1877.] R. Barter] ca— Note on a Copper-plate from Cuttack. 151 
Vansavalis, Indra Deva or Chandra Deva reigned in Orissa in 323 or 328, 
A. D. Two or three years before these dates, Orissa was occupied by the 
Yavanas, who held it for 146 years, after which Yajati Kesari expelled 
them, and founded the Kesari or lion dynasty. This prince was said to 
have reigned 52 years, and he it was who brought back the image of Jagan- 
natha to Puri, and laid the foundation of the temple-city at Bhuvanesvara. 
Now, both these records are silent as to the parentage of Yajati ; but here 
the plates give it in plain terms, stating that Janamejaya was his ancestor, 
and he (Janamejaya) reigned on the banks of the Mahanadi, i. e. in Katak 
Chaudwar. This is very probable, as the royal family was expelled from 
Puri by the Yavanas, who are said to have come in ships and landed near the 
sacred city. The astrologers of Orissa say that Chaudwar was founded by 
Janamejaya the great-grandson of Arjuna one of the heroes of the Maha- 
bharata ; hut this is evidently a confounding of names, for the plates simply 
say— 
“ TT^frr V > I 
<>v ■ C\ 
“ There was a king of gentle mien named Janamejaya the lotus-faced.” 
It does not describe him to be the extirpator of the Naga race, the son of 
Parikshita, and the lord paramount of all India reigning in Indraprastha 
or Delhi. The plates simply call him a raja, having his chief city on the 
banks of the Mahanadi. 
If these surmises be accepted as correct, we have here then the ap¬ 
proximate date as to the time when Chaudwar was founded, namely, the 
earlier part of the first century of the Christian era, for traditionally Jana¬ 
mejaya was its founder ; and he must have been some adventurer from the 
north-west ; the Vansavalis are silent as to the father of Hatakesvar Deva, 
the sixth prince in ascent from Yajati, and presumably Janamejaya must 
have been his progenitor, for in the Puran plate, we find Bhima Deva was 
also born in the race of Janamejaya, and this prince reigned in 282—319, 
A. D. The following is his lineage : 
A. D. 
143—194 Hatakesvara Deva : reigned 51 years. 
194—237 Birabhuvan or Tribhuvan Deva : reigned 43 years. 
237—282 Nirmala Deva : reigned 45 years. 
282—319 Bhima Deva : reigned 37 years. 
It is almost superfluous to add here, that the Janamejaya of our plates, 
is not the Janamejaya Kesari of the Vansavalis : the latter reigned between 
the years 754—763 A. D., about 250 years after Yajati. 
Another noticeable fact regarding the endowment mentioned in 
this deed, is the probability of such grants having been made by the person 
