Unpublished Inscriptions from Sevada, Rajasthan
Summary
R. C. Agrawala presents two previously unpublished inscriptions from Sevaḍā, a village near Jālore in Rajasthan, shedding new light on the history of the Cāhamāna rulers of Mārwāṛ. The better‑known king Udayasiṃha ruled around V.S. 1262–1306 (c. 1206–1249 CE), and his son and successor Cācigadeva is known mainly from the Sundhā Hill inscription dated V.S. 1319. Agrawala notes that no intermediate inscriptions of Cācigadeva were previously available. He summarises the published records, including the Bhīnmāl inscription of V.S. 1306 and discusses the genealogical problems surrounding the dynasty. The first new inscription, carved on a lintel in a subsidiary shrine of the Śiva temple at Sevaḍā, records that on the thirteenth day of the dark half of Caitra in V.S. 1316 King Cācigadeva granted land for the worship of Śiva at Saṃdarśaṇī Kāṇḍalī. The record honours his father Udayasiṃha and mentions his mother Mādhavā, adding that the gift was confirmed by courtiers. Agrawala provides a transliteration of the partially damaged text and discusses palaeographical features. The second inscription, incised on a stone slab, is dated Māgha of V.S. 1314. It records a donation of a golden cupola and a dhvaja to a temple at Suvarṇagiri and mentions Cācigadeva’s practice of granting land during fairs. Agrawala compares these dates with the Bhadrajuna inscription and literary references to fix the late years of Udayasiṃha and the early years of Cācigadeva. He notes that the Māgha inscription implies that Udayasiṃha died between Māgha V.S. 1314 and Māgha V.S. 1316, thereby extending Cācigadeva’s rule back to at least 1314. The article emphasises that these inscriptions fill a gap between earlier records and the Sundhā Hill inscription. Agrawala concludes by encouraging epigraphists to examine the legibility of the texts further and to explore Sevaḍā for more inscriptions.
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Conclusion
The two inscriptions from Sevaḍā extend the known chronology of the Cāhamāna rulers by providing firm dates for King Cācigadeva’s early reign. One record documents a land grant at a Śiva temple in V.S. 1316, while the other records donations of a cupola and flag‑staff in V.S. 1314. Together they show that Cācigadeva was already ruling by Māgha V.S. 1314 and that Udayasiṃha likely died around that time. Agrawala’s discovery underscores the importance of surveying lesser‑known temples, where inscribed stones may lie unnoticed, for reconstructing regional dynastic histories.