1862.] Vestiges of the Kings of Gwalior. 401 



of that place are known to have heen Kachvahas. I have no faith 

 in the number 85, nor in the periods assigned to the different sove- 

 reigns in the list of Tieffen thaler, but it would not be too much 

 to suppose that along line of the Kushites did reign in Gwalior, and 

 that our Kachchhapaghata was a conqueror of one of those Kach- 

 vahas, from which circumstance he assumed his distinctive name. 



A descendant of this Kachchhapaghata was Lak'shmaiia. According 

 to the panygerist of his race, he was a great king who rivalled the re- 

 nowned Prithu of the Yedas by his extensive conquests; but they do 

 not seem to have extended as far as Grwalior, for we read that his son 

 Vajra-dama was "the first who proclaimed his valour and his hero- 

 ism by striking his kettledrum in the fortress of Gopagiri." This 

 must have taken place a few years before 977 A. 0. as we find him 

 in that year well established in his conquered country and dedicating 

 the Jain figure from which inscription No. 6 has been taken. Tradition 

 has it that the Kachvahas were expelled from Gwalior by the Puars 

 or Puriharas, and as we find Vajra-dama the descendant of a de- 

 stroyer of Kachvahas, the first who overcomes the old dynasty of 

 the place, it will not be unreasonable to infer that he was a scion of the 

 Puar race. Tieffenthaler supports the tradition regarding the aggres- 

 sion of the Puars, or Panuvars as he calls them, but his list of 

 names does not correspond with that furnished by the inscriptions. 

 According to his authority, the conquerors of the last Kushite 

 Tejakarna was Eamdewwho was after a reign of J9 years successively 

 followed by Birmdew (7), Makherdew (13), Rettendew (11), Lavnak- 

 dew(i.5), Barsingdew (17), and Parmaldew (21); the seven taking 

 up altogether a period of 103 years. It is scarcely necessary to add 

 that these names are of little value against the positive testimony of 

 the inscriptions under notice. 



Vajra-dama, according to our inscription, before entering into 

 Gwalior, had subdued the king of Vindhyanagara. His son Man- 

 gala Raja, forsaking the Jainism of his father, offered his adora- 

 tions to Vishnu, but he seems never to have achieved any po- 

 litical greatness. His successor Kirtiraja, a prince of a warlike dis- 

 position, signalised himself in many a battle against his neighbours. 

 Malwa was reduced by him to the rank of an appenage of Gwalior. 

 In religion he was a Sivaite, and a temple to the Lord of Parvati in 

 the town of Sinhapaniya still stands to attest the ardency of his 



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