1858.] Of two Edicts bestowing Land, 217 



Of two Edicts bestowing Land, recorded on plates of copper* — By 

 Fitz-Edwaed Hall, M. A. 



The inscriptions here edited in the original Sanskrit, with trans- 

 lations and comments, add little to our previous knowledge of In- 

 dian history. The first, however, ascertains a regnal year of one of 

 the kings of Kanoj ; and it is now settled, beyond reasonable doubt, 

 that Madanapala Deva was administering this principality in A. D, 

 1097. The patent which supplies this date is the oldest monument 

 of the kind, emanating from the dynasty of its donor, that has yet 

 been discovered. 



The names of the sovereigns in question, and one or more of the 

 years during which the last four of them are known to have borne 

 rule, shall, first of all, be enumerated, on the authority of grants 

 similar to those which are to follow. 



1. Yas'ovigraha.* 



2. Mahichandra. 



# Colebrooke calls this prince, S'ripala ; but on insufficient authority. See 

 Miscell. Essays, Vol. II., pp. 286 and 294. 



A crude note on this point will be found in this Journal, for 1841, p. 98. Nei- 

 ther had Dr. Mill nor had any one else pretended — unless it was Colebrooke, and 

 he only by his silence — the identity, other than ordinal, of S'ripala and Yas'ovi- 

 graha. 



The writer of the note referred to was, further, unaware of Capt. Fell's re- 

 marks on Colebrooke, and likewise of Colebrooke's acknowledgment that he had 

 confounded Vijayachandra with Jayachandra. Mr. Torrens also mistakes in nam- 

 ing the work, and the volume of it, from which he gives an extract. 



In the Khaira inscription, which has been partially deciphered, first by Cole- 

 brooke, and afterwards by Mr. James Prinsep, occurs the name of King Yas'o- 

 pala. See Miscell. Essays, Vol. II., pp. 277 and 278 ; and this Journal for 1836, 

 p. 731. Capt. Fell asks: " Is he the same with Yas'ovigraha ?" As. Res., Vol. 

 XV., p. 453. To Prof. Wilson it " seems not improbable" that he was. Ibid., 

 Vol. XV., p. 462. Dr. Mill thinks that the Vigraha of the Shekhavati inscription 

 is, very likely, the Yas'ovigraha of the Kanoj dynasty. Journal of the As. Soc. 

 of Bengal, for 1835, pp. 3G9 and 392. These opinions, though they have not been 

 proved erroneous, still await substantiation. 



Another Vigraha has come to light since Dr. Mill wrote as above cited. His, 

 time, which was not long prior to 1042, might assist an hypothesis that he was 



2 a 



