Puskarana, Chandravarman and an Inscription at Susunia Hill

Abstract

There is a small hill named Susunia at Bankura district of West Bengal. A small inscription, written in Sanskrit language, is inscribed on the Susunia hill. The inscription at Susunia hill and identity of Puskarana and Chandravarman have been a subject of debate for long times. The Sanskrit inscription at Susunia hill refers a king named Chandravarman who dedicated something to his lord Chakraswami. The debate has ensued with the decipherment of the inscription and its interpretation and also with the identity of Puskarana and Chandravarma. The name Chandravarman is also mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar inscription, the Mandasor inscription dated 404 A.D. and the Meherauli Pillar inscription. The debate has ensued from here if the Chandravarman of the Susunia rock inscription is same Chandravarman of the Allahabad Pillar inscription, the Mandasor inscription and the Meherauli Pillar inscription. In this article, I will be trying to make a comparative study of the arguments already given by the scholars and I will also try to give my own interpretation of the inscription. In this way I will try to come into a conclusion of the debates grown surrounding this inscription.