3. Dhanapala’s Ancestry

The Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala and the Sobhana-stuti-vrtti of Dhanapala inform us that Dhanapala's grandfather was Devarsi, a highly generous Brahmin, who was born in a habitation called 'sankasya, wellknown in in the whole of the Madhyadesa (i.e. the present Uttar Pradesh). The Prabhavaka-charita gives the name "Sankasya" 14 The Prabandha Chintamani mentions "Sankasya" as the name of the family (gotra) 12.Tilakamanjari intro.vs.51: asiddhijanma khilamadhyadesa prakasasasvam nivesa- janma| alabdha devarsaiिriti prasiddhi yo dvaja varsitva vibhusito'pi ||51|| 13.Sobhana-stuti-vrtti of Dhanapala Intro.vs.l is identical with the Tilakamanjari of Dhanapala(N)Intro.vs. 51 as above. Prof.Kapadia has, however, expressed a doubt regarding the exact name of the place by giving the textual reading as "2124(?)". 4 1 14 PRG•17.9: itasca madhyadesiyasamkasyasthana samsrayah | devarsirasti devarsi- prabhavo bhuminirjarah||9||

6 15 and 'Visala' as that of the city 2: Merutunga commences his narrative not with Devarsi but with Sarvadeva, the father of Dhanapala. But he has mixed up the details about the ancestral native place with the family-name. Vikramavijayasuri has identified this place with 'Sankisa' 16 in the Farookhabad District. Due to some reasons Devarsi seems to have migrated to Avanti, the then capital of the Malavadesa. It might be due to the insecurity consequent to the Muhammada invasions of the region, as was the case with the wellknown Jain scholar Pundit Asadhara who migrated from Mandalagadh to Dhara by about Vikrama Samvata 1249 i.e. 1193 A.D. when Sahabuddin Ghori defeated Prthviraja Cahamana and captured Delhi. 17