Kadambesvaradasa was a popular and powerful king of South India and the influence of his empire had extended upto Afghanistan. Maka’s Son Saphara, had built a temple of kumara. (karthikeya) in his honour. kathikeya or Shanmuga or skanda has a special place in the kadamba kingdom. In Mahabharata mother of Karthikeya is venerated as Kadamba. Kadamba inscripton speaks of skanda from Kadamba tree helped to establish the dynasty. Kadambas worship kadamba Tree. So Kadambesvaradasa may also mean a resident of Kadamba of Banvasi.
Inscription number 50.
Abbotabad stone- Slab Inscription of the Time of Kadambesvaradasa (Regnal) Year 25.
Provenance: A spring tank about 5 km. from Abbotabad in the Hazara District of the North-east Frontier Province
of Pakistan. Now in Lahore Museum ( Exhibit number: 107)
Script: Northern Brahmi of the 3rd century AD.
Language: Sanskrit.
References: Daya Ram Sahni. Annual Report of the Superintendent,
Hindu and Buddhist monuments, Northern circle, for the year ending 31st March 1919,. pp.18 and Appendix C,
(No. 2) D.C. Sircar. Ep.Ind. XXX, pp.59-62.
Footnote
1. From the facsimile in Ep.Ind. XXX, facing pp. 62, the script and the language of the inscription provide an
evidence of gradual ousting of the khroshthi script and the Prakrit language in use in the area in the
earlier records, by the Brahmi script and the Sanskrit language
2. स, दि and प्रथ are obvious abbreviations of संवत्सरे,
दिवसे and प्रथम respectively.
3. The use of nominative singular for accusative singular is sometimes noticed in the Prakrit records from the North West Frontier Province and has been regarded as a dialectic
pecularity of his area.
4. i.e a temple of god Kumara. Kumara, skanda, visakha and Mahasena are regarded as the alternate names of one
and the same god (see Amara I, 39-40.) But Patanjalis Mahabhashya (on Panini. V.3.99) mentions images of
Siva, Skanda and Visakha i.e certain coins of the kushana king Huvishka. bear representations of four gods.
named in the legends as Skando Maaseno (= Mahasenah).
Komaro and Bizago (=Visaknah see RB.) Whitehead.
Punjab Maseum Cat. Vol.1, pp207and R. G. Bhandarkar
Vaishnavism, Saivism and minor Religious Systems.( pp. 214-15).
It appears. originally distinct gods. Skanda, Kumara, Visakha
and Mahasena were later coalesced into an identical god.
These gods are very popular in the north-eastern regions of the vast kishana dominions. Skanda was popular among the youdheyas also ( cf. Allan Cat. of the Coins of Ancient India,. pp. 270.
5. Read गशुरेण or गशुराणा
Gasura seems to be the
Same word as Krorayina gausura. kuchean Sanskrit Gausura
standing for sanskrit kula-putra (a person of good family ) H.W. Bailey. Trans. Phil. Sec 1947, pp.149 f.
BS0AS, Vol-XIII, 1949-50. pp.121)
The word Gausura occurs
in the Central Asian kharoshthi documents number 702 (cf.
T. Burow, Language of the Kharoshthi Documents from Chinese Turkestan
pp.87. À Translation of the Chinese
Documents from Chinese Turkestan
pp.141). But elsewhere
H.W. Bailey explains the word Gausurya occuring in the Derge text as a lady or princess of the Gausura class
of nobility (BSOAS Vol XIII, pp.393, cf. H. Luders, Geschichte und Geographie osttukestans pp. 255).
It appears the dating in 1.1 is in the regnal Years of Maharaja Kadambesvaradasa, who therefore. must have been an independent or a powerful semi-independent ruler of
Hazara region,
(Sircar: datha saka for dathe, svake, but
admits datha cannot be explained.)
The Inscription marks the beginning of sanskrit replacing Prakrit
English Translation of the inscription
On the first day of the month of margasiras (or Margasirsha) in the year 25, this temple of Kumara was got
constructed by the Maka’s Son (Maka itself means son, maka is therefore name of father or the clan or country he comes from)
Shaphara, of another family called dathasaka, of the clan of the Gasuras, in his own country or place) in the reign (or the kingdoms of
Maharja Kadambesvaradasa
Shaphara is name of the person either giving this inscription or the one who established this kumara temple.
It is evident from the inscription that the individual who built this temple was loyal to Kadamba Maharaja.
Kadamba king did not go to Abbottobad to make the inscription, but his fame must have reached this place and created the temple to kartikeya worshipped by his lord kadambesvara. This shows the great Personality , Leadership, Character of the king,