Víradhavala, a.d. 1233–1238.Soon after his accession Víradhavala, accompanied by his minister Tejaḥpála, started on an expedition against his wife’s brothers Sángaṇa and Chamuṇḍa the rulers of Vámanasthalí or Vanthalí near Junágaḍh. As in spite of their sister’s advice Sángaṇa and Chamuṇḍa refused to pay tribute the siege was pressed. Early in the fight the cry arose ‘Víradhavala is slain.’ But on his favourite horse Uparavaṭa, Víradhavala put himself at the head of his troops, slew both the brothers, and gained the
Chapter III.
The Vághelás, a.d. 1219–1304
Víradhavala, a.d. 1233–1238. hoarded treasure of Vanthalí.[19] In an expedition against the chief of Bhadreśvara, probably Bhadresar in Kacch, Víradhavala was less successful and was forced to accept the Kacch chief’s terms. The chroniclers ascribe this reverse to three Rájput brothers who came to Víradhavala’s court and offered their services for 3,00,000 drammas (about £7500). “For 3,00,000 drammas I can raise a thousand men” said Víradhavala, and the brothers withdrew. They went to the court of the Bhadresar chief, stated their terms, and were engaged. The night before the battle the brothers sent to Víradhavala saying ‘Keep ready 3000 men, for through a triple bodyguard we will force our way.’ The three brothers kept their word. They forced their way to Víradhavala, dismounted him, carried off his favourite steed Uparavaṭa, but since they had been his guests they spared Víradhavala’s life.[20]
Another of Víradhavala’s expeditions was to East Gujarát. Ghughula, chief of Godraha or Godhrá, plundered the caravans that passed through his territory to the Gujarát ports. When threatened with punishment by Víradhavala, Ghughula in derision sent his overlord a woman’s dress and a box of cosmetics. The minister Tejaḥpála, who was ordered to avenge this affront, dispatched some skirmishers ahead to raid the Godhra cattle. Ghughula attacked the raiders and drove them back in such panic that the main body of the army was thrown into disorder. The day was saved by the prowess of Tejaḥpála who in single combat unhorsed Ghughula and made him prisoner. Ghughula escaped the disgrace of the woman’s dress and the cosmetic box with which he was decorated by biting his tongue so that he died. The conquest of Ghughula is said to have spread Víradhavala’s power to the borders of Maháráshtra.[21] The chroniclers relate another success of Víradhavala’s against Muizz-ud-dín apparently the famous Muhammad Gori Sultán Muizz-ud-dín Bahramsháh, the Sultán of Delhi (a.d. 1191–1205)[22] who led an expedition against Gujarát. The chief of Ábu was instructed to let the Musalmán force march south unmolested and when they were through to close the defiles against their return. The Gujarát army met the Musalmáns and the Ábu troops hung on their rear. The Musalmáns fled in confusion and cartloads of heads were brought to Víradhavala in Dholká. The chronicles give the credit of this success to Vastupála. They also credit Vastupála with a stratagem which induced the Sultán to think well of Víradhavala and prevented him taking steps to wipe out the disgrace of his defeat. Hearing that the Sultán’s mother, or, according to another story, the Sultán’s religious adviser, was going from Cambay to Makka Vastupála ordered his men to attack and plunder the vessels in which the pilgrimage was to be made. On the captain’s complaint Vastupála had the pirates arrested and the property restored. So grateful was the owner, whether mother or guide, that Vastupála was taken to Delhi and arranged a friendly treaty between his master and the Sultán.[23]
Chapter III.
The Vághelás, a.d. 1219–1304
Víradhavala, a.d. 1233–1238. Their lavish expenditure on objects connected with Jain worship make the brothers Vastupála and Tejaḥpála the chief heroes of the Jain chroniclers. They say when the Musalmán trader Sayad was arrested at Cambay his wealth was confiscated. Víradhavala claimed all but the dust which he left to Vastupála. Much of the dust was gold dust and a fire turned to dust more of the Sayad’s gold and silver treasure. In this way the bulk of the Sayad’s wealth passed to Vastupála. This wealth Vastupála and his brother Tejaḥpála went to bury in Hadálaka in Káthiáváḍa. In digging they chanced to come across a great and unknown treasure. According to the books the burden of their wealth so preyed on the brothers that they ceased to care for food. Finding the cause of her husband Tejaḥpála’s anxiety Anupamá said ‘Spend your wealth on a hill top. All can see it; no one can carry it away.’ According to the chroniclers it was this advice, approved by their mother and by Vastupála’s wife Lalitádeví, that led the brothers to adorn the summits of Ábu, Girnár, and Śatruñjaya with magnificent temples.
The Śatruñjaya temple which is dedicated to the twenty-third Tírthaṅkara Neminátha is dated a.d. 1232 (Saṃvat 1288) and has an inscription by Someśvara, the author of the Kírtikaumudí telling how it was built. The Girnár temple, also dedicated to Neminátha, bears date a.d. 1232 (Saṃvat 1288). The Ábu temple, surpassing the others and almost every building in India in the richness and delicacy of its carving, is dedicated to Neminátha and dated a.d. 1231 (Saṃvat 1287). Such was the liberality of the brothers that to protect them against the cold mountain air each of their masons had a fire near him to warm himself and a hot dinner cooked for him at the close of the day. The finest carvers were paid in silver equal in weight to the dust chiselled out of their carvings.[24]
The author Someśvara describes how he twice came to the aid of his friend Vastupála. On one occasion he saved Vastupála from a prosecution for peculation. The second occasion was more serious. Siṃha the maternal uncle of king Vísaladeva whipped the servant of a Jain monastery. Enraged at this insult to his religion Vastupála hired a Rájput who cut off Siṃha’s offending hand. The crime was proved and Vastupála was sentenced to death. But according to the Jains the persuasions of Someśvara not only made the king set Vastupála free, but led him to upbraid his uncle for beating the servant of a Jain monastery. Soon after his release Vastupála was seized with fever. Feeling the fever to be mortal he started for Śatruñjaya but died on the way. His brother Tejaḥpála and his son Jayantapála burned his body on the holy hill, and over his ashes raised a shrine with the name Svargárohanaprásáda The shrine of the ascent into Heaven.[25]
Chapter III.
The Vághelás, a.d. 1219–1304
Víradhavala, a.d. 1233–1238. In a.d. 1238 six years after his father’s withdrawal from power Víradhavala died. One hundred and eighty-two servants passed with their lord through the flames, and such was the devotion that Tejaḥpála had to use force to prevent further sacrifices.[26]
Vísaladeva, a.d. 1243–1261.Of Víradhavala’s two sons, Vírama Vísala and Pratápamalla, Vastupála favoured the second and procured his succession according to one account by forcing the old king to drink poison and preventing by arms the return to Aṇahilaváḍa of the elder brother Vírama who retired for help to Jábálipura (Jabalpur). Besides with his brother’s supporters Vísala had to contend with Tribhuvanapála the representative of the Aṇahilaváḍa Solaṅkis. Unlike his father and his grandfather Vísala refused to acknowledge an overlord. By a.d. 1243 he was established as sovereign in Aṇahilaváḍa. A later grant a.d. 1261 (Saṃvat 1317) from Kaḍi in North Gujarát shows that Aṇahilaváḍa was his capital and his title Mahárájádhirája King of Kings. According to his copperplates Vísaladeva was a great warrior, the crusher of the lord of Málwa, a hatchet at the root of the turbulence of Mewáḍ, a volcanic fire to dry up Singhaṇa of Devagiri’s ocean of men.[27] Vísaladeva is further described as chosen as a husband by the daughter of Karṇáṭa[28] and as ruling with success and good fortune in Aṇahilaváḍa with the illustrious Nágada as his minister.[29] The bards praise Vísaladeva for lessening the miseries of a three years famine,[30] and state that he built or repaired the fortifications of Vísalanagara in East and of Darbhavatí or Dabhoi in South Gujarát.
Arjuṇadeva, a.d. 1262–1274.During Vísaladeva’s reign Vághela power was established throughout Gujarát. On Vísaladeva’s death in a.d. 1261 the succession passed to Arjuṇadeva the son of Vísaladeva’s younger brother Pratápamalla.[31] Arjuṇadeva proved a worthy successor and for thirteen years (a.d. 1262–1274; Saṃvat 1318–1331) maintained his supremacy. Two stone inscriptions one from Verával dated a.d. 1264 (Saṃvat 1320) the other from Kacch dated a.d. 1272 (Saṃvat 1328) show that his territory included both Kacch and Káthiáváḍa, and an inscription of his successor Sáraṅgadeva shows that his power passed as far east as Mount Ábu.
The Verával inscription of a.d. 1264 (Saṃvat 1320), which is in the temple of the goddess Harsutá,[32] describes Arjuṇadeva as the king
Chapter III.
The Vághelás, a.d. 1219–1304
Arjuṇadeva, a.d. 1262–1274. of kings, the emperor (chakravartin) of the illustrious Chaulukya race, who is a thorn in the heart of the hostile king Niḥsankamalla, the supreme lord, the supreme ruler, who is adorned by a long line of ancestral kings, who resides in the famous Aṇahillapáṭaka. The grant allots certain income from houses and shops in Somanátha Patan to a mosque built by Piroz a Muhammadan shipowner of Ormuz which is then mentioned as being under the sway of Amír Rukn-ud-dín.[33] The grant also provides for the expenses of certain religious festivals to be celebrated by the Shiite sailors of Somanátha Patan, and lays down that under the management of the Musalmán community of Somanátha any surplus is to be made over to the holy districts of Makka and Madina. The grant is written in bad Sanskrit and contains several Arabic Persian and Gujaráti words. Its chief interest is that it is dated in four eras, “in 662 of the Prophet Muhammad who is described as the teacher of the sailors, who live near the holy lord of the Universe that is Somanátha; in 1320 of the great king Vikrama; in 945 of the famous Valabhi; and in 151 of the illustrious Siṃha.” The date is given in these four different eras, because the Muhammadan is the donor’s era, the Saṃvat the era of the country, the Valabhi of the province, and the Siṃha of the locality.[34] The Kacch inscription is at the village of Rav about sixty miles east of Bhúj. It is engraved on a memorial slab at the corner of the courtyard wall of an old temple and bears date a.d. 1272 (Saṃvat 1328). It describes Arjuṇadeva as the great king of kings, the supreme ruler, the supreme lord. It mentions the illustrious Máladeva as his chief minister and records the building of a step-well in the village of Rav.[35]
Sáraṅgadeva, a.d. 1275–1296.Arjuṇadeva was succeeded by his son Sáraṅgadeva. According to the Vicháraśreṇi Sáraṅgadeva ruled for twenty-two years from a.d. 1274 to 1296 (Saṃvat 1331–1353). Inscriptions of the reign of Sáraṅgadeva have been found in Kacch and at Ábu. The Kacch inscription is on a pália or memorial slab now at the village of Khokhar near Kanthkot which was brought there from the holy village of Bhadresar about thirty-five miles north-east of Mándvi. It bears date a.d. 1275 (Saṃvat 1332) and describes Sáraṅgadeva as the great king of kings, the supreme ruler, the supreme lord ruling at Aṇahillapáṭaka with the illustrious Máladeva as his chief minister.[36] The Ábu inscription dated a.d. 1294 (Saṃvat 1350) in the temple of Vastupála regulates certain dues payable to the Jain temple and mentions Sáraṅgadeva as sovereign of Aṇahillapáṭaka and as having for vassal Vísaladeva ruler of the old capital of Chandrávati about twelve miles south of Mount Ábu.[37] A third inscription dated a.d.
Chapter III.
The Vághelás, a.d. 1219–1304
Sáraṅgadeva, a.d. 1275–1296. 1287 (Saṃvat 1343), originally from Somanátha, is now at Cintra in Portugal. It records the pilgrimages and religious benefactions of one Tripurántaka, a follower of the Nakulíśá Páśupata sect, in the reign of Sáraṅgadeva, whose genealogy is given. A manuscript found in Ahmadábád is described as having been finished on Sunday the 3rd of the dark fortnight of Jyeshṭha in the Saṃvat year 1350, in the triumphant reign of Sáraṅgadeva the great king of kings, while his victorious army was encamped near Áśápalli (Ahmadábád).[38]