480 Account of two ancient [Sept. 



sentlv detailed : a list of the princes enumerated will be found in 

 the Appendix, (No. 5). 



In the first inscription, as well as in the second, the origin of this 

 dynasty is traced to Bhatarca Senapati, who is said to have esta- 

 blished his power by signal bravery and prowess : his capital named 

 Valabhipura* , is also expressly mentioned in the first grant ; both the 

 founder of this sovereignty, and two first successors, did not take 

 the title of king, but Senapati, or General, whence it may be inferred, 

 that they were under a paramount sovereign, by whom the province 

 of Gujerdt was committed to their charge ; and it is stated in the 

 description of the fourth prince of this family, that he was raised to 

 the roval dignity by " the great monarch, the sole sovereign of the 

 entire world," meaning India. 



The third in succession to him, named Sridhara Sena, would ap- 

 pear to have thrown off all dependence on this paramount sovereign of 

 Ujayana or Kanovj ; for by the date of the first inscription, the Valabhi 

 Samvat or sera would appear to have been instituted in his reign, its 

 date being Samvat nine : this circumstance induced the belief, at first, 

 that the sera referred to was that of Vicramaditya, until on referring 

 to the 1st volume of Tod's Rajasthan, the existence of a Surya- 

 vansa dynasty in Gujerdt, whose capital was Valabhipura, and title 

 " Bhatarca," and also of a Samvat, or sera peculiar to those kings, as 

 proved by Jaina legends, and inscriptions found at Somndth, Pattan, 

 &c. shewed that these grants must belong to those princes and their 

 sera alone. 



Colonel Tod established, from the materials already mentioned, 

 the particulars of which may be seen on reference to his workf , the 

 following historical data. 



1 . The emigration of a prince named Keneksen, of the Surya-vansa, 

 or race of the sun, from Koshala\ desha, and his establishing himself 

 in Gujerdt about A. I). 144. 



2. The institution of an sera, called the Valabhi Samvat, by his suc- 

 cessors, who became the independent kings of Gujerdt : the first year 

 of which sera was the 375th of Vicramaditya, or A. D. 319. 



3. The invasion of the kingdom of the Valabhi princes by a bar- 

 barian force, the destruction of their capital Valabhipura, in A. D. 524, 

 and the removal of thes eat of government to the north-eastern part of 

 Gujerdt, most probably at first to Sidhapura, about A. D. 554. 



The inscriptions confirm, in a singular manner, these several epochs. 



* In Pracrit, it is written with a b, " Balabhi." 



f See the chapter entitled " Annals of Mewa>." J The present Oude. 



