SIMROUNGARH

Origin of the rule of Karnatas

There is a good deal of controversy regarding the origin of the Karnatas of Tirhut. They are connected with the Chalukya invasion of North India during the rule of Someswara I and Vikramaditya VI in the latter half of the eleventh century CE. Nanyadeva was the founder of Karnata dynasty of Tirhut in 1097 CE. He was a contemporary of Ramapala and Madanpala, Vijayasena and Vallalsena of Bengal, Govindachandra Gahadwal of Kannauj and Raghava of Kalinga. He distinguished himself in war and peace.

There was tussle between the Karnatas of Tirhut and the Senas of Bengal and the fact stands attested by the Deopara inscriptions of Vijayasena. Nanyadeva succeeded in stabilising his power in the Tirhut and in extending it to Nepal.

Nanya Deva established his supremacy over this region, probably with the aid of the Chalukya King Vikramaditya VI, who is known to have invaded Nepal shortly after 1068 CE.

French Historian Sylvain Levi thinks that Nanya Deva at first accepted service of a military commander under a Chalukya King, and taking advantage of the weakness of his master, assumed sovereignty. Nanya Deva used to call himself by several titles, namely - Karnata Kulbhushan, Nanyapati, Mahasamantadhipati, Dharmavaloka, Dharmadharbhupati, and Mithilesh.

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Tibetan Monk visit to Simroungarh

Tibetan traveller monk Chag-lo-tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal popularly known as Dharmasvamin visited Simroungarh in 1236 CE. Tirhut was ruled by Ramsingha Dev and he welcomed Dharmasvamin in his court. Dharmasvamin had fallen ill during on his trip to Tirhut and thus stayed there for a long time. After having recovered from his illness, he was requested by the King to become his Chaplain, to which the monk politely declined. The King Ramasingha Deva gave him gold and provisions for completing his journey back to Tibet.

Dharmasvamin has mentioned that during the time of Ramsingha Deva, Tirhut lived under a constant fear of attacks by Turkish invaders. And thus a major strengthening of the labyrinth fortification was being undertaken under his tenure.

 

Scholars of Simroungarh

Simroungarh had been the centre of scholarly works in Tirhut. The kings of Simroungarh always kept a group of scholars as his advisers and even the Pradhanamatya or the Prime Ministers of the dynasty were great scholars. Some of the greatest scholars of the Karnatas period were – Chandeswar Thakur, Jyotirishwar Thakur, Vachaspati Mishra, Devaditya, Karmaditya, Ramdatta, etc. Even Maithil Kavi Kokil Vidyapati belonged to the great family of ministers of Simroungarh.

Some of the most important scholarly works composed during the Karnata Period were the various Astha Ratnakars of Chandeswar Thakur, namely - Rajneeti Ratnakar, Kritya Ratnakar, Grihastha Ratnakar, Shuddhi Ratnakar, Daan Ratnakar, Puja Ratnakar, Vyavahaar Ratnakar, Vivad Ratnakar, etc. These works deal with various duties for Monarchs and other common people.

 

Relationship of Karnatas with Mallas of Nepal & South India

According to Newa historian Shiv Raj Shrestha, works of Newar Mallas of Kathmandu valley during 17th century, in particular Pratap Malla and Jagjyoti Malla have described Nanya Deva as Pradhan Purva Purusha (highly respected ancestor). According to him, “The Karnata Kings had developed a highly enlightening and public welfare oriented religion and institutionalized a positive and dynamic socio political culture. This culture was later on nourished by Newar Malla Kings, which was found to be more tolerant, rational, liberal, egalitarian and based on social justice as compared to the more brutal  political culture radiated from Sinja-Dullu of medieval times.”

Mallas of Nepal declared themselves “Raghu Vanshis”, worshipped Raghu Vanshis’ family Goddess Tulaja (Taleju) as their own “Kul Devi” and adopted the “Mandav Gotra” of Karnat Raghu Vanshi Nanya Deva.

Another historian, Lila Bhakta Munakarmi clarifies that the Goddess “Dewimaju” (known to be worshipped by Nanya Deva was none other than Tulaja (Taleju) and was different than  “Maneswori”,the family goddess of Lichchhavi Kings. The Taleju Bhawani deity is originally a family deity of South Indian dynasties, in particular of Karnataka rulers, the deity is also called “Tulja Bhawani” along with various other names such as - Tulaja, Turaja, Tvarita and Amba.

After Hari Singh Deva fled to the hills, his wife Deval Devi managed to get their son Jagat Singh Dev married to the widow daughter of Bhaktapur’s Malla King Rudra Malla. Jagat Singh Dev’s daughter got married to Jayasthiti Malla from Tirhut and became rulers of Bhaktapur.

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Fortification of Simroungarh – A Labyrinth

A labyrinth type fortification of Simroungarh palace is inscribed in stone at Bhaktapur Durbar, and various coins of Mallas of Bhaktapur used to be stamped with the structure. Cassiano (1708-1791) visited Simroungarh on his way to visit Nepal and Tibet from India. He described the labyrinth of the Simroungarh as highly complicated structure and sketched the following diagram of it. (Attached here)