26 S. C. Mitra —A note on Mahamahataka Candesvara Thakkura. [Ex. No. 
• 
information regarding Candesvara and his family. In this as well as 
in other matters regarding my investigations into the ancient literature 
of Mithila to which Bengal owes much, I have also derived considerable 
assistance from my friend Mr. N. Gupta who kindly accompanied me. 
Candesvara Thakkura belonged to an ancient and learned family 
of Mithila Brahmans. They came originally from a village called Yisai 
and were known as Yisaibar Brahmans. The village Yisai cannot now 
he identified. It is very probable that Candesvara was born at Yisai. 
Some of the members of the family now reside at Saurat (Saurastra), 
and it is said they shifted there from their original place of residence. 
They cannot give us any information when the family migrated. 
Candesvara’s grand-father, Devaditya, was the prime-minister of a 
Raja of Mithila—probably Raja Hara Simh’s father whose name was 
S'akra Simh. The Raja was a feudatory of Alauddin Khilji, the Afghan 
Sultan of Delhi, who reigned from 1295 to 1315 A.D. The Raja and 
his prime-minister are said to have taken a'leading part in 1295 A.D. 
against Hamvira Deva of Ranstambha which was besieged and taken in 
that year. These facts are borne out by a passage in the Krtya-Cinta- 
mani by Candesvara himself. 
Raja Hara Simh, as appears from the Panji caused to be com¬ 
piled and first introduced by him, was born in the year 1216 (Saba Era), 
and the Panji was first introduced 32 years later, i.e., 1348 A.D. Can¬ 
desvara performed the Tula ceremony in 1314 A.D. Raja Hara Simh 
must have been young at the time, having succeeded his father at 
an early age. 
Devaditya had seven sons—Yiresvara, Dhiresvara, Gunesvara, 
Jatesvara, Haradatta, Laksmisvara and Subhadatta. The eldest 
Yiresvara, was one of the ministers of the Raja of Mithila, but whether 
of Raja S'akra Simh or Raja Hari Simh does not clearly appear. He is 
known to Sanskrit scholars as the author of Chandoga-Paddhati, also 
called Dasakarma-Paddhati. This book has been recently published 
with notes by Pandit Paramesvara Jha, a learned scholar of Mithila 
attached to the Darbar of the Maharaja of Darbhanga. Amongst other 
works, Yiresvara caused a big tank to be excavated in village Dahi- 
bhata which is still called “Yirsawara” after his name. This tank 
is in the vicinity of the Pandoul Factory. 
Candesvara was the eldest son of Yiresvara and was one of 
the famous men of his time both as a minister and as a scholar. As 
prime minister he held a position next to the Raja and was celebrated 
for his diplomatic talents. It is said that Raja Hara Simh on one 
occasion declined to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Afghan Em¬ 
peror of Delhi who advanced against him with a large army. The Raja 
