Vastupala
Vastupāla (died 1240 CE) was a prime minister of the Vāghelā king Vīradhavala and his successor Vīsaladeva, who ruled in what is now the Gujarat region of India, in the early 13th century.
He, together with his brother Tejapāla,[A] assisted in the restoration of peace in the kingdom, and served in a number of campaigns against Lāṭa, Godraha, Kutch and the Delhi Sultanate.
[4] Extensive information on their ancestry has been drawn from literary works and inscriptions:[1] in Naranarayanananda, Vastupala referred to Chandapa as his ancestor and this descent has been expanded upon in Prabandha-kosha and Puratana-prabandha-sangraha.
Jaishree, Chandaprasada's wife, bore him two sons, Sura and Soma, who became a jewel keeper to the Chaulukya ruler, Jayasimha Siddharaja.
[4][1][B] Later in life, Ashwaraja became a minister and married Kumaradevi, a daughter of Abhu, a Pragvata vanika and a dandapati (commander-in-chief) by profession.
[D][5] The couple had eleven children — seven daughters: Jalhu (or Bhau or Jalu), Mau, Sau, Dhanadevi, Sohaga, Vaijuka (or Tejuka) and Padmaladevi; and four sons: Luniga, Malladeva, Vastupala and Tejapala.
[8] An undated inscription (now housed in the Watson Museum, Rajkot) mentions that the brothers made a pilgrimage to Mount Shatrunjaya with their father Aśvarājā in VS 1249 (1193 CE), presumably during their childhood.
[9][10] Their father visited many pilgrim sites with their mother Kumāradevī and built several public utilities, such as lakes, tanks, wells, and temples.
[8][3] According to Kirti-kaumudi, the Vasanta-vilasa, the Prabandha-kosha, and the Prabandha-chintamani, the brothers travelled to the Vaghela capital at Dhavalakka (modern day Dholka).
Other sources, such as the Sukrita-sankirtana, Vastupala-Tejapala-Prashasti and Sukrita-kirti-kallolini, state that the brothers served the Chaulukya king Bhima II who dispatched them to Viradhavala.
[11] Vastupala and Tejapala traveled to Dhavalakka at a time when they were in such poverty that their other brother, Luniga, was unable to donate an image of Jina to the Vimala-vasahi temple on Mount Abu before his death.
The Vastupala-charita mentions punishments being meted out to a wealthy Muslim trader from Stambhatirtha, various corrupt officials, citizens,[12] and village headmen.
[14] The brothers also attacked Bhadreshwar, ruled by Bhimasimha of the Pratihara clan, in Kutch but were unsuccessful and ultimately concluded a peace treaty with him.
[15] Sadik,[E] a Muslim merchant, rejected the authority of Vastupala and induced Sankha (Sangramsimha),[3] a ruler of Lata (now South Gujarat) to attack Stambhatirtha.
[18] During the reign of Viradhavala, the Sultan of Delhi Mojdin[F] attacked Gurjaradesa, an event that was dramatised in Hammira-mada-mardana, a Sanskrit play by Jaysimha Suri.
Two different stories are mentioned: One stating that Visaladeva was angered because Vastupala had declared the punishment to his maternal uncle for insulting a Jain monk.
[23] Tejapala's son Lunasimha is mentioned as a governor of Bhrigukachcha (modern day Bharuch) in a colophon of a palm-leaf manuscript dated VS 1296 (1242 CE).
[26] Vastupala was a philanthropist and commissioned the construction of numerous monuments and public utilities such as temples, rest-houses, wells, hospitals and tanks.
Rajashekhara Suri mentioned that his charity extended from Shri Shaila in the south to Kedara in the north and Prabhasa in the west to Banaras in the east.
[29] Vastupala built a temple dedicated to Mahavira, an Upashraya (prayer house for monks) and excavated a tank at Padaliptapura (modern day Palitana).
He also built large tanks at Arakapalita and Suryapura, two statues at the temple dedicated to Mahavira at Modhera, and Shakunika-vihara at Bharuch.
[30] The Luniga-vasahi temple dedicated to Neminatha was built on Mount Abu by Tejapala in memory of his elder brother Luniga in 1231 CE.
One account tells of the brothers seeking to bury part of their wealth, worth one lakh, near the village of Hadalaka (modern Hadala near Dhandhuka).
[35] He was an expert poet having studied Nyaya, Vyakarana (grammar) and Sahitya (literature), as well as Jain philosophy under Narachandra, and was eulogised in the works of others.
Vastuapala wrote Naranarayanananda and noted in its conclusion that his first poem was a hymn praising Adinatha in the temple on the Shatrunjaya hills.
[36][40] Vastupala was considered an expert in composing Sanskrit suktis (stray poetry),[36] drawing praise from Someshvara and Udayaprabha.
[43] A large number of literary sources and inscriptions give information on the life and works of Vastupala and his brother Tejapala.
[44] Surathotsava is a mythological historical allegory but it does give information on the Chaulukya king Bhima II, whom Vastupala first served; Dharmabhyudaya mentions his pilgrimages; and Jayasimha's play Hammira-mada-mardana (1220–1230 CE) discusses his military career and his strategy in dealing with the invasion from Delhi.
[44] Jinabhadra's Prabandhavali, the oldest prabandha, speaks of events during Vastupala's life and has helped solve chronological inconsistencies.
