therefore, allied with Karna to dethrone him.[9] Jayasimha may have been killed in the ensuing conflict. Later, Udayaditya ascended the Paramara throne, and salvaged the kingdom.[10]
References
- ↑ Harihar Vitthal Trivedi (1991). Inscriptions of the Paramāras (Part 2). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume VII: Inscriptions of the Paramāras, Chandēllas, Kachchapaghātas, and two minor dynasties. Archaeological Survey of India. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1451755.pp.62-63
- ↑ H. V. Trivedi 1991, p. 63.
- ↑ Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Indian Epigraphical Glossary
- ↑ https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/pattashala
- ↑ A. K. Warder (1992). "XLVI: The Vikramaditya Legend". Indian Kāvya Literature: The art of storytelling. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0615-3. pp. 177.
- ↑ K. N. Seth (1978). The Growth of the Paramara Power in Malwa. Progress. pp. 182–184.
- ↑ P. N. Kawthekar (1995). Bilhana. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 9788172017798. p.72
- ↑ P. N. Kawthekar 1995, p. 72
- ↑ K. C. Jain (1972). Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0824-9. p.354
- ↑ Arvind K. Singh (2012). "Interpreting the History of the Paramāras". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 22 (1): 13–28. JSTOR 41490371.p.21
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