Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057345).pdf/249

 KHE 241 Christian era than any of their successors in the government during the ensuing nine. Some further particulars about the Bách hils I take from General Cunningham.* The inscription goes on to say that Rája Lalla and his wife Lakshmi made many groves, gardens, lakes, and tennples." Prinsep has given the last as " inany other extensive works," but the term in the original is devalayatanesbucha, "and temples," deválaya being one of the common. est names for a temple of any kind. In the 27th verse the great temple to which the inscription was attached is said to have been dedicated to Shiva by the rája, while the queen built another fane to Párbati. In the next verse they are described as "two divine temples" (sura-griha); and in the 32nd verse it is stated that the god and goddess were worshipped together under the title of devapalli. This then must be the origin of the name of dewal, and the great temple mound to the south of Garh Gdjana must be the remains of the two temples dedicated to devapalli. In the inscription Rája Lalla calls himself the nephew of Måns Chandra Pratapa, and the grandson of Vira Varmma, who is said to be of the race of Chhindu, and descended from the great Rishi Chyavana. This holy sage is mentioned in the Vishnu Purana as having married Sukanya, the daughter of Saryâti, the son of Manu. He is also noticed in the Bhag. avata and Padma Puranas as appropriating a share of the marriage offerings to the Aswini Kumåras, which entailed the quarrel with Indra ; that is alluded to in verse four of the inscription. The family therefore was reputed to be of ancient descent; but if Vira Varmma, the grand- father of Lalla, was the first rája. The establishment of the dynasty can- not be dated earlier than A.D. 900. Now the Bachhil Rajputs claim descent from Raja Vena, whose son was Virát, the reputed founder of Barikbár or Virát chera, and who I believe to be the same as Vira Varmma of the inscription. To Rája Vend, or Ben, is attributed the erection of the great forts of Garhakhera and Sáhgarh ; and to his queen, Ketaki Ráni, is assigned the excavation of the Ráni Tal at the old town of Kabar Garh Gojana, and the temples of Dewal were built by Rája Lalla. The town and fort of Mardori are attributed to Moradhwaj and Barkhere to Harmal Rája; but neith of these names appears in very imperfect and scanty list of their family which the Bachhils now possess. "It is admitted by every one that the Katehriyas succeeded the Bachhils, but the Katehriyas themselves state that they did not settle in Katehar until Sambat 1231, or A.D. 1174. Up to this date, therefore, the Bachhil iájas may be supposed to have possessed the dominant power in eastern Rohilkhand beyond the Rámganga, while western Rohilkhand was held by the Bhidar, Gwdia, and other tribes, from whom the Kateh- riyas profess to have wrested it. Gradually the Báchhil: must have retired before the Katehriyas, until they had lost all their territory to the west of the Deoha or Pilíbhít river. Here they made a successful stand, and though frequently afterwards harried by the Muhammadans, they still managed to hold their small territory between the Deoha river and the + Archaeological Tour, Volume I., pago 356.