An Unpublished Copper Plate Grant of V.S. 1165 from Rajasthan
Summary
The article discusses an unpublished copper plate grant issued from Jabalipura during the governorship of Mabamandalesvara Vijayardja on the 15th day of the bright half of the month of Vaishakha in V.S. 1165, corresponding to 16 April 1109 A.D. The grant consists of two rectangular copper plates measuring about 10 inches by 9 inches, containing 36 lines of text in 12th-century Sanskrit. The author notes that the existing estampage is unsatisfactory and blurred, making it impossible to present the correct text in its entirety. Despite this, the document is of great historical importance because it refers to Visala as the contemporary Paramara ruler of Jalore in V.S. 1165 and confirms the genealogical details furnished by the Jalor Stone Inscription of 17.5. 1174 (25th June 1118 A.D.) preserved in Sardar Museum at Jodhpur. The grant lists the Paramara rulers in chronological order: Vikpatiraja, Candana, Devaraja, Aparajita, Vijjala, Dharavarsa, and Visala. It also mentions that the capital seat of Jabalipura was under the administrative control of the noble Vijayardja. The main purport of the grant was to donate the village of Kisagha, along with its trees and creepers, in favor of a Brahmin named Samdhirana of the Sandilya gotra and sometime resident of Srimals (modern Bhiomal, near Jalore). The boundaries of this village are cited in the text. The grant also includes a royal proclamation brought to the notice of all persons in state service, prominent members of society, and Janapadas. The author hopes that scholars will scrutinize the inscription to throw more light on the political, religious, and administrative conditions of Jalore in 1109 A.D. and to identify the Mandala of this grant.
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Conclusion
This unpublished copper plate grant of V.S. 1165 significantly advances the historical understanding of the Paramara dynasty in Jalore by establishing Visala’s reign in 1109 A.D., extending his previously known rule by a decade. The document meticulously records a chronological genealogy of the Jalore branch, confirming the lineage from Vikpatiraja to Visala. Furthermore, it illuminates the administrative and political conditions of the era, highlighting the governance of a Manda-mandalesvara and the practice of land grants to Brahmins. The grant also corroborates literary evidence regarding the Marwar conquest of Vakpatiraja, thereby enriching the dynastic history of North India and underscoring the enduring religious and societal frameworks of the time.