गुप्त अभिलेख संग्रह (जे. एफ. फ्लीट - गुप्त सम्राटों एवं परवर्ती नरेशों के ऐतिहासिक पाषाण व ताम्रलेख)

234 CORPUS INSCRIPTIONUM INDICARUM, VOL. III.
As regards the name of this family, Vâkâṭaka, General Cunningham¹ has proposed
its identification with the modern Bhândak,² a place evidently of considerable antiquity,
the chief town of the Bhândak Pargaṇâ in the Chândâ District in the Central Provinces,
fifteen miles north-west of Chândâ,³ and eleven miles south-east of Warôḍâ.⁴ It is possi-
ble that Bhândak may have been the Vâkâṭaka capital. But the identity of the two
names cannot be upheld. In the first place, there is the difficulty of accounting for the
disappearance of the k in the second syllable of Vâkâṭaka, and for the change of the
lingual ṭ into the dental d, with a nasal before it. In the second place, as pointed out by
Dr. Bühler,⁵ there is an insuperable obstacle, in the suggested change of v into bh. And,
in the third place, I have to point out that the name Vâkâṭaka must be derived from an
original vakâta; like, for instance, Mâhâkântâraka from Mahâkântâra, Kausalaka from
Kôsala, Kairaḷaka from Kêraḷa, and Paishṭapuraka from Pishṭapura, in line 19 of the
Allâhâbâd posthumous pillar inscription of Samudragupta, No. 1 above; and like
Traikûṭaka from Trikûṭa, in line 1 of the 'Pardi' grant⁶ of the Traikûṭaka Mahârâja
Dahrasêna of the year 207. If any trace of the name is to be found in the maps of the
present day, we must look for some such place as Wakât, Bakât, Bakaṭ, Baktôr, or
Baktaulî; and it might possibly be found in 'Waktapur,' in the Rêwâ-Kânṭhâ Agency.
TEXT.⁷
No. 53.
1 Vâkâṭakânâṁ mahâ⁸râja-śrî(śrî)-Pṛithivishêṇa......
2 Vyâ(?)ghra(?)⁹
No. 54.
1 Vâkâṭakâna[ṁ*] mahârâja-śrî(śrî)-
2 Pṛithivishêṇa - pâd - â¹⁰nuddhyâtô
3 Vyâghradêvô mâtâpitrô[ḥ*] puṇy-
[â*]rtthaṁ
4 kṛitam¹¹=iti [॥*]
¹ Archæol. Surv. Ind. Vol. IX. p. 121 f.
² The 'Bhanduk' of the Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 73. Lat. 20° 6' N.; Long. 79° 9' E.
³ The 'Chandah' of maps. ⁴ The 'Warorá and Wurroda' of maps, &c.
⁵ Archæol. Surv. West. Ind. Vol. IV. p. 117 f.; and Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 239 f.—Dr. Bühler
speaks of Vâkâṭaka as being the name of a country, as well as of the tribe governing it. It probably
did, in the usual way, denote the country, as well as the tribe or dynasty. But it does not occur in the
compound quoted by him, 'Pavarajja-Vâkâṭaka,' which exists only in the original misreading, for
Pavarajjavâṭaka, in line 22 of the Siwanî grant, No. 56 below, page 246.—Vâkâṭaka has also been
supposed to occur as the name of a place or country in line 161 of the Anamkoṇḍ inscription of the
Kâkatîya chieftain Rudradêva; but this, again, is only due to the original misreading (Jour. Beng. As.
Soc. Vol. VII. pp. 903, 908); the place that is really mentioned is Kaṭaka, as is shewn by the litho-
graph published with my own reading of this inscription (Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. pp. 11, 16, 20).
⁶ Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. Vol. XVI, p. 347.
⁷ From Gen. Cunningham's ink-impressions; so also the lithographs.
⁸ This hâ was at first omitted and then inserted below the line.
⁹ These two aksharas are very doubtful; they are pencilled-in on the ink-impression, and there
may be some traces of them; but the impression is not deep enough for them to shew in relief on the
back of it
¹⁰ This dâ was at first omitted and then inserted below the line. ¹¹ Read kṛitavân.