Yadava Inscriptions from Ambe Jogai (An Old and Rare Book)

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The value of the four inscriptions studied and edited in the following pages for a proper understanding of the later Yadava history, particularly of the reign of Singhana, the greatest member of the dynasty, can hardly be overestimated. Two of these epigraphs are edited here with their facsimiles for the first time. The Rimanarayana Temple Inscription, though originally published with a photozincograph by G. Buhler, is included here for the sake of completeness, and a perusal will convince anyone that the present edition marks a considerable improvement over Buhler's. A glance at the monograph will highlight the wealth of historical information enshrined in these records.

The press copy of the work was ready as early as in March 1968, but owing to some circumstances beyond my control it could not see the light of the day earlier. It is reproduced in the following pages without any material change.

It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge gratefully the valuable help that I have received from various quarters in the production of the present work. The idea of editing these inscriptions anew was suggested and the estampages for this purpose were kindly supplied by the late Dr. Moreshwar G. Dikshit, Director of Archaeology, Government of Maharashtra; I remember him on this occasion. I am highly grateful to Mahimahopadhyllya Dr. V.V. Mirashi for checking the readings and offering some useful suggestions. I am greatly indebted to Acharya Dr. Vishva Bandhu, Director, Vishveshvaranand Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies, Panjab University, Hoshiarpur, for including the monograph in the Vishveshvaranand Indological Series, and to Dr. K. V. Sarma, Reader in Sanskrit, Vishveshvaranand Institute, for taking keen personal interest in its publication.

The stone-slabs bearing the four inscriptions edited hereunder are situated in the village Ambe, also known as Ambe Jogai, in the Bhir District of the Marathwada Division of the Maharashtra State. Three of these inscriptions were published with a Marathi introduction and readering, but without facsimiles, by G. H. Khare in the Sources of the mediaeval history of the Deccan (Marathi), Vol. I, pp. 55-76. However, as these inscriptions were published only in Marathi, they were not accessible to the generality of historians, and as the facsimiles were not published, scholars interested in them were deprived of a means of checking the readings. It was, therefore, generally felt by historians that these records should be published with facsimiles and an exhaustive introduction in English discussing the historical information contained in them. Moreover, since the first publication of these epigraphs more than thirty-five years ago, much new material bearing on the Yadava history has come to light, which has rendered a re-appraisal of these inscriptions imperative, In view of these facts, these records are being edited here a fresh from the excellent ink-impressions kindly supplied by the late Moreshwar G. Dikshit, the then Director of Archaeology and Archives, Government of Maharashtra. The remaining fourth inscription was edited with facsimile and an English introduction and translation by G. Buhler in James Burgess's Report on the antiquities in the Bidur and Aurangabad districts.