32 
Chandrasekhara Banurji —The Kaimur Range. 
[No. 1, 
lion under one foot and the fallen and cleft Mahisasura under the other. 
The stone out of which the image has been cut is rough sandstone. Placed 
as it was in a secluded spot, it did not, however, escape the ravage of the 
intolerant Moslem. The story of Kasim Khan, the Kalapahar of these 
hills, who broke the face and broke as many arms as he could, and threw the 
idol down the rock, is still told in mournful language. Great satisfaction is, 
however, derived from the fact that ruin has already seized the ruthless 
family of this faithless Pathan, and not a soul is breathing now to comme¬ 
morate his name. 
Above the slab of the idol, which is cut in half-relief, there is an image 
of Narayana, engraved or incised in the rock itself. On both sides of 
these images there are inscriptions cut in a character which differs from 
the Devanagari of the present day, and their language is a corrupt 
Sanskrit, which is scarcely intelligible. The^e inscriptions bear the date 
1224, Sam vat, = 1171, A. D. The records are consequently 706 years old. 
The rock and the inscriptions have a lamp black colour, probably from 
the smoke of the fires which are lighted at times for liomas and sacrifices. 
The inscriptions are, however, legible. 
The first commemorates the reign of “ Nayaka STi Pratapa Dhabala. The 
youthful, long-armed Pratapa, protector of the people, of handsome counte¬ 
nance, bright as a garland of innumerable suns, the great Lokapal (suppor¬ 
ter of men), lovely as Cupid, owning strongholds of three and nine apart¬ 
ments or gates, a worthy son of the Solar Pace, who acquired his kingdom 
on Sunday the 4th day of the waxing moon of the month of Jaishthya in the 
year of Samvat, 1224 ; who was mighty, honoured by the strong, a disciple of 
Kartikeya (given to war), a source of pleasure to his chaste queens. The 
Prince was the son of a wreath-bedecked and learned king, who was always 
acknowledged even by the chief of the Devas (Indra) before his envoys.” 
n y * ^t*tt *7?tt 11 ^ «; 
11 11 11 
It was dark before we could get copies of the inscriptions and leave 
the glen. Hardly had we left the range, when deep darkness overtook us. 
On our arrival at the temple we found our men and traps had been 
thrown out of the building. The obstinate priest, we were told, would not 
allow us to stop inside during the night. This was no satisfactory news to 
be told after a long day’s fatiguing ramble. We went inside. Sweet words 
