An Unknown Inscription of V.S. 1242 from Mewar
By Ratna Chandra Agrawala
Summary
R. C. Agrawala’s brief note introduces a previously unknown inscription from V.S. 1242 (1185 CE) found in the village of Īśwāl near Korāwada in Mewar during a visit on 8 July 1959. The inscription, carved on a stone slab fixed to the left wall of a Śiva temple’s assembly hall, consists of nine lines and is written in Sanskrit. It records that on the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Vaiśākha of V.S. 1242, the Guhila ruler Mathanasiṃha (also called Mathanasimha) or his successor Padmasiṃha granted land to a temple for the worship of a deity named Vohīgnasvāmin and for the renewal of a previous donation. Agrawala notes that earlier historians believed no inscriptions existed for the reigns of Mathanasiṃha and Padmasiṃha. The new record, along with the Abu inscription of V.S. 1342 and the Kumbhalgarh praśasti of V.S. 1517, pushes the chronology of these rulers further back and shows that Mathanasiṃha was active by 1185 CE. Agrawala compares the text with a blurred inscription of V.S. 1239 reported in the Annual Report of the Rajputana Museum; he suggests that the newly discovered inscription corroborates the existence of a religious edifice dedicated to Vohīgnasvāmin during the early twelfth century and indicates the continuity of temple endowments in Mewar. The article also mentions another inscription from Katḥaḍāwan of unspecified date, which refers to a donation made by Mathanasiṃha. Agrawala concludes that the V.S. 1242 record is valuable for extending the genealogy of the Guhila rulers and urges epigraphists to undertake systematic surveys in the region to uncover more inscriptions.
Conclusion
The discovery of the V.S. 1242 inscription from Īśwāl fills a chronological gap in the history of the Guhila dynasty. Recording a land grant by Mathanasiṃha to a temple, it confirms that this ruler’s reign extended into the 1180s and that the worship of Vohīgnasvāmin was established in Mewar before later, better‑known inscriptions. Agrawala’s note highlights how a single stone can revise dynastic timelines and underscores the need for continued epigraphic exploration in Rajasthan’s villages to document India’s regional histories.