. 
1896. ] N. N. Vasu—Nagaras and the Nagari-alphabet. 129 
accustomed to write in the Nagaraksara. Subsequent: to the copper- 
plate of the above-mentioned Dadda, the Nagaraksara is again observed 
in the copper-plate of the Saurastra king Jainka-déva, dated 794 Sam- 
vat (737 A.D.), which was discovered in the village of Dhiniki on 
the sea-coast at the south-east of Dvarakapuri.! This copper-plate 
was granted to one Ievara of the Mudgala gétra by Jainka-déva, at the 
request of Bhatta Narayana,? the prime-minister. After this the Samana- 
1 Indian Antiquary, Vol. XI1., p. 155 pl. 
2 I have something to say about this Bhatta Narayana. Mr. Uméca Candra 
Batabyala published in the Society’s Jowrnal a copper-plate of Dharmapala, together 
with a facsimile. That plate too was granted to Narayana Bhattaraka, agreeably 
to the request of Maha-samantadhipati Narayana Varman. Mr. Batabyal conjectures 
that Narayana Bhattaraka is no other than the Bhatta Narayana who came from 
_ Kanauj, and from whom have descended all the Qandilya-gdtra-Brahmanas of 
Bengal. He writes:—‘Having come into Paundravardhana, Bhatta Narayana 
found a patron, not in Adicira, as has been hitherto believed, but in one Narayana 
Varman, who in‘the copper-plate grant is described as the Mahasamantadhipati of 
Dharmapala.’ But my surmise is that Narayana Bhattaraka had no connection with 
that Bhatta Narayana who came from Kanauj. The original copper-plate says :— 
Hae Waal Aeraraiyafa-atacaTaaUT gaara at ayaa- 
qwgea ayad fasion aaseituaataiuadgy guifvss Quel saad 
alttd aa sfasiivawage* ara 9 aufauwawletguearsaite- 
Tega TsiTUAfeant wa Tata <fearwaeaatary 
<eig ea xfer | 
“Tt is manifest from the above text that there was a temple in Cubhasthali, and 
that Lata Brahmanas were employed to worship the idol. Narayana Bhattaraka 
came to this country, and subsequently settled there, at the request of the Maha- 
samantadhipati Narayana who granted him four large villages.’ 
Mr. Batabyala supposes that Lata was probably the name of Kanyakubja. But 
from the proofs collected by me I am confirmed that Lata was never the name of 
Kanyakubja. The middle, western, and southern parts of Gujarata were for a long 
time called Lata, Saurastra, and Anartta respectively. It seems that Bhatta 
Narayana who was the prime-minister of Jainka-déva king of Saurastra, was an 
inhabitant of Lata-décga. It is probable that when a political revolution broke 
out in his country, he then an old man, travelled over different parts, and then at 
last came to those Lata Brahmanas in Paundra-vardhana. That he who was once, as 
it were, the right hand of the Saurastra king secured high respect from the royal 
officers of Paundravardhana, is not impossible. Mr. Batabyala writes that Bhatta 
Narayana received a gift worth more than a lac of rupees. (Jowrnal of A. S. B., 1894, 
Pt. I., p. 44). This great gift proves unquestionably a high respect for Narayana 
Bhattaraka. It is obvious from the antiquities of India that the title of Bhattaraka 
could only be secured by a king or a prince or by a person having similar honour and 
position. There is no impossibility here that he who once practically ruled Gurjara 
became famous in Gauda under the style of Bhattaraka. According to the 
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