476 Note on an Inscription from Oujein. [No. 6, 



legal record, giving neither the boundary of the donation, nor the 

 name of the country over which the donor exercised his authority. 

 The fact, however, of a Hindu monarch granting the revenues of a 

 village in the vicinity of Oujein, for the use of a goddess in that city, 

 in the year 1036 Samvat, seems to throw some light on the course of 

 succession of the Chohan kings of Malwa. 



The catalogue recorded by Abul Fazl, (Ayln Akbary, Vol. II. 

 p. 51,) places the whole of the Chohan dynasty, extending to about 

 140 years, between Jag-deva and Maldeva, the latter of whom, it is 

 said, was dethroned in the year 866, A. C, by Sheikh Shah, father 

 of Ala-uddin. It is, however, stated by the same authority that Ala- 

 uddin was a minor in the year 1037, thus making the reign of the 

 Sheikh last for nearly 172 years ! 



The grant under consideration records a list of four kings, the last of 

 whom lived 57 years before Ala-uddin, and bestowed a village in the 

 vicinity of Oujein ; if this circumstance would authorize the belief that 

 he was a ruler of that country, the four kings named in the grant 

 would fill up the hiatus between Maldeva and Sheikh Shah, and divide 

 among themselves the greater part of the 1 72 years which Abul Fazl 

 gives to the Sheikh alone. • 



It is difficult to determine if Vakpati raj, the last prince of the grant, 

 was a scion of the noble house of the Chohans, or if Krishna-raj 

 Deva, the first on the list, was the immediate successor of Maldeva, and 

 it is evident from the sanction of Rudraditya to the grant that Vakpati 

 was not an independent sovereign, notwithstanding his ultra-regal title 

 of Mahdrajddhirdja ; the fact, however, of his authority in Oujein 

 entitles him to a place in the blank between Maldeva and Sheikh Shah. 



The names, arranged in the order of succession in connection with 

 Abul Fazl's list, stand thus : — 



Maldeva, 866, A. C. (A. F/s list.) 



Krishna-raj Deva. 



Vairisinha Deva. 



Siyaka Deva. 



Amoghaversa Deva, alias Vakpati-raj Deva, alias 



Vallabhanarendra Deva, 980, A. C. 

 Sheikh Shah, (A. F.'s list.) 



