Akaltara

Author: Laxman Burdak IFS (R)

Map of Janjgir-Champa district

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Akaltara () is a town and tahsil in Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh.

Variants

• Akaltarâ

Jat Gotras

• Agharia

Jat History

Dr Vinita Naik writes that according to the Bisaundhis of Bilaspur area in Chhattisgarh Agharias migrated from Rajasthan to areas around Agra, lived there for some period and from there came to Bilaspur District in Chhattisgarh. These Agharias never went to Jagannathpuri. Initially they settled in five villages of Akaltara in deep forests and later spread over 30 villages where about 150 families live at present.

The Agharias of Raigarh and Mahasamund districts of Chhatisgarh settled at Phuljhar (Lormi), Basna, Saraipali (Kota Chhattisgarh) etc migrated to these areas during the reign of Ahmed Shah Abdali and the Lodi rulers.

List of Villages in Akaltara Tehsil

1 Akaltari, 2 Amartal, 3 Ameri, 4 Amlipali, 5 Amora, 6 Arasmeta, 7 Arjuni, 8 Bamhani, 9 Bana, 10 Banahil, 11 Barbaspur, 12 Bargawan, 13 Barpali, 14 Bhaisatara, 15 Birkoni, 16 Buchihardi, 17 Chandniya, 18 Changori, 19 Dalhadamami, 20 Darri, 21 Deori, 22 Farhada, 23 Gadhola, 24 Ghaghrabod, 25 Ghanwa, 26 Gondadih, 27 Hardi, 28 Jhilmila, 29 Jhiriya, 30 Kalyanpur, 31 Kapan, 32 Karhidih, 33 Karumahu, 34 Katghari, 35 Katnai, 36 Khapridih, 37 Khatola, 38 Khisora, 39 Khond, 40 Kirari, 41 Kosmanda, 42 Kotgarh, 43 Kotmi Sonar, 44 Latiya, 45 Lilwadih, 46 Madhuwa, 47 Mahmadpur, 48 Mauhadih, 49 Mudpar, 50 Murlidih, 51 Nariyara, 52 Nawapara, 53 Pachari, 54 Pachri, 55 Padariya, 56 Pakariya, 57 Parsada, 58 Parsahi, 59 Pauna, 60 Piparda, 61 Piparsatti, 62 Pondidalha, 63 Raseda, 64 Rogda, 65 Sajapali, 66 Sankar, 67 Saraiguhan, 68 Saraipali, 69 Son, 70 Sonadula, 71 Sonaidih, 72 Sonsari, 73 Suwarmal, 74 Taga, 75 Taraod, 76 Tilai,

Akaltara Stone Inscription Of Ratnadeva II

No. 84; Plate LXVIII Akaltara Stone Inscription Of Ratnadeva II

Source - Corpus Inscriptionium Indicarium Vol IV Part 2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, 1955, p.430-436

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[p.430]: This inscription was first briefly noticed by Dr D. R Bhandarkar in the Progress Report of the Archeological Survey of Western India for 1903-4, pp. 51-2. His account has been generally followed by R. B. Hiralal in his Inscriptions in the Central Provinces and Berar¹ The record is edited here for the first time from the original stone which I examined in situ and from inked estampages taken under my supervision.

The stone which bears this inscription was found at Kôtgadh, a small village, a mile and a half north of Akaltarâ, in the Jânjgir tahsil of the Bilaspur District in Madhya Pradesh. It was brought down to Akaltarâ by the Malguzar and built into the plinth o£ the temple of Siddhësvara Mahadëva in the back-yard of his bouse at Akaltarâ.² The Inscription consists of 19 lines, of which the last is only one-third of the rest in length.......Missing aksharas are supplied by three other inscriptions of the same chief, viz., the Raipur Museum, Kugdā, and Ratanpur Stone Inscriptions.³ The characters are Nâgarï.....

The inscription refers itself to the reign of Ratnadêva II⁴ of the Kalachuti Dynasty of Ratanpur. The object of it is to record the construction of a temple of Revanta and the excavation of a tank, evidently at Kôtgadh, by Vallabharaja, a feudatory chief of Ratnadêva II. The prasastî, as the inscription is called in the last verse, was composed by

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1. First éd. p 109, second ed p. 121.

2. Though the present inscription originally belonged to Kôtgadh, I have called it Akaltarâ stone inscription in order to distinguish it from another stone inscription, now deposited in the Raipur Museum, which also comes from Kôtgadh.

3. Nos 85, 87 and 95, below

4. DR. Bhandarkar (PKASWI for 1903-4, pp. 51-2) and following him, Hiralal (ICPB,, second ed , p. 121) refer this inscription to the reign of Prithvîdëva II. The former wrongly took prithvïpatî in V 12 to refer to Prithvïdêva (II). The-word has there only the general sense of 'a king' and refers to Ratnadêva II. Had the inscription been incised durrig the reign of Prithvîdêva II, the genealogy of the Kalachuri rulers, who were the suzerains of Vallabharâja and his ancestors, would have been brought down so that king in the introductory part of the prasastî, while, as shown here, it stops with Ratnadêva II.

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[p.431]: Dëvapāni (देवपाणी). It is not dated, but it is evidently earlier than Vallabharâja's Kugdâ inscription.¹ of the Kalachuri year 893 (1141-42 A.C ) which belongs to the reign of Prithvïdêva II.

By way of introduction the inscription traces the genealogy of the Kalachuri rulers of Ratanpur from Ratnadeva I down to Ratnadêvâ II Verse 8 mentions Lâchchhalla-dêvï (लाच्छलदेवी) who was the wife of Jâjalladëva I and the mother of Ratnadêva II. Otherwise, the description of these princes is quite conventional and altogether devoid of historical interest.

The inscription next traces the genealogy of Vallabharâja. A feudatory chief of the Vaishya lineage, named Dëvarâja (देवराज), was a devoted servant of the ancestors of Ratnadêva II. His son was Râghava who served his liege-lord as his councillor. His son was Harigana (हरिगण) who is described as the principal support of the Kalachuri throne in the attainment of victory, Harigana's son, Vallabharâja (वल्लभराज), is next glorified in seven verses. He is said to have helped his lord in humbling the king of Gauda, the lord of elephants, and to have used his capital like the Vindhya tract for the capture of elephants. The next three verses (18-20) described a fierce battle in which Vallabharàja distinguished himself. We then have, in verses 21-24, a description of the temple of Revanta, the son of Saptâshva or the Sun, which Vallabharàja built, and the tank he excavated with a palace of pleasure in the middle of it² on the outskirts of the town. By erecting the former, Vallabharaja is said to have adorned, as with an ornament, the earth which was the crowned queen of his lord, the king. Verse 24 contains an interesting comparison, based on double entendre, of the tank with the Buddhist doctrine (Saugata-mata).

As shown above, the present inscription was incised during the reign of Ratnadêva II. The fierce battle in which Vallabharàja distinguished himself was probably that in which Anantavarman-Chôdaganga was defeated. It seems to have been fought towards the close of Ratanadêva II's reign. Two other inscriptions of Vallabharàja refer them- selves to the reign of Prithvïdëva II. Vallabharàja seems, therefore, to have flourished towards the close of the reign of Ratnadêva II and in the beginning of that of Prithvïdëva II from circa K. 880 to K. 915.

There are no places mentioned in the present record,³ but from the Ratanpur inscription of Vallabharâja we know that both the temple of Rëvanta and the tank were situated in Vikarnapura (विकर्णपुर), which was probably identical with Kôtgadh (कोटगढ़).

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1. No. 87, below.

2. Even now at Kôtgadh there is a large oval-shaped tank, in the middle of which projected from the west there is a raised earthen spot which was probably the site of this pleasure-mansion. Cousens took it to be the site of the temple of Rêvanta (P. R A. S. W.I.for 1903-4, p 30)

3 D. R Bhandarkar and following him, Hiralal take ladaba in verse 15 as the name of a country overrun by Vallabharàja. The former points out (P. R A S W I for 1903-4, p. 51, n) that it is coupled with Ashmaka in the Brihatsamhita and places it in the Deccan, while the latter identifies it with the southern tracts of the Bilaspur District I C P B, p 121. But laḍaba in v. 15 has the simple sense of 'beautiful' See below, p. 435, n 1

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Wiki editor Note

• Kot (Jat clan) = Kotgarh, a village in Akaltara tahsil in Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh. Akaltara Stone Inscription Of Ratnadeva II - The stone which bears this inscription was found at Kôtgadh.

• Full English translation is not required here. Some important points from the view of Jat History are: Inscription begins with adoration to Shiva. Verse-15 compares king with Kumara (Kartikeya, who are considered as ancestors of Jats.

• The inscription refers itself to the reign of Ratnadêva II of the Kalachuri Dynasty of Ratanpur. The object of it is to record the construction of a temple of Revanta and the excavation of a tank, evidently at Kotgadh, by Vallabharaja, a feudatory chief of Ratnadeva II..... According to the Rig-Veda, Revanta is the youngest son of the sun-god Surya, and his wife Saranyu. Images and sculptures of Revanta often show him as a huntsman on a horse, with a bow and arrow. The worship of Revanta was especially common in medieval Eastern India (Bihar and Bengal) with many archaeological finds indicating the existence of a cult dedicated to him that began in the 6th century A.D.

References

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