Dear Martin,

have you considered that mahaṃ is used as an abbreviation for mahaṃtaka and mahattara/mahattama, "an honorific term prefixed to the name of a respectable man; lit. „a great or elderly man“? Cp. NWS s.v. maha and mahaṃ for further references.

This would leave us with Samarasiṃha (not the common Amarasiṃha) as a personal name, a "lion in battle".

Would that be conceivable?

Warm wishes,

Walter

Am Fr., 29. Dez. 2023 um 19:28 Uhr schrieb Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>:

In a 13th-century text from the western or northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, the following colophons occur after the first and second part, respectively:

iti śrīprāgvāṭānvayakumārasiṃhātmajasamarasiṃhasamuddhṛta- [...]

iti prāgvāṭānvayakumārasiṃhātmajamahaṃsamarasiṃhena tājikasiddhāṃtoddhṛte [...]

It is the underlined mahaṃ of the second colophon that particularly interests me. As it occurs in both the MSS of this (rare) text available to me, it seems unlikely to be a scribal error, but I have little idea as to its meaning and wonder whether it might be a vernacular/regional title, place name, or personal name, perhaps giving a clue as to the more precise place of origin. As can be seen, the author identifies as a member of the Prāgvāṭa or Porwal community. Any suggestions/information would be most appreciated.

Best wishes,
Martin Gansten

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