The village of Māmallapuram, generally called “The Seven Pagodas,” is
situated on
the sea-coast, thirty-two miles south of Madras, and Śāḷuvaṅkuppam two
miles north of
Māmallapuram. Both places are famous for their Pallava remains, which
have been often
described. Their Sanskrit inscriptions, however, have not
hitherto been properly deciphered.
The subjoined transcripts are prepared from mechanical
copies made on the spot in December
1886.
Four different alphabets are employed in the Pallava inscriptions of
Māmallapuram
and Śāḷuvaṅkuppam. The first, very archaic alphabet is
found in the following inscriptions
Nos. 1 to 16 of the so-called Dharmarāja Ratha.
The bulk of the Māmallapuram
inscriptions, viz., those of the so-called Gaṇeśa
Temple, Dharmarāja Maṇḍapa and
Rāmānuja Maṇḍapa and the inscription
No. 17 of the Dharmarāja Ratha, are written
in the second, an extremely florid
character. The third alphabet occurs on the northern, and
the fourth on the southern wall of
the Atiraṇachaṇḍeśvara Temple at Śāḷuvaṅkuppam.
Dr. Burnell assigns
the first alphabet to about the fifth century, the second to about 700, the
third to the eighth
or ninth century and the fourth to the eleventh century A.D. To this
I have
only to add, that the second alphabet probably belongs to the sixth century, as it
resembles
that of Rājasiṁha's and Mahendravarman's inscriptions at Kāñchīpuram.
1. The first sixteen inscriptions of the Dharmarāja Ratha consist of a string
of
words in the nominative case, which their first decipherers, Drs. Babington and Burnell,
took
for names of deities. From a comparison with the remaining inscriptions, where several
of
them recur, it follows, however, that they are birudas of a Pallava king
Narasiṁha (Nos.
1 and 7). Among these birudas, Atyantakāma,
Śrīnidhi and Śrībhara were also borne
by the two kings mentioned in the later
inscriptions of Māmallapuram and Śāḷuvaṅkuppam.
Other birudas reappear in the
inscriptions of the Pallava king Rājasiṁha at Kāñchī,
viz.,
Parāpara, Bhuvanabhājana, Śrīmegha, and Sarvatobhadra.
2. Two of the inscriptions, which are written in the second alphabet, viz., that of
the
Gaṇeśa Temple and that of the Dharmarāja Maṇḍapa, are identical and
consist of
eleven verses. They record, that the two temples, at which they are found, were
built by a
king Atyantakāma and were called after him
Atyantakāma-Pallaveśvara-gr̥ha.
The king bore the birudas of Raṇajaya,
Śrīnidhi and Śrībhara.
The fragmentary inscription at the Rāmānuja Maṇḍapa consists of the last verse
of
the two last-mentioned inscriptions. Consequently, it seems to have been a third inscrip-
tion of Atyantakāma.
From the last inscription in the second alphabet (No. 17 of the Dharmarāja Ratha)
it
appears, that Atyantakāma appropriated to himself the Dharmarāja Ratha,
which had
been excavated by his predecessor Narasiṁha, and called it
Atyantakāma-Pallaveś-
vara-gr̥ha. He also added his own biruda
Raṇajaya to those engraved by Narasiṁha.
3. From the inscription on the northern wall of the Śāḷuvaṅkuppam Cave,
which
consists of six verses, we learn, that the temple was built by a king
Atiraṇachaṇḍa and
was called after him Atiraṇachaṇḍeśvara. The king
bore the birudas Atyantakāma,
Raṇajaya, Śrīnidhi and Śrībhara,
all but the third of which occur in the Kāñchī
inscriptions.
4. The inscription on the southern wall of the Śāḷuvaṅkuppam Cave is a
later
transcript of that on the northern wall. It adds a seventh verse and the four
birudas
Anugraśīla, Kālakāla, Samaradhanaṁjaya and
Saṁgrāmadhīra, the three first
of which are also found in the Kāñchī
inscriptions. Over the entrance, the name of the
temple,
Atiraṇachaṇḍa-Palla[veśvara-gr̥ha], is engraved in both alphabets.
The Rev. E. Loventhal of Vellore possesses a fair number of Pallava coins
from
Māmallapuram. All of them bear on the obverse a Nandi and various legends over
it.
One of the coins, with a star on the reverse, reads
Śrībhara and Śrīnidhi were birudas of the Pallava
king Narasiṁha, who founded the
Dharmarāja Ratha.
The illustrious Narasiṁha.
Pr̥thivīsāra (the best on earth). Śrībhara (the bearer of prosperity).
Bhuvanabhājana (the possessor of the world).
Śrīmegha (the cloud (which showers) wealth). Trailokyavardhana
(the bestower of
prosperity on the three worlds). Vidhi.
Atyantakāma (he whose desires are boundless). Anekopāya (he
(who knows) many
expedients).
Sthirabhakti (the firmly devoted). Madanābhirāma (he who is lovely
like Cupid).
Vidhi.
The illustrious Narasiṁha. Bhuvanabhājana (the possessor of the world).
Śrīme-
gha (the cloud (which showers) wealth).
Apratihataśāsana (he whose commands are
unopposed).
Kāmalalita (he who is pleasant like Cupid). Ameyamāya (he whose
diplomacy is
immeasurable). Sakalakalyāṇa (the altogether
prosperous).
Nayanamanohara (he who is pleasing to the eyes). Vāma (the
handsome). Atimāna
(the extremely proud).
Vāma (the handsome). Parāpara (the omnipotent).
Anupama (the matchless). Nayāṅkura (the sprout of polity).
Lalita (the pleasant).
Nayanamanohara (he who is pleasing to the eyes). Sarvatobhadra (the
altogether
auspicious.).
Śrīnidhi (the receptacle of wealth). Niruttara (the unsurpassed).
Vidhi. Vibhrānta (the passionate).
Satyaparākrama (the truly heroic). Parāvara (the omnipotent).
The temple of the holy Atyantakāma-Pallaveśvara. Raṇajaya (the conqueror
in
battle).
(Verse 1.) May (Śiva) the destroyer of Love, who is the cause of production,
existence
and destruction, (but is himself) without cause, fulfil the boundless
desires of men!
(2.) May he (Śiva) be victorious, who is without illusion and possessed of manifold
illu-
sion, who is without qualities and endowed with qualities, who is existing by
himself and is
without superior, who is without lord and the highest lord!
(3.) Śrīnidhi bears on his head the unborn (Śiva), by the weight of whose great toe
Kailāsa together with the ten-faced
(Rāvaṇa) sank down into Pātāla.
(4.) May Śrībhara be victorious for a long time, who bears Bhava
(Śiva) in his
mind which is filled with devotion, and bears the earth on his arm like a coquettish
embellishment!
(5.) King Atyantakāma, who has subdued the territories of his foes, is famed (by
the
name of) Raṇajaya;——he caused to be made this house of
Śaṁbhu (Śiva).
(6.) May he be victorious, who is both sentient and motionless (Sthāṇu), who is both
undivided and the moon, who is both fire and air, who
is both terrible (Bhīma) and kind
(Śiva), who is both the cause of prosperity
(Śaṁkara) and the destroyer of Love!
(7.) May Taruṇāṅkura be victorious, who is a king of kings, but is
not ugly (like
Kuvera), who is an emperor, but does not distress people (while Vishṇu
is both Chakrabhr̥t
and Janārdana), who is the lord of protectors, but healthy (while the
moon is the lord of
stars, but is subject to eclipses)!
(8 and 9.) Just as in a large lake filled with water which is fit for bathing, and
covered
with various lotus-flowers, handsome Śaṁkara (Śiva) abides on the large
head——sprinkled
with the water of coronation and covered with bright jewels——of the illustrious
Atyanta-
kāma, who deprives his enemies of their pride,
who is a receptacle of wealth, who pos-
sesses the charm of Cupid,
and who assiduously worships Hara (Śiva).
(10.) He, desiring to attain the glory of Śaṁkara (Śiva), caused to be made this
lofty
dwelling of Dhūrjaṭi (Śiva), in order to procure the fulfilment of their
desires to his
subjects.
(11.) Six times cursed be those, in whose hearts does not dwell Rudra (Śiva), the
deli-
verer from the walking on the evil path!
The temple of Atyantakāma-Pallaveśvara.
(Verses 1 and 2.) Just as in a large lake filled with water which is fit for
bathing, and
covered with various lotus-flowers, handsome Śaṁkara (Śiva) abides on
the large head——
sprinkled with the water of coronation and covered with bright jewels——of the
illustrious
Atyantakāma, who deprives his enemies of their pride, who is a receptacle
of wealth,
who possesses the charm of Cupid, and who assiduously worships Hara
(Śiva).
(3.) For the welfare of the earth, he, who stands at the head of the lords of the
earth,
caused to be made this house of Śaṁbhu (Śiva), which resembles Kailāsa and
Mandara.
(4.) May Śrībhara be victorious for a long time, who bears Bhava (Śiva) in
his mind
which is filled with devotion, and bears the earth on his arm like a coquettish
embel-
lishment!
(5.) Atiraṇachaṇḍa, the lord of the rulers of the earth, made this
(temple called)
Atiraṇachaṇḍeśvara. May Paśupati (Śiva), attended
by the mountain-daughter
(Pārvati) and the troop of Guhas, always take delight (in
residing) here !
(6.) May the eight-formed lord of beings (Śiva) for a long time take up his abode in
this
temple (called) Atiraṇachaṇḍeśvara, which was caused to be built by
him, who, together
with the name of Atiraṇachaṇḍa, bears deep devotion to Īśāna
(Śiva), abundant prosperity,
the heavy burden of the earth and unequalled liberality,
and who is famed by the name
of Raṇajaya !
Anugraśīla (the gentle-minded).
(7.) Who will be able to understand the music of Kālakāla, if it were
not Vidhātr̥
(Brahman), Bharata, Hari, Nārada, or Skanda?
Samaradhanaṁjaya (the conqueror of wealth in battle).
Saṁgrāmadhīra (the firm
in war).
(The temple of) Atiraṇachaṇḍa-Palla[veśvara].
On a visit to Kāñchīpuram in the year 1883, Dr. Burgess made the important
discovery,
that the comparatively insignificant temple of Kailāsanāthasvāmin at
Kāñchīpuram
(Conjeeveram) was not only built in the Pallava style of sixth
century architecture, but
contained a number of inscriptions in the Pallava character
and Sanskrit language besides
others in the Tamil alphabet and language. In 1884-85, Mr. S. M.
Naṭeśa Śāstrī prepared
fac-similes of most of the Pallava inscriptions, from which I made
transcripts and translations.
In September and October 1887, I went to the spot myself, in
order to compare these trans-
cripts with the originals and to take fac-similes of
those inscriptions, which were not found
among those made by Mr. Naṭeśa. Through
the good offices of E. C.Johnson, Esq., the
Collector of Chingleput, I was enabled to secure
reliable copies of all the Sanskrit and Tamil
inscriptions of the temple.
Just as at Māmallapuram and Śāḷuvaṅkuppam, we find several different
alphabets
employed in the Pallava inscriptions of the Kailāsanātha Temple.
The most archaic
alphabet, which resembles that of the inscriptions of Atyantakāma at
Māmallapuram, occurs
in the subjoined inscriptions Nos. 24, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Of these, the
inscription No. 24
runs round the outside of the central shrine and is in excellent
preservation, as it is engraved
on granite slabs. It consists of twelve Sanskrit verses. The
whole of the first verse and
the beginning of the second are covered by the floor of the temple
itself and by the wall of a
modern maṇḍapa, which has been erected between the central
shrine and another maṇḍapa
in front of it. By the temporary removal of some slabs, my
assistant succeeded in preparing
fac-similes of the greater part of the first verse and of a
few additional letters at the beginning
of the second verse. The inscription opens with a
benediction addressed to Gaṅgā and with
the following mythical pedigree of Pallava,
the
[Brahman.]
Angiras.
Br̥haspati.
Śaṁyu.
Bharadvāja.
Droṇa.
Aśvatthāman.
Pallava,
the founder of the race of the Pallavas.
Then the inscription continues: “In the race of these (the Pallavas) there was born
the
supreme lord Ugradaṇḍa, the destroyer of the city of Raṇarasika.” His
son was
Rājasiṁha, who bore the birudas Atyantakāma, Śrībhara and
Raṇajaya. He built
the Śiva temple, round which the inscription is
engraved, and called it after his own name
Rājasiṁha-Pallaveśvara or
Rājasiṁheśvara.
The inscription No. 27 runs round the smaller shrine, which stands in front of
the
Rājasiṁheśvara or Kailāsanātha shrine, and which is now-a-days styled
Nāradeśvara. It
consists of four Sanskrit verses, the first and last of which are
only incompletely preserved.
The first three verses tell in different wording the same fact,
viz., that Mahendra, the
son of Rājasiṁha and grandson of
Lokāditya, built a temple of Śiva, which he called
Mahendreśvara
after his own name, near the temple of Rājasiṁheśvara. Another
form of the name of
the temple, Mahendravarmeśvara, which is engraved three times on
the building, shows
that Mahendra's full name was Mahendravarman. Of Lokāditya,
who is identical
with the Ugradaṇḍa of the inscription No. 24, the present inscription
says, that
“his valour dried up the army of Raṇarasika, just as the heat of the sun does
the
mud.”
Other inscriptions in archaic characters are found in some of the niches to the right
of the
front entrance into the temple compound, which are now connected by brick walls, but
were
originally intended for detached small shrines. According to the inscription No. 28,
the first
niche was called “the Temple of Nityavinīteśvara.”
Of No. 29, on the third niche, a complete fac-simile was obtained by temporarily
removing
two modern brick walls. It consists of three Sanskrit verses and records, that this
small
shrine of Śiva was founded by Raṅgapatākā, the wife of king
Narasiṁhavishṇu
or Kālakāla.
The rest of the Pallava inscriptions of the Kailāsanātha Temple run round the inside
of
the enclosure of the Rājasiṁheśvara shrine and contain an enumeration of several
hundred
birudas of king Rājasiṁha. They are arranged in four tiers, the first
of which consists of
granite and is therefore well preserved. The other three tiers are on
sand-stone; hence
the second is almost entirely spoiled by the dripping of water and by
whitewashing with
chunnam; of the third a little more is left; and the fourth is in tolerable
preservation. From
the existing fragments of the second and third tiers, it appears that they
were word for word
identical with the well-preserved first tier. Further, we can prove in a few
cases, that the first
tier is a later copy of the third. Thus, in niches 29 and 52, the first
tier has the unintelligible
words
written in the same archaic alphabet, as the inscription round the
Rājasiṁheśvara Temple,
and evidently belongs to the time of Rājasiṁha,
the founder of the temple, himself. Thus
the first and second tiers must be considered as later
copies of the original inscription in
the third tier, which were executed by some descendants
of Rājasiṁha. As the alphabets of
the first and second tiers resemble those of the northern
and southern walls, respectively, of
the Śāḷuvaṅkuppam Cave, it further follows
that Atiraṇachaṇḍa, who engraved the
inscription on the northern wall of the
Śāḷuvaṅkuppam Cave, must be later than Atyanta-
kāma, the alphabet of
whose inscriptions at Māmallapuram resembles that of Rāja-
siṁha's at Kāñchīpuram. The inscription on the southern wall of the
Śāḷuvaṅkuppam
Cave is a later transcript of that on the northern wall, and in the
same way the second tier is
still more modern than the first tier. As only fragments of the
second and third tiers are
now forthcoming, I have transcribed only the first tier and noticed
the various readings of
the second and third tiers in the foot-notes. While the inscriptions of
the first, second
and third tiers run round the whole of the inner enclosure of the temple, the
inscriptions
of the fourth tier extend only as far as the 20th niche. The fourth tier repeats
some of the
birudas contained in the first three tiers and adds a few of its own. It is
written in a pecu-
liar ornamental alphabet, which is based on an alphabet of the
same type, as that of the first
tier. As the biruda
the first, is found in the fourth tier
(niche 11), it follows that the engraver of the fourth tier
copied from the third and not from
the first tier; perhaps the first and fourth tiers were
contemporaneous.
It remains to add a few words on the probable times of the founders of the Kailāsa-
nātha Temple. In an article, which appeared first in the Madras Mail (3rd
September
1887) and was reprinted in the Indian Antiquary (Vol. XVII, p. 30), I
identified:——
1. Raṇarasika, the enemy of Ugradaṇḍa or Lokāditya, with the
Chalukya Raṇarāga;
2. Rājasiṁha, who is called
Narasiṁhapotavarman in a Chalukya inscription, with Nara-
siṁhavarman I. of Mr. Foulkes' grant of Nandivarman; 3.
Mahendravarman with
Mahendravarman II. of the same grant; 4.
Nandipotavarman, who was defeated by
the Chalukya Vikramāditya II., with
Nandivarman himself; and 5. Pulakeśin, who,
according to the unpublished
Kūram grant, was conquered by Narasiṁhavarman I., with the
Chalukya Pulikeśin I.
As, however, both in the Kūram grant and in Mr. Foulkes' grant of
Nandivarman,
Narasiṁhavarman I. is said to have destroyed Vātāpi, while Pulikeśin I.
“first
made Vātāpi the capital of the Chalukyas in Western India, wresting it from the
Pallavas
who then held it,”——I now consider it more probable, that
Pulakeśin, the enemy of Nara-
siṁhavarman I., has to be identified with
the Chalukya Pulikeśin II. On inspecting the
original of the Kūram grant, of which I
formerly had nothing but an impression, but which
has now become the property of Government, I
discovered a further confirmation of this
view. The grant says, that
Parameśvaravarman (I.) put to flight Vikramāditya,
i.e.,
Vikramāditya I., the son of Pulikeśin II. Secondly, it is not unlikely,
that Narasiṁha-
vishṇu, whose wife built the third niche to the right in
front of the Kailāsanātha Temple,
is another name of Rājasiṁha, the founder of the
central shrine. Under this supposition,
I would now identify Rājasiṁha (alias
Narasiṁhapotavarman and Narasiṁhavishṇu)
with Siṁhavishṇu, and
his son Mahendravarman with Mahendravarman I. of Mr.
Foulkes' grant. The
subjoined table shows the synchronisms between the Chalukyas
and
Pallavas.
If new discoveries should prove the above arrangement to be correct, the date of
the
foundation of the Rājasiṁheśvara and Mahendravarmeśvara Temples would
fall some
time before 567 A.D., the date of the end of the first Kīrtivarman's reign, say
about 550
A.D. This would also be the time of Atyantakāma's inscriptions at
Māmallapuram.
Atiraṇachaṇda's inscriptions at Śāḷuvaṅkuppam belong to
a later, and Narasiṁha's
on the Dharmarāja Ratha at Māmallapuram to an
earlier period.
(Verse 1.) May (Gaṅgā) purify you!——she who springs from the jewel (on the
head)
of Sthāṇu (Śiva), appearing••• black by the splendour of (his) neck
and red by
the rays of the gems on the hoods (of his snakes), who fills the lake of the
three worlds.••
(2.)••• After him (there was) that sage Aṅgiras, who was born from
his
(viz., Brahman's) mind. His son was (Br̥haspati) the minister of Śakra
(Indra) and
preceptor of the gods. His son was Śaṁyu. From him, who possessed
terrible power
and was honoured in the three worlds, there took birth that illustrious chief of
sages,
Bharadvāja by name, who became the source of the race of the
Pallavas.
(3.) From this lovely one came Droṇa, the highly honoured preceptor of the
Pāṇḍavas
(and) Kurus; from him the great Aśvatthāman,
who deprived princes of their constancy
and pride. Just as the first-born Manu, his son,
Pallava by name, became the founder of
a race of brave and victorious kings, who
enjoyed the whole earth:——
(4.) Of the Pallava princes, who were pious, who destroyed the excessively great
pride
of the Kali (age), who spoke the truth, who were profound, whose minds knew how to
practise
the trivarga, who assiduously honoured the aged, who foreibly subdued lust and
the other
internal foes, who excelled in the knowledge of weapons, who were firm, mighty
and
endowed with polity and modesty.
(5.) Just as Guha (also called Subrahmaṇya or Kumāra) took birth from the
supreme lord
(Śiva), the destroyer of the warlike (demon) Pura, thus from the
supreme lord Ugradaṇḍa,
who was born in the race of these (viz.,
the Pallavas), the destroyer of the city of
Raṇarasika, there took birth a
very pious prince (subrahmaṇyaḥ kumāraḥ), the illustrious
Atyantakāma, the chief of the Pallavas, who crushed the multitude of his foes by
his power (or spear), whose great statesmanship was well-known and who had got rid of
all impurity (by walking) on the path of the
Śaiva doctrine.
(6.) Like Manmatha (Kāma), he charmed refined women in secret; like Vāsava
(Indra),
he constantly protected those, who frequented the path of the three
Vedas; like Mādhava
(Vishṇu), he tore the hearts of the enemies of sages,
twice-born and gods; and like Vittada
(Kucera), he gratified good people with abundant
wealth.
(7.) If in the Kr̥ta (age) kings like Dushyanta, who saw the gods and were
engaged
by (saints) like Kaṇva, would hear a heavenly voice without body, that is not a
matter of
wonder; but ah! this is extremely astonishing, that Śrībhara has heard that voice in the
Kali age, from which good qualities keep
aloof.
(8.) May Raṇajaya be victorious for a long time, who humbled those
princes, who
were puffed up with the pride of abundant prosperity, which they had acquired by
polity and
prowess, depriving them of their intelligence in the mere space of knitting his
brows, and
who, like Purushottama (Vishṇu), was born to rescue from the ocean of sin
the sinking
people, who were swallowed by the horrid monster, (called) the Kali
age !
(9.) While this prince enjoyed the whole world, which he had conquered by valour
combined
with polity, and in which he had killed rebels and humbled kings, he erected
this extensive and
wonderful house of Hara (Śiva), which resembles his fame and the laughter
of Hara.
(10.) May Śaṁkara (Śiva), whose terrible ornaments are the coils of the king of
serpents,
and who is praised by the hosts of the kings of gods and of demons, reside for a long
time in
this temple, (called) the holy Rājasiṁha-Pallaveśvara !
(11.) May the bull-marked (Śiva) always lend his presence to this temple of stone,
called
Rājasiṁheśvara, which touches the clouds with its top, which robs
Kailāsa of its beauty,
and which was built by that pious king of kings, who made all
quarters obedient to his orders
and (who proved) a royal lion (Rājasiṁha) to
the dense troops of the elephants of his daring
foes!
(12.) May Rājasiṁha, the conqueror in battle (Raṇajaya), the bearer of
prosperity
(Śrībhara), the wonderful archer (Chitrakārmuka),
the unrivalled hero (Ekavīra), who has
Siva for his erest-jewel
(Śivachuḍāmaṇi), for a long time protect the earth !
(Niche 1.) The illustrious Rājasiṁha. He whose desires are
boundless. The
conqueror in battle. The lovely.
(2.) The unconquered. The wrestler with his foes. The fearless. The mighty.
(3.) He who is eager for conquest. The excessively flerec in battle. The bearer
of
prosperity. The great statesman. (He who resembles) the sun in rising.
(4.) The cloud (which showers) wealth. The granter of safety. The ornament of
his
race. The destroyer of his enemies.
(5.) He whose power is rising. He whose fame is rising. He who boasts of the bull
(as his
sign). He whose sign is the bull.
(6.) He who possesses terrible prowess. He who is rising ever and over. The exalted
and
lovely. He who is endowed with terrible bravery.
(7.) The extremely noble. He who is to be conquered (only) by submissiveness.
The
lion in battle.
(8.) The spotless. The great jewel of Kāñchī. He who possesses harsh valour.
The emperor.
(9.) He who is compassionate to the distressed. He whose companion is the bow. He
whose
doubts are solved. The guileless.
(10.) The thunderbolt to his foes. The unrivalled wrestler. He whose deeds are
wonderful. He
who possesses the knowledge of elephants.
(11.) The fulfiller of wishes. He whose refuge is Īśāna (Śiva). (He who resembles)
the
moon in rising. He who resembles the cloud (in showering gifts).
(12.) The destroyer of hostile empires. The erest-jewel of princes. He who is con-
tinually showering (gifts.) The king of kings.
(13.) He who possesses the knowledge of musical instruments. The wonderful archer.
The lion
among heroes. He who is desirous of prosperity.
(14.) The altogether auspicious. The crest-jewel of warriors. He who is sporting
with the
goddess of prosperity. (He who resembles) Arjuna in battle.
(15.) The favourite of the goddess of prosperity. (He who resembles) Rāma in war.
The ruler of the whole earth. The dispeller of warriors.
(16.) He who is fearful in battle. He who possesses unbounded power. The lord of
the three
worlds. He who showers gifts.
(17.) The fulfiller of desires. He who is compassionate to the poor. He whose gifts
never
cease. He who is endowed with brilliant courage.
(18.) He who goes to war (only in order to procure the means) for gifts. The
constantly
just. He whose heart is pure. He whose (only) armour is justice.
(19.) The conqueror of wealth in battle. He whose bow excites terror. The invincible.
He who
is modest (in spite of his) virtues. The sun of the earth. The spotless. The occan
of
arts. He who is firm in battle. He who goes to anger (only) at the proper time. The
subduer of the wicked. The sun of the Pallavas.
(20.) The omnipotent. The benevolent. The constantly active. The lion among men.
(21.) He whose fame is pure. He who resembles Pārtha (Arjuna) in valour.
The
terrible and lovely. He who is liberal (at sacrifices).
(22.) The fearless. The great wrestler. The madly excited. The madly passionate.
(23.) The possessor of the world. He who resembles Mahendra in heroism. The
powerful. He who
resembles Manu by his deeds.
(24.) The diplomatic. The favourite of Śrīpati (Vishṇu). The hero in battle. The
sun
at the end of the world.
(25.) He who is firm in battle. The jewel of protection. The flerce in battle. (He
who
shows) valour in battle.
(26.) He whose strength is unequalled. The destroyer of his enemies. He whose
valour is
unbounded. He who is fond of horses.
(27.) The matchless. He whose commands are unbroken. The sudden thunderbolt.
He whose valour never fails.
(28.) He to whom the provinces bow. The unopposed. He whose power is wonderful.
He who likes
(to issue) orders. The wonderfully brave.
(29.) The irresistible in attacking. The conqueror of (all) quarters. He who
is
unrestrained in battle. (He who resembles) the king of Vatsa (in the
knowledge of) elephants.
(30.) He whose commands are blazing. The supreme lord of the earth. He whose
punishments are
terrible. The highly proud.
(31.) The highly brave. The highly rising. He who rises higher and higher. He
whose commands
are terrible.
(32.) The abode of virtues. (He who resembles) spring in rising. He whose beauty
is
unrivalled. The majestie.
(33.) He who resembles Upendra (Vishṇu) in valour. The fulfiller of hopes.
The
ornament of his race. He who is exalted by virtues.
(34.) He whose desires are lofty. The destroyer of rebels. The unrivalled archer.
The
famous.
(35.) The religious. The refuge of the distressed. He who is kind to refugees. The
destroyer
of plagues.
(36.) (He who resembles) Tumburu (in the knowledge of) musical instruments. He
whose
authority is the (Śaiva) doctrine. He who is adorned with
(the power of issuing) orders.
He who is fond of legends.
(37.) The daring. The unimpeded. The follower of the (Śaiva) doctrine. The rest-
less. The highly rising. The subduer of rebels. The unrivalled king. He who
resembles
Death in valour. The receptacle of victory. The black-robed. The subduer of
the
haughty.
(38.) The naturally profound. He whose eyes are his spies. He whose goad is
knowledge. The
refuge of the distressed.
(39.) The subduer of villains. He who showers gifts. The devotee of Devadeva
(Śiva).
He whose speed is unrestrainable.
(40.) The graceful. The highly brave. He whose anger is fierce. He who is making
conquests
(only for the sake of) justice.
(41.) The wood-fire. The bestower of prosperity on his country. The sinless. The
barrier of
justice.
(42.) The far-seeing. He whose commands are proud. The follower of polity. He
who pleases
the eyes.
(43.) He whose deeds are blameless. He whose profundity is unfathomable. He who
showers
(gifts) without clouds. He who possesses no small prowess.
(44.) He who is afraid (only) of injustice. The destruction of his enemies. The pos-
sessor of the earth. The irresistible.
(45.) He whose anger is not fruitless. The destroyer of his foes. He whose power
is
unresisted. The unreproached.
(46.) The death of his enemies. The unimpeded. The daring. The gentle-minded.
(47.) The ocean of safety. He whose good qualities are well-known. The constantly
active. He
who is skilled in expedients.
(48.) The seent-elephant. He who possesses the grace of Cupid. The reviver of poetry.
He who
goes to anger (only) with good reason.
(49.) He whose punishments are fierce. He whose anger is unbearable. The shading
tree. The
ornament of the earth.
(50.) The noose of Varuṇa. The ocean of firmness. The emperor. He who is fond
of
elephants.
(51.) He who has no enemies (left). The unbarred. He who distresses his enemies.
The
crest-jewel of the world.
(52.) The lion among princes. The destroyer of armies. The liberal. The formidable.
(53.) He whose valour is terrible. The elephant among kings. He whose grace
is
pleasant. He whose eyes are the sciences.
(54.) (He who resembles) Bhagadatta (in the knowledge of) elephants. He whose
grace is extraordinary. (He who resembles) the lion in valour.
(He who resembles) Nārada
(in the playing of) the lute.
(55.) The devotee of Śaṁkara (Śiva). The foremost among heroes. He who knows
the
truth. The devotee of Īśvara (Śiva).
(Niche 14.) He whose arrows never fail. He whose arrows are unbearable.
(15.) He whose arrows are terrible. He whose arrows are (ever) raised.
(16.) He whose bow is terrible.
(17.) The never perplexed.
(18.) He who showers (i.e., amply fulfils) desires. He who resembles Indra in grace.
(19.) The destroyer of his enemies. The destroyer in battle.
(20.) The irresistible.
(Verse 1.) May the motionless, the lord, the first of gods for ever joyfully dwell in
this
matchless (temple of) Mahendreśvara, which was constructed near (the
temple of) Rāja-
siṁheśvara by Mahendra, who sprang•••
(from) the chief of the princes of
the holy Bhāradvāja-gotra, from that
Ūrjita, whose bravery frightened the elephants
of rival kings!
(2.) May the skin-robed together with the troops of his attendants, the Guhas, be pre-
sent at this dwelling, (called) the holy Mahendreśvara, which was
constructed (near) the
temple of the holy Rājasiṁheśvara by the illustrious
Mahendra, the son of king Rāja-
siṁha, who sprang from that
Lokāditya (i.e., the sun of the world), whose valour dried up
the army of
Raṇarasika, just as the heat of the sun does the mud!
(3.) May Īśa together with Umā graciously take for his permanent dwelling this temple
of
Mahendreśvara, which was erected near Rājasiṁheśvara by Mahendra,
the son of
king Rājasiṁha, the lion among the heroes of the earth, who produced
another Kr̥ta age
by his sinless conduct!
(4.) May Maheśvara, the refuge of all gods and demons, who puts an end to time
and
has made an end of (the demon) Pura, always (take up) his residence••••
The temple of Mahendravarmeśvara.
The temple of the holy Nityavinīteśvara.
Adoration to Śiva!
(Verse 1.) She, who was the dearly beloved mistress of her husband, the supreme
lord,
who was famed by the name of Kālakāla, whose sign was the bull, and the strength of
whose bow had become manifest at the destruction
of cities, just as the daughter of the king
of mountains (Pārvatī) is the dearly
beloved mistress of her husband, the supreme lord (Śiva),
whose sign is the bull, and
the strength of whose bow has become manifest at the destruction
of (the demon)
Pura;——
(2.) She, who is resplendent, as she has attained the mighty position of favourite with
king
Narasiṁhavishṇu, who has split the hearts of his foes, and who has devoted
himself
to the protection of the circle of the world, and as thus she seems to have subdued the
pride
of Pushkaradevatā (i.e., Lakshmī, the wife of the god
Narasiṁha-Vishṇu);——
(3.) That Raṅgapatākā, who was, as it were, the banner (patākā) of women,
caused to
be built this lovely dwelling of (Śiva,) whose crest-jewel is the moon.
Prosperity!
(Verse 1.) She, who, full of loveliness, softness, grace and cleanliness, seemed to be
the
master-piece of the first creator, whose skill had attained perfection at last, after he
had
created thousands of good-looking women;——
(2.) She, who was charming through genuine sweetness, who was adorned with grace,
coquetry
and feeling, who, like the art of attraction,•••••
A facsimile of this inscription was kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Rāghavendrāchārya
of
Vānūr. It consists of one Sanskrit verse, which is identical with the last verse of Rāja-
siṁha's large inscription at Kañchī (No. 24, above). Hence it may be
concluded, that
the Panamalai Cave was founded by Rājasiṁha and that in his time the
Pallavas ruled as
far south as Panamalai.
The subjoined Sanskrit inscription is engraved on three sides of an octagonal pillar,
which was excavated at Amarāvatī by Mr. R.Sewell and sent by Dr.
Burgess to the
Madras Museum. The top of the pillar and some letters of the uppermost lines of
the
inscription have been broken off. The inscription has hitherto remained a puzzle, as
each
line seems to end incomplete. Finding, that the first words of some lines were
connected
with the last words of the following lines, I was led to suppose that the inscription
must
begin from the bottom and not from the top. Curiously enough, this is really the case.
If
the inscription is read upwards, we find that it consists of eleven complete verses and of
a
prose passage, the end of which is lost through the mutilation of the pillar at the top.
The inscription opens with an invocation of Buddha and with a mythical genealogy
of
Pallava, the supposed founder of the Pallava dynasty.
Brahman.
Bharadvāja.
Aṅgiras.
Sudhāman.
Droṇa.
Aśvatthāman, married to
the Apsaras Madani.
Pallava.
Verse 8 gives a popular etymology of the name Pallava. Then there follow the
names
of seven Pallava kings:——
1. Mahendravarman, son of Pallava.
2. Siṁhavarman I., son of 1.
3. Arkavarman, son of 2.
4. Ugravarman.
6. Nandivarman, son of 5, Śrī-Siṁhavishṇu.
7. Siṁhavarman II.
The inscription contains no information about the relationship, which existed between 3
and
4, 4 and 5, 6 and 7. Neither does the genealogy agree with the lists derived by Mr.
Foulkes and Mr. Fleet from other Pallava inscriptions, although
similar names of kings
occur in them. For these reasons great care should be taken in using the
above list for
historical purposes.
From the incomplete prose passage at the end of the inscription, we learn that, on
his
return from an expedition to the north, Siṁhavarman II. came to a place sacred
to
Buddha, which was called Dhānyaghaṭa (line 38) or
Dhānyaghaṭaka (line 47). The
lost part of the pillar must have recorded a
donation, which the king made to Buddha.
Dhānyaghaṭa or Dhānyaghaṭaka is evidently identical with
Dhānyakaṭa or Dhā-
nyakaṭaka, “corn-town,” the well-known old
name of Amarāvatī. The use of gha instead
of ka can perhaps be
explained by the Tamil habit of softening a single consonant between
two vowels.
(Verse 1.) May the dust of the glorious feet of Bhavadvish, which thickly covers
the multitude of brilliant crest-jewels of
the lords of gods and of demons, for a long time
show you (the way to) supreme
glory!
(2.) From the first creator (Brahman) there sprang a pure sage, called
Bharadvāja,
who mastered the śrutis; from him an ocean (uniting) the
rivers of speech, Aṅgiras by
name; from him the renowned sage Sudhāman;
(3.) From him a sage called Droṇa, who thoroughly knew all āgamas and who
possessed
terrible might. In order to obtain a son who would found a race, he strove to please
the
eight-formed (Śiva) by austerities.
(4.) By the favour of Śaṁbhu, there arose to him a brilliant (son), famed by
the
name of Aśvatthāman, just as at morn the brilliant sun rises over the eastern
mountain.
(5.) Once, surrounded by (other) celestial maidens, the famous nymph Madanī,
who
wished to see the abode of the hermits, entered the path of sight of that ascetic.
(6.) The saint approached her, while, seated amongst a group of aśoka-trees, she
was
wistfully regarding the male swans, which were afraid of being separated from their
beloved
ones, whenever they lost sight of them behind a lotus of the lake, which was agitated
by
the wind.
(7.) Perceiving him who resembled Cupid in the dress of a saint, she lost her self-
control, just as Umā on seeing Śarva. Then the nymphs united the couple, which
had
conceived a deep affection (towards each other).
(8.) In due time, the nymph gave birth to a protector of the earth, which is girt by
the
ocean. The father called his son Pallava, as he was lying on a couch (covered) with
a
heap of sprouts (pallava).
(9.) From him came the ruler of the earth Mahendravarman; from him the
valiant
Siṁhavarman; from him Arkavarman; after him Ugravarman; then
Nandi-
varman from Śrī-Siṁhavishṇu.
(10.) There arose that Siṁhavarman, in whose audience-hall darkness is trans-
formed into dawn by the splendour of the jewels on the heads of many princes, and
whom
people call (the lord) of eighteen lakshas of horses and elephants.
(11.) This hero for a long time protected the earth, whose garment is the occan,
whose
pearl-necklace is the Gaṅgā, and whose earrings are Meru and Mandara.
(Line 28.) Once, while his back, his flanks and his front were guarded by all his
brave
vassals and tributaries (maṇḍalīka-sāmanta), he marched to the peak of
Sumeru, in order to
place (there) the fame, which he had acquired by conquering
all quarters, His elephants,
which resembled the peaks of the mountain of the
gods (Meru), tore with the claws (!) of
their feet the gold, and his
horses, walking on those pieces (of gold), made the sky appear
like a canopy by the
gold-dust rising under their hoofs. There, in order to remove the fatigue
caused by wandering
over the whole world, he passed a few days, enjoying the shade of the
yellow sandal-trees,
which grow on the slopes of gold. Then, having crossed the
Bhāgīrathī
(Gaṅgā), the Godāvarī and the
Kr̥shṇaverṇā, he perceived (a place sacred to) the
lord
Vītarāga (Buddha), named the illustrious town of Dhānyaghaṭa.
Having regarded it with
curiosity, and having humbly approached and saluted the tutelar
deities, which were charged
with the protection of the whole sacred place (kshetra), he
listened to a discourse on the law
••• in a secluded spot. Having heard it, he
saluted the highest-born•• and spoke
thus: “I also, O lord ! (shall erect a
statue?) of the lord at this very place, ornamented
with jewels, gold, and silver.” After
he had thus spoken, the lord said: “Well, well, lay-
worshipper
Siṁhavarman! Here [at] the place sacred to the highest
Buddha.••”
Then having saluted.....in Dhānyaghaṭaka•••••
The subjoined inscriptions are engraved on two pillars in a rock-cut cave not far from
the
summit of the well-known rock at Triśirāpaḷḷi (Trichinopoly). They are both
somewhat
worn. The left pillar was found covered by a modern wall, which the temple-authorities
temporarily removed at the request of the Collector, W. A. Willock, C.S. On each
of the
two pillars are four Sanskrit verses. Besides, the lower part of the left pillar bears a
few
unintelligible Sanskrit words and a much defaced inscription in old Tamil characters.
The two inscriptions record, that a king Guṇabhara, who bore the birudas
Purushot-
tama, Śatrumalla and Satyasaṁdha, constructed a temple
of Śiva on the top of the
mountain and placed in it a liṅga and a statue of
himself. Each of the two pillars mentions
the river Kāvīrī, i.e., the
Kāverī, on whose banks Triśirāpaḷḷi is situated, and refers to
the
Choḷa country. On the left pillar the Kāvīrī is called ‘the beloved of
Pallava’;
this means in prose that a Pallava king ruled over the country
along the banks of the
Kāverī river. This allusion and the faet, that the characters
of the two pillar inscriptions
remind us of those of the Pallava inscriptions at
Māmallapuram and Kāñchīpuram, make
it very probable that
Guṇabhara was a Pallava prince, who ruled over the
Choḷa
country.
(Verse 1.) Being afraid, that the god who is fond of rivers (Śiva), having
perceived
the Kāvīrī, whose waters please the eye, who wears a garland of gardens,
and who possesses
lovely qualities, might fall in love (with her), the daughter of the
mountain (Pārvatī) has, I
think, left her father's family and resides permanently on
this mountain, calling this river
the beloved of the Pallava (king).
(2.) While the king called Guṇabhara is a worshipper of the liṅga, let the
knowledge,
which has turned back from hostile (vipaksha) conduct, be spread for a long
time in the
world by this liṅga !
(3.) This mountain resembles the diadem of the Choḷa province, this temple of
Hara
(Śiva) its chief jewel, and the splendour of Śaṁkara (Śiva) its
splendour.
(4.) By the stone-chisel a material body of Satyasaṁdha was executed,
and by the
same an eternal body of his fame was produced.
(Verse 1.) When king Guṇabhara placed a stone-figure in the wonderful
stone-temple
on the top of the best of mountains, he made in this way Sthāṇu
(Śiva) stationary and
became himself stationary (i.e.,
immortal) in the worlds together with him.
(2.) King Śatrumalla built on this mountain a temple of Giriśa (Śiva), the
husband
of the daughter of the king of mountains, in order to make he name Giriśa (i.e.,
the
mountain-dweller) true to its meaning.
(3.) After Hara (Śiva) had graciously asked him: “How could I, standing in a
temple
on earth, view the great power of the Choḷas or the river Kāvīrī
?”——king Guṇabhara,
who resembled Manu in his manner of ruling, assigned to him
this mountain-temple, which
touches the clouds.
(4.) Thus having joyfully placed on the top (of the mountain) a matchless stone-figure
of
Hara (Śiva), which he caused to be executed, that Purushottama, who bore
Śiva fixed in
his mind, made the loftiness of the mountain fruitful.
The subjoined five grants belong to the kings Narendra-mr̥garāja or Vijayādi-
tya II, Amma I. or Vishṇuvardhana VI, Chālukya-Bhīma
II. or Vishṇuvardhana
VII, Amma II. or Vijayāditya V. and
Vīra-Choḍa or Vishṇuvardhana IX.
The place, which is occupied by each of
these princes in the genealogy of the Eastern
Chalukya dynasty, will be seen from the annexed
table, for which all hitherto published
Eastern Chalukya grants have been consulted, and in
which numbers are prefixed to the
names of those princes who really reigned, in order to mark
their succession.
The relation of the two usurpers (18) Tālapa and (21) Yuddhamalla to the
direct
line of the family is established by three inscriptions:——a. Tāḍapa is called
the son of Vikra-
māditya's brother (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 56); b.
Tāla is called the son of Yuddhamalla,
who was the paternal uncle of Chālukya-Bhīma I.
(Ind. Ant. Vol. XIII, p. 249, where
pitr̥vya has to be read for
pitr̥vyo); c. Bhīma II, the son of Kollabhigaṇḍa Vijayāditya,
is at the same
time called the son of Yuddhamalla, the son of Tālapa, i.e., he belonged to
the next
generation after (21) Yuddhamalla (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII, p. 92).
Three of the last kings, who are shown in the annexed table, viz., (28)
Vijayāditya
VI, (29) Rājarāja II. and (30) Vīra-Choḍa, are only
known from the subjoined inscription
No. 39.
This grant belongs to the Sir W. Elliot Collection of the British Museum, and was
made over
to me for publication by Dr. Burgess. It consists of five copper-plates with
raised rims. Each
plate measures 9 by 3 inches. The first and fifth plates are inscribed
only on their inner
sides, while the three middle ones bear writing on both sides. The
preservation of the plates
is tolerably good. They are strung on an elliptic ring, which is (1/2)"
thick and 4(7/8)" by
3(1/2)" in diameter. The well-preserved circular seal, which is attached to the
ring, measures
2(5/8)" in diameter. It bears the sun and the moon at the top, the legend
relief on a counter-sunk surface.
The document is a grant of the parama-māheśvara Narendra-mr̥garāja,
alias Vija-
yāditya II., the son of Vishṇuvardhana IV.
and grandson of Vijayāditya I. The
name of the district (vishaya), to the
inhabitants of which the king addresses his order, is
lost. On the occasion of a lunar eclipse
(chandra-grahaṇa-nimitte) the king gave the village
of
Koṟṟapaṟṟu to twenty-four brāhmaṇas. Of these, six adhered to the
Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra and
eighteen to the Āpastamba-sūtra. They belonged to the
following gotṛas:——Agniveśya,
Kauṇḍinya, Kauśika, Gautama, Parāśara,
Bhāradvāja, Vatsa, Śāṇḍilya,
Saṁkr̥ti and Harita. According to the
colophon of the grant, “the excellent prince”
Hail ! The grandson of the illustrious Vijayāditya-mahārāja, who was
adorned
with a multitude of blameless and noble virtues, who had acquired the splendour of
victory
by his own arm in many warlike encounters, and who adorned the race of the
glorious
Chaḷukyas, who belong to the gotra of the Mānavyas, who are
praised in the whole world;
who are the sons of Hāritī; who have acquired the
kingdom by the favour of (Śiva) the
husband of Kauśikī; who are protected by the
assemblage of (divine) mothers; who are
meditating at the feet of the lord Mahāsena
(Skanda); who have subdued the territories of
their enemies in an instant at the
(mere) sight of the sign of the boar, a boon which they had
obtained through the favour
of the blessed Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu); and whose bodies are puri-
fied by
bathing at the end of horse-sacrifices;——
The beloved son of Vishṇuvardhana-mahārāja, who subdued the
surrounding
territories of his enemies with the edge of his flashing sword, who surpassed by
his deeds
Nr̥ga, Nala, Nahusha, Ambarīsha and Yayāti, and who rejoiced in his sovereignty,
just as
Vishṇu in his discus;——
He whose commands are cherished by the diadems of all vassals who bow affectionately
to
(his) majesty, who is a receptacle of the three powers which are
suitable to the warrior-caste,
who is resplendent with the strength which he has acquired by
victories in many battles,
Narendra-mr̥garāja, who has cut the temples of the
elephants of his foes with the
sword (that resembles) a claw in his arm
which is as fierce as Yama's rod, who has sub-
dued the six (internal)
enemies, who has acquired the four branches of royal science, who
knows how to
employ the four expedients, who chastises the wicked and shows favour to
the
good, who has conquered the world by his valour, just as (Vishṇu) the destroyer
of
Madhu by his (three) stops, who is assisted by terrible and splendid courage, just as
Yudhi-
shṭhira was assisted by the courage of Bhīma and Arjuna, who, just as
(Rāma) the son of
Daśaratha, gives pleasure to Sītā, who knows the
right course, just as Manu, who disperses
the crowd of his foes, just as the sun disperses the
mass of darkness in a lotus-group, the
most pious one, the devout worshipper
of Maheśvara (Śiva), the asylum of the whole
world, the illustrious
Vijayāditya, the king of great kings, the supreme master, the lord,
thus issues his
commands to all householders, (viz.) heads of provinces, etc., who inhabit
the
district of•••
(Line 17.) “Be it known to you, (that 1) gave on the occasion of a lunar eclipse,
with a
libation of water, the village called Koṟṟapaṟṟu, making (it) exempt
from all taxes, to (the
following) twenty-four brāhmaṇas, who are engaged in (the
study of) the Vedas and Vedāṅgas
and intent on (the performance of)
the six duties, (viz.) to Veṇama-śarman, who dwells
at
Abhipendaṇḍuru, belongs to the Kauśika-gotra, follows the
Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra and is
well versed in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas; to
Chaṭi-śarman, who dwells at Nalūcheri,
belongs to the
Kauśika-gotra and follows the Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra; to Vida-śarman,
who
dwells at Podeṅgu, belongs to the Gautama-gotra and follows the
Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra;
to Maviṇḍi-śarman, who dwells at
Podaṅgu, belongs to the Saṁkr̥ti-gotra and
follows the
Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra; to Yājña-śarman, who dwells at Podeṅgu, belongs
to the
Harita-gotra and follows the Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra; to• śarman,
who dwells at Podeṅgu,
belongs to the Saṁkr̥ti-gotra and follows the
Hiraṇyakeśi-sūtra; to Kāma-śarman,
who dwells at Krovāśiri, belongs to the Harita-gotra and follows the Apastamba-sūtra;
to
Vishṇu-śarman, who dwells at Urpuṭūru, belongs to the
Bhāradvāja-gotra and
follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to
Guñjadeva-śarman, who dwells at Vaṅgipaṟṟu, belongs
to the
Kauṇḍinya-gotra and follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to Bhadra-śarman,
who
dwells at Vaṅgipaṟṟu, belongs to the Śāṇḍilya-gotra and follows
the Apastamba-sūtra;
to Vishṇu-śarman, who dwells at Vaṅgipaṟṟu,
belongs to the Kauṇḍinya-gotra and
follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to
Nārāyaṇa-śarman, who dwells at Vaṅgipaṟṟu, belongs
to the
Kauṇḍinya-gotra and follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to Droṇa-śarman,
who
dwells at Chānturu, belongs to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and follows the
Apastamba-sūtra;
to Nārāyaṇa-śarman, who dwells at Chānturu,
belongs to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and
follows the Āpastamba-sūtra; to
Mādhava-śarman, who dwells at Krovaśiri, belongs
to the
Harita-gotra and follows the Āpastamba-sūtra; to Vennama-śarman, who
dwells
at Krovaśiri, belongs to the Parāśara-gotra and follows the
Apastamba-sūtra; to
Arudi-śarman, who dwells at Krovaśiri, belongs
to the Vatsa-gotra and follows the
Apastamba-sūtra; to Nandi-śarman,
who dwells at Urpuṭūru, belongs to the Bhārad-
vāja-gotra and
follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to Vishṇu-śarman, who dwells
at
Kārahaidu, belongs to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and follows the
Apastamba-sūtra; to
Bhāramā-śarman, who dwells at Kārahaidu,
belongs to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and
follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to
Yañja-śarman, who dwells at Kārahaidu, belongs to
the
Bhāradvāja-gotra and follows the Apastamba-sūtra; to Bādadi-śarman,
who dwells
at Chānturu, belongs to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and follows the
Apastamba-sūtra; to
Veṇṇa-śarman, who dwells at Krāja, belongs to
the Kauṇḍinya-gotra and follows
the Apastamba-sūtra; and to
R6ompaya-śarman, who dwells at Rāyūru, belongs to
the
Agniveśya-gotra and follows the “Apastamba-sūtra.”
(Line 43.) (There follows) the description of the boundaries of this (village).,•••••
(Line 45.) Nobody shall cause obstruction to this (grant); he, who does it,
becomes
possessed of the five great sins. Vyāsa also has said: [Here follow three
of the customary
imprecatory verses, which it is unnecessary to translate.]
(Line 49.) Rāma also has said: [Here follows another verse.]
(Line 51.) The executor (ājñapti) of this charity (was) the excellent
prince Nr̥pa-
Rudra, who was the brother of Narendra-mr̥garāja
and a descendant of the Haihaya
race.
(Line 52.) (This edict) was written by Aksharalalitāchārya, who dwelt
at Vija-
yavāda.
The original of the subjoined inscription belongs to the Government Central Museum,
Madras.
According to Mr. Sewell, it “was found at the close of the year 1871 buried
in
the ground in a field in the village of Eḍeru near Ākiripalle in the Kistna
District, 15
miles north-east of Bezvāḍa, a village belonging to the present
Zamīndārī of Nūzivīḍu.
The plates were presented to the Madras Museum by the
then Zamīndār.” A rough tran-
script and paraphrase of the inscription were
published by S. M. Naṭeśa Śāstrī. As the
inscription deserves to be
published more carefully owing to its bearing on a part of the
history of the Eastern
Chalukyas, I now edit it from the original plates, the use of which
I owe to the
kindness of Dr. E. Thurston, Superintendent, Government Central Museum.
The document is engraved on five copper-plates with raised rims, which are not less
than
(1/4) inch thick. Each plate measures 9(1/4) by 4(1/4) inches. The first and fifth plates
are
inscribed only on their inner sides, while the three middle ones bear writing on both
sides.
The characters are extremely elegant and must have been engraved by an
accomplished
calligraphist. The plates are strung on a slightly elliptic ring, which is (1/2)
inch thick and
measures about 5 inches in diameter. The well-cut circular seal, which is
attached to the
ring, rests on an expanded lotus-flower and measures 3(1/4) inches in diameter.
It bears, at the
top, a recumbent boar, which faces the right and is surmounted by the moon and
the sun,
two chāmaras, an elephant-goad and a symbol which I cannot make out; across
the centre,
the legend
relief, on a counter-sunk surface. Both the plates and
the seal are in excellent preservation.
The inscription opens with a maṅgala, and then notices in prose and in verse
the
ancestors of the Eastern Chalukya king Amma I. Of the kings from
Kubja-Vishṇu-
vardhana to Vishṇuvardhana IV. nothing but the
names and the length of reigns is
mentioned. The next king was Vijayāditya II., who
is called Narendra-mr̥garāja in
other inscriptions. He fought 108 battles during 12
years with the armies of the Gaṅgas
and Raṭṭas, built 108 temples of
Śiva in commemoration of his victories and ruled over
Veṅgī for 44 years
(verses 2 to 4). As Mr. Fleet has pointed out, “the Gaṅgas
here
referred to were mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras, feudatories of the
Rāshṭrakūṭas, whose inscriptions
are found in the Beḷgaum and Dhārwāḍ
Districts.” The Raṭṭas mentioned in the grant
were the Rāshṭrakūṭas
themselves. If we deduct the sum of the reigns of the Eastern
Chalukya kings from
Kali-Vishṇuvardhana to Chālukya-Bhīma II. from the date of
the accession
of Amma II.——Śaka 867——the accession of
Kali-Vishṇuvardhana and the
death of his predecessor Vijayāditya II. would
fall in Śaka 764. Most inscriptions assign
to the latter a reign of 48 years, two
inscriptions a reign of 40 years, and the subjoined
inscription a reign of 44
years. Accordingly, his accession would fall in Śaka 716, 724
or 720. Hence the war
between Vijayāditya II. and the Raṭṭas——as suggested by Mr.
Fleet——may
have taken place during the reigns of the two Rāshṭrakūṭa kings
Govinda
III. and Śarva Amoghavarsha, who ruled at least from Śaka
726 to 737 and from 737
till at least 800
respectively. As, in a grant of Śaka 730, the lord of Veṅgī is
described
as the servant of Govinda III., and as in a grant of
Śaka 789 it is stated, that Amogha-
varsha was
worshipped by the lord of Veṅgī, it seems that each party claimed the
victory over
the other. The fact, that Vijayāditya II. built 108 temples of Śiva, is
also
alluded to in two other inscriptions, where it is said, that he founded 108 temples
of
Narendreśvara, i.e., temples of Śiva called after his surname
Narendra.
Nothing of importance seems to have happened during the short reign of Kali-Vish-
ṇuvardhana. His successor Vijayāditya III., who reigned from
Śaka 765-66 to 809-
10, “having been challenged by the lord of the
Raṭṭas, conquered the unequalled
Gaṅgas, cut off the head of
Maṅgi in battle, frightened the fire-brand Kr̥shṇa and burnt
his city
completely” (verse 10.) The killing of Maṅgi and the burning of the city
of
Kr̥shṇa is also reported in another inscription. The
Kr̥shṇa, whom Vijayāditya III.
defeated, is probably identical with the
lord of the Raṭṭas, who challenged him, and with
the Rāshṭrakūṭa king
Kr̥shṇa II., whose earliest known date is Śaka 825.
After the death of Vijayāditya III., the Rāshṭrakūṭas, as noticed by Mr.
Fleet,
seem to have been victorious; for his nephew Chalukya-Bhīma I., alias
Drohārjuna, who
ruled from Śaka 809-10 to 839-40, had to reconquer “the
country of Veṅgī, which had
been overrun by the army of the Raṭṭa
claimants” (line 28f.) The length of the reign of
Vijayāditya IV., the
successor of Chalukya-Bhīma I., is not mentioned in the subjoined
inscription;
according to other grants he ruled six months.
There followed the king, who issued the grant, Amma I., alias
Rājamahendra or
Vishṇuvardhana VI. He, “having drawn his sword, which broke
the dishonest hearts of
his feudatory relatives, who had joined the party of his natural
adversaries, won the affec-
tion of the subjects and of the army of his father
(Vijayāditya IV.)” and of his grandfather
(Chalukya-Bhīma I.)” (line 39
ff.) The natural adversaries of Amma I. were probably
the
Rāshṭrakūṭas under Prabhūtavarsha III., whose inscription is dated
in Śaka 842.
The grant proper, which takes up the remainder of the inscription, is an order,
which
Amma I. addressed to the inhabitants of the Kaṇḍeṟuvāḍi-vishaya,
and by which he
granted the village of Goṇṭūru together with
twelve hamlets to Bhaṇḍanāditya, alias
Kuntāditya, one of his
military officers. The donee belonged to the Paṭṭavardhinī-
vaṁśa. His
ancestor Kāḻakampa had been in the service of Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana,
the
first of the Eastern Chalukya kings, and had killed a certain Daddara in
battle.
Bhaṇḍanāditya himself had already served the donor's father, who is here
called Vijayā-
ditya-Kaliyarttyaṅka. The second part of this name
corresponds to the Kollabhi-
gaṇḍa or Kollabigaṇḍa of other
inscriptions. The grant closes with the enumeration of
the four boundaries of the village
granted and of the names of the twelve hamlets included
in it, and with two of the customary
imprecatory verses.
(Verse 1.) Let there be prosperity of all kinds for ever to the whole world,
prosperity
for ever to cows, brāhmaṇas and princes !
(Line 2.) Hail ! Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana,——the brother of
Satyāśraya-Vallabha,
who adorned the race of the glorious Chalukyas,
etc.——(ruled) for eighteen years. His son
Jayasiṁha-Vallabha
(ruled) for thirty-three years. Vishṇuvardhana, the son of his
brother
Indra-rāja, (ruled) for nine years. His son Maṅgi-yuvarāja
(ruled) for twenty-
five years. His son Jayasiṁha (ruled)
for thirteen years. Kokkili, his younger brother
from a different mother,
(ruled) for six months. His elder brother Vishṇu-rāja, having
expelled his
younger brother, (ruled) for thirty-seven years. His son Vijayāditya-
bhaṭṭāraka (ruled) for eighteen years. His son Vishṇuvardhana
(ruled) for thirty-six
years. His son,——
(Verses 2 and 3.) The brave king Vijayāditya,——having fought 108
battles, in which
he acquired power by his arm, with the armies of the Gaṅgas and
Raṭṭas for twelve years,
by day and by night, sword in hand, by means of polity and
valour,——built the same number
(i.e., 108) large temples of
Śiva.
(Verse 4.) Having ruled his kingdom for forty-four years, this lord of Veṅgī
became a
companion of Indra.
(Verses 5 to 7.) His son. Kali-Vishṇuvardhana, the brave lord of
Veṅgī,——who
knew (the science of) polity; who was skilled in fighting
(kali) with all weapons; who was
devoted to the art of protecting
(his subjects), as he was able to enforce the rules of the castes
and orders; whose arms
were engaged in the conquest of hostile cities; who acquired glory
on the whole earth, which
was made prosperous by his ministers, whose chief aim was always
to cherish the three objects
of life; who was skilled in fighting with elephants and horses;
and who know (how to follow
the precepts of) polity in ruling,——was the anointed lord of his
prosperous race for one
and a half years.
(Verse 8.) His son was a ruler of all princes and a lord of all wealth, who was
renowned
for a frame, which possessed the splendour of beauty, (that appeared the more)
spotless on
account of his valour, liberality, firmness and justice.
(Verse 9.) Having conquered by his flashing sword crowds of warlike enemies
(and)
many princes, this Vijayāditya (i.e., the sun of victory), who
possessed natural power, and
whose rise was due to an inheritance of abundant majesty, daily
conquered the sun in the
world by his virtues, which consisted of valour and glory.
(Verse 10.) Having been challenged by the lord of the Raṭṭas, this lord,——who
pos-
sessed the strength of Śiva, (who resembled) the sun by the power
obtained by his strong arm,
and who had gained great and excellent might by
his strength, which impressed its mark
on the universe,——conquered the unequalled
Gaṅgas, cut off the head of Maṅgi in battle,
frightened the firebrand
Kr̥shṇa and burnt his city completely.
(Line 27.) This asylum of the whole world, the illustrious Vijayāditya
(ruled) for
forty-four years. After him, the son of his younger brother
Vikramāditya, (viz.) king
Cḥalukya-Bhīma, whose other name was
Drohārjuna, illumined the country of Veṅgī,
——which had been overrun by
the army of the Raṭṭa claimants, just as by dense darkness
after sunset,——by the
flashing of his sword, the only companion of his valour, and became
king. Then, having
fulfilled, like parents, like a friend, (or) like a preceptor, the desires of
the
distressed, the helpless, the naked, the dancers, the singers and those who gained
their
livelihood by (carrying) the banner of virtue, having gratified (their)
minds by gifts, like the
tree of paradise, and having ruled for thirty years, he became a
companion of Indra, as
though he had delighted him by his virtues.
(Verse 11.) His son Vijayāditya was famed for his wonderful strength, which
was
the means of his sway over all enjoyments, and through which he gained prosperity
from
his infancy.
(Verse 12.) Having destroyed the crowd of his (viz., his father's) foes by the
strength of
his arm (and) through his valour, while his father was still living, and
having conquered
after (his father's death) the crowd of his own enemies and the association of his external
foes by his extensive wisdom, (this)
lord,——whose plans were backed up by invincible and
great power, who was satisfied by the
enjoyment of (all) his desires, who longed for (another)
kingdom, and who had
obtained glory,——went to Indra, in order to conquer one equal half
(of Indra's
throne).
(Line 38.) His son Amma, whose other name was Rājamahendra,——having
destroyed
from afar his enemies, as the rising sun (destroys from afar) the darkness,
and having drawn
his sword, which broke the dīshonest hearts of his feudatory relatives, who
had joined the
party of his natural adversaries,——won the affection of the subjects and of the
army of his
father and of his grandfather by his might, which was backed up by the three
(regal)
powers. (He) who resembled the teacher of the gods in wisdom, the sun in
glory, the earth
in patience and the mountain of the immortals through his being the
resting-place of many
learned men (or gods), the asylum of the whole world, the
illustrious Vishṇuvardhana-
mahārāja, who had celebrated the festival of
his anointment to the kingdom, and who had
ascended the throne, having called together all the
householders, who inhabit the district of
Kaṇḍeṟuvāḍi, thus issued his
commands:——
(Line 44.) The chief of the Paṭṭavardhinī family, which was (always)
charged with
appointments by the prosperous succession of our race, he who was famed by the
name of
Kāḻakampa, the follower of Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana, killed in battle
with his permis-
sion (a king) called Daddara, whose army was
difficult to be overcome, and seized his
banners. The son of Somāditya, who descended
from his race, was Pritiviya-rāja (!),
who acquired glory in many battles.
(Verses 13 and 14.) His son, whose weapons destroyed the pride of all enemies,
a
servant of king Vijayāditya-Kaliyarttyaṅka, (was)
Bhaṇḍanāditya, of whom his
enemies were afraid, when they perceived him
approaching, his face covered with collyrium
and his cheeks flushed, as if it were Yama, whose
(elephant) Añjana was facing (them),
and the temples (of
whose elephant) were shining (with rutting-juice).
(Verse 15.) For, having sounded the drum of heroes in tumultuous conflicts with
the
enemies and having defeated (their) army, he,——(who was also called)
Kuntāditya, and who
was the abode of the splendour of great fame combined with sacred
knowledge,——pleased
my mind, entered my service and obtained my favour; his long arms were the
origin of the
splendour of victory over hostile kings, whose armies were large and
numerous.
(Line 53.) “To him we gave the village called Goṇṭūru together with twelve
hamlets,
having exempted it from all taxes. Thus be it made known to you by us. Its
boundaries
(are):——on the east, Goṅguva; on the south, Goṇayūru; on
the west, Kalucheṟuvulu;
on the north, Maḍapalli. The hamlets, which are situated between these (four villages),
(are):——on the east,
Potuṟāyu; on the south-east, Peddakoyilamu; on the
south,
Kuṟuvapoṭi; on the south-west, Peruvāti (and)
Kuṟuva; on the west, Pālaguṇṭa (and)
Paḍumaṭikaṭṭa;
on the north-west, Polakuṅgoṇḍa, Monadurga (and) Bhagavatī;
on the
north, Maḍapallipaṟṟu; on the north-east, Chāmiṟeniguṇṭa. Nobody
shall
cause obstruction to this (grant). He, who does it, becomes (guilty) of the
five great sins.
And Vyāsa has said thus: [Here follow two of the customary
imprecatory verses.]”
The original of the subjoined inscription was kindly placed at my disposal by
R. Sewell,
Esq., then Acting Collector of the Kistna District, and was, at his desire, made
over to the
Central Museum, Madras, for safe custody. It was discovered recently, while
digging a mound
near the temple at Kolavennu, Bezvāḍa Tālluqa. The document consists
of three
copper-plates with raised rims. Each plate measures 9(1/4) by 4(5/8) inches. The first
and
third plates are inscribed only on their inner sides, while the second one bears writing
on
both sides. The writing on the third plate breaks off in the description of the boundaries
of
the granted village. As there is no trace of any letters after the words:
yasyāvadhayaḥ
pūrvataḥ, “the boundaries of which (are), to the east,” it
seems that the document was left
incomplete, perhaps because the necessary details of the
surroundings of the village were not
to hand, when the edict was issued. The plates are strung
on a ring, which is (1/2) inch thick
and 5 inches in diameter. The circular seal, which is
attached to the ring, rests on an expanded
lotus-flower and measures 2(1/4) inches in diameter.
It bears at the top a standing boar, which
faces the right, with the sun and the moon over it,
a chaurī and an elephant-goad on its left and a
chaurī on its right; the centre
of the seal is occupied by the legend
by a lotus-flower with eight petals (bird's-eye view),——all in relief on a
counter-sunk surface.
Both the inscription and the seal are in fairly good preservation.
The inscription opens with a maṅgala, which mentions the lotus-flower that rises
from
Vishṇu's navel, and then gives the usual vaṁśāvali of
the Eastern Chalukyas from
Kubja-Vishṇu to Vikramāditya, the
younger son of Chālukya-Bhīma I. The ensuing
reign of Yuddhamalla, the son
of Tāḻapa, is left out. This omission is probably due to
the fact, that
Chālukya-Bhīma II. considered his predecessor, whom he conquered, as an
usurper and ignored
him purposely. The grant consists of an order addressed by Chālukya-
Bhīma II. alias Vishṇuvardhana VII. to the inhabitants of the
Kaṇḍeṟuvāṭi-
vishaya and issued at the request of a
vassal of the king, the Pānara prince Vājjaya. On
the occasion of a
winter-solstice (uttarāyaṇa), Bhīma II. gave the village of
Koḍhatalli as
an agrahāra to Kommaṇa, who know the kramapāṭha
(kramavid) and adhered to the
Āpastamba-sūtra. The donce was the son of
Deṇiya, who know the kramapāṭha (kramaka),
and of Kandamavvā, and
the grandson of Revaśarman, an inhabitant of Ābharad-
vasukālmādi.
(Verse 1.) The primeval lotus-flower, which rises from a tank (that consists of)
the navel
of Hari (Vishṇu), which is enlarged by a stalk (that consists of the
mountain) Meru, and
which is the birth-place of Aja (Brahman), is victorious for
ever.
Hail! Kubja-Vishṇu, the brother of Satyāśraya, who adorned the race of
the
glorious Chālukyas, etc., (ruled) for eighteen
years.
His son Jayasiṁha (ruled) for thirty-three (years).
Vishṇuvardhana, the son of his brother Indra-rāja, (ruled) for nine (years).
His son Maṅgi-yuvarāja (ruled) for twenty-five (years).
His son Jayasiṁha (ruled) for thirteen (years).
Kokkili, his younger brother from a different mother, (ruled) for six months.
His elder brother Vishṇuvardhana (ruled) for thirty-seven (years).
His legitimate son Vijayāditya-bhaṭṭāraka (ruled) for eighteen (years).
His son Vishṇu-rāja (ruled) for thirty-six (years).
His son Narendra-mr̥garāja (ruled) for forty (years).
His son Kali-Vishṇuvardhana (ruled) for eighteen months.
His son Guṇakenalla-Vijayāditya (ruled) for forty-four (years).
Chālukya-Bhīma, the son of his younger brother Vikramāditya, (ruled)
for thirty
(years).
His son Vijayāditya (ruled) for six months.
His son Amma-rāja (ruled) for seven years.
His son Vijayāditya (ruled) for half a month.
After him Tāḻapa-rāja (ruled) for (one) month.
Having conquered him, Vikramāditya, the son of Chālukya-Bhīma, ruled
for
(one) year over the country of Veṅgi together with
Trikaliṅga.
(Verse 2.) Chālukya-Bhīma, the son of Vijayāditya and brother of
Amma-rāja
by a different mother, ties the (royal) tiara for as long a time as
the moon and stars shall
endure.
Having conquered in a battle with his arm Tāta-Bikyana(?)••• , this Rāja-
mārtaṇḍa (i.e., the sun among kings) causes his fame to
be sung by the people.
He who, like Meru, is possessed of insurmountable greatness, and who knows all
arts
(kalā), just as the (full) moon possesses all digits (kalā), this
asylum of the whole world, the
illustrious Vishṇuvardhana, the king of great kings,
the supreme master, the supreme
lord, the most pious one, thus issues his commands to the
householders, (viz.) heads of
provinces, etc., who inhabit the district of
Kaṇḍeṟuvāṭi:——
“Be it known to you that, at the request of king Vājjaya, who purifies the
Pānara
princes, who is a treasure-house of truthfulness, liberality,
pride and heroism, and whose
strong arm (is able) to protect my kingdom;”——
(Verse 3.) From Revaśarman, who dwelt at Ābharadvasukālmādi, there
sprang
the lord Deṇiya, who knew the kramapāṭha, the Vedas and
Vedāṅgas.
(Verse 4.) His son was the noble Kommaṇa, a follower of the
Āpastamba-sūtra, who
adorned his race and was resplendent with holiness;
(Verse 5.) The son of Kandamavvā, (who resembled) Kāma in beauty and
who
fulfilled the desires of suppliants. Having approached his abundance, those brāhmaṇas
are
resplendent, just as swans which have entered a tank.
(Verse 6.) His sons and grandsons, youths who are clever in assemblies of eminent
men,
obtain a succession of agrahāras and of highest marks of reverence.
“To this Kommaṇa, who knows the kramapāṭha, we gave, with exemption from
all
taxes, the village called Koḍhatalli, making it an agrahāra, with a
libation of water, on the
occasion of the winter-solstice.”
The boundaries of this (village are): on the east•••••
Like the preceding inscription, this one was received from Mr. R. Sewell, who found it
lying
in the Huzūr Treasury attached to the Collector's Office, Masulipatam, and was made
over
to the Madras Museum. The document consists of three copper-plates with raised rims.
Each plate measures 7(3/4) by 3(3/4) inches. The first and third plates are
inscribed only on their
inner sides, while the second one bears writing on both sides. They are
all much worn, and
of the third plate one entire half is lost. The plates are strung on a ring,
which is (3/8) inch
thick and 5 inches in diameter. The circular seal, which is attached to the
ring, rests on
an expanded lotus-flower and measures 2(7/8) inches in diameter. It is much
corroded, but still
shows distinct traces of a standing boar, which faces the right, at the
top, of the legend
the bottom——all in relief on a counter-sunk
surface.
The document opens with the usual vaṁśāvali of the Eastern Chalukyas from
Kubja-
Vishṇuvardhana. The donor is Amma-rāja II. alias
Vijayāditya V. (who began to reign
in Śaka 867). The king addresses his order
to the inhabitants of the Gudravāra-vishaya,
which must be identical with the
Gudrāvāra- or Gudrahāra-vishaya of other inscrip-
tions. The donee, whose name is lost, was the family priest (kulabrāhmaṇa) of the
king and
belonged to the Kauṇḍilya-gotra (sic). The object granted seems to
have been a field,
which had formerly belonged to the donee
(etadīya-prāktana-kshetra), but had been taken
away from him (vilupta) and was
probably restored to him by the present document. The
other details of the grant are lost.
Hail! Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana, the brother of Satyāśraya-Vallabhendra,
who
adorned the race of the glorious Chālukyas, etc., ruled
over the country of Veṅgī for
eighteen years.
His son Jayasiṁha (ruled) for thirty-three (years).
Vishṇuvardhana, the son of his younger brother Indra-rāja, (ruled) for nine (years).
His son Maṅgi-yuvarāja (ruled) for twenty-five (years).
His son Jayasiṁha (ruled) for thirteen (years).
His younger brother Kokkili (ruled) for six months.
His elder brother Vishṇuvardhana, having expelled him, (ruled) for
thirty-seven
(years).
His son Vijayāditya-bhaṭṭāraka (ruled) for eighteen (years).
His son Vishṇuvardhana (ruled) for thirty-six (years).
His son Vijayāditya-Narendra-mr̥garāja (ruled) for forty-eight (years).
His son Kali-Vishṇuvardhana (ruled) for one and a half years.
His son Guṇaga-Vijayāditya (ruled) for forty-four (years).
The victorious son of his brother, prince Vikramāditya, (who wore) on his neck
a
glittering necklace,——
(Verse 1.) That handsome Chālukya-Bhīma enjoyed for thirty years the
earth,
protecting (it) like a mother (her child), and granting the fruits of
their desires to the dis-
tressed, helpless and sick, to the association of the best
of twice-born, to beggars, to ascetics,
to clever youths, dancers, excellent singers and poets,
who had come from various countries,
to his relatives and to the blind.
His son Vijayāditya (ruled) for six months.
His (son) Amma-rāja (ruled) for seven (years).
After him, Tālapa-rāja (ruled) for (one) month.
Having expelled him, Vikramāditya, the son of Chālukya-Bhīma,
(ruled) for (one)
year.
After him Yuddhamalla (ruled) for seven (years).
(Verse 2.) Having conquered and expelled from the country this haughty one,
and
having made the other heirs to assume the appearance of stars, which are absorbed in the
rays
of the sun, the younger brother of king Amma, (viz.) Bhīma, who
resembled Arjuna, and
who was possessed of terrible power, enjoyed for twelve years the earth,
just as the bearer of
the thunderbolt (Indra) does the great heaven.
(Verse 3.) Just as Kumāra to Maheśvara from Umā, Amma-rāja was born to
him
from Lokamahādevī.
(Verse 4.) While this king was ruling, the country produced an abundance of well-
ripened grain of various kinds, possessed cows that were continually yielding milk, and
was
free from fears, calamities, diseases, and thieves.
This asylum of the whole world, the illustrious Vijayāditya, the king of great
kings,
the supreme master, the supreme lord, the most pious one, having called together the
house-
holders, (viz.) heads of provinces, etc., who inhabit the
district of Gudravāra, thus issues his
commands:——
* * * * * * * * * *
The original of the subjoined grant belongs to the Sir W. Elliot Collection in the
British
Museum and was lent to me for publication by Dr. Burgess. It had been previously in the
possession of the karaṇam of Chellūr, a village in the
Cocanada: Tālluqa of the Godāvarī
District: The grant consists of five copper-plates with
raised rims. Each plate measures 5(3/4)
by 10(1/4) inches. The first plate bears writing only
on its inner side, while the remaining ones
are inscribed on both sides. The preservation of
the plates is fairly good; the fifth only is
somewhat damaged. The ring, which bears the seal,
has been cut. It is (5/8) inch thick and
6(1/4) inches in diameter. The well-preserved seal
measures 2(5/8) inches in diameter. It rests on
an expanded lotus-flower and bears in relief on
a counter-sunk surface the legend
Over the latter, it
contains a boar, which faces the right and is surrounded by two lamp
stands, two
chāmaras, the sun and the moon, an elephant-goad and a conch. Below the legend,
there
is a drum (?), an expanded lotus-flower (bird's-eye view), an emblem resembling what
Mr.
Fleet supposes to be a makara-toraṇa, and a svastika.
Abstracts of the present inscription have already been published by Sir W. Elliot. It
is the latest known document of the Eastern Chalukya a dynasty and
possesses considerable
interest, as it contains valuable details about the connection between
the Eastern Chalukyas
and the Choḷas and thus settles the dates of several kings of
the last-mentioned dynasty.
The vaṁśāvali of the inscription consists of four parts:——
I. (Lines 1-16.) A genealogy of the lunar race down to Udayana, commencing
with
whom fifty-nine emperors are supposed to have reigned at Ayodhyā.
II. (Lines 16-28.) An account of five Early Chalukya kings, viz.:——
Vijayāditya I., killed in a battle with Trilochana-Pallava.
Vishṇuvardhana, married to a
Pallava princess.
Vijayāditya II.
Pulakeśi-Vallabha.
Kīrtivarman.
III. (Lines 28-46.) The usual succession of the Eastern Chalukyas of
Veṅgī from
Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana to Vimalāditya.
IV. (Lines 46-78.) An account of the later Eastern Chalukyas during their
con-
nection with the Choḷas, viz.:——
The first and second parts of the vaṁśāvali need not be treated in detail, as the
first is
entirely mythical, and Mr. Fleet considers the second to be “a mere farrago of
vague
tradition and Purāṇik myths, of no authority, based on the undoubted facts that the
Cha-
lukyas did come originally from the north, and did find the Pallavas in
possession of some
of the territories afterwards acquired by themselves, and on a
tradition of the later Kādambas
that the founder of their family was named Trilochana or
Trinetra.”
The third part of the vaṁśāvali agrees with Mr. Fleet's grants of Rājarāja
I. and of
Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva II. Just as in the grant of
Rājarāja I. a reign of 3 years is
allotted to Dānārṇava, who is here also called
Dāna-nr̥pa, and an interregnum of 27
years is stated to have taken place after him.
There follow the reigns of his sons Śakti-
varman (12 years) and
Vimalāditya (7 years). No mention is made of the Choḷa
princess
Kūndavā, whom the latter married according to the grant of Rājarāja I.
We now turn to the fourth part of the vaṁśāvali. The son of Vimalāditya,
Rājarāja, who
ruled for 41 years (line 47), married Ammaṅga-devī,
the daughter of a Rājendra-Choḍa
of the solar race (verse 7). Their son
Rājendra-Choḍa (verse 8), Kulottuṅga-deva
(verse 11) or
Rājanārāyaṇa (verse 12) at first ascended the throne of Veṅgī
(verse 9),
conquered Kerala, Pāṇḍya, Kuṇtala and other countries
(verse 10), and was anointed
to the Choḍa kingdom (verse 11). He
married Madhurāntakī, the daughter of a
Rājendra-deva of the solar race
(verse 12) and had by her seven sons (verse 13). When
he rose to the
Choḍa kingdom, he had given the kingdom of Veṅgī to his paternal
uncle
Vijayāditya (verse 14), who died after a reign of fifteen years
(verse 15). Then he gave
Veṅgī to his son Rājarāja (verses
13 and 16) and, when the latter had returned after one
year's reign (verse 17),
to Rājarāja's younger brother Vīra-Choḍa (verse 18), who was
crowned at
Jaganātha-nagarī (verse 20) in Śaka 1001 (verse
21). As the difference
between this date and Śaka 944, the date of the accession of
Rājarāja I. according to Mr.
Fleet's grant, is equal to the sum of the intervening
reigns of Rājarāja I., Vijayāditya
VI. and Rājarāja II.
(41+15+1=57), it follows that Rājendra-Choḍa must have
appointed
Vijayāditya VI. viceroy of Veṅgī in the very year of his accession.
The
present grant of Vīra-Choḍa is dated in the 21st year of his reign, i.e.,
Śaka 1022, or 12
years before the death of his father Rājendra-Choḍa and
before the accession of his elder
brother Vikrama-Choḍa.
The chief importance of the Chellūr plates consists in the light, which they throw
on
a portion of the history of the Choḷa dynasty. The large Leyden grant and some of
the
Tamil inscriptions contained in the present volume mention three Western Chālukya
kings,
who were the antagonists of three Choḷa kings:——
1. According to the large Leyden grant, Rājarāja-deva (see Nos. 40, 41 and
66,
below) conquered Satyāśraya. This was probably the Western Chālukya
king Satyā-
śraya II. (Śaka 919 to about 930.) Consequently,
Rājarāja-deva may be identified
with that Rājarāja of the
Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter Kūndavā was married to the
Eastern
Chalukya king Vimalāditya (Śaka 937 (?) to 944). With this agrees
the
Koṅgu Chronicle, which places Rājarāja's reign about Śaka
926.
2. According to Nos. 67 and 68, below, Rājendra-Choḷa-deva conquered Jaya-
siṁha. This was the Western Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III.
(about Śaka 940 to
about 964), who, in one of his inscriptions, calls himself “the lion
to the elephant Rājendra-
Choḷa” (see the introduction to No. 67).
Consequently, Rājendra-Choḷa-deva must be
identified with that
Rājendra-Choḍa of the Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter
Ammaṅga-devī
was married to the Eastern Chalukya king Rājarāja
I. (Śaka 944 to 985), and who may
be the same as that Rājendra-Choḍa, whose
younger sister Kūndavā was married
to Vimalāditya (Śaka 937 (?) to
944). If the last identification is correct, Rājendra-
Choḷa-deva would
have been the son of Rājarāja-deva.
3. According to the fragmentary inscription No. 127, below, and according to an inscrip-
tion at Māmallapuram, Rājendra-deva conquered Āhavamalla. This was
probably
the Western Chālukya king Āhavamalla II. or Someśvara I.
(about Śaka 964 to about
990), who, according to inscriptions and according to the
Vikramāṅkacharita, fought with the
Choḷas. Consequently,
Rājendra-deva may be identified with that Rājendra-deva of
the
Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter Madhurāntakī was married to the Eastern
Chalukya
king Rājendra-Choḍa or Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva I.
(Śaka 985 to 1034.) The
inscriptions do not inform us, in what manner
Rājendra-deva was related to his predecessor
Rājendra-Choḷa-deva.
The subjoined table will show at a glance all supposed synchronisms:——
In order to prevent its re-occurrence, I conclude with alluding to the
in all previous
pedigrees of the Choḷas. This was the confounding of the two Choḷa
kings
Rājarāja and Rājendra-Choḷa with their Eastern Chalukya
grandsons, who seem to
have received their names from those of their maternal grandfathers. In
reality the Eastern
Chalukya king Rājarāja I. ruled only over
Veṅgī. His son Rājendra-Choḍa or
Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva I.,
though at first king of Veṅgī, seems to have inherited
the Choḷa kingdom
from his father-in-law, the Choḷa king Rājendra-deva, in Śaka 985.
After the vaṁśāvali, the subjoined inscription contains the grant itself. It is an
order,
which was addressed by the paramamāheśvara Vīra-Choḍa-deva
(line 79), alias Vishṇu-
vardhana (line 78) to the
inhabitants of the Guddavāṭi-vishaya (line 80). In the
21st
year of his reign (line 113) the king gave a village of the above-mentioned
district, whose
name is indistinct, but seems to have been Kolāṟu
(line 103), to a temple of Vishṇu at the
agrahāra of
Chellūru. This Vishṇu temple had been founded (verse 36) by the
king's
senāpati (verse 30) Meḍamārya (verse 27), alias
Guṇaratnabhūshaṇa (verse 29), who had
also constructed a pond at the same
village of Chellūru (verse 34) and founded two sattras at
Drākshārāma and Pīṭhapurī
(verse 33). He was the son of Potana of the Mudgala-
gotra
(verse 24), who had received from Rājarāja the somewhat lengthy
title of
Rājarāja-brahma-mahārāja (verse 25), by Kannamāmbā
(verse 26). The edict ends
with the statement, that its executors (ājñapti)
were the five ministers (pañcha pradhānāḥ), and
with the names of the composer and
the writer.
(Verse 1.) From the lotus-flower, (which rose) from the navel of the abode of
Śrī, the
supreme spirit, the great lord Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu), there was born
Svayaṁbhū (Brahman),
the creator of the world. From him there sprang a spiritual son,
called Atri. From this
saint Atri there arose Soma, the founder of a race, the
nectar-rayed, the crest-jewel of
Śrīkaṇṭha (Śiva).
(Verse 2.) From this producer of nectar there sprang Budha, who was praised by
the
wise. From him there was begot a valorous emperor called Purūravas.
(Line 4.) From him (came) Āyu; from him Nahusha; from him the
emperor Yayāti,
the founder of a race; from him Puru; from him
Janamejaya; from him Prāchīśa; from
him Sainyayāti; from him
Hayapati; from him Sārvabhauma; from him Jayasena;
from him
Mahābhauma; from him Aiśānaka; from him Krodhānana; from
him
Devaki; from him Ṛibhuka; from him Ṛikshaka; from him
Mativara, the performer
of great sacrifices and lord of the Sarasvatī river;
from him Kātyāyana; from him Nīla;
from him Dushyanta. His son
was he who, having placed sacrificial posts in an uninter-
rupted line on the banks
of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā, and having successively performed
the great rite
(called) horse-sacrifice, obtained the name of Bharata. From this
Bharata
(came) Bhūmanyu; from him Hastin; from him
Virochana; from him Ajamīḷha; from
him Saṁvaraṇa; from him
Sudhanvan; from him Parikshit; from him Bhīmasena;
from him
Pradīpana; from him Śaṁtanu; from him Vichitravīrya; from him
Pāṇḍu-
rāja; from him the Pāṇḍavas.
(Verse 3.) (From) that victorious bearer of (the bow) gāṇḍīva, who,
having conquered
(Indra) the bearer of the thunderbolt, burnt the hermitage in the
Khāṇḍava (forest), who
acquired the weapon of Paśupati (Śiva) in battle from
(Śiva) the enemy of Andhaka, who,
having killed Kālikeya and many other Daityas,
partook of one half of Indra's throne, and
who wilfully destroyed the forest-like race of the
lord of the Kurus;——
(Line 14.) From that Arjuna (came) Abhimanyu; from him
Parikshit; from him
Janamejaya; from him Kshemuka; from him
Naravāhana; from him Śatānīka; from
him Udayana. When,
commencing with him, fifty-nine emperors, whose succession was
uninterrupted, and who sat on
the throne of Ayodhyā, had passed away, a king of this race,
Vijayāditya by
name, went to the Dekhan (Dakshiṇāpatha), in order to conquer (it) and
attacked
Trilochana-Pallava, (but) through ill-luck he went to another world.
During
this battle, his great queen, who was pregnant, reached together with the
family-priest
and the old ministers an agrahāra called Muḍivemu, and, being
protected like a daughter
by Vishṇubhaṭṭa-somayājin, a great ascetic, who dwelt
there, she gave birth to a son,
Vishṇuvardhana. She brought him up, having caused to
be performed for this prince the
rites, which were suitable to (his) descent from the
double gotra of those, who belonged to the
gotra of the Mānavyas and
were the sons of Hāritī. And he, having been told
the
(above-mentioned) events by his mother, went forth, worshipped Nandā, the
blessed Gaurī,
on the Chalukya mountain, appeased Kumāra (Skanda),
Nārāyaṇa (Vishṇu) and the
assemblage of (divine) mothers, assumed the
insignia of sovereignty which had descended (to
him) by the succession of his race,
(but) which had been, as it were, laid aside, (viz.) the white
parasol, the
single conch, the five mahāśabdas, the flags in rows, the
pratiḍhakkā (drum), the
sign of the boar, the peacock's tail, the spear, the throne,
the arch (in the shape) of a
makara, the golden sceptre, (the
signs of) the Gaṅgā and Yamunā, etc., conquered
the
Kaḍamba, the Gaṅga and other princes, and ruled over the Dekhan
(Dakshiṇāpatha),
(which is situated) between the bridge (of Rāma) and the
(river) Narmadā (and the revenue
from which amounts to) seven and a
half lakshas.
(Verse 4.) The son of this king Vishṇuvardhana and of (his) great queen,
who was
born from the Pallava race, was Vijayāditya.
(Line 27.) His son was Pulakeśi-Vallabha. His son was Kīrtivarman.
His
son,——Hail! Kubja-Vishṇuvardhana, the brother of
Satyāśraya-Vallabhendra, who
adorned the race of the glorious Chālukyas,
etc., ruled for eighteen years over the
country of Veṅgī;
his son Jayasiṁha-Vallabha for thirty-three (years); his younger
brother
Indra-rāja for seven days; his son Vishṇuvardhana for nine years; his
son
Maṅgi-yuvarāja for twenty-five (years); his son Jayasiṁha for
thirteen (years); his
younger brother Kokkili for six months; his elder brother
Vishṇuvardhana, having
expelled him, for thirty-seven (years); his son
Vijayāditya-bhaṭṭāraka for eighteen
(years); his son
Vishṇuvardhana for thirty-six (years); his son
Narendra-mr̥garāja
for forty-eight (years); his son
Kali-Vishṇuvardhana for one and a half years; his
son
Guṇagāṅka-Vijayāditya for forty-four (years);
Chālukya-Bhīma, the son of his
brother Vikramāditya, for thirty
(years); his son Kollabhigaṇḍa-Vijayāditya for six
months; his son
Amma-rāja for seven years; having expelled his infant son
Vijayāditya,
Tāḍapa (ruled) for one month; having conquered him,
Vikramāditya, the son of
Chālukya-Bhīma, (ruled) for eleven months;
then Yuddhamalla, the son of Tāḍapa-
rāja, for seven years;
having expelled him from the country, Rāja-Bhīma, the younger
brother
of Amma-rāja, (ruled) for twelve years; his son Amma-rāja for
twenty-five
(years); Dāna-nr̥pa, his brother from a different mother, for
three years. Then the
country of Veṅgī was through ill-luck without a ruler for
twenty-seven years. Then king
Śaktivarman, the son of Dānārṇava, ruled
over the earth for twelve years.
(Verse 5.) Then his younger brother, king Vimalāditya, who was kind to
(all)
beings, ruled over the earth for seven years.
(Line 46.) His son, king Rājarāja, who possessed political wisdom, and who was
the
abode of the goddess of victory, ruled over the whole earth for forty-one years.
(Verse 6.) He whose fame was brilliant, who was the only jewel which adorned
the
glorious race of the moon, and who was the only jewel which fulfilled the desires of
the
distressed, surpassed Cupid by his beauty, the moon by his pure splendour,
Puraṁdara
(Indra) by his possessions, (Vishṇu) the bearer of Lakshmī by his
great prosperity, and
Bhīma by his terrible power.
(Verse 7.) He had a spotless queen, Ammaṅga by name, who was famed on earth
by
her good deeds, who was the only abode of lucky marks, who purified the world, and
who
sprang from Rājendra-Choḍa, the ornament of the race of the sun, just as Gaṅgā
from
Jahnu, Gaurī from Himavat and Lakshmī from the milk-ocean.
(Verse 8.) Just as (Śiva) the bearer of Gaṅgā and (Pārvatī) the
daughter of the moun-
tain had a son called Kārttikeya, these two had a son called
Rājendra-Choḍa, who
annihilated the multitude of his enemies by his irresistible
power, whose fame was worthy
of praise, and who was the light of the warrior-caste.
(Verse 9.) Having at first occupied the throne of Veṅgī, (which became)
the cause of the
rising of (his) splendour, just as the sun at morn occupies the eastern
mountain, he conquered
(all) quarters with his power.
(Verse 10.) Having burnt all foes with the rising and fierce fire of his valour,
and
having successively conquered Kerala, Pāṇḍya, Kuntala and all other countries,
he
placed his commands on the heads of princes, the pain of fear in the hearts of fools and
his
fame, which was as white as the rays of the moon, in (all) quarters.
(Verse 11.) Kulottuṅga-deva, the most eminent of the great warrior-caste,
whose
might resembled that of the king of the gods (Indra), was anointed to the
Choḍa king-
dom, which was not inferior to the kingdom of the gods, and
put on the tiara, embellished
with invaluable gems of many kinds, which had been sent by
various kings, who were
exceedingly afraid of the threatening of his arms, which were as
formidable as the terrible
coils of the serpent-king.
(Verse 12.) He in whose hands the conch, the discus and the lotus were shining,
and
whom (therefore) the world praised as Rājanārāyaṇa (i.e., a Vishṇu
among kings), married
(as it were) Lakshmī (the wife of Vishṇu) herself,
who was known by her other name, viz.,
Madhurāntakī, and who (just as the
goddess Lakshmī) from the ocean, arose from Rājen-
dra-deva, the
ornament of the race of the sun, a queen who was praised in the world and
exalted by her
deeds.
(Verse 13.) To these two there were born (seven) sons, who were as pure as the
(seven)
streams of the Gaṅgā, who, like the (seven) Ādityas, had destroyed the
darkness (of sin), and
who, like the (seven) mountains, were able (to
undergo) the fatigue of supporting the earth.
To (one) among these,
the illustrious Rājarāja, who was the joint abode of polity and valour,
(his)
father, the lord of the whole earth, affectionately addressed the following speech:——
(Verse 14.) “Being desirous of the Choḍa kingdom, I formerly conferred the
kingdom
of the country of Veṅgī on my paternal uncle, king
Vijayāditya.”
(Verse 15.) “Having ruled over the country for fifteen years, this god-like prince,
who
resembled the five-faced (Śiva) in power, has gone to heaven.”
(Verse 16.) This obedient one (viz., Rājarāja) took up that burden, (viz.,
the kingdom of
Veṅgī,) which the emperor, (his) father, gave him with these
words, though he did not like
the separation from him.
(Verse 17.) “The kingdom is not such a pleasure as the worship of the illustrious
feet
of the elders”; considering thus, he returned to his parents, after having ruled over
the
country of Veṅgī for one year.
(Verse 18.) Then the emperor spoke to his (viz., Rājarāja's) younger brother,
the brave
prince Vīra-Choḍa, who seemed to be an incarnation of the quality
(of) valour: “Having
ascended the throne of Veṅgī, place thy feet on the
heads of (other) kings, just as the sun,
having ascended the eastern mountain, places
his rays on the peaks of (other) mountains.”
(Verse 19.) Thus having successively obtained the powerful blessing of the king,
of
the queen and of his two elder brothers, having bowed to these and having been bowed
to
by his younger brothers, the prince was with difficulty prevailed upon by
them to start for
his country.
(Verse 20.) Having driven away his enemies, having eclipsed with his splendour
the
other crowds of kings, having stopped the wicked and having made the earth rejoice,
the
lord, the ornament of the country of Veṅgī, the king's son ascended (his)
palace in the town
called Jaganātha, resembling the disk of the morning-sun, who,
having driven away the
darkness, having eclipsed with his splendour the other crowds of
stars, having stopped the
wicked, and having made the lotus-group blossom,
ascends the eastern mountain.
(Verse 21.) In the Śāka year, which is reckoned by the moon, the pair of ciphers
and
the moon, (i.e., 1001,) while the sun stood in the lion, while the moon was waxing,
on the
thirteenth lunar day, on a Thursday, while the scorpion was the lagna and in
(the nakshatra)
Śravaṇa, having been anointed to the kingdom of the whole earth, the
sinless king, the
illustrious Vīra-Choḍa, joyfully put on the tiara of the
world.
(Line 78.) This asylum of the whole world, the illustrious Vishṇuvardhana, the
king
of great kings, the supreme master of kings, the devout worshipper of Maheśvara,
the
supreme lord, the most pious one, the illustrious Vīra-Choḍa-deva, having called
together
all householders, (viz.) heads of provinces, etc., who inhabit the
district of Guddavāṭi,
thus issues his commands in the presence of the ministers,
the family priest, the commander
of the army, the heir-apparent and the door-keeper:——
(Verse 22.) Just as the moon in the milk-ocean, there was in the pure race of
Brahman
a chief of ascetics, called Mudgala, whose appearance was extremely
gladdening.
(Verse 23.) When he, whose power was incomprehensible, had invited the sun, his
staff
performed the action of the sun at his command.
(Verse 24.) In his gotra there was a certain Potana, whose deeds were
pure, who
made his gotra prosper and who illuminated the quarters with the splendour of
his fame.
(Verse 25.) This virtuous one was joyfully praised by the lord Rājarāja, who
knew
(how to appreciate) virtues, by the name of Rājarāja-brahma-mahārāja
(i.e., the great
king of the brāhmaṇas of Rājarāja).
(Verse 26.) Just as the wife of Atri was Anasūryā, the wife of this treasure-house
of
merit was Kannamāmbā, who was praised in the world, and who was exalted by
the
virtue of freedom from envy (anasūyā).
(Verse 27.) Just as Devakī bore from Vasudeva a son called Vāsudeva (Kr̥shṇa),
and
just as the mountain-daughter (Pārvatī) bore from the moon-crested (Śiva)
a son called
Guha, thus she bore from him a son called Meḍamārya, who was a
treasure-house of pros-
perity, and who was praised by all the assemblies of wise
men (or gods).
(Verse 28.) After he was born, prosperity dwelt on all the crowds of his relatives,
just
as on the groups of lotus-flowers at the rising of the sun; for (like the sun) he
purified the
quarters with his unrestrained splendour, was daily in the state of rising and was
possessed of
a blossoming lotus (-face).
(Verse 29.) Having conquered the kali-age which is skilled in plundering heaps
of
virtues,——all virtues, (viz.) truthfulness, liberality, prowess, etc.,
prosper, abiding jointly in
him, who is kind to refugees, who is alone constant in a conduct
(which is worthy) of the
kr̥ta-age, and who is famed by the name of
Guṇaratnabhūshaṇa (i.e., he who is adorned
with jewel-like virtues).
(Verse 30.) Because he was firm, always attached, of strong and sharp mind, a light
of
the race of Brahman, an abode of prosperity, possessed of blazing splendour, a treasure-
house of polity and modesty, skilled in sciences and in weapons, worthy of honour and
as
hard as the substance of the king of mountains, he was respectfully and graciously
anointed
by me to the dignity of a commander of the army (senāpati) and wears the tiara
which was
placed (on his head) to the delight of the people.
(Verse 31.) He delights his elders by obedience, the world by his conduct, his rela-
tions by respect, the good by the riches which they desire, myself by his patience in
bearing
my kingdom of the whole earth and Śauri (Vishṇu) by great devotion.
(Verse 32.) Ah! the auspicious streams of water, which drop from the feet of innu-
merable crowds of earth-gods (i.e., brāhmaṇas), who daily perform their
ablutions in his court-
yards, and which continually fill thousands of paths,
surpass the streams of the Gaṅgā,
which drop from the feet of one of the gods (viz.,
Vishṇu), and which are tired of their three
paths (viz., heaven, earth and
the lower world).
(Verse 33.) At holy Drākshārāma and at the sacred place of
Pīṭhapurī, this
charitable one joyfully founded two sattras for brāhmaṇas,
in order that they might daily
enjoy their meals (there) till the end of the
kalpa.
(Verse 34.) On the north side of a lovely agrahāra of good people, which is famed
by
the name of Chellūru, he whose mind is full of compassion caused to be constructed
a large
pond which is filled with sweet water.
(Verse 35.) By its water, which glitters like the moon, and which is daily enjoyed
by
numberless brāhmaṇas who resemble Agastya, this (pond) repeatedly laughs, as it
were, at
the ocean, which was completely drunk up by the pitcher-born (Agastya).
(Verse 36.) On the west side of that village, this powerful, mighty and charitable
chief
of the Vaishṇavas caused to be built a temple of Vishṇu.
(Verse 37.) In this lofty (temple), which is as white as the rays of the moon,
which is
the abode of splendour (or Lakshmī) and which pleases the eye, the god
himself, who is the
husband of Lakshmī, made his appearance, his conch and discus being
distinctly visible.
(Line 102.) “Be it known to you, that to this blessed lord Vishṇu (I)
gave for the
daily (performance of) charu, bali and pūjā and for the repairs of
gaps and cracks [the village
called Kolāṟu] in your district [with
exemption from all taxes, making it the property of the
temple, with a libation of
water.]”
(Line 104.) [The boundaries of this village are:——on the east•••••]
(Line 109.) Nobody shall cause obstruction to this (grant). He who does it,
becomes
possessed of the five great sins. And the holy Vyāsa has said: [Here
follow three of the
customary imprecatory verses.]
(Line 113.) The executors (ājñapti) of this edict (śāsana), which was
given in the twenty-
first year of the glorious and victorious reign, (were)
the five ministers (pañcha pradhānāḥ).
The author of the poetry (was)
Viddaya-bhaṭṭa. The writer (was) Pennāchāri.
This inscription is dated in the twenty-fifth year of Ko-Rājarāja-Rājakesarivar-
man, alias Rājarāja-deva. It states, that the king “built a
jewel-like hall at Kān-
daḷūr,” and then gives a list of the countries,
which he is said to have conquered. Among
them Veṅgai-nāḍu is the well-known
country of Veṅgī; Gaṅga-pāḍi and Nuḷamba-
pāḍi are found
on Mr. Rice's Map of Mysore; Kuḍamalai-nāḍu, “the western hill-
country,” is Coorg; Kollam is Quilon; Kaliṅgam is the country
between the Godāvarī
and Mahānadī rivers; Īṛa-maṇḍalam is Ceylon;
Iraṭṭa-pāḍi is the Western Chālukyan
empire; and the
Śer̥yas are the Pāṇḍyas. I have been unable to identify Taḍigai-
pāḍi.
Sir Walter Elliot's and Dr. Burnell's tentative lists of Choḷa kings
contain a king
Rājarāja, who reigned from 1023 to 1064 A.D. These figures rest on
three Eastern
Chalukya grants, of which two have since been published by Mr. Fleet and
one has been
edited and translated above (No. 39). From these three grants it appears, that the
Rājarāja,
who reigned from Śaka 944 to 985, was not a Choḷa king, but a king of
Veṅgī, and that
his insertion in the list of Choḷa kings was nothing but a
mistake.
The historical portion of the subjoined inscription is almost identical with lines 166
to
173 of the large Leyden grant and must belong to the same king. The Leyden
grant states
that Rājarāja conquered Satyāśraya (line 65). This name was
borne as a surname by no
less than six of the carlier Western Chalukya kings and was
also the name of one of the
later Western Chālukyas. From certain unpublished
inscriptions of the Tanjore Temple it
can be safely inferred, that Rājarāja-deva was
the predecessor of Rājendra-Choḷa-
deva, the enemy of the Western
Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III., who ruled from about
Śaka 944 to about
964. Hence the Satyāśraya mentioned in the Leyden grant might
be
identified with the Western Chālukya king Satyāśraya II., who ruled
from Śaka 919 to
about 930; and the Choḷa king Rājarāja,
who issued the large Leyden grant and the
inscriptions Nos. 40, 41 and 66 of the present
volume, with that Rājarāja of the Sūrya-
vaṁśa, whose daughter
Kūndavā was married to the Eastern Chalukya king Vimalā-
ditya, who reigned from Śaka 937 (?) to 944. As
Rājarāja-deva boasts in his inscrip-
tions of having conquered
Veṅgai-nāḍu, the country of the Eastern Chalukyas, this
marriage was
probably a forced one and the result of his conquest of Vimalāditya. The
identification of the Rājarāja-deva of the Leyden grant and of Nos.
40, 41 and 66 with
the father of Kūndavā is confirmed by the Koṅgu
Chronicle, where some of his charities are
placed in Śaka 926. The
Koṅgu Chronicle further suggests the probability of identify-
ing
Kāndaḷūr, where Rājarāja-deva built a hall (śālā), with
Chidambaram, as it
records that “he enlarged the temples at Chidambaram and erected
all kinds of towers,
walls, maṇḍapas, flights of steps, etc., and other matters.”
From this and the next-following inscription we learn that Māmallapuram
belonged
to Āmūr-nāḍu, a division of Āmūr-koṭṭam,
and that the name of the Shore Temple was
Jalaśayana. The purport of the inscription
is a new division of the land of the town of
Māmallapuram, which had been agreed upon
by the citizens.
Hail! Prosperity! In the twenty-fifth year of (the reign of) the illustrious
Ko-Rāja-
rāja-Rājakesarivarman, alias the illustrious
Rājarāja-deva, who,——while both the
goddess of fortune and the great goddess of the
earth, who had become his exclusive
property, gave him pleasure,——was pleased to build a jewel
(-like) hall (at) Kāndaḷūr and
conquered by his army, which was
victorious in great battles, Veṅgai-nāḍu, Gaṅga-
pāḍi, Nuḷamba-pāḍi,
Taḍigai-pāḍi, Kuḍamalai-nāḍu, Kollam, Kaliṅgam, Īṛa-
maṇḍalam, which
is famed in the eight quarters, and Iraṭṭa-pāḍi, (the revenue from
which
amounts to) seven and a half lakshas; who,——while his beauty was increasing,
and while he was
resplendent (to such an extent) that he was always worthy to be
worshipped,——deprived the
Śer̥yas of their splendour,——We, the middle-aged citizens
of this town, unanimously made
the following contract, while assembled in the
tirunandāvana to the south of (the temple of)
Jalaśayana-deva at Māmallapuram, the chief town of the fifty
(villages called after)
Pudukkuḍaiyāṉ Ekadhīra, which form
part of Āmūr-koṭṭam.
(Line 21.) The wet land, white (?) land, garden land, dry land and all other
taxable (?) land of our town shall be divided into four lots of one hundred
maṉais. One lot
of (the land), which has been divided into four
lots according to this contract, shall be a
lot of twenty-five maṉais
(which belongs) to the inhabitants of (the quarter of) Ka[ḍu]mbi-
ḍugu-śeri (alias) Śaṁkara-pāḍi of this town. The remaining
three lots shall be a lot of
seventy-five maṉais. The maṉais (of) the land
(included in) the contract of division into lots
may be sold, mortgaged, or used for
meritorious gifts; (but) the maṉais (of) the land shall be
given away as defined
by the contract of the division into lots. The previous definition shall
be wholly cancelled.
The fruit-trees, which stand in the various parts of the lands divided
into lots, shall be
enjoyed by the owner of the respective lot. Those (trees) which stand on
the causeways
between the rice-fields, shall belong to (the whole of) the hundred
maṉais.
Among those who are without land and are over the age of sixteen,——from those
who are
engaged in trade half a kaṛañju of gold (poṉ), from those who work for
hire one-eighth of a
poṉ and for (each) turn as ploughmen (?) three-eighths of a
poṉ shall be taken at the end of
the year. From those who do not submit to this
contract, further twenty-five kaṛañjus of
gold shall be taken besides as a fine. We,
the middle-aged citizens of the town, have unani-
mously established this
contract.
(Line 58.) I, Tiruveḷaṟai Muvāyirattu-eṛunūṟṟuvaṉ, the karaṇam
of this town,
who worships the holy feet (of the god), wrote this contract according to
the orders of the
middle-aged citizens. This is my signature.
The historical-part of this inscription is identical with that of the preceding one;
its
date is the twenty-sixth year of Ko-Rājarāja-Rājakesarivarman, alias
Rāja-Rāja-
rāja-deva.
The inscription, which is unfortunately mutilated, mentions three temples, two of which
were
called after and consequently built by Pallava kings. The first of these two is
Jala-
śayana or Kshatriyasiṁha-Pallava-Īśvara-deva. That
Jalaśayana was the name
of the Shore Temple itself, appears clearly from the inscription No.
40. The second name
for it, which is furnished by the present inscription, proves that the
Shore Temple was a
foundation of a Pallava king Kshatriyasiṁha. The second
temple mentioned in the
subjoined inscription is Rājasiṁha-Pallava-Īśvara-deva,
which, as appears from one
of the Kāñchīpuram inscriptions (No. 24, verse 10), was the
original name of the Kailāsa-
nātha Temple at Kāñchī. The
name of the third temple, Paḷḷikoṇḍaruḷiya-deva,
(literally: “the god who is
pleased to sleep”) may perhaps refer to the Śrīraṅganāyaka
Temple at
Paḷḷikoṇḍa near Viriñchipuram and would then explain the origin of the
name
Paḷḷikoṇḍa.
Hail! Prosperity! In the twenty-sixth year of (the reign of) the illustrious
Ko-Rāja-
rāja-Rājakesarivarman, alias the illustrious
Rāja-Rājarāja-deva, etc.——We, the
middle-aged citizens of
Māmallapuram, a town in Āmūr-nāḍu, (a division) of Āmūr-
koṭṭam••••• of (the temples of) Jalaśayana, (alias)
Kshatriyasiṁha-Pallava-
Īśvara-deva at this town, and of
Rājasiṁha-Pallava-Īśvara-deva, and of Paḷḷi-
koṇḍaruḷiya-deva.•••••
(Line 31.)••• of the fifty (villages called after) Pudukkuḍaiyāṉ
Ekadhīra, which
form part of this koṭṭam.•••••
This inscription is dated in the ninth year of Vīra-Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. It
records
the gift of a piece of land from the great assembly (mahāsabhā) of
Śi[ṟi]davūr, alias Nara-
siṁha-maṅgalam to “our lord
of Tirukkaḍalmallai.” By this the Shore Temple at
Māmallapuram seems to be
meant.
Hail! In the ninth year of (the reign of) the illustrious
Vī[ra]-Rājendra-Śoṛa-
deva, we, the great assembly (mahāsabhā)
of Śi[ṟi]davūr, alias Narasiṁha-maṅgalam,
gave to our lord
(of) Tirukkaḍalmallai as exclusive property, with exemption from
taxes,
5 rice-fields (taḍi), consisting of 2,000 kur̥s (of land; 1.
at) Maṅgalachcheṟu to the south
of the Ukkāviri channel (at)
our village; and (2. at) Nārāyaṇaṉ-māṅgalūr,
alias
Kūttāḍi-paṭṭi, where (the temple of) this god (?
kuṟiyāṉ) stands.
This and the next-following seven inscriptions record grants to Jvarakhaṇḍeśvara-
svāmin of Velūr, i.e., to the Vellore Temple, which is nowadays
called Jalakaṇṭhe-
śvara. The name of the temple is
spelt Jvarakaṇḍeśvara in five inscriptions,
Jvarakaṇṭheśvara in two
others and Jvarakaṇḍheśvara in one of them. The Sanskrit
original of these various
forms seems to have been Jvarakhaṇḍeśvara. Jvarakhaṇḍa,
“the destroyer of fever,”
would be a synonym of Jvarahara, which is applied to Śiva in
the name of one
of the Kāñchīpuram temples.
The inscriptions Nos. 43 to 46 are dated on the same day of the Akshaya year,
which
was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1488, and during the reign of
Sadāśiva-
deva-mahārāyar. They record grants which were made to the
Vellore Temple at the
request of Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of Velūr by the
mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Tirumalaiya-
deva-mahārāja, also called
Tirumalai-rājayaṉ, (the younger brother of) Rāmarāja,
with the
consent of Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar.
The historical results obtained from these four inscriptions are:——
1. That Sadāśiva-deva of Vijayanagara was still alive in 1566-67 A.D.,
i.e., ten
years after the latest grant mentioned in my second paper on the
Karṇāṭa Dynasty.
2. That, after the death of his elder brother Rāma, Tirumala-rāja of
Karṇāṭa
continued to acknowledge the king of Vijayanagara
as his sovereign and submitted to the
title of mahāmaṇḍaleśvara.
3. The Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of the four inscriptions is perhaps identical
with
“Bommi Reddi or Naidu,” to whom tradition assigns the foundation of the Vellore
Temple.
The Viḷāpāka grant of Veṅkaṭa I. of Karṇāṭa dated Śaka 1523 mentions a
certain
Liṅga-bhūpāla, son of Velūri-Bomma-nr̥pati and grandson of
Vīrappa-nāyaka-
kshmāpa. Velūri-Bomma is
evidently the same as Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of Velūr.
From the title
“prince”, which the Viḷāpāka grant attributes to Bomma and to his father
and son, it follows
that his family were petty chiefs under the kings of Karṇāṭa, who were
again
nominally dependent on the kings of Vijayanagara.
The inscription No. 43, as mentioned in Sewell's Lists of Antiquities,
records the gift
of the village of Aṟappakkam, where it is still found.
Let there be prosperity! Hail! After Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka (of) Velūr
had made a
petition to the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara
Rāmarāja-Tirumalaiya-deva-mahārāja,——
Tirumalai-rājayaṉ, having made a petition
at the feet of Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar,
gave the village of Aṟappakkam
to (the temple of) Jvarakaṇḍeśvara-svāmin (at)
Velūr for
(providing) all kinds of enjoyments, on Wednesday the twelfth lunar day of
the
latter half of the month of Kumbha of the Akshaya-saṁvatsara, which was
current after the
Śaka year 1488 (had passed), while the illustrious
Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar was
pleased to rule the earth.
(Line 21.) “Of a gift and protection, protection is more meritorious than a gift; by
a
gift one obtains (only) heaven, by protection the eternal abode.”
The object of the grant is “the village of Murukkeri-Śiṟṟeri within (the
boundaries
of) Arugūr,” i.e., of the modern Ariyūr.
The object of the grant is the village of Arumbaritti.
The object of the grant is the village of Śadupperi.
This and the next-following two inscriptions are dated on the same day of the
yuva
year, which was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1497, and during the
reign of
the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Śrīraṅga-deva-mahārāyar. They record
grants to the Vellore
Temple, which were made at the request of Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka
of Velūr by
Kr̥shṇappa-nāyaka Ayyaṉ, with the consent of
Śrīraṅga-deva-mahārāyar.
The Śrīraṅga-deva mentioned in Nos. 47 to 49 is Śrīraṅgarāya I. of
Karṇāṭa, of
whom we have copper-plate grants of Śaka 1497 and 1506. An inscription of his tributary
Kr̥shṇappa-nāyaka dated Śaka 1500
has been translated by Mr. Rice. On Śiṉṉa-
Bommu-nāyaka of Velūr, see the introduction of No. 43.
The inscription No. 47 records the gift of the village of Śattuvāchcheri, where it
is
still found.
Let there be prosperity! Hail ! After Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka (of)
Velūr had made
a petition at the feet of Kr̥shṇappa-nāyaka
Ayyaṉ,——Kr̥shṇappa-nāyaka Ayyaṉ,
having made a petition at the feet of
Śrīraṅga-deva-mahārāyar, gave the village of
Śattuvāchcheri to (the
temple of) Jvarakaṇḍheśvara-svāmin (at) Velūr for (provid-
ing) all kinds of enjoyments, on Wednesday the thirteenth lunar day of the dark
half of the
month of Makara of the Yuva-saṁvatsara, which was current after the
Śaka year 1497 (had
passed), while the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara
Śrīraṅga-deva-mahārāyar was pleased
to rule the earth.
(Line 22.) “Of a gift and protection,” etc. Let there be prosperity !
The object of the grant is the village of Śeṇbaga-Perumāḷ-nallūr, i.e., the
modern
Śamaṅginellūr.
The object of the grant is the village of Perumugai (?), i.e., the modern Perumai.
Let there be prosperity ! The village of Śekkaṉūr was given for (the requirements
of)
daily worship to (the temple of) Jvarakaṇḍeśvara-svāmin (at)
Velūr. Let there be
prosperity !
This rock-inscription is written in bold archaic letters; the lines are irregular and
very
close to each other. The inscription is dated in the twenty-sixth year of a king
called
Kaṉṉara-deva, and records that Velūr-pāḍi was given to the temple
of Paṉṉapeśvara
on the top of the hill of Śūdāḍupārai
(Śūdāḍupārai-malai) by Nuḷambaṉ Tribhuvana-
dhīra,
alias Muḍi-melaṉ Śrī-Pallava-Murāri. Another Nuḷambaṉ, the first
part of
whose name is indistinct on the stone, and who was probably a relation of Nuḷambaṉ
Tri-
bhuvanadhīra, seems to have received Velūr-pāḍi together with the
hill of Śūdāḍupārai
from Vīra-Choḷa. Velūr-pāḍi is probably the
same as Velapāḍi, a suburb of Vellore,
near which the Bavāji Hill is situated, and
which is supposed to be the oldest part of the town.
Śūdāḍupārai-malai must have been the old name of the
Bavāji Hill. It was situated
in the north of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, a division of
Paḍuvūr-koṭṭam. The Śiva temple on
its top had been founded by, and was
called after, a certain Paṉṉappai.
Besides the present Tamil inscription, five obliterated Telugu inscriptions are found on
the
top of the Bavāji Hill. Four of them mention a certain Nallaguruvayya; one
of
these four inscriptions is dated in Śaka 1539, the Piṅgaḷa year.
Hail! In the twenty-sixth year of (the reign of) the illustrious Kaṉṉara-deva,
I,
Nuḷambaṉ Tribhuvanadhīra, gave, with a libation of water, to
(the temple of) Paṉ-
ṉapeśvara, which Paṉṉappai had
caused to be erected on the hill of Śūdāḍupārai
(Śūdāḍupārai-malai),
which is situated in the north of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu in Paḍuvūr-koṭṭam,
to
be enjoyed as long as the moon and the sun endure, Velūr-pāḍi, (a village) of
this nāḍu,
(which)••• Nuḷambaṉ had received from Vīra-Śoṛar,
together with the hill of Śūdāḍu-
pārai, as a lasting gift. I, Muḍi-melaṉ, the illustrious Pallava-Murāri,
(shall be) the
servant of those who protect this charitable gift. He who injures this
charitable gift, shall
incur the sin committed by those who commit (a sin) near the
Gaṅgā (or) Kumari.
This inscription is dated in the Pramāthin year, which was the 17th year of
Sakalaloka-
chakravartin Śambuvarāya. This date is at variance with that
of a Kāñchīpuram
inscription, according to which the Vyaya year and the Śaka year
1268 corresponded to the
9th year of Sakalalokachakravartin Rājanārāyaṇa
Śambuvarāyar, and we must
either assume that the 9th year is a
misreading for the 24th year, or that the king mentioned
at Kāñchīpuram and that of the
present inscription are two different persons.
The inscription is a receipt for the cost of a kāṇi, which a certain
Tiruveṅgaḍam-
uḍaiyāṉ seems to have sold to the
villagers of Nīlakaṇṭha-chaturvedi-maṅgalam
and of
Śrī-Mallinātha-chaturvedi-maṅgalam. The first of these two villages was
also
called Gāṅgeya-nallūr (the modern Gāṅganūr) and was situated
in Karaivar̥-
Āndi-nāḍu.
On the day of (the nakshatra) Rohiṇi, which corresponds to Monday, the first lunar
day
of the former half of the month of Ṛishabha of the Pramāthin year,
(which was) the 17th year
of (the reign of) Sakalalokachakravartin, who,
having conquered fortune, took the earth,
Śambuvarāya,——Whereas I,
Kottaṉpākkam-uḍaiyāṉ's (son) Tiruveṅgaḍam-
uḍaiyāṉ, gave to the great people of Gāṅgeya-nallūr, alias
Nīlakaṇṭha-chaturvedi-
maṅgalam, a village in
Karaivar̥-Āndi-nāḍu, and to the great people of Śrī-Malli-
nātha-chaturvedi-maṅgalam a receipt for the cost of a kāṇi;••••• I,
Kot-
tambākkam-uḍaiyāṉ's (son)
Tiruveṅgaḍam-uḍaiyāṉ, (hereby declare, that I) gave a
receipt for the cost
of a kāṇi, (as measured by ?) the accountant of these villages, to the great
people of
Nīlakaṇṭha-chaturvedi-maṅgalam and to the great people of Śrī-Malli-
nātha-chaturvedi-maṅgalam. This [is the signature of]
Tiruveṅgaḍam-uḍaiyā[ṉ].
This inscription is written in archaic characters; it is much obliterated, and incomplete
at
the end. The date is the twenty-third year of Ko-Vijaya-[Siṁha]vikramavarman.
The
inscription records a grant to the Vishṇu temple at Kāṭṭuttumbūr, which
was
probably another name of Śoṛapuram. The temple had been founded by the same
person or
persons who made the grant. The object granted was a piece of land at
Kanakavalli, which,
like Kāṭṭuttumbūr itself, belonged to
Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, a division of Paḍuvūr-koṭṭam.
Hail! In the twenty-third year of (the reign of) the illustrious
Ko-Vijaya-[Siṁha]-
vikramavarman,——having caused a sacred temple to be
erected to Nārāyaṇa-
bhaṭṭāraka (at) Kāṭṭuttumbūr
in Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, (a division) of Paduvūr-koṭṭam,
[I
gave] to it a piece of land below the tank (at) Kanakavalli in the same
nāḍu and the
same koṭṭam, which [I] called “the sacred land of
Vishṇu (at) Kanakavalli,” for the
worship at the three times (of
the day), for the sacred food at the three times, (for) the
nandā lamp
(and) for the worshipper.
This inscription is dated in the reign of the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara
Vīrapratāpa-Deva-
rāya-mahārāya (of Vijayanagara) and in Śaka
1353, the Sādhāraṇa year. It records that
the family (kuḍi) of
Māraṇaṉ-uḷḷiṭṭār, which belonged to Pallava-nallūr, was given
to the
temple at Teḷḷaiyūr (the modern Teḷḷūr), alias
Pukkaḷappuram, which belonged
to Vaḍapuri-Āndi-nāḍu in
Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, a division of Paḍuvūr-koṭṭam
in
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Choḷa-maṇḍalam.
Hail! On the day of (the nakshatra) Tiruvoṇam, which corresponds to
Monday, the
fifth lunar day of the former half of the month of Karkaṭaka of the
Sādhāraṇa year (and) the
Śaka year 1353, while the illustrious
mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the conqueror of hostile kings, the
destroyer of those kings who
break their word, the lord of the eastern, southern, western
and northern occans, the
illustrious Vīrapratāpa-Devarāya-mahārāya was pleased to
rule the earth,——Whereas
(we),••••• gave a dharmaśāsana to (the temple of) the lord
of
Teḷḷaiyūr, alias Pukkaḷappuram, a village in
Vaḍapuri-Āndi-nāḍu, (which belongs)
to Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, (a
division) of Paḍuvūr-koṭṭam in Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam;
——We
(hereby declare, that we) gave to this lord the family (called)
Māraṇaṉ-uḷḷiṭṭār,
which belongs to Pallava-nallūr, as a family
(which has to maintain) a tirunandā lamp,
with a libation of water, as a
meritorious gift, to last as long as the moon and the sun.
These
Māraṇaṉ-uḷḷiṭṭār, who were thus given, shall attend to (the worship of)
this lord,
wherever they are. The whole family (named in) this dharmaśāsana,
(together with) their
descendants, shall be the family of this lord. If there is anybody
who injures this dharma-
śāsana, which was thus given, he shall incur the
sin of one who has killed a tawny cow on
the bank of the Gaṅgā. Let
Maheśvara be the protector!
This inscription is dated in Śaka 132[8] expired and the Vyaya year current. It is
a
deed of sale of the revenue in gold and the revenue in rice of one half of the village
of
Veppambaṭṭu and of the village of Śiṟu-Kaḍambūr. The first-mentioned
village
belonged to Āndi-nāḍu, a division of Agara-paṟṟu. Both villages
are stated to have
been granted to the temple of Virūpāksha-deva at
Veppambaṭṭu by Vīrapratāpa-
Bukka-mahārāyar (of
Vijayanagara), and the temple itself is said to have been conse-
crated one year
before the date of the inscription in the Pārthiva year, i.e., Śaka 1328
current.
This date is puzzling, as it does not agree with other inscriptions, according to
which Bukka's
son Harihara II. was reigning in Śaka 1301 and 1321.
The cost of one half of the first village and of the second village as well as the total
are
given in kuḷapramāṇas or kuḷas of gold (poṉ) and in
paṇas. In line 2 of the south wall
another gold standard, called kovai, seems to
be mentioned. The numerous signs for fractions,
which occur throughout the inscription, are
palaeographically interesting.
Hail! Prosperity! Victory! Fortune! On Thursday, the new moon of the dark half
of
Jyaishṭha of the Vyaya year, which follows the Pārthiva year
(and) which was current after
the Śaka year 132[8] (had passed), after having
bathed, we gave as a sarvamānya, to last as
long as the moon and the sun, all the
revenue in gold and all the revenue in rice, excluding
tolls, offerings,
māmagam (and) iḍattuṟai, including the tax on oil-mills, the tax
for the
Veṭṭi, the holy first fruits, the money from the sale of the
fish in the tanks, the tax on
Uvachchas and the tax for the
washermen, against (payment of the sum detailed below):——(1.)
242 kuḷapramāṇas
of gold and 4(1/16) paṇas——equal to 36 kovais (?) of gold and 5(1/8)
paṇas——for
one village, (viz.) Veppambaṭṭu (in)
Āndi-nāḍu, (a division of) Agara-paṟṟu, which, as
the
consecration of the temple took place on a former day, (viz.) on Thursday, the
twelfth
lunar day of the bright half of Vaiśākha, was given from that day forward by a
dharmaśāsana,
for (providing) enjoyments of all kinds and rice
to (the temple of) Virūpāksha-deva (at)
Veppambaṭṭu by the
illustrious mahārājādhirāja-rājaparameśvara, the illustrious Vīra-
pratāpa-Bukka-mahārāyar; having deducted from this (sum of 242
kuḷapramāṇas of gold
and 4(1/16) paṇas) 121 kuḷapramāṇas of gold and 2
paṇas for the (first) half of the village,
which was given as a
sarvamānya to the Brāhmaṇas studying the Vedas, (who are
connected)
with (the temple of) the lord Virūpāksha-deva, (there
remain to be paid) 121 kuḷas of gold
and 2(1/16) paṇas for the
(second) half of the village; (2.) 162 kuḷapramāṇas of gold and 4(1/2),
(1/5),
(1/40) paṇas for 1 village, (viz.) Śiṟu-Kaḍambūr•••••• , in
all, 283 kuḷas of gold and
6(3/4), (3/80) paṇas for the 1(1/2) villages
(viz., 121 kuḷapramāṇas of gold and 2(1/16) paṇas for the second
half
of Veppambaṭṭu and 162 kuḷapramāṇas of gold and 4(1/2), (1/5), (1/40)
paṇas for Śiṟu-Kaḍambūr);
in words: two hundred and eighty-three
kuḷapramāṇas of gold and six and three fourths and
three eightieths paṇas (were
to be paid) for the one and a half villages, which were given
by a dharmaśāsana,
as a sarvamānya, for ever, from Thursday, the twelfth lunar day of the
bright half of
Vaiśākha (of) the Pārthiva year, for (providing) enjoyments of all kinds
and
rice (to the temple of) Virūpāksha-deva.
The signature of Aṟṟamari Ādi-Śiruppaṇaṅgaḷ.
This inscription is dated during the reign of Vīrapratāpa-Devarāya-mahārāja
(of
Vijayanagara) and in the Viśvāvasu year, which was current after the
expiration of the Śaka
year 1347. It refers to a question of the sacred law (dharma) of
the Brāhmaṇas, which was
settled by the Brāhmaṇas of the kingdom of
Paḍaivīḍu, among whom Karṇāṭa, Tamiṛ,
Telugu and Lāṭa
Brāhmaṇas are mentioned. Their representatives signed an agreement
to
the effect, that henceforth marriages among their families had only to be concluded
by
kanyādāna, i.e., that the father had to give his daughter to the bridegroom
gratuitously.
Both the father who accepted money, and the bridegroom who paid money for the
bride,
should be subject to punishment by the king and to excommunication from their
caste.
This practice was evidently adopted on the authority of the canonical works on sacred
law,
which condemn in strong terms the payment of money for the bride, and use the
term
āsura-vivāha for a marriage thus concluded. The four forms of marriage permitted
to
Brāhmaṇas are mere varieties of the marriage by kanyādāna.
To the end of the inscription a large number of signatures of Brāhmaṇas are
attached.
This part of the original is obliterated to such an extent that a satisfactory
transcript cannot
be given. In some cases, the places where the single Brāhmaṇas came
from, are registered.
As the identification of these localities might be useful for fixing the
extent of the kingdom
of Paḍaivīḍu, I subjoin those which may be read with
certainty: Kaḷañjiyam,
Kamalapādam, Marudam, Maṅgalam, Araiyapāḍi,
Kaṇṇamaṅgalam, A[ga]t-
terippaṭṭu, Enādapāḍi. Two
other inscriptions mention Guḍiyātam and Vallam
as belonging to the kingdom of Paḍavīḍu or
Paḍaveḍu. The kingdom of Paḍaivīḍu
(Paḍaivīṭṭu
rājyam) was called after the town of Paḍaivīḍu, now Paḍaveḍu in the
Polūr
Tālluqa of the North Arcot District. According to two
Vijayanagara inscriptions, it
formed a district of Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam. The name Paḍaivīḍu means “an encamp-
ment” and seems to owe
its origin to a temporary camp of some king, around which a city
arose in course of time.
Let there be prosperity! Hail! On the day of (the nakshatra) Anusham,
which corre-
sponds to Wednesday, the sixth lunar day, the 3rd (solar day) of
the month of Paṅguṉi of the
Viśvāvasu year, which was
current after the Śaka year 1347 (had passed), while the
illustrious
mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara, the illustrious
Vīrapratāpa-Devarāya-mahārāja was
pleased to rule the earth,——the great men of
all branches of sacred studies of the kingdom
(rājyam) of Paḍaivīḍu drew
up, in the presence of (the god) Gopinātha
(of)
Arkapushkariṇī, a document (which contains) an agreement fixing
the sacred law.
According to (this document), if the Brāhmaṇas of this kingdom
(rājyam) of Paḍaivīḍu, viz.,
Kaṉṉaḍigas, Tamiṛas, Teluṅgas,
Ilāḷas, etc., of all gotras, sūtras and śākhās
conclude
a marriage, they shall, from this day forward, do it by kanyādāna. Those who
do not adopt
kanyādāna, i.e., both those who give a girl away after having received
gold, and those who
conclude a marriage after having given gold, shall be liable to punishment
by the king and
shall be excluded from the community of Brāhmaṇas. These are the
contents of the
document which was drawn up.
The following are the signatures of the great men of all branches of sacred
studies:——
..........
This inscription records that in the Saumya year, which was current after the
expiration
of Śaka 1471, the pavement of the outer courtyard of the Viriñchipuram
Temple was laid
by Bommu-nāyaka, who is evidently the same person as
Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka or
Bomma-nr̥pati of Velūr.
On this occasion, the other inscribed stones which are
noticed in part III, must have found
their way into the floor of the temple.
Let there be prosperity! On Thursday, the day of (the nakshatra) Punarvasu,
which
corresponds to the seventh lunar day of the former half of the month of Mesha of
the Saumya
year, which was current after the Śālivāha-Śaka year 1471 (had
passed),——in order to
procure religious merit to Māchcha(?)-nāyaka (of)
Velūr,——prince Bommu-nāyaka
laid the pavement round the whole
(temple).
This inscription is dated during the reign of Veṅkaṭapati-deva-mahārāyar and in
the Nandana year, which was current after the expiration of the
Śaka year 1514. It records
that Periya-Eṟama-nāyaka of Puṉṉāṟṟūr
granted a house (maṉai) and some land for
a maṭha to
Ānanda-Namaśivāya-paṇḍāram. The grant was made at the Mārgasa-
hāyeśvara Temple of Tiru-Viriñchapuram (Viriñchipuram).
Hail! On the 6th solar day of the month of Tai of the Nandana year, which
was
current after the Śaka year 1514 (had passed), while the illustrious
mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the
hero (Gaṇḍa), the dagger (Kaṭṭāri), the
hawk (Sāḷuva), the illustrious Veṅkaṭapati-deva-
mahārāyar was
pleased to rule the earth,——in the presence of (the god)
Mārgasahāyeśvara
(of) Tiru-Viriñchapuram,——Periya-Eṟama-nāyaka
(of) Puṉṉāṟṟūr ordered a house
(maṉai) on the northern side of
the holy street (tiru-vīthi) of Vāṇḍarāyaṉ (to be given for)
a
maṭha to Ānanda-Namaśivāya-paṇḍāram, the worshipper (i.e.,
pupil ?) of the guru
Namaśivāya-mūrti (of) Chidambaram, in
order to procure religious merit to Śaṁ-
karappa-nāyaka Ayaṉ, the son
of Māya (?)-nāyaka (of) Velūr. This house for the
maṭha
consists of 1 house to the east of the house of Tryambaka and to the west of the
house
of Mūrti-māṇikkam, and of a house-garden of 41 feet. To this meritorious gift
of a
maṭha we gave, with a libation of water, for each day a kuṟuṇi of
rice (? prasāda) under
mortgage, and the connexion under mortgage with
(a piece of) land in the agrahāra (of)
Ūṟaṇḍaṉ-tāṅgal. The
succession of sons (which consists of) the succession of pupils
shall
enjoy this maṭha as long as the moon and the sun endure. Whosoever injures
this
meritorious gift of a maṭha, that man shall incur the sin of one who has killed a
black cow
on the bank of the Gaṅgā.
These inscriptions (Nos. 59 to 64) are dated during the reign of a king
called
Tribhuvanachakravartin Rājarāja-deva. His twenty-second year
corresponded to Śaka
1160 (Nos. 59 and 60), his twenty-fourth year to Śaka 1161 (Nos. 61 and
62) and his twenty-
eighth year was current after the expiration of Śaka 1165 (No.
64). Accordingly, the
first year of his reign corresponded to the Śaka year 1137-38.
The inscriptions record that the Keraḷa merchant Ādi-Rāma,
an inhabitant of “the
Hill-country,” i.e., of Malayāḷam, granted
three villages, which he had bought from a
certain Śambuvarāyaṉ, to the temple, on
the walls of which the inscriptions are found.
The temple had two names: 1.
Aruḷāḷa-Perumāḷ of Poygai, alias
Rājendra-Choḷa-
nallūr, and 2.
Chitra-mer̥-Malai-maṇḍala-Viṇṇagara. The technical meaning
of
chitra-mer̥, “the beautiful plough-tail,” is not clear. The remainder of the second
name
means “the Vishṇu temple of the Hill-country.” Probably the donor
Rāma himself had
founded the temple and called it after his native country, viz.,
Malayāḷam.
The full name of Śambuvarāyaṉ, from whom Rāma bought the three
villages
which he granted to the Poygai Temple, was Śeṅgeṇi-Vīrāśani- Ammaiappaṉ
(or Ammaiyappaṉ) Aṛagiya-Śoṛaṉ, alias
Edirili-Śoṛa-Śambuvarāyaṉ. He seems
to have
been a vassal of Rājarāja-deva.
This inscription is dated in the twenty-second year of
Tribhuvanachakravartin
Rājarāja-deva and in the Śaka year 1160. It records
the gift of the village of Kumāra-
maṅgalam, which was situated east of
Koṟṟa-maṅgalam, north-west of Aimbūṇḍi——
which lay to the north of
Poygai, alias Rājendra-Choḷa-nallūr——and south of the
Pālaṟu.
Aimbūṇḍi is the old name of the modern village of Ammuṇḍi; it occurs
also in
an Ammuṇḍi inscription, which will be noticed in Part III (No. 131). The
Pālāṟu
is the well-known Pālār, the chief river of the North Arcot
District.
Hail! Prosperity! [In the month of] Tai of the twenty-second year of the
illustrious
Tribhuvanachakravartin, the illustrious Rājarāja-deva, which was
current during the Śaka
year one thousand one hundred and sixty,——I,
Śeṅgeṇi-Vīrāśani-Ammaiyappaṉ, who
has gained victory standing by himself, who
shows his sword, Aṛagiya-Śoṛaṉ, alias
Edirili••••• , after having
received gold from Rāma the Keraḷa, a slave
(i.e., worshipper) of
Āya-īṉār,——gave to the Vishṇu temple of
Chitra-mer̥-Malai-
maṇḍala, alias (the temple of)
Aruḷāḷa-Perumāḷ, (at) Poygai, alias Rājendra-Śoṛa-
nallūr, (the village of) Kumāra-maṅgalam as exclusive
property, to last as long as the
moon and the sun;——the boundary on the
western side is to the east of the tiruvār̥
stone put up at the
extremity of the boundary of Koṟṟa-maṅgalam; the boundary on the
southern side is
to the north of the channel of Aimbūṇḍi, which lies to the north
of
Poygai, alias Rājendra-Śoṛa-nallūr; the boundary on the eastern
side is to the west of
the tiruvār̥ stone put up at the extremity of the boundary of
Aimbūṇḍi; the boundary on
the northern side is to the south of the (river)
Pālāṟu;——the trees overground and the
wells underground, the wet land and the dry
land, included within these boundaries in the
four directions; including taxes and rights;
(the revenue for) one Veṭṭi, tolls (āyam), the
small
taxes (and) the large taxes for the village-police, the rice in Kārttika,
the unripe (fruit) in
Kārttika, and all other revenue in money; the tax on
looms, the tax on shops, the tax on
goldsmiths, the tax on oil-mills, the tax on
Ājīvakas, and all (other) revenue.
Of this inscription only the date remains, which is the same as in No. 59.
Hail! Prosperity! In the twenty-second year of Tribhuvanachakravartin, the
illustrious
Rājarāja-deva, which was current during the Śaka year one thousand one
hundred and
sixty•••••
This inscription is dated in the twenty-fourth year of Tribhuvanachakravartin
Rājarāja-
deva, and in the Śaka year 1161. It records the gift of the
village of Puttūr.
Hail! Prosperity! From the month of Tai of the twenty-fourth year of the
illustrious
Tribhuvanachakravartin, the illustrious Rājarāja-deva, which was
current during the
Śaka year one thousand one hundred and sixty-one,——I,
Vīrāśani-Ammaiyappaṉ
Aṛagiya-Śoṛaṉ, alias
Edirili-Śoṛa-Śambuvarāyaṉ, after having received gold
from Rāma the
Keraḷa a worshipper of Āya-īṉār (and an inhabitant) of
Malai-maṇ-
ḍalam,——gave to the Vishṇu temple of
Chitra-mer̥-Malai-maṇḍala, alias (the
temple of)
Aruḷāḷa-Perumāḷ, (at) Poygai, alias
Rājendra-Śoṛa-nallūr, (the village of)
Puttūr as exclusive
property:——the trees overground and the wells underground, the wet
land and the dry land,
included within the boundaries in the four directions; the taxes and
rights (which
obtain) within the boundaries in the four directions; all the revenue in paddy,
excluding
tolls and the small tax for the village-police, and including the three handfuls of
paddy (?);
the rice in Kārttika, the money in Kārttika, the unripe (fruit) in
Kārttika, veli-
payaṟu, the money from water and land, the
tax on looms, the tax on shops,••• the
tax on goldsmiths, the tax on
Ājīvakas, the tax on oil-mills, the money from (the sale of)
the fish in the
tank,••••• the money for documents, and all other revenue
in
money; the antarāyam; including all (other) revenue in paddy and
revenue in money,
including (that for) one Veṭṭi.
This inscription is a duplicate of No. 61. At the end some words are lost.
This short inscription refers to the gift of the village of Puttūr, which is also
recorded
in the two preceding inscriptions.
The merchant Ādi-Rāma the Keraḷa, who lived in Malai-nāḍu, where
the goddess
with the red flower (Lakshmī) resides, having decorated
Aruḷāḷar (of) Poygai, and
having acquired as exclusive property
(the village of) Puttūr, made it his (the god's) village.
This inscription is dated in the 28th year of Rājarāja-deva, which was current
after
the expiration of the Śaka year 1165. It records the gift of the village of
Attiyūr.
Hail! Prosperity! From the month of Karkaṭaka of the 28th year of the
illustrious
Rājarāja-deva, which was current after the Śaka year one thousand one
hundred
and sixty-five (had passed),——I, Śeṅgeṇi-Vīrāśani-Ammaiappaṉ
Aṛagiya-Śoṛaṉ,
alias Edirili-Śoṛa-Śambuvarāyaṉ, after having
received gold from the Keraḷa
merchant Rāma, a worshipper of
Āya-īṉār,——gave to the Vishṇu temple of Chitra-
mer̥-Malai-maṇḍala, alias (the temple of) Aruḷāḷa-Perumāḷ
(at) Poygai, (the village
of) Attiyūr as a divine gift
(devadāna) and as exclusive property:——the trees overground
and the wells underground,
the wet land and the dry land, included within the boundaries in
the four directions, excluding
the land (called) Paḷḷichchandam, Tukkai-paṭṭi, Piḍāri-
paṭṭi, Bhaṭṭa-vr̥tti and Vaidya-vr̥tti; the revenue in paddy, excluding (the revenue
for) one Veṭṭi,
tolls, and the tax for the overseer of the village-police and the accountant,
and including the
three handfuls of paddy (?); the taxes in money, including (that for)
cloths of males and females,••••• the money for documents,••• veli-payaru,
the gleaned rice,.••••• the tax on oil-mills
and the tax on Ājīvakas; including
all other revenue in paddy and revenue in
money.
This inscription records, that a number of people agreed to found a temple,
called
Okkaniṉṟa-nāyaṉār, and granted to it three velis
of land belonging to Tiru-Viruñcha-
puram, i.e.,
Viriñchipuram, and a tirumaḍaiviḷāgam.
Okkaniṉṟa-nāyaṉār was
evidently the name of the Vakkaṇāpuram Temple,
and may be connected with the modern
name of the village. A shrine of
Chaṇḍeśvara-nāyaṉār, the god, who is supposed to
preside over
the temple treasury, seems to have been attached to the temple.
Further, some land was granted to Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār, “the lord who is a com-
panion on the road.” This is the Tamil equivalent of Mārgasahāyeśvara, the
name of
the Viriñchipuram Temple, which occurs in No. 58.
The whole grant was entrusted to a certain Kambavāṇa-bhaṭṭa, whose name
also
appears among the signatures, which are attached to this document. Among these there
are
some curious denominations, which show that the villagers were fond of bearing royal
names.
Thus we find Vīra-Śoṛa-Brahmā-rāyaṉ, Mīṉavarāyaṉ,
Devarāyaṉ, Nandi-
varman, Muvendirayaṉ, and
Chedirāyaṉ. One of the witnesses signs half in Tamil,
half in Sanskrit; another was called after Śiṟṟambalam and a third hailed
from
Periya-nāḍu.
Let there be prosperity! According to the pleasure of Chaṇḍeśvara-nāyaṉār,
(the
following gifts were made over) to Āṛvār Kambavāṇa-bhaṭṭa.
From the month of Kārttika of the Siddhārthin year forward, the lord
Okkaniṉṟa-
nāyaṉār shall be placed in the dry land to the south of the
Devaneri (tank), (which belongs)
to the dry land of
Tiru-Viruñchapuram, the Okkaniṉṟāṉ-eri (tank) shall be con-
structed, and the reclaimable land below this tank and in other places, which are above
the
level of this water, shall be reclaimed. After they are reclaimed, three velis of
land below
this tank shall be placed at the disposal of this lord
Okkaniṉṟa-nāyaṉār as a divine gift,
as a sarvamānya (and) free from
taxes, to last as long as the moon and the sun. With the
exception of these three velis
of land, the elevated land shall be a divine gift to the lord
Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār.
(All the land) which pays taxes,——including the door-money (vāśal-
paṇam), which will be taken from all houses built round and in front of the holy
temple
of this Okkaniṉṟa-nāyaṉār,——shall belong to this
Okkaniṉṟa-nāyaṉār as the environs
of his temple (tirumaḍaiviḷāgam),
which shall be a sarvamānya (and) free from (other) taxes.
One kalam and four nār̥s of paddy and a quarter paṇam shall be
taken, including all
conditions (? upādhi), per hundred kur̥s of
the elevated land, which is reclaimed, in the year
during which it is reclaimed, with the
exception of those environs of the temple and the
three velis of land, (which
form) that divine gift. [The meaning of the next three clauses,
which contain some
unintelligible terms, seems to be, that in the next-following year, one
quarter, in the next,
one half, and in each further year, three quarters more than in the
first year should be
taken.] A document to this effect shall be engraved on the holy
mountain
(tirumalai). Let the blessed Maheśvara protect this
(gift).
This is the signature of the magistrate (adhikāram) Ilakkappaṉ. This is the
signa-
ture of Kambavāṇa-bhaṭṭa. This is (the signature) of
Dakshiṇāmūrti-bhaṭṭa. This
is the signature of
Tiruchchiṟṟambala-bhaṭṭa. This is the signature of Śaivādhirāja.
This
is the signature of Nambi of Periya-nāḍu. This is the signature of
Vīra-Śoṛa-
Brahmā-rāyaṉ. This is the signature of
Appar-āṇḍi. This is the signature of Sama-
ya-mantrin. This is
the signature of the illustrious Māheśvara-veḷāraṉ. This is the
signature of
Mīṉavarāyaṉ. This is the signature of Devarāyaṉ. This is the signa-
ture of Nandivarman. This is the signature of
Abhimānabhūshaṇa-veḷāṉ. This is
the signature of Muvendirayaṉ, the
accountant (kaṇakku) of the temple. This is the
signature of Chedirāyaṉ.
This inscription is dated in the 21st year of Ko-Rāja-Rājakesarivarman,
alias
Rājarāja-deva, and again (in words) in the twenty-first year of
Śoṛaṉ Arumor̥, the
lord of the river Poṉṉi, i.e., of the
Kāverī. The greater part of the historical portion of
this inscription is identical
with that of the two Māmallapuram inscriptions Nos. 40 and
41.
Iraṭṭa-pāḍi is, however, omitted from the list of the countries conquered by the
king.
Consequently Rājarāja-deva must have taken possession of
Iraṭṭapāḍi between his
twenty-first and his twenty-fifth years, the dates of Nos.
66 and 40 respectively.
The inscription records that a certain Guṇavīramāmunivaṉ built a sluice, which
he
called after a Jaina teacher, whose name was
Gaṇiśekhara-Maru-Poṟchūriyaṉ. The
Tirumalai Rock is
mentioned under the name Vaigai-malai, “the mountain of Vaigai.”
In Nos. 69 and 70, it
is called Vaigai-Tirumalai, “the holy mountain of Vaigai.”
The name Vaigai
seems to be connected with Vaigavūr, the name of the village at the
base of the rock,
which occurs in Nos. 67 and 68.
Hail! Prosperity! In the 21st year of (the reign of) the illustrious
Ko-Rāja-Rājake-
sarivarman, alias the illustrious
Rājarāja-deva, who,——while both the goddess of fortune
and the great goddess of the
earth, who had become his exclusive property, gave him
pleasure,——was pleased to build a
jewel-like hall at Kāndaḷūr and conquered by his army,
which was victorious in
great battles, Veṅgai-nāḍu, Gaṅga-pāḍi, Nuḷamba-pāḍi,
Taḍigai-pāḍi,
Kuḍamalai-nāḍu, Kollam, Kaliṅgam and Īṛa-maṇḍalam, which is
famed in the
eight directions; who,——while his beauty was increasing, and while he was resplend-
ent (to such an extent) that he was always worthy to be worshipped,——deprived
the Śer̥yas of
their splendour,——and (in words) in the twenty-first year of
Śoṛaṉ Arumor̥, who possesses
the river Poṉṉi, whose waters are full of
waves,——Guṇavīramāmunivaṉ, whose feet are
worshipped by kings of destructive
armies, the lord (? ko) of the cool Vaigai,——having
given a sluice, which is worthy of being preserved in a good state (and which is called) by
the
name of Gaṇiśekhara-Maru-Poṟchūriyaṉ, the pure master, who is skilled in the
elegant
arts and very clever,——saw the paddy grow for a long time on both sides of the
high
mountain of Vaigai (Vaigai-malai).
This inscription is dated in the 12th year of Ko-Parakesarivarman, alias
Uḍaiyār
Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. It opens with a long list of the countries which the
king had
conquered. Among these we find “the seven and a half lakshas (of revenue) of
Iraṭṭa-
pāḍi,” which Rājendra-Choḷa took from
Jayasiṁha. This conquest must have taken
place between his 7th and 10th years, as
another of Rājendra-Choḷa's inscriptions, which is
dated in his 7th year,
does not mention it, while it occurs in some unpublished Tanjore
inscriptions of
the 10th year. The Jayasiṁha of the present inscription can be no
other
than the Western Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III. (about Śaka 940 to
about 964), who,
according to the Miraj grant, “warred against the Chola,” and
who, in another inscription,
is called “the lion to the elephant
Rājendra-Choḷa.” Consequently, “the seven and
a half
lakshas. of Iraṭṭapāḍi” have to be taken as a designation of the
Chalukyan
empire, which, in two Eastern Chalukya grants, is
called “the Dekhan which yields seven
and a half lakshas.” As both
Rājendra-Choḷa and Jayasiṁha III. boast of having con-
quered
the other, it must be assumed that either the success was on both sides alternately, or
that
neither of the two obtained a lasting advantage. If, in order to identify
Rājendra-Choḷa,
the enemy of Jayasiṁha III., we turn to the table of the
Eastern Chalukya Dynasty,
which is found on page 32, above, we find that he cannot be
that Rājendra-Choḍa, who
reigned from Śaka 985 to 1034. Undoubtedly, the enemy of
Jayasiṁha III. was that
Rājendra-Choḍa of the Sūryavaṁśa, whose
daughter Ammaṅga-devī was married to
the Eastern Chalukya king Rājarāja
I. (Śaka 944 to 985). He is further identical with
that
Rājendra-Choḍa, who was the son of Rājarāja of the Sūryavaṁśa, and
whose
younger sister Kūndavā was married to the Eastern Chalukya king
Vimalāditya (Śaka
937 (?) to 944). From certain Tanjore
inscriptions it can be safely concluded, that he was
the successor of his father
Rājarāja-deva, whose time I have tried to fix in the introduc-
tion of
No. 40, above. Rājendra-Choḷa's name occurs also on the seal of the large
Leyden
grant, and he is in all probability identical with the Madhurāntaka, i.e.,
“the
destroyer of Madura,” who issued that grant after the death of his father
Rājarāja.
Among the other countries, which Rājendra-Choḷa is said to have conquered,
the
two first in the list are Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu, i.e., the country of
Eḍatore, the head-quarters
of a tālluqa in the Maisūr District, and Vaṉavāśi,
i.e., Banawāsi in the North Kanara
District of the Bombay Presidency. With
Koḷḷippākkai compare Kollipāke, which,
according to Mr. Fleet, was one of the capitals of the Western Chālukya king
Jayasiṁha
III. Īṛam or Īṛa-maṇḍalam is Ceylon. “The king of
the South” (Teṉṉavaṉ) is the
Pāṇḍya king. Of him the inscription says,
that he had formerly given the crown of
Sundara to the king of Ceylon, from whom
Rājendra-Choḷa took that crown of Sundara.
The name Sundara occurs in the
traditional lists of Pāṇḍya kings. In the present
inscription,
the term “the crown of Sundara” seems to be used in the sense of “the crown
of the
Pāṇḍya king,” and the composer of the historical part of the inscription seems
to
have known Sundara as a former famous member of the Pāṇḍya dynasty. But
no conclu-
sions as to the date of Sundara can be drawn from this mention
of his name. The names
of the Pāṇḍya king, who was conquered by the king of Ceylon,
and of the king of Ceylon,
who was conquered by Rājendra-Choḷa, are not mentioned.
The inscription further
records that Rājendra-Choḷa vanquished the
Keraḷa, i.e., the king of Malabar. With
Śakkara-koṭṭam, whose king
Vikrama-Vīra was defeated by Rājendra-Choḷa, compare
Chakrakoṭa, whose
lord was conquered by the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya
VI., and Chakragoṭṭa, which was taken by the Hoysaḷa king
Vishṇuvardhana.
Madura-maṇḍalam is the Pāṇḍya country,
the capital of which was Madura. Oḍḍa-
vishaya, the country of the
Oḍḍas or Oḍras and the U-cha of Hiuen-Tsiang, is the
modern Orissa. Kośalai-nāḍu is Southern Kosala, the
Kiao-sa-lo of Hiuen-Tsiang,
which, according to General Cunningham,
corresponds to the upper valley of the Mahānadī
and its tributaries.
Takkaṇalāḍam and Uttiralāḍam are Northern and Southern
Lāṭa
(Gujarāt). The former was taken from a certain Raṇaśūra.
Further, Rājendra-Choḷa asserts
that he conquered Vaṅgāḷa-deśa, i.e.,
Bengal, from a certain Govindachandra and
extended his operations as far as the
Gaṅgā. The remaining names of countries and kings
I have been unable to
identify.
The inscription mentions Tirumalai, i.e., “the holy mountain,” and records a
gift to
the temple on its top, which was called Kundavai-Jinālaya, i.e., the
Jina temple of
Kundavai. According to an Eastern Chalukya grant (and an unpublished Chidambaram
inscription), Kūndavā
(or Kundavai) was the name of the daughter of Rājarāja of
the
Sūryavaṁśa, the younger sister of Rājendra-Choḷa, and the queen of the
Eastern Chalukya
king Vimalāditya. The Tanjore inscriptions mention another, still
earlier Kundavai,
who was the daughter of the Choḷa king Parāntaka
II., the elder sister of the Choḷa king
Rājarāja-deva, and the queen of
the Pallava king Vandyadeva. It seems very pro-
bable that it was one of these two queens, viz., either the younger sister or
the aunt of the
then reigning sovereign Rājendra-Choḷa, who founded the temple on
the top of the Tiru-
malai Rock and called it after herself. As
Tirumalai is much closer to the Pallava
country, than to the country of the
Eastern Chalukyas, we shall scarcely be wrong in
attributing the foundation of the
temple rather to the king's aunt, who was a Pallava queen,
than to his younger sister,
who was married to an Eastern Chalukya king.
According to this and the next inscription, the village at the foot of the
Tirumalai
Hill bore the name of Vaigavūr and belonged to
Mugai-nāḍu, a division of Paṅgaḷa-
nāḍu, which formed part
of Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Choḷa-maṇḍalam.
With the text of the subjoined inscription, I have compared four other inscriptions
of
Rājendra-Choḷa, viz., 1. the inscription No. 68, which is likewise dated
in the 12th year;
2. an undated inscription of the Kailāsanātha Temple at
Uttaramallūr in the
Chingleput District, an impression of which I owe to the kindness
of Mr. R.Sewell;
3. an inscription of the Br̥hadīśvara Temple at Tanjore
(15th year); and 4. an
inscription of the Chidambaram Temple (24th year).
Hail! Prosperity! In the 12th year of (the reign of) Ko-Parakesarivarman,
alias
Uḍaiyār Śrī-Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, who,——during his long life
(which resembled that of)
pure people, (and in which) the great goddess of the
earth, the goddess of victory in battle,
and the beautiful and matchless goddess of fortune,
who had become his great queens, gave
him pleasure, while (his own) illustrious queen
was prospering,——conquered with (his) great
and warlike army Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu;
Vaṉavāśi, the roads (to which are bounded by) continuous
walls of trees;
Koḷḷippākkai, whose walls are surrounded by śuḷḷi (trees);
Maṇṇaikka-
ḍakkam of unapproachable strength; the crown of the king of
Īṛam, (which is situated in the
midst of) the rough sea; the exceedingly
beautiful crown of the queen of the king of that
(country); the crown of
Sundara, which the king of the South (i.e., the Pāṇḍya) had
formerly given
to that (king of Īṛam); the pearl-necklace of Indra; the whole Īṛa-maṇ-
ḍalam on the transparent sea; the crown praised by many, a family-treasure, which
the spear-
throwing (king of) Keraḷa usually wore; the garland of
the sun (?); many ancient
islands, which are the old and great guards of the shore, against
which conches are
dashed; the crown of pure gold, worthy of Lakshmī, which
Paraśurāma, who, out of
anger, bound the kings twenty-one times in battle, having
thought the fort of the island of
Śāndima (i.e., Śāntimat ?)
unapproachable, had deposited (there); the seven and a half
lakshas of
Iraṭṭa-pāḍi——through the conquest of which immeasurable fame
arose——(of)
Jayasiṁha, who, out of fear and full of revenge, turned his back
at Muśaṅgi (?) and
hid himself; the high mountains of Navanedikkula;
Śakkara-koṭṭam (belonging to)
Vikrama-Vīra; Madura-maṇḍalam with the
fort of Mudira-paḍa (?); Nāmaṇaik-
koṇam, which is surrounded by dense
groves; Pañchappaḷḷi (belonging to) Veñjilai-
Vīra; the good Māśuṇi-deśa, where leaves and fruits are green; the large heap
of
family-treasures, together with many (other) treasures, (which he carried
away) after having
seized Dhīratara of the old race of the moon, together with
his family, in a fight which
took place in the hall (at) Ādinagar, (a
city) which is famous for its unceasing abundance;
Oḍḍa-vishaya, whose copious
waters are difficult to approach; the good Kośalai-nāḍu,
where Brāhmaṇas
assemble; Daṇḍabutti (i.e., Daṇḍa-bhukti), in whose gardens bees
abound,
(and which he acquired) after having destroyed Dharmapāla in a hot
battle; Takkaṇa-
lāḍam (i.e., Dakshiṇa-Lāṭa), whose fame
reaches (all) directions, (and which he occupied)
after having forcibly attacked
Raṇaśūra; Vaṅgāḷa-deśa, where the rain does not last
(long), and from
which Govindachandra, having lost his fortune, fled; elephants of rare
strength,
(which he took away) after having been pleased to frighten in a hot battle Mahī-
pāla of Śaṅgu-koṭṭam (?), which touches the sea; the treasures of
women (?); Uttira-
lāḍam (i.e., Uttara-Lāṭa) on the great sea of
pearls; and the Gaṅgā, whose waters sprinkle
tīrthas on the burning
sand:——
Chāmuṇḍappai, the wife of the merchant Nannappayaṉ, who lives at
Perum-
bāṇappāḍi, (alias) Karaivar̥-malliyūr, gave a
tirunandā lamp to the temple (called)
Srī-Kundavai-Jinālaya
(on) the holy mountain (Tirumalai) (at) the paḷḷichchandam
of
Vaigavūr in Mugai-nāḍu, a division in the middle of
Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, (which forms
part) of
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam.
Twenty kāśus were given for one (lamp) and ten kāśus for the sacred
food.
Like the preceding inscription, this one is dated in the 12th year of Ko-Parakesari-
varman, alias Uḍaiyār Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. It records the gift
of a lamp to the
god of the Tirumalai Temple, who seems to have been called
Ārambhanandin, and
allots money for the maintenance of this lamp and of another lamp,
which had been
given by “Śiṇṇavai, the queen of the Pallava king.” Like
Kundavai, the queen
of the Pallava king Vandyadeva, this was probably a Choḷa princess, who was married
to a
Pallava king.
Hail! Prosperity! In the 12th year of (the reign of) Ko-Parakesarivarman,
alias
Uḍaiyār Śrī-Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, etc.,——Iḷaiyamaṇi-naṅgai gave one tirunandā
lamp to the god of the
holy mountain (Tirumalai) (at) the paḷḷichchandam of Vaigavūr
in
Mugai-nāḍu, a division in the middle of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, (which forms
part) of
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam. Twenty kāśus were given for
cultivating the land
(granted) for (the maintenance of) this (lamp). By
(the produce of) this land, this lamp (shall
be kept up) daily as a nandā
lamp for Ārambhanandin, the lord of this temple, as long as
the moon and the sun
endure. Sixty kāśus were given for one nandā lamp, which had
been given, for
as long as the moon and the sun endure, by Śiṇṇavai, the queen of
the
Pallava king.
This inscription is dated in the tenth year of Ko-Māṟavarman
Tribhuvanachakra-
vartin Vīra-Pāṇḍya-deva and records the building of a
sluice at Vaigai-Tirumalai.
Hail! Prosperity! In the tenth year of Ko-Māṟavarman Tribhuvanachakra-
vartin, the illustrious Vīra-Pāṇḍya-deva,——Ambala-Perumā
alias Śiṉattaraiyaṉ,
the headman (kiṛāṉ) (of)
Pāṇḍaiyūr-maṅgalam in Tirumuṉai āḍi-nāḍu, (a division)
of
Rājarāja-vaḷa-nāḍu, caused to be built a sluice for the M
holy mountain of Vaigai (Vaigai-Tirumalai). Let this
pious work be victorious!
This inscription is dated in the 12th year of Rājanārāyaṇa Śambuvarāja and
records the setting up of a Jaina image on
Vaigai-Tirumalai, i.e., on the holy mountain
of Vaigai.
Hail! Prosperity! In the 12th year of Rājanārāyaṇa Śambuvarāja,——Nal-
lāttāḷ, the daughter of Maṇṇai-Poṉṉāṇḍai, (an
inhabitant) of Poṉṉūr, caused the
blessed Vihāra-nāyaṉār,
Poṉṉeyil-nātha, to be raised to the holy mountain of
Vaigai
(Vaigai-Tirumalai). Let this pious work be victorious!
A well, which was given, (in order to procure merit) to Śiṟṟiṉaṅgai, the pious gift of
the brothers of the eldest son of Iḍaiyāṟaṉ
Appaṉ, (an inhabitant) of Aruḷ-mor̥-devar-
puram.
This inscription is dated in the Ānanda year, which was current after the expiration
of
the Śaka year 1296, and during the reign of Ommaṇa-uḍaiyar, the son of
Kambaṇa-
uḍaiyar and grandson of Vīra-Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar. Like No. 52, above, the inscrip-
tion is a receipt for the cost of
some land, which a certain Vishṇu-Kambuḷi-nāyaka
seems to have bought from the
villagers of Śambukula-Perumāḷ-agaram, alias Rāja-
gambhīra-chaturvedi-maṅgalam. This village belonged to
Murugamaṅgala-
paṟṟu in Maṇḍaikuḷa-nāḍu,
a division of Palakuṉṟa-koṭṭam, which formed part
of
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Choḷa-maṇḍalam. The four last lines, which consist of signatures,
have
not been transcribed, as they are somewhat obliterated. The following are the
readable
names of villages, which occur at the beginnings of the different signatures:——Kumāṇḍūr,
Murugappāḍi, Periya-Kāṭṭeri, Vaṅgipp[u]ṟam.
Let there be prosperity! Hail! On the day of (the nakshatra) Uttiraṭṭādi, which corres-
ponds to Monday, the eighth lunar day of the former half
of the month of Dhanus of the
Ananda year, which was current after the Śaka year
1296 (had passed), during the reign of
the illustrious mahāmaṇḍalika, the
conqueror of hostile kings, the destroyer of those kings
who break their word, the lord of the
eastern, southern, western and northern oceans, the
illustrious Ommaṇa-uḍaiyar, the
son of the illustrious Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, who was the
son of the illustrious
Vīra-Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar,——Whereas the great people of Śambu-
kula-Perumāḷ-agaram, alias Rājagambhīra-chaturvedi-maṅgalam
(in) Muruga-
maṅgala-paṟṟu, (which belongs) to
Maṇḍaikuḷa-nāḍu, (a division) of Palakuṉṟa-
koṭṭam
in Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam, gave to the illustrious Vishṇu-Kambuḷi-
nāyaka.•• of Alaśu-nāḍu, within Tuḷu-nāḍu, a document (pramāṇa) about the cost of
land.•••••——We,
the great people, (hereby declare, that we,) having thus agreed, gave a
document about
the cost of land to the illustrious Vishṇu-Kambuḷi-nāyaka. At the
pleasure of these
great people, I, Aṅkārai Śrīdhara-bhaṭṭa of Śambukula-Perumāḷ-
agaram wrote this document about the cost of land; this is (my)
signature.
..........
Hail! Prosperity! Arishṭanemi-āchārya of Kaḍaikkoṭṭūr, a pupil of
Para-
vādimalla of Tirumalai, caused the image
of a yakshī to be made.
This inscription is dated in the twentieth year of Tribhuvanachakravartin
Rājarāja-
deva, which, according to the Poygai inscriptions
(Nos. 59 to 64), would correspond to the
Śaka year 11-57-58. The donor was
Rājagambhīra-Śambuvarāyaṉ, who bore the
birudas Attimallaṉ and Śambukula-Perumāḷ (i.e., the Perumāḷ of the Śambu
race).
The object granted seems to have been the village of
Rājagambhīra-nallūr, which had
evidently received its name from that of the
donor.
Hail! From the twentieth year of the illustrious Tribhuvanachakravartin, the
illustrious
Rājarāja-deva, forward,——I, Attimallaṉ Śambukula-Perumāḷ,
alias Rājagam-
bhīra-Śambuvarāyaṉ, gave to Āṇḍāṉgaḷ
Paṅgaḷarāyar, the son of Ilāla-Perumāṉ
of Vīraṉpākkam in
Tamaṉūr-nāḍu, (a division) of
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śora-maṇḍalam,
(the village of).••, alias
Rājagambhīra-nallūr, in the middle of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu,
(a
division) of Palakuṉṟa-koṭṭam, as his property, (including) the
wells underground, the
trees overground and the boundaries in the four directions, with the
right to sell, mortgage
or exchange it.
This inscription is much obliterated. It consists of a passage in Tamil prose, a
Sanskrit
verse in the Śārdūla metre, and another Tamil prose passage, and records
some gifts made by
Vyāmukta-śravaṇojjvala or (in Tamil)
Viḍu-kādaṛagiya-Perumāḷ, alias Atigai-
māṉ[i] of the Chera race. The name of the capital of this prince seems to have
been
Takaṭā. He was the son of some Rājarāja and a descendant of a
certain Yavanikā,
king of Keraḷa, or (in Tamil) Er̥ṉi, king of
Vañji. The king repaired the images of a
yaksha and a
yakshī, which had been made by Yavanikā, placed them on the
Tirumalai
Hill, presented a gong and constructed a channel. The Tirumalai Hill is here
called
Arhasugiri (the excellent mountain of the Arha[t]) and (in Tamil)
Eṇguṇaviṟai-
Tirumalai (the holy mountain of the Arhat).
According to the Sanskrit portion of the
inscription, it belonged to the
Tuṇḍīra-maṇḍala; this seems to be a Sanskritised form
of the well-known
Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam.
Hail ! Prosperity ! Atigaimāṉ[i] of the Śera race placed on (the hill
the images
of) a yaksha and a yakshī,——meritorious gifts (formerly)
made by Er̥ṉi,——presented a gong
and gave a channel, which he had constructed
(for feeding) the Kaḍapperi (tank).
(The images of) the two lords of the yakshas, which were made on the
excellent
mountain of the Arha[t] in the country (maṇḍala)
called Tuṇḍīra by the illustrious and
pious king of Keraḷa, called
Yavanikā, were afterwards rescued from ruin by Vyāmukta-
śravaṇojjvala, the lord of Taka[ṭ]ā and son of the illustrious
Rājarāja, an eminent
prince, who was the ornament of his (Yavanikā's) race.
Viḍu-kādaṛagiya-Perumāḷ••••• repaired the broken remains (of the
images)
of a yaksha and a yakshī, which had been given by Er̥ṉi,
the lord of the race of the kings
of Vañji, and placed them (on) this holy
mountain (Tirumalai) of the god who possesses
the eight qualities.
This inscription consists of a Sanskrit verse, which is a duplicate of that occurring in
No.
75.
Hail! Prosperity! Kariya-Perumāḷ, alias Vairādarāyaṉ, the son of
Ambar-
uḍaiyāṉ Āyaṉ, gave a sluice, in order to raise the water to the
Kaḍapperi (tank) at
Tirumalai. Let this meritorious
gift be victorious!
This inscription is dated in the year, which was current after the expiration of the
Śaka
year 1180, and records a grant, which Rājagambhīra-Śambuvarāyaṉ made to the
temple
of Ammaiappeśvara. The name of the object of the grant must be contained in
the final
portion of the first line, which is buried underground. The donor is evidently
identical with
that Rājagambhīra-Śambuvarāyaṉ, who is mentioned in a
Tirumalai inscription
(No. 74), which seems to be dated in Śaka 1157-58. It may be
further conjectured, that
the Ammaiappeśvara Temple at Paḍaveḍu had
received its name from Ammaiappaṉ
or Ammaiyappaṉ, one of
the birudas of another Śambuvarāyaṉ, who was a contem-
porary and
probably a relation of Rājagambhīra-Śambuvarāyaṉ.
Hail! Prosperity ! To-day, which is (the day of the nakshatra) Revati and Monday,
the
seventh lunar day of the former half of the month of Karkaṭaka, which was current
after the
Śaka year one thousand one hundred and eighty (had passed),——I,
Rājagambhīra-Śambu-
varāya[ṉ] gave to the god, who is the lord of the
Ammaiappeśvara (temple), as a divine
gift••••• excluding the divine gifts to
the various temples (at) Eḷūr, including
••• the tax for
the village-accountant, the tax on Uvachchas, the tax on Ājīvakas,
the tax on looms, the tax on goldsmiths,.••••• the tax on
oil-mills,••• (and)
the paddy for the Veṭṭi.
This inscription is dated during the reign of Vīra-Devarāya-mahārāyar
(of
Vijayanagara) and in the Pramādin year (i.e., Śaka 1356). It records
a grant to the
Ammaiappa Temple. The name of the donor is obliterated.
Hail! On the tenth day of the month of Māśi of the Pramādīcha year, which was
current (during the reign) of the illustrious
rājādhirāja rājaparameśvara, the illustrious Vīra-
Devarāya-mahārāyar,••••• 1 vaḷavu was given by a
dharmaśāsana to the lord
Ammaiappa-nāyaṉār. This meritorious gift shall
last as long as the moon and the sun.
He who shall injure this meritorious gift, [shall
incur the sin of one who has killed] a black
cow on the bank of the Gaṅgā.
This inscription is dated during the reign of Vīra-Devarāya-mahārāyar
(of
Vijayanagara) and in the Ānanda year (i.e., Śaka 1357). It records
the gift of a village to
the Ammaiappa Temple. The middle portion is defaced by three
cracks.
Hail! On the 2nd day of the month of Āḍi of the Ānanda year, which was
current
(during the reign) of the illustrious mahārājādhirāja
rājaparameśvara, the illustrious Vīra-
Devarāya-mahārāyar,——I,
Ulagaḷanda-Veḷ Sūryadeva, gave (the village of)
[Sa]lavaippaṟṟu
by a dharmaśāsana to the lord Ammaiappa-nāyaṉār. Accordingly
(there
follows) the signature (?) of Mullaya-rāyaṉ Veṅgaḍa.
This inscription is dated in the Śukla year, which was current after the expiration of
the
Saka year 1371, and during the reign of Vīrapratāpa Prauḍha-Immaḍi-Devarāya-
mahārāyar. This is the latest hitherto-known date of Devarāja II. of
Vijayanagara.
The inscription is much injured and incomplete at the end. In the
preserved portion,
mention is made of the kingdom of Paḍaivīḍu (Paḍaivīṭṭu
rājyam), which belonged to
Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam, of the right
and left hand castes, and of the Somanātheśvara
Temple at
Paḍaivīḍu.
Let there be prosperity! Hail! On the day of (the nakshatra) Uttirāḍam, which
corresponds to the Yoga Āyushmat and to Saturday, the thirteenth
lunar day of the former
half of the month of Siṁha of the Śukla year, which was
current after the Śaka year 1371
(had passed), while the illustrious
mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the conqueror of hostile kings, the
destroyer of those kings who
break their word, the destroyer of the three kings (of the
South), who
takes every country which he sees, but who never gives back a country which
he has taken, the
lord of the eastern, southern, western and northern oceans, the illustrious
rājādhirāja
rājaparameśvara, the illustrious Vīrapratāpa, who has been pleased to
witness
the hunting of elephants, Prauḍha-Immaḍi-Devarāya-mahārāyar, was pleased
to
rule the earth,——the inhabitants of the kingdom (rājyam) of Paḍaivīḍu,
(which belongs) to
Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam, the great men of the right hand and of
the left hand,——at the temple
of Somanātheśvara-nāyaṉār, the lord (of)
Paḍaivīḍu in the north-west (of) Muruga-
maṅgala-paṟṟu, which borders on the Rājagambhīra
Hill (Rājagambhīraṉ-malai)
••••••
The following inscription is dated in the fifteenth year of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Para-
kesarivarman. The same names are borne by the Choḷa king
Parāntaka I., alias
Vīranārāyaṇa, in a copper-plate grant
published by Mr. Foulkes. As Madirai seems to
stand for
Madurai (Madura), the capital of the Pāṇḍyas,——Madirai-koṇḍa, “who
took
Madura,” might also be considered as the Tamil equivalent of Madhurāntaka,
“the
destroyer of Madura.” This was the name of a grandson of Parāntaka I. according
to the
large Leyden grant. Another Madhurāntaka, who was the son of
Rājarāja, issued the
Sanskrit portion of the Leyden grant after his father's
death. He is probably identical
with
Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, who, according to Nos. 67 and 68, conquered the Madura-
maṇḍalam. The three kings just mentioned are Nos. 3, 9 and 11 of the subjoined
table,
which I insert for ready reference. It contains the pedigree of the Choḷas
according to the
large Leyden grant. The first three kings of the table are also named in Mr.
Foulkes'
above-mentioned grant. On inscriptions of the two last kings and on
other conquests of
theirs, see the introductions of Nos. 40 and 67, above.
On Rājendra-deva, the probable successor of (II) Rājendra-Choḷa, see the
remarks
on No. 127, below. In the introduction of No. 67, I might have added that the Miraj
grant of the Western Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III. calls
(Rājendra-) Choḷa Pañcha-
Dramilādhipati (read thus instead of
yaṁ Chaṁdramilādhipati), “the lord of the five
Draviḍa
(nations).” The village, which was the object of the Miraj grant, belonged
to “the
Eḍadore (read thus instead of Paḍadore) Two-thousand.” Accordingly,
the country of
Eḍatore in Maisūr must have been in the possession of
Jayasiṁha III. in Śaka 946
(expired). The same country of Eḍatore
(Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu) occupies the first place in
the list of the conquests of
Rājendra-Choḷa-deva.
The subjoined inscription records that a certain Chaṇḍaparākrama-vīra gave to
the
god of “the holy stone-temple” (i.e., the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple) at Kachchip-
peḍu (i.e., Kāñchīpuram) 270 sheep,
from the milk of which three lamps had to be supplied
with ghee. A certain
Chaṇḍaparākrama-maṉṟāḍi, who seems to be distinct from the
donor, pledged
himself, that he and his descendants would supply the ghee daily or otherwise
incur certain
fixed fines.
It is worthy of note, that in this very archaic inscription the puḷḷi or the dot
above
consonants, which corresponds to the Nāgarī virāma, occurs five times. It is represented
by a short vertical stroke. The same sign is found in the Tamil
portion of the Kūram plates
of the Pallava king Parameśvaravarman
I. (No. 151, below.)
Hail! Prosperity! In the fifteenth year of (the reign of) Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Para-
kesarivarman, (the following) written agreement (was made) with
Mahādeva of the
large holy stone-temple at Kachchippeḍu by me,
Chaṇḍaparākrama-maṉṟāḍi.
Chaṇḍaparākrama-vīra gave two hundred and seventy
undying and unending big sheep
to the god of the holy stone-temple, (in
order to keep) three nondā lamps (burning) as long as
the
moon and the sun exist. From (the milk of) these sheep,——myself, my sons and my
further
descendants shall take three uṛakkus of ghee daily and shall, for ever,
pour them out
into the hands of those, who are in charge of the nār̥gai (measure)
within (the temple), with
a nār̥ (measure) which is equal to four
uṛakkus. If I do not pour them out, I shall be liable
to a fine of
four and a quarter (uṛakkus) daily in court. Although I am fined thus, I shall
pour out
this ghee without resistance. If I resist, I solemnly agree to pay one mañjāḍi
of gold daily to the king who is then ruling.••••• This meritorious gift
[shall
last as long as] the moon and the sun.
Like the inscription No. 82, this one is dated in the fifteenth year of
Madirai-koṇḍa
Ko-Parakesarivarman, and records the gift of 180 sheep from the same
Chaṇḍaparā-
krama-vīra to “the holy stone-temple.” A certain
Kālakopa-vīra-maṉṟāḍi pledged
himself to supply two lamps with ghee made from
the milk of these sheep.
A graphical peculiarity of this archaic inscription has to be noted. In two cases the
sign
of ā in ṇā and ṟā is not, as in modern Tamil, attached to the bottom of
the letter, but is
added after it and turned upwards.
Hail! Prosperity! In the fifteenth year of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesarivarman,
I,
Kālakopa-vīra-maṉṟāḍi••••• Chaṇḍaparākrama-vīra gave one hundred
and eighty
undying and unending big sheep to the god of the holy stone-temple, in order
to
keep two nondā lamps burning, as long as the moon and the sun exist. From (the
milk of)
these sheep,——myself, my sons and my further descendants shall take one
uri of ghee daily
and shall, for ever, pour them out into the hands of
those, who are in charge of the nār̥gai
(measure) within (the temple), with a
nār̥ (measure) which is equal to four uṛakkus. If I do
not pour them out, I
shall be liable to a fine of one eighth poṉ daily in court. Although I
am fined thus, I
shall pour out this ghee without resistance. If I resist, I, Kālakopa-
vīra-maṉṟāḍi solemnly agree, that I and my descendants shall pay one
kuṉṟi of gold daily
to the king who is then ruling•••••
This inscription is dated in the 3rd year of Ko-Rājakesarivarman. By it,
the
villagers of Meṉalūr pledged themselves, to furnish oil for a lamp from the
interest of a
sum of money, which they had received from the temple-treasury. The inscription
mentions
Kāñchīpuram. Tirukkaṟṟaḷippuṟam, “the town of the holy stone-temple,”
which
occurs in lines 1 f., is evidently derived from Tirukkaṟṟaḷi, one of the
names of the Rāja-
siṁhavarmeśvara Temple, and is
probably a synonym of Kāñchīpuram. The town
belonged to
Kāliyūr-koṭṭam, a district, which is also mentioned in Nos. 85, 147 and
148.
In the 3rd year of Ko-Rājakesarivarman, we, the villagers of Meṉalūr, (a
quarter)
of Tirukkaṟṟaḷippuṟam in Ogaṛa-nāḍu (?), (a
division) of Kāliyūr-koṭṭam, (made the
following) written agreement. We
have received from Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara (in) the
holy
stone-temple at Kāñchīpuram eighteen kaṛañjus, three mañjāḍis and
one kuṉṟi of
gold. From the interest of these
eighteen kaṛañjus, three mañjāḍis and one kuṉṟi of gold,
we shall
pour out daily, as long as the moon and the sun exist, (for) one
nandā lamp, one
uṛakku of oil with an uṛakku (measure), which is equal
to a quarter (according to the standard)
of the authorities in the village. As the
villagers.....told (me), I, Alappaḍi, the head-
man of this village, wrote (this document). This is my signature.
The middle part of this inscription is covered by the wall of the modern
mahāmaṇḍapa,
which has been erected between the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara
Shrine and that maṇḍapa, on
the base of which the inscription is engraved. It is dated
in the fourth year of Ko-Para-
kesarivarman and records, that the villagers
of Kallaḍuppūr pledged themselves, to
furnish a fixed yearly
supply of paddy from the interest of a sum of money, which they had
received from the shrine of
Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara at Tiruvottūr.
Hail! Prosperity! In the fourth year of Ko-Parakesarivarman, we, the
assembly
(sabhā) of Kallaḍuppūr in Viṟappeḍu-nāḍu, (a division) of Kāliyūr-koṭṭam,
(made the following)
written agreement. We have received from the hands of Ādidāsa
Chaṇḍeśvara
(at) Tiruvottūr in Taṉakūṟu (?), (a division) of this
koṭṭam, eight and a
half.....of gold. According to the standard (āṇikkal) of
Kachchippeḍu, we have
received twenty kaṛañjus weight of gold. For these
twenty kaṛañjus of gold, from (the month
of) Tai of this year forward,••••• we,
the assembly of Kallaḍuppūr, shall measure
and give paddy into the hands of the
Śiva (i.e., Śaiva) Brāhmaṇas.•••••(From) the
interest of these twenty
kaṛañjus of gold, we,•• the great people, who constitute the village-
assembly of our village, shall measure and give every year ninety kāḍis of paddy, without
breaking our promise (even) partially.
This inscription is dated in the Viśvāvasu year, which was current after the
expiration
of the Śaka year 1286, and during the reign of
Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar. The inscription
No. 87 belongs to the same year, as No. 86, and to
the reign of Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, the
son of Vīra. The date of No. 88 is the
Kīlaka year and the reign of Vīra-Kambaṇṇa-
uḍaiyar. As it
mentions Koppaṇaṅgaḷ, an official, whose name occurs also in Nos. 86
and 87, and as
the signatures at its end are identical with some signatures at the end of
No. 87, the date of
the inscription No. 88 cannot have been very distant from that of Nos. 86
and 87, and the
Kīlaka year must correspond to Śaka 1291. The inscription No. 87, which
reads
Vīra-kumāra-Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, i.e., Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, the son of
Vīra, suggests
that Vīra-Kambaṇṇa-uḍaiyar in No. 88 is an abbreviation for
Kambaṇṇa-uḍaiyar, (the son
of) Vīra. The prince, who is mentioned
in the three inscriptions Nos. 86, 87 and 88, may
be further identified with
Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, the son of Vīra-Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar and
father of that
Ommaṇa-uḍaiyar, who according to the Tirumalai inscription No. 72,
above,
was reigning in the Ānanda year, which was current after the expiration of the
Śaka
year 1296. The subjoined table shows the results of the above remarks.
The three inscriptions Nos. 86, 87 and 88 contain orders, which were issued by a
certain
Koppaṇaṅgaḷ, Koppaṇṇaṅgaḷ or
Koppaṇaṉ to the authorities of the
temple. Koppaṇaṅgaḷ was
probably the executive officer of Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar at
Kāñchīpuram. The
Kailāsanātha Temple is designated by three different names,
viz.,
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara,
Eḍudattu-āyiram-uḍaiya-nāyaṉār and Tirukkaṟṟaḷi-
Mahādeva. The last-mentioned term means “the holy stone-temple
(of) Śiva.” The
meaning of the second is not apparent. The first name,
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara, shows
that the Pallava king Rājasiṁha, the
founder of the temple, was not yet forgotten at the
times of Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, and that his
full name was Rājasiṁhavarman.
From the inscription No. 86, we learn that, at the time of
Kulottuṅga-Choḷa-deva,
the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple at
Kāñchipuram had been closed, its landed property
sold, and its compound and environs
transferred to the temple of Aṉaiyapadaṅgāvuḍaiya-
nāyaṉār. Koppaṇaṅgaḷ ordered, that the temple should be reopened and that its
property
should be restored.
Hail! From the month of Āḍi of the Viśvāvasu year, which was current after the
Śaka
year one thousand two hundred and eighty-six (had passed), while the illustrious
mahā-
maṇḍaleśvara, the conqueror of hostile kings, the destroyer of
those kings who break their
word, the lord of the eastern and western oceans, the illustrious
Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, was
pleased to rule the earth,——the illustrious
Koppaṇaṅgaḷ (addresses the following) brder
to the authorities of the temple
of Rājasiṁhavarmeśvaram-uḍaiyār, alias Eḍudattu-
āyiram-uḍaiya-nāyaṉār, at Kāñchipuram. As it is opposed to the
sacred law, that
formerly, at the time of Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva, the shrine of
Eḍudattu-āyiram-
uḍaiya-nāyaṉār was closed, that the temple-land
(tirunāmattu kāṇi) of the lord was sold,
and that the temple-compound
(tiruviruppu) and the environs of the temple (tirumaḍai-
viḷāgam) were given to
Aṉaiyapadaṅgāvuḍaiya-nāyaṉār,——the closing of the shrine of
this lord shall
cease; the worship and the divine service shall be carried on from the month
of Āḍi
forward; the whole village of Muruṅgai in Paṉmā-nāḍu, (a division) of
Maṇaviṟ-
koṭṭam on the southern frontier (?), and the
land included in the boundaries in the four
directions shall belong (to the temple) as a
sarvamānya (and) free from taxes, as long as the moon
and the sun exist. The northern
boundary of the temple-compound of this lord is to the south
of a pit on the north, where
pandanus-trees grow; the southern boundary is to the north of a
paddy field; the western
boundary is to the east of a hillock, which forms the limit (?); and
the eastern boundary is to
the west of a channel near the road (?). The whole saṁnidhi
street of this lord shall
belong (to the temple) as a sarvamānya, as long as the moon and the
sun exist.
According to this edict on a palm-leaf, there shall be engraved on stone the
amount of what had
been cancelled and given away according to the writing on stone, which
was formerly engraved on
the day, on which (the temple) was closed. (All this) shall be
managed and
attended to without fail. This is the signature of Koppaṇaṅgaḷ.
This inscription is dated in the same year and month, as No. 86, and during the reign
of
Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, the son of Vīra. It records that, with the sanction of
Kopaṇṇaṅgaḷ,
the authorities of the
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple at Kāñchipuram sold some houses
in the
northern row of the saṁnidhi street to certain Mudalis at the price of 150
paṇas.
Hail! From the month of Āḍi of the Viśvādi year, which was
current after the Śaka
year one thousand two hundred and eighty-six (had passed), while
the illustrious mahāmaṇḍa-
leśvara, the conqueror of hostile kings, the
destroyer of those kings who break their word,
the lord of the eastern and western oceans,
Kambaṇa-uḍaiyar, the son of the illustrious
Vīra, was pleased to rule the
earth,——the illustrious Koppaṇṇaṅgaḷ (addresses the following)
order to the
authorities of the temple of the lord Rājasiṁhavarmeśvaram-uḍaiyār,
alias
Eḍudattu-āyiram-uḍaiya-nāyaṉār, at Kāñchipuram. Whereas all the
houses
and the gardens (attached to) the houses in the northern row of the
saṁnidhi street,——
excluding the maṭha of Āṇḍār Sundara-Perumāḷ,
which exists (from) old times, (and
excluding) the house, which is to the east of
the temple of the lord Tiru-Agastyeśvara and
to the west of the great road of the
sacred bath (tiru-mañjaṉa-peru-var̥),——were sold at a
price (fixed in the presence
of the god) Chaṇḍeśvara to the Mudalis, to be (their)
property,
from this day forward, for ever, against (payment of) pa. 150, (i.e.)
one hundred and fifty
paṇas, which were previously received from these (Mudalis)
and deposited in the temple-
treasury,——these houses, gardens (attached to)
the houses••••• may
be sold or mortgaged by them••••• This (order) shall be
engraved
on stone and copper, in order that it may last from this day forward, as long as the
moon
and the sun. This is the signature of Koppaṇaṉ.
This we have engraved on stone and given. This is the signature of
Kambāṇḍāṉ.
This is the signature of Śīyaṉ (i.e., Siṁha), who
made the closing (of the temple) cease.
This is the signature of
Kāṭṭukkuṟivaippaṉ Vīra-Śamba-Brahmā-rāyaṉ, the deva-
karmin (i.e., pujārī) of this temple. This is the signature of
Viḍaṅga-bhaṭṭa, who lives
at Kāñchikkuṟipāram (?). This is the
signature of Nāṟpatteṇṇāyirakkālāṉ. This
is the signature of
Irāguttarāyakkālāṉ. This is the signature of Uttaraṉmerūr-
uḍaiyāṉ Tiruvegamba-veḷāṉ Āditya-deva, the accountant (kaṇakku) of
this temple.
This inscription is dated in the Kīlaka year (i.e., Śaka 1291) and during the
reign of
Kambaṇṇa-uḍaiyar, (the son of) Vīra. It
records that, with the sanction of Koppaṇaṅ-
gaḷ, the
temple authorities gave a maṭha near the temple and some land to a certain
Gāṅgayar
of Tirumudukuṉṟam. According to lines 9 to 14,
Kāñchipuram belonged to Eyiṟ-
koṭṭam in
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Choḷa-maṇḍalam. The district of Eyiṟkoṭṭam
was proba-
bly called after Eyil, i.e., “the fort,” a village in the
Tiṇḍivanam Tālluqa of the South
Arcot District.
Tirumudukuṉṟam, i.e., “the holy ancient mountain,” is perhaps meant
for its
Sanskrit equivalent Vr̥ddhāchalam, the head-quarters of a Tālluqa in the
South
Arcot District.
Hail ! On the day of (the nakshatra) Ter, which corresponds to Tuesday,
the seventh
lunar day of the latter half of the month of Makara of the Kīlaka
year, which was current
(during the reign) of Kambaṇṇa-uḍaiyar, (the son
of) the illustrious Vīra,——we, all the
followers of the blessed Rudra,
(alias) the blessed Maheśvara, and the authorities of the
temple of the lord
Tirukkaṟṟaḷi-Mahādeva, alias Eḍudatt-āyiram-uḍaiya-nā-
yaṉār at Kāñchipuram, a town of
Eyiṟkoṭṭam in Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam,
gave, as ordered by
Koppaṇaṅgaḷ, to Perumāṉ, alias Gāṅgayar, who is worshipped
by
(i.e., who is the teacher of ?) Śiṟṟāmūr-uḍaiyāṉ, (one) of
the Māheśvaras at Tirumudu-
kuṉṟam,••• (for) reciting the
Veda in the presence of the god, one maṭha in
the western street and some hereditary land. (This gift) shall be managed accordingly,
as
long as the moon and the sun exist. We, the followers of the blessed Rudra,
(alias) the
blessed Maheśvara, and the authorities of the temple:——The
signature of Kambāṇḍāṉ.
This is the signature of Śīyar
(Siṁha), who made the closing (of the temple) cease. This
is the signature of
Vīra-Śamba-Brahmā-rāyar. The signature of Viḍaṅga-bhaṭṭa.
The
signature of Irāguttarāyakkālaṉ.
This inscription is engraved on two stones, which fit to each other. It is dated “in
the
fourteenth year of Ko-Rājakesarivarman, alias Tribhuvanachakravartin Śrī-
Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva, who was pleased to sit on the throne of heroes, (which
consisted
of) pure gold.” The fourth line mentions “Āmūr-nāḍu, (a
division) of Āmūr-koṭṭam
in
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam.” The seventh line contains the name of the god
Ādidāsa
Chaṇḍeśvara.
This inscription is written on two stones, which fit to each other. It seems to have
been
dated in the fifth year of the reign of [Rāja]nārāyaṇa Śambuvarāyar and to have re-
corded a grant to the temple of Perumāḷ
(i.e., Vishṇu) and of Nilamaṅgai-nāchchiyār
(i.e., the goddess of
the earth) at Māmal[lapuram].
The four subjoined inscriptions are written in modern Tamil characters and record
“the
perpetual devotion” of a certain Chandra-piḷḷai of
Kāṭṭeri.
There are several similar inscriptions in other parts of the temple, viz., two on
the
pedestals of the two dvārapālakas in front of the gopura, one on the left
outer wall of the
inner prākāra, and five on the floor of the
alaṁkāra-maṇḍapa, of which two are written in
Tamil, two in Telugu, and one in very
faint Nāgarī characters.
In order that (the god) Kumāra-svāmin at the gate of the gopura might
protect
(him), the magistrate (adhikārin)
Chandra-piḷḷai of Kāṭṭeri (made this gift, which records
his)
perpetual devotion.
In order that (the god) Vināyaka (i.e., Gaṇeśa) at the gate of the
gopura might protect
(him), the magistrate Chandra-piḷḷai of
Kāṭṭeri, a follower of the Śaiva doctrine
(Śiva-samaya), (made this
gift, which records his) perpetual devotion.
(A monument of) the perpetual devotion of Chandra-piḷḷai of
Kāṭṭeri (to the god)
Kumāra-svāmin.
The end of this inscription is lost. As, however, the preserved part is identical with
the
above-published inscriptions Nos. 40, 41 and 66, it may be safely concluded, that
the
inscription belongs to Ko-Rājarāja-Rājakesarivarman, alias
Rājarāja-deva. The
mention of Iraṭṭa-pāḍi shows, that the inscription
dates after the twenty-first year of the
king.
On the base of this temple, there are at least three obliterated inscriptions besides
the
preceding one. In the second line of the fourth inscription there occurs the
following
passage:
“the thirty-second [year] of Ko-Rājakesarivarman,
alias Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva.”
This inscription is dated in the Durmati year and mentions the temple
of Rājendra-
Choḷeśvara at Śoṛapuram.
This inscription is dated in the Raktākshi year, which was current after the
expiration
of the Śālivāhana-Śaka year 1546. It mentions Śoṛapuram and seems to
record some
meritorious gift in connection with the tank by Veṅkaṭappa-nāyaka.
A considerable-number of inscribed stones are built into the walls of this temple; but
they
are not in their original order, and it must be assumed, that either the temple had
been
destroyed and was rebuilt, or that it was constructed from stones which belonged to
another
old temple. The subjoined fragments contain the following dates and names:——
In front of this temple stands a pillar with a rough inscription on its four sides.
The
south-east face of the pillar contains the name of “the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara
rājā-
dhirāja rājaparameśvara, the illustrious
Vīra-Ve[ṅka]ṭapati[d]eva-mahārāya” and is
dated in the Yuvan year, which
was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1557. An
inscription of the same
Veṅkaṭa II. of Karṇāṭa was published in the Indian
Antiquary,
Vol. XIII, p. 125. It is dated one year later than the present inscription.
At this temple there are two stones with fragmentary inscriptions. One of them is
dated “in
the fifty-second year of Ko-Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.”
Both pillars of this aḷavukkal bear fragments of ancient inscriptions.
That on the
right pillar belongs to the time of some Ko-Parakesarivarman. It deserves
to be noted
that, in line 3, the syllable ṟā is written
This temple contains three fragmentary inscriptions in archaic characters.
This inscription records some gift, which the assembly (sabhā) of Velūr,
alias Para-
meśvara-maṅgalam, made to the god Ādidāsa
Chaṇḍeśvara.
This inscription seems to record another gift of the sabhā of Velūr. It
mentions
Śemmaṇpākkam (the modern Śembākkam) and
Rājendra-Choḷeśvara, evidently the
name of the temple itself.
This inscription mentions both Rājendra-Choḷeśvara and
Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeś-
vara. The fragment seems to begin
with a description of the boundaries of some gift, in
which the term
Piḍāri-paṭṭi occurs.
There are three stones with almost illegible inscriptions built into the wall of this
temple.
Two of them contain the subjoined fragment, which may be read with the help of the
nearly identical Paḍaveḍu inscription No. 81. The inscription seems to
have belonged to
Devarāja II. of Vijayanagara, the son of
Vīra-Vijayarāya-mahārāyar. The
latter is identical with Vijaya or
Vīra-Vijaya, who, according to No. 153, below, was
the son of Devarāja I.
and the father of Devarāja II. The inscriptions of Devarāja
II. which are
published above (Nos. 54, 56, 79, 80 and 81) range between the current
Śaka years 1348 and
1372.
Besides the inscription published under No. 55, above, this temple bears another
much
defaced inscription, which is engraved on the east wall and consists of seven lines. The
date is
the Vishu year, which was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1443.
According
to the third and fourth lines, the inscription seems to have recorded a grant,
which
Tirumalai-nāyaka made to the temple of Virūpāksha-nāyaṉār at
Veppambaṭṭu in
Āndi-nāḍu; line 4 also mentions
Paḍaivīḍu. The passage alluded to runs as follows:
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara
Immaḍi-Narasiṁharāya-
mahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).
2. Date: Śaka 1418 expired and the Rākshasa year current.
3. Donor: Periya-Timmarāśa-uḍaiyar.
4. Remark: The inscription mentions a maṇḍapa, which Eṟama-nāyaka caused to
be
built at Tiru-Viriñchipuram.
1. Date: the Nandana year (i.e., Śaka 1395).
2. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara Gaṇḍaṉ Kaṭṭā[ri]
Sāḷuva
Dharaṇivarāha Narasiṁharāya-uḍaiyar (of Vijayanagara).
3. Donee: Uḍaiyar Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār of Tiru-Viriñchipuram.
4. Remark: The inscription mentions some nāyaka, the son of another nāyaka;
the
names of both are obliterated.
1. King: Sakalalokachakravartin Rājanārāyaṇa.
2. Remark: The inscription mentions Āndi-nāḍu.
1. King: the illustrious mahārājādhirāja, the illustrious
Vīrapratāpa-[Achyuta-
deva]-mahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).
2. Date: Śaka 1463 expired and the Plava year current.
3. Remark: The inscription mentions Kishṇama-nāyaka and the temple of
Uḍaiyar
Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār at Tiru-Viriñchipuram.
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara Gaṇḍa Kaṭṭāri
Sāḷuva-sāḷuva
Narasiṁhadeva (of Vijayanagara).
2. Date: Śaka 1404 expired and the Śubhakr̥t year current.
3. Denor: Nāgama-nāyaka.
4. Donee: Uḍaiyār Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār of Tiru-Viruñchapuram.
5. Remark: The inscription mentions the villages of Paśumarattūr and Veppūr.
1. Date: Śālivāhana-Śaka 1457 expired and the Nandana year current.
2. King: the illustrious mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara
Achyutadeva-mahārāyar (of
Vijayanagara).
3. Donee: Mārgasahāya-deva of Iriñchipuram (!).
4. Remarks: The inscription mentions Śiṟaleri (see No. 123). The grant seems
to
have consisted of a number of kur̥s of land and to have been made for the benefit of
two
Brāhmaṇas, Timmappayaṉ and Śaivādirāyar Vasantarāya-guru,
who taught the
Ṛik-śākhā and Yajuḥ-śākhā respectively. The second donee
belonged to the Bhārad-
vāja-gotra and followed the
Bodhāyana-sūtra.
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious
Vīrapratāpa, (the younger
brother and successor of)
Vīra-Narasiṁha-deva, Kr̥shṇadeva-mahārāya (of Vijaya-
nagara).
2. Date: Śaka 1435 expired and the Śrīmukha year current.
1. Date: Śaka 1432 [expired] and the Pramodūta year current.
2. Remark: The name of the king is entirely effaced; but the inscription begins with
the
same birudas, as were borne by the king Kr̥shṇadeva of the inscription No.
121.
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara rājādhirāja rājaparameśvara, the
illustrious
Achyutadeva-mahārāyar or Achyutarāya (of
Vijayanagara).
2. Date: Śaka 1454 expired and the Nandana year current.
3. Donee: Uḍaiyār Var̥ttuṇai-nāyaṉār or Śrī-Viriñcheśvara.
4. Donor: the karaṇikka (= karaṇam) Vīrappayaṉ or Vīraya, who
belonged to the
Gautamānvaya.
5. Object of the grant: (a) the village of Śiṟaleri within the boundaries
(sīmā) of
Kāvanūr; (b) the village of
Vīraraśūr, excluding the agrahāra of Kīṛai-Vīraraśūr
and
including the open (i.e., unfortified) place (liṟappu) of
Aṅgarāyaṉ-kuppam.
6. Remark: The inscription mentions the maṇḍapa of Śamburāyaṉ, which may
have
formed part of the Viriñchipuram temple.
This and the next inscription belong to the same king, as No. 108. The present
inscription
is dated “in the ninth year of Ko-Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.”
This inscription is dated “in the forty-seventh year of Vijaya-Nandivikrama-
varman.”
This inscription is dated in the third (?) year of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesari-
varman.
The stone, which bears the subjoined inscription, is unfortunately very much worn.
The text,
as far as it can be made out, runs as follows:——
“In the 5th year of Ko-Parakesarivarman, alias Uḍaiyār
Śrī-Rājendra-deva,
who,••••• having taken the seven and a half lakshas of
Iraṭṭa-pāḍi, having set
up a pillar of victory
(jayastambha) at Kollaram (?), having reduced to powder••• the
whole army of
Āhavamalla at Koppam on the bank of the Perāṟu,
having taken all
the elephants, horses, treasures of women and riches of Āhavamalla,
who had turned his
back and fled, and having performed the coronation of heroes,——was pleased
to sit on the
throne of heroes,——we, the villagers of Gaṅgamā[r]tāṇḍapuram in
Miyaṟai-nāḍu,
(a division) of
Adhirājendra-vaḷa-nāḍu in Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam, [gave]
to
Mahādeva of the Someśvara (temple) at our village for the
purposes of worship••••
•• three hundred kur̥s; for a tiru-nandavanam••••• three
hundred kur̥s; for two
lamps•••••”
An inscription of the same Rājendra-deva, which is dated in the ninth year and
is
found in a niche of the Varāhasvāmin Temple at Māmallapuram, was
published by
Sir Walter Elliot. He identified Āhavamalla with the
Western Chālukya king Āhava-
malla II. or Someśvara I.
(about Śaka 964 to about 990), who, according to inscriptions
and according
to the Vikramāṅkacharita (sarga i, verses 90, 115, 116), fought with
the
Choḷas. The Rājendra-deva of the present inscription and of Sir Walter
Elliot's
inscription may be identified with that Rājendra-deva of the
Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter
Madhurāntakī was married to the Eastern
Chalukya king Rājendra-Choḍa (Śaka 985
to 1034) according to verse 12 of
the Chellūr grant (No. 39).
This inscription mentions Sakalalokachakravartin Rājanārāyaṇa Śambuva-
rāya[ṉ] and seems to record a gift to
Var̥ttuṇai-appaṉ.
On this stone, the name of Śambuvarāya and part of one of his birudas
(Aṛagiya)
are visible; see the introduction of the Poygai inscriptions (Nos.
59 to 64).
The southern wall of this temple is covered with several Choḷa inscriptions. None
of
them can be made out completely, as the letters are much obliterated, and as the
stones
are, to all appearance, not in their original order.
This is dated “in the 11th (?) year of Ko-Rājakesarivarman, alias
Chakra-
vartin Śrī-Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva.”
This inscription is engraved to the right of No. 130 and may have been intended for
its
continuation. It records a gift of land from the inhabitants of Aimbūṇḍi (the
modern
Ammuṇḍi) to their Śiva temple, which
bore the name of Muppaṉaiyīśvara. The gift
was made before the god Ādidāsa
Chaṇḍeśvara-deva.
Having poured water into the blessed hand of Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara-deva, we,
the
inhabitants of Aimbūṇḍi in Miyagaṟai-nāḍu, a division in the north
of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu,
(which forms part) of
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam, gave the land specified below as
a
tiru-nandavanam to (the god) Mahādeva of the
Muppaṉaiyīśvara (temple) in our village.
The southern boundary is to the
north of our tank; the western boundary is to the east of
the field of Tombaṉ; the
northern boundary is to the south of the road; the eastern
boundary is•••••
This inscription is dated “in the 10th (?) year of Tribhuvanachakravartin
Koṉeri
Meṉ-koṇḍa Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva.” The donor was
Śeṅgeṇi-Ammaiyappa.••
Perumāḷ, alias
Vikrama-Śoṛa-Śambuvarāyaṉ.
This inscription is dated during the reign of Vīra-Veṅkaṭapatirāyar and in
the
Śrīmukha year. This is Śaka 1556, two years before No. 107 and three years before
an
inscription of Veṅkaṭa II. published in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIII,
p. 125. The
inscription records that Govindappa-nāyaka caused the maṇḍapa to
be built and allotted
some land in Kaṛaṉipākkam for the maṇḍapa, which was
to be used as a watershed
and sattram.
At this village, there are four stones with sculptures and rough inscriptions.
The
sculptures are the following:——on stone No. 134, a man with a bow; on stone No. 135,
an
elephant and a bird; on stone No. 136, an armed man; and on stone No. 137, a man
fighting
with a tiger.
This and the next inscription are dated in the third and eighteenth year, respectively,
of
Ko-Vijaya-Narasiṁhavarman.
This and the next inscription are dated in the twenty-ninth and thirty-second
year,
respectively, of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesarivarman.
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Veṅkaṭadeva-mahārāyar.
2. Date: Śaka 15[2]4 expired and the Śubhakr̥t year current.
3. Donor: Bommu-nāyaṉ Nāṅgama-nāyaka, i.e.,
Nāṅgama-nāyaka, the son
of Bommu-nāyaka.
4. Donee: the Vīra Temple at Mariḷiyappaṭṭu.
This inscription is dated in the Durmati year, which was current after
the expiration
of the Śaka year 1554. The third symbol of the Śaka date is not quite clear.
There is
a mistake either in the Śaka or in the cyclic year, as the only Durmati year
of the
16th century corresponded to the current Śaka year 1544. The inscription mentions
the
temple of Raṅganātha-Perumāḷ at Paḷḷikoṇḍai.
1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious
Sadāśivadeva-mahārāyar
(of Vijayanagara).
2. Date: Śālivāhana-Śaka 1489 expired and the Prabhava year current.
3. Donee: the liṅga of Mārgasahāya at Tiru-Viriñchapuram.
The inscription is a fragment, dated in some year of Rājarāja-deva.
In the second
line the word Śoṛa-koṉ, “the Choḷa king,” occurs.
The beginning of both lines of this inscription is buried underground. From that
part, which
I have copied, it appears that the inscription refers to some gift (mānya,
i.e.,
sarvamānya). At the beginning of the second line, the word paḍaivīḍu
occurs in the plural
and seems to be used in the sense of “encampments.” The
inscription ends with “the
signature of Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-Brahmā-rāyaṉ”; the
same name is borne by a village-
accountant in a Tirumalai inscription.
This inscription is an incorrect duplicate of the first four lines of No. 81, above.
Besides the fragments noticed below, the shrine of Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara and
its
mahāmaṇḍapa contain a number of fragments in the Grantha character, which
must have
belonged to one or more inscriptions in Sanskrit verse and prose. One of the
fragments,
which is found on the floor of the mahāmaṇḍapa and which consists of 10
lines, mentions the
Choḷas in the genitive case (Choḷānām, line 3). A
second fragment, which is found on the
roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa, consists also of 10
lines and seems to be connected with the first.
It mentions Choḷa-Triṇetra (lines 1
and 10) and three Eastern Chalukya kings,
viz.,
[Vijay]āditya-Guṇakāṅga, Chāḷukya-Bhīma and
Kollavigaṇḍa (line 3). The
name of V[ai]dumba, a king who
is known to have been conquered by the Choḷa king
Parāntaka I., occurs at the beginning of line 5. In lines 7 and 8, (the temple of the
god)
Bhīmeśvara is mentioned. The 8th line of both fragments seems to have
contained
a date in the Śaka era, of which the first number was 9 and the third was 3. A third
fragment, which is found on the floor of the
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Shrine and consists
of 49 lines, mentions the Eastern
Chalukya king Dānārṇava (line 17) and the
Choḷa
king Karikāla-Choḷa (line 38) and contains a long
list of birudas of some king. Another
list of birudas is contained in a fourth
fragment, which is found on the roof of the
mahāmaṇḍapa and consists of 30 lines.
There is a fifth fragment in 9 lines on the roof of
the mahāmaṇḍapa. Two small
fragments, each of which contains 8 lines, are found near the
window, which opens from the
mahāmaṇḍapa into the front maṇḍapa.
Each line of this inscription is incomplete at the end. It is dated during the reign
of
Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesari[varman]. Line 2 mentions “the holy
stone-temple”
(Tirukkaṟṟaḷi), i.e., the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple. According to lines 3 and 4, the
inscription seems to have recorded an agreement
made by the inhabitants of two quarters (śeri)
of Kachchippeḍu (i.e.,
Kāñchīpuram), of which the second was called Ekavīrappāḍi-
chcheri
and the name of the first also ended in ppāḍichcheri. The term paḷḷichchandam
occurs in line 5.
This fragment is dated in the twelfth year of Ko-Rāja-Rājakesarivarman,
“who
built a jewel (-like) hall at Kāndaḷūr.” The mention of
Kāndaḷūr shows, that the king.
has to be identified with that
Rājarāja-deva, who caused the inscriptions Nos. 40, 41 and
66 to be engraved, and
that he built the hall at Kāndaḷūr before his twelfth year. The
inscription seems
to have recorded, that the assembly (sabhā) of some village pledged them-
selves, to furnish a yearly supply of paddy to the temple-treasurers
(Śiva-paṇḍārigaḷ) from the
interest of a sum of money, which they
had received from “the large holy stone-temple,
alias Rājasiṁheśvara, at
Kāñchipuram,” or to pay a fine of a quarter poṉ daily. The
document is
signed by [Pu]ṟambi Sūrya of Tiruviṛāpuṟam.
These two fragments belong to the time of Ko-Rājakesarivarman. The second is
dated
in his 3rd year. Each of them records an agreement made by the inhabitants of some
village, who
pledged themselves to furnish daily one uṛakku of oil for a nondā
or nandā lamp
in exchange for a loan of 15 kaṛañjus of gold, and is signed by
Māṉatoṅgaḷ Maḷḷerumāṉ,
a member of the village-assembly (kūṭṭam).
This fragment, which is dated in the fifteenth year of
Ko-Parakesarivarman,
contains an agreement made by the inhabitants of some village,
who had received a certain
sum of money from “the large holy stone-temple (i.e., the
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple) at
Kachchippeḍu (i.e., Kāñchīpuram).” From
the interest of this sum, they pledged them-
selves to supply ghee for a lamp at the
rate of 1 uṛakku per day or 7 nār̥s and 1 uri per
mensem. The measure to be used was a nār̥, which was equal to a
rājakesari. As the
Choḷa kings alternately bore the
surnames Rājakesarin and Parakesarin, it must
be assumed,
that this measure was called after one of the predecessors of the king, to whose
reign the
inscription belongs. The writer of the inscription was the village-headman
Nāga
Alappaḍi.
These are three fragments of what must have been a very long inscription. Its extent
may be
estimated from the fact, that line 1 of the first fragment corresponds to line 1 of
No. 67,
line 1 of the second fragment to line 5 of No. 67, and the first part of line 1 of the
third
fragment to the latter part of line 6 of No. 67. None of the fragments is in its
original
position. The first and second are built into the roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa of
the Rāja-
siṁhavarmeśvara Shrine. The third fragment is built into the
pavement of the veranda
near the entrance into the mahāmaṇḍapa; some letters of each
line are covered by a pillar.
Although the name of the king, during whose reign the inscription was engraved, is
lost, the
existing fragments of the first line, which agree literally with parts of the first,
fifth and
sixth lines of the inscription No. 67, prove, that the inscription was one
of
Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. As the list of his conquests reaches here only as far as
“the
high mountains of Navanedikkula,” the date must fall between
the 7th and 10th years
of the king. The inscription seems to have recorded some gifts of paddy,
gold and money.
This inscription is dated in the 26th year of Tribhuvanachakravartin
Rājarāja-deva.
According to the Poygai inscriptions (Nos. 59 to 64) this year would
correspond to Śaka
1163-64. By the subjoined document, some person pledged himself, to supply
daily one
āṛākku of ghee for five lamps (saṁdhi-viḷakku)
“to the lord of the holy stone-temple, alias
Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara, at
Kachchippeḍu,” i.e., Kāñchīpuram. The ghee had to
be made over daily to
those, who were in charge of the nār̥gai (measure) within the temple.
The original of the subjoined grant was bought for Government from the
Dharmakartā
of Kūram, a village near Kāñchīpuram. It is engraved on seven thin copper-plates,
each of which measures 10(1/8) by
3(1/4) inches. As the plates are in very bad preservation, the
work of deciphering them was
somewhat difficult. Of the seventh plate about one half is
completely lost. Next to it, the
first, fifth and sixth plates have suffered most. An elliptic
ring, which is about (3/8) inch
thick and measures 4 by 4(3/4) inches in diameter, is passed through
a hole on the left side of
each plate. The seal is about 2(1/2) inches in diameter and bears a
bull, which is seated on a
pedestal, faces the left and is surmounted by the moon and a liṅga.
Farther up, there
are a few much obliterated syllables. A legend of many letters passes
round the whole seal.
Unfortunately it is so much worn, that I have failed to decipher it.
The language of the first 4(1/2) plates of the inscription is Sanskrit,——verse and prose;
the
remainder is written in Tamil. The Sanskrit portion opens with three benedictory
verses,
of which the two first are addressed to Śiva and the third mentions the race
of the Palla-
vas. Then follows, as usual, a mythical
genealogy of Pallava, the supposed founder of
the Pallava race:——
Brahman.
Aṅgiras.
Br̥haspati.
Bharadvāja.
Droṇa.
Aśvatthāman.
Pallava.
The historical part of the inscription describes three kings, viz.,
Parameśvaravar-
man, his father Mahendravarman and his
grandfather Narasiṁhavarman. Of
Narasiṁhavarman it says, that he
“repeatedly defeated the Choḷas, Keraḷas, Kaḷa-
bhras and
Pāṇḍyas,” that he “wrote the (three) syllables of (the word) vijaya
(i.e., victory),
as on a plate, on Pulakeśin's back, which was caused to be
visible (i.e., whom he caused to
turn his back) in the battles of Pariyaḷa,
Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, etc.,” and that he
“destroyed (the city of)
Vātāpi.” No historical information is given about Mahendra-
varman, who, accordingly, seems to have been an insignificant ruler. A
laudatory
description of the virtues and deeds of his son Parameśvaravarman fills two
plates of
the inscription. The only historical fact contained in this long and difficult
passage is that,
in a terrible battle, he “made Vikramāditya,——whose
army consisted of several
lakshas,——take to flight, covered only by a rag.”
The three kings who are mentioned in the Kūram grant, viz.,
Narasiṁhavarman,
Mahendravarman and Parameśvaravarman, are identical with
three Pallava kings
described in Mr. Foulkes' grant of Nandivarman Pallavamalla, viz., Narasiṁhavarman
I., Mahendravarman II. and Parameśvaravarman I. Of
Narasiṁhavarman I. the last-
mentioned grant likewise states, that he
“destroyed Vātāpi” and that he “frequently
defeated Vallabharāja at
Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, and other (places).”
Here Vallabharāja
corresponds to the Pulakeśin of the Kūram grant. If Mr. Foulkes'
grant further
reports, that Parameśvaravarman I. “defeated the army of Vallabha in
the
battle of Peruvaḷanallūr,” it is evident that it alludes to the same fight as
is
described in the Kūram grant.
If we combine the historical information contained in both grants, it appears——1. that
the
Pallava king Narasiṁhavarman I. defeated Pulakeśin, alias
Vallabharāja, at
Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, and other places,
and destroyed Vātāpi, the capital
of the Western Chalukyas, and——2. that
his grandson Parameśvaravarman I. defeated
Vikramāditya, alias
Vallabha, at Peruvaḷanallūr. As stated above (p. 11), Pulakeśin
and
Vikramāditya, the opponents of the two Pallava kings, must have been the
Western
Chalukya kings Pulikeśin II. (Śaka 532 and 556) and his son
Vikramāditya I. (Śaka
592 (?) to 602 (?)), who, more indico, likewise boast
of having conquered their antagonists.
Thus, a grant of Pulikeśin
II. says, that “he caused the leader of the Pallavas to hide his
prowess behind the
ramparts of Kāñchīpura;” and, in a grant of Vikramāditya
I., it is
said that “this lord of the earth, conquering Īśvarapotarāja
(i.e., Parameśvaravarman I.),
took Kāñchī, whose huge walls were
insurmountable and hard to be broken, which was
surrounded by a large moat that was
unfathomable and hard to be crossed, and which
resembled the girdle (kāñchī) of the
southern region (read dakshiṇadiśaḥ).”
Another Pallava king, viz., Nandipotavarman, is mentioned as the
opponent of the
Western Chalukya king Vikramāditya II. (Śaka 655 to 669) in
the Vakkaleri grant,
which was published by Mr. Rice. The table
inserted on p. 11, above, shows that this
Nandipotavarman must be identical with the Pallava
king Nandivarman Pallavamalla,
who is mentioned in Mr. Foulkes' grant. Though
digressing from my subject, I now sub-
join a transcript from the facsimile and
a translation of that part of the Vakkaleri grant,
which describes the reign of
Vikramāditya II.
“Vikramāditya Satyāśraya Śrī-Pr̥thivī-vallabha, the king of great kings,
the
supreme ruler, the lord,——to whom arose great energy immediately after the time of
his
anointment at the self-choice of the goddess of the sovereignty of the whole world, and
who
resolved to uproot completely his natural enemy, the Pallava, who had robbed of
their
splendour the previous kings born from his race,——reached with great speed the
Tuṇḍāka-
vishaya (i.e., the Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam), attacked at the head of a battle and put to flight
the Pallava, called
Nandipotavarman, who had come to meet him, took possession of the
musical instrument
(called) “harsh-sounding” and of the excellent musical instrument called
“roar of the
sea,” of the banner (marked with Śiva's) club, of many renowned and excel-
lent elephants, and of a heap of rubies, which drove away darkness by the light of
the
multitude of their rays, and entered (the city of) Kāñchī,——which seemed
to be the handsome
girdle (kāñchī) of the nymph of the southern region,——without
destroying it. Having made
the twice-born, the distressed and the helpless rejoice by continual
gifts, having acquired
great merit by granting heaps of gold to (the temple) of stone
(called) Rājasiṁheśvara,
which Narasiṁhapotavarman had caused to
be built, and to other temples, and having
burnt by the unimpeded progress of
his power the Pāṇḍya, Choḷa, Keraḷa, Kaḷabhra
and other princes, he placed a
pillar of victory (jayastambha), which consisted (as it were) of
the mass of his
fame that was as pure as the bright moon in autumn, on the Southern
Ocean, which
was called Ghūrṇamānārṇas (i.e., that whose waves are rolling) and
whose
shore glittered with the rays of the pearls, which had dropped from the shells, that
were
beaten and split by the trunks of the frightened elephants (of his enemies), which
resembled
sea-monsters.”
That Vikramāditya II. really entered Kāñchī and visited the
Rājasiṁheśvara
Temple, is proved by a much obliterated Kanarese inscription in the
Kailāsanātha Temple
at Kāñchīpuram. This inscription is engraved on the
back of a pillar in the maṇḍapa in
front of the Rājasiṁheśvara Shrine,
close to the east wall of that maṇḍapa, which at a
later time was erected between the
front maṇḍapa and Rājasiṁheśvara. It begins with the
name of “Vikramāditya
Satyāśraya Śrī-Pr̥thivī-vallabha, the king of great kings,
the supreme ruler, the
lord” and mentions the temple of Rājasiṁheśvara (
line
4).
I now return to the Kūram plates. The three last of them contain the grant
proper,
and record in Sanskrit and Tamil, that Parameśvara (i.e.,
Parameśvaravarman I.) gave
away the village of Parameśvara-maṅgalam,——which was
evidently named after the king
himself,——in twenty-five parts. Of these, three were enjoyed by
two Brāhmaṇas, Anantaśi-
vāchārya and Phullaśarman,
who performed the divine rites and looked after the repairs
of the Śiva temple at
Kūram, which was called Vidyāvinīta-Pallava-Parameśvara,
and which had
been built by Vidyāvinīta-Pallava, probably a relative of the king. The
fourth part
was set aside for the cost of providing water and fire for the maṇḍapa at
Kūram,
and the fifth for reciting the Bhārata in this maṇḍapa. The
remaining twenty parts were
given to twenty Chaturvedins.
At the time of the grant, the village of Kūram belonged to the nāḍu (country)
or, in
Sanskrit, manyavāntara-rāshṭra of Nīrveḷūr, a division of
Ūṟṟukkāṭṭukkoṭṭam (lines 49
and 57 f.), and the village of
Parameśvaramaṅgalam belonged to the Paṉmā-nāḍu
or
Patmā-manyavāntara-rāshṭra, a division of Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam (lines 53 and
71). As,
in numerous Tamil inscriptions,
nāḍu, which occurs also in No. 86,
might mean the country of the Varmās, i.e., of the
Pallavas, whose
names end in varman, the nominative case of which is varmā. There is,
however, a
possibility of
of the names of the goddess Lakshmī. With
Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam compare Maṇaviṟkoṭṭam
in No. 86 and
Eyiṟkoṭṭam in No. 88. Possibly Maṇaviṟkoṭṭam is a mere corruption
of
Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam, and Maṇayil stands for Maṇ-eyil, “mud-fort,” which might be a fuller
form
of Eyil, a village in the South Arcot District, which seems to have given its
name to Eyiṟ-
koṭṭam.
In conclusion, an important palaeographical peculiarity of the Tamil portion of the
Kūram
plates has to be noted. The puḷḷi, which corresponds to the Nāgarī virāma,
occurs
frequently, though not regularly, in combination with seven letters of the Tamil
alphabet.
In the case of five of these
the letter, as in the inscription No. 82, above. In the
case of the two others (
has a similar shape, but is placed
behind the letter and at an angle with it, in such a way
that the lower part is nearer to the
letter than the upper one.
Hail! (Verse 1.) May (Śiva) protect us, who has five faces
(and) fifteen fearful eyes,
who bears the moon on his crest, who wears the trident,
whose sacred thread is a terrible
serpent, who possesses ten strong arms, who has the form of
the universal soul which consists
of truth alone, the divine one, who is to be respected by
Mukunda (Vishṇu) and the other
immortals, who produces the creation, who is propitiated
by spells, the creator, (who is)
knowledge incarnate, who performs perfect
self-restraint, and whose form is the universe!
(Verse 2.) Victorious is that Parameśvara (Śiva), who consists of the three
Vedas, the
crest-jewel of the three worlds, who places in the hearts of beings the power
which effects
actions, the moon of the highest sky, the succession of whose particles
(causes) a multitude of
products, and whose rays crystallize, when they fall, as on a
moon-stone, on the mind of the
learned!
(Verse 3.) May that race of the Pallavas,——in which we hear no prince was
(ever)
born, who was not pious, who did not perform the soma sacrifice, who
raised the club of
war unjustly, who was a sham saint, who did not perform heroic deeds
(only for the sake of)
liberality, whose tongue was so false as to speak an untruth, or
who was alarmed in battles,
——be unobstructed in protecting the earth, which is free from
calamities!
(Line 9.) From Brahman (sprang) Aṅgiras; from him,
Br̥haspati; from him,
Bharadvāja; from him, Droṇa; from Droṇa,
Aśvatthāman, the splendour of whose
power was immeasurable; from him,
Pallava, who drove away (every) jot of a calamity from
his race; from him, the
race of the Pallavas, the favourites of the whole world.
(Verse 4.) May that Pallava race last (for ever), in which we have heard
no prince
was (ever) born, who was not pious, who was not liberal, (or) who was
not brave!
(Line 12.) The grandson of Narasiṁhavarman, (who arose) from the kings
of this
race, just as the moon and the sun from the eastern mountain; who was the crest-jewel
on
the head of those princes, who had never bowed their heads (before); who proved a
lion to
the elephant-herd of hostile kings; who appeared to be the blessed Narasiṁha himself,
who
had come down (to earth) in the shape of a prince; who repeatedly defeated the
Choḷas,
Keraḷas, Kaḷabhras, and Pāṇḍyas; who, like Sahasrabāhu (i.e.,
the thousand-armed
Kārtavīrya), enjoyed the action of a thousand arms in hundreds of
fights; who wrote the
(three) syllables of (the word) vijaya (i.e.,
victory), as on a plate, on Pulakeśin's back, which
was caused to be visible
(i.e., whom he caused to turn his back) in the battles of Pariyaḷa,
Maṇimaṅgala,
Śūramāra, etc.; and who destroyed (the city of) Vātāpi, just as
the
pitcher-born (Agastya) (the demon) Vātāpi;——
(Line 17.) The son of Mahendravarman, by whom prosperity was
thoroughly
produced (su-rachita), just as prosperity is heaped on the gods
(sura-chita) by Mahendra;
and who thoroughly enforced the sacred law of the castes and
the orders;——
(Line 19.) (was) Parameśvaravarman, whose beauty (darśana)
surpassed (that of) all
(others), just as Parameśvara (Śiva) has
(one) eye (darśana) more than all (others); who, like
Bharata, was a
conqueror of all; who avoided improper conduct (asamañjasa), just as Sagara
abandoned
(his son) Asamañjasa; who possessed a strong body (aṅga), just as
Karṇa was
(king) of the prosperous Aṅgas; who was fond of poems (kāvya), just
as Yayāti of (his
father-in-law) Kāvya (Uśanas); whose command always caused
pain to haughty kings, like a
chaplet (forcibly placed on their heads), but gave splendour to the faces of friends by reaching
their ears, like an
ear-ring; who was constantly clever in the sport of the fine arts (kalā),
(just as) the
moon is charming in the beauty of her digits (kalā); (who resembled) the string
of
pearls (muktāguṇa) on the breast of Cupid, but who, at the same time, avoided
unlawful
(intercourse) with women (even) by thought.
(Line 23.) At the head of a battle,——in which the disk of the sun was caused to
assume
the likeness of the circle of the moon through the mist of the dust, that was produced
by
the marching of countless troops of men, horses and elephants, which was terrible
through
the thunder-like sound of drums, which teemed with unsheathed swords that
resembled
flashes of lightning, in which elephants were moving like clouds, and which
(therefore)
resembled an unseasonable appearance of the rainy season; in which tall
horses looked like
billows, in which elephants caused distress on their path, just as
sea-monsters produce
whirlpools, in which conches were incessantly blown (or cast up),
and which (therefore)
resembled the gaping ocean; which was full of swords and shields
(āvaraṇa), just as of
rhinoceroses, creepers and varaṇa (trees), which was
crowded with heroes who possessed
bows and mighty elephants, as if it were crowded with
śara (grass) and with asana, nāga,
tilaka and puṁnāga (trees), in
which confused noises were raised, and which (therefore)
appeared to be a forest; which
was agitated by a violent wind, (but) in which the path
of the wind was obstructed by
arrows, that flew past each other on the bows (themselves),
while these were bent by the
warriors; in which javelins, pikes, darts, clubs, lances, spears
and discuses were flying
about; in which troops of furious elephants firmly impaled each
other's faces with the piercing
thunderbolts of their tusks; in which squadrons of horsemen
were connected by their swords,
that had struck each other's heads; in which there were
soldiers who were noted (for their
dexterity) in fighting with sword against sword, (pulling
of) hair against
(pulling of) hair, and club against club; in which the ground was thickly
smeared with
saffron, as the blood was mixed with the copious rutting-juice of elephants,
that issued in
consequence of (their) considering each other as equals (or) despising
each
other; in which (both) large armies had lost and dropped arms, necks, shanks,
thigh-
bones and teeth; in which, owing to the encounter of the armies, both sides
were broken,
urged on, put to flight and prostrated on the ground; which was attended by the
goddess of
fortune, sitting on the swing of the doubt about mutual victory or defeat; in which
brave
warriors were marching on the back of lines of fallen elephants, that formed a
bridge
over the flood of blood; in which soldiers stood motionless, if their
blows did not hit each
other's weak parts; which was covered here and there with
shattered banners and parasols,
with fallen elephants and with dead and half-dead soldiers, who
had done their duty, whose
strong arms (still) raised the weapon, whose lips were bitten
and whose eyes were deep-red
with fury; in which a multitude of white chāmaras was
waving; in which tiaras, armlets,
necklaces, bracelets and ear-rings were broken, crushed and
pulverized; in which the
Kūshmāṇḍas, Rākshasas and Piśāchas were singing,
intoxicated with drinking the liquor of
blood; and which contained hundreds of headless trunks,
that were vehemently dancing
together in a fearful manner according to the beaten time,——he,
unaided, made Vikramā-
ditya, whose army consisted of several
lakshas, take to flight, covered only by a rag.
(Verses 5 and 6.) He, having caused to be accoutred the elephant called
Arivāraṇa
(i.e., ‘warding off enemies’), whose golden saddle was covered with
the splendour of jewels,
whose rut was perpetual, who (therefore) appeared to be the
king of mountains himself
whose torrents never cease to flow, and who was followed by thousands
of (other) elephants,——
and the horse called Atiśaya (i.e.,
‘eminence’), whose noble breed was manifest, and who
wore a saddle (set with)
jewels, together with lakshas of (other) horses, whose ears were
covered with
chāmaras.•••••
(Line 49.) This Parameśvara gave to the blessed lord Pinākapāṇi
(Śiva),——who had
been placed in the temple of
Vidyāvinīta-Pallava-Parameśvara in the midst of the
village called Kūra,
which possessed one hundred and eight families that studied the four
Vedas, (and which was
situated) in the manyavāntara-rāshṭra called Nīrveḷūr, in the midst
of
Ūṟṟukkāṭṭukkoṭṭa, in order to provide for the worship, the bathing (of
the idol), flowers,
perfumes, incense, lamps, oblations (havir-upahāra-bali),
conches, drums, etc., and for water,
fire and the recitation of the Bhārata at
this (temple),——the village called Parameśvara-
maṅgala in the
manyavāntara-rāshṭra called Patmā, in the midst of Maṇayi[ṟ]koṭṭa,
as
a divine gift (and) as a gift to Brāhmaṇas, at the request of
Vidyāvinīta, the lord of the
Pallavas, with exemption from all taxes. The
executor (ājñapti) of this (grant
was)
Mahāsenadatta (of) Uttarakāraṇikā. And for
(performing) the divine rites and the
repairs of this temple of
Vidyāvinīta-Pallava-Parameśvara,——Anantaśiva-āchārya,
the son of
Kūratt-āchārya, was given (!), and secondly Phullaśarman; (their) sons
and
grandsons were (also) appointed.
(Line 57.) (At) Kūram and Ñammaṉambākkam••••• in
Nīrveḷūr-
nāḍu, (a division) of
Ūṟṟukkāṭṭukkoṭṭam,——Vidyāvinīta, the Pallava king, bought
one
thousand and two hundred kur̥s of land, for which he paid the price in
gold. (Other)
land was purchased, in order to burn tiles for building a temple. After
the paṭṭi of
Śūḷaimeḍu within Talaippāḍagam
and five and a quarter paṭṭis of land in the village,
together with the land on which
the maṇḍapa was built, were bought; after the temple
of
Vidyāvinīta-Pallava-Parameśvara was built; after the tank was dug; and
after
houses and house-gardens were allotted to those, who had to perform the worship at
this
temple,——the land, which remained, was to be cultivated for (providing) the
customary
offerings. The eastern boundary of this land is to the west of the road to the
burning-
ground; the southern boundary is to the north of the road, which leads into
the village;
the western boundary is to the east of the road, which leads to the
district-channel (?) (and
which is) on the north of the road, which leads
into the village; the northern boundary is to
the south of the district-channel. After the land
included within these four boundaries,——
with the exception of the temple, the tank, and the
houses and house-gardens for those, who
had to perform the worship,——and the paṭṭi of
Śūḷaimeḍu had been given as land to be
cultivated for (providing) the
customary offerings,——the whole land round the tank (?) in
(the village of)
Parameśvaramaṅgalam in Paṉmā-nāḍu, (a division) of
Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam,
(was divided) into twenty-five parts (and set aside)
for performing the divine rites and the
repairs necessary for this temple, and in order to
grant a brahmadeya to twenty Chaturvedins.
Of these, three parts shall be
(for) performing the divine rites and the repairs of the temple at
Kūram; one
part shall be for water and fire for the maṇḍapa at Kūram; one part shall be
for
reciting the Bhārata in this maṇḍapa; the remaining twenty parts were
given as a brahmadeya
to twenty Chaturvedins. (The donees) shall enjoy the houses
and house-gardens of this village,
the village-property (?), the oil-mills, the looms, the
bāzār, the brokerage, the kattikkāṇam (?)
and all other common
(property), after (the proceeds) have been divided in the proportion of
these
twenty-five parts. The dry land (?) (along) the Perumbiḍugu channel, which
was
dug from the Pālāṟu to the tank of Parameśvara at
this village, (and) all the land, in
which••••• channels (from) fountains were
dug, (shall be) the land of Parameś-
varamaṅgalam•••••
(Line 83.) Of the three parts, which were given, Anantaśiva-āchārya and his
sons
and further descendants (shall enjoy) one and a half part•••••
(Line 86.) Phullaśarman and his sons and further descendants•••••
[Lines 89 to 95 contain fragments of five Sanskrit verses, in the first of which
the
inscription is called a praśasti or eulogy; the remaining four
were, as usual, imprecatory
verses.]
A rough transcript and paraphrase of the subjoined inscription was published as early
as
1836 in the Asiatic Researches. The original is engraved on a lamp-pillar
in front of a
Jaina temple at the ruined city of Vijayanagara. The temple is
now-a-days styled
Gāṇigitti Temple, i.e., “the temple of
the oil-woman.”
The inscription consists of 28 Sanskrit verses and commences with an invocation
of
Jina (verse 1) and of his religion (Jina-śāsana, v. 2). Then follows a
pedigree of the
spiritual ancestors and pupils of the head of a Jaina school, who was
called Siṁha-
nandin:——
The Mūla-saṁgha.
The Nandi-saṁgha.
The Balātkāra-gaṇa.
The Sārasvata-gachchha.
Padmanandin.
Dharmabhūshaṇa I.,
Bhaṭṭāraka.
Amarakīrti.
Siṁhanandin,
Gaṇabhr̥t.
Dharmabhūsha, Bhaṭṭāraka.
Vardhamāna.
Dharmabhūshaṇa
II., alias Bhaṭṭārakamuni.
The various epithets, which these teachers receive in the inscription,
are:——āchārya,
ārya, guru, deśika, muni and yogīndra. Other Jaina
terms, which occur in the inscription,
are:——syādvāda (v. 2.) or anekānta-mata
(v. 22), paṭṭa (vv. 11 and 12) and chaityālaya
(v. 28).
The pedigree of Jaina teachers is followed by a short account (vv. 15 to 18) of two
kings of
the first Vijayanagara dynasty, viz., Bukka, who was descended from the
race of
the Yādava kings, and his son Harihara (II). Harihara's hereditary
minister was the
general (daṇḍādhināyaka, vv. 19 and 21; daṇḍanātha, v.
20) Chaicha or Chaichapa.
Chaicha's son, the general (daṇḍeśa, vv.
21, 22 and 28) or prince (kshitīśa v. 23; dharaṇīśa,
v. 24) Iruga
or Irugapa, adhered to the doctrine of the above-mentioned Jaina
teacher
Siṁhanandin (v. 24). In Śaka 1307 [expired], the cyclic
year Krodhana (lines 36 f.),
Iruga built a stone-temple of
Kunthu-Jinanātha (v. 28) at Vijayanagara (v. 26).
This city belonged to
Kuntala, a district of the Karṇāṭa country (v. 25).
Through my assistant I received a copy,——printed with a Telugu commentary in
the
Rudhirodgāri-saṁvatsara (i.e., 1863-64 A.D.),——of a Sanskrit kośa,
entitled Nānārtharatna-
mālā and composed by
Irugapa-daṇḍādhinātha or, as he calls himself in the opening
verses,
Iruga-daṇḍeśa. Dr. Oppert mentions a large number of MSS. of the same
work.
Dr. Aufrecht describes three inferior MSS. of it and states that,
according to one of these,
its composer lived under a king Harihara. This notice
enables us to identify the author
of the Nānārtharatnamālā with the general
Iruga or Irugapa of the subjoined inscription.
(Verse 1.) May that Jina, the dust of whose lotus-feet removes mental impurity,
and
who is an abode of compassion, produce abundant happiness !
(Verse 2.) May the religion of the lord of the three worlds, the religion of
Jina, the
unfailing characteristic of which is the glorious and extremely mysterious
scepticism, be
victorious!
(Verse 3.) In the glorious Mūla-saṁgha, there arose the
Nandi-saṁgha; in this,
the lovely Balātkāra-gaṇa; and in the
gachchha called Sārasvata, (which belonged) to
this, the pure-minded
Padmanandin.
(Verse 4.) The āchārya called Kuṇḍa[kunda], Vakragrīva, Mahāmati,
Elāchārya
and Gr̥dhrapiñchha:——these (were) his five (sur)names.
(Verse 5.) Just as pearls in the ocean, there appeared in his (spiritual) race
(anvaya)
certain beautiful sages, who were mines of speeches and endowed with divine
splendour.
(Verse 6.) Among these, there was a teacher, who was an ocean of beautiful
deeds,
which resembled pearls, the chief of ascetics (called) Dharmabhūshaṇa,
who was distin-
guished by the title of Bhaṭṭāraka.
(Verse 7.) Resplendent is the Bhaṭṭāraka Dharmabhūshaṇa, whose
(only) ornament
are virtues; even as a bee, the (whole) sky (enjoys) the
perfume of the flower of his fame.
(Verse 8.) The pupil of this sage was the glorious saint Amarakīrti, a treasury
of
austerities of unrestrained (power), the foremost of teachers, and full of
tranquillity.
(Verse 9.) I worship that Amarakīrti, who removes darkness, and in whose heart
the
lamp of knowledge never flickers in consequence of his shutting the door of his
eye-lids
and suppressing his breath.
(Verse 10.) Let many chiefs of ascetics arise on earth, who are bent (only) on
filling
their bellies, and whose minds are devoid of knowledge; what is their use in this
world,
(though they be) endless (in number) ? (For) there appears the pupil of
Amarakīrti, the
glorious, wise, and dutiful teacher Siṁhanandin, the head
of a school (gaṇabhr̥t), who
scatters (their) invincible and great pride by his
mighty virtues.
(Verse 11.) His (successor) in office was the glorious
Bhaṭṭāraka Dharmabhūsha,
who equalled (his) glorious teacher, the
saint Siṁhanandin, who resembled a pillar of
the palace of the holy religion of
Jina, and whose fame (possessed the splendour of) the
lotus and the moon.
(Verse 12.) (The successor) in office of this sage was a lord of sages,
(called) Vardha-
māna, who was a bee at the lotus-feet of the
glorious Siṁhanandin, the chief of ascetics.
(Verse 13.) The pupil of this teacher was the teacher Dharmabhūshaṇa, (also
called)
the glorious Bhaṭṭārakamuni, who was free from the
three thorns.
(Verse 14.) We praise the feet of Bhaṭṭārakamuni, those unheard-of lotuses,
before
which the hands of kings (rāja-karāḥ) are devoutly folded, (while the
day-lotus closes under the
influence of the rays of the moon:——rāja-karāḥ).
(Line 21.) While thus the succession of teachers continued without interruption:——
(Verse 15.) There was in the race of the Yādava princes the illustrious king
Bukka,
whose might was boundless, and who was exalted by perfect virtues.
(Verse 16.) From this prince there sprang the lord Harihara, a king who knew
all
arts (kalā),——just as the (full) moon, who possesses all digits
(kalā), was produced from the
milk-ocean.
(Verse 17.) While this prince, who has conquered the world by his valour, is (her)
lord,
this earth possesses——ah!——at last a king who deserves this title.
(Verse 18.) While this lord of kings, who surpassed all former princes, ruled the
earth,
whose girdle are the four oceans,——
(Verse 19.) The hereditary minister of him, whose wife was the earth, was the
general
Chaicha, who was endowed with the three (regal) powers.
(Verse 20.) (His) second soul in (state) secrets (and his) third arm
on battle-fields,——the
illustrious and great general Chaichapa is (ever)
vigilant in the service of king Hari.
(Verse 21.) The son of this illustrious and brilliant general Chaicha was the
general
Iruga, who delighted the world.
(Verse 22.) Oh general Iruga ! This great fame (of thine),——which is not
corporeal,
because it pervades the whole world, (but which is at the same time)
corporeal, because it
resembles in splendour Śiva and the full-moon, as it
shines in autumn,——says for a long
time:——“In this world there is no higher doctrine than the
lovely scepticism.”
(Verse 23.) The bow of this prince Iruga loudly teaches, as it were, right
conduct to
the people, as it is of good bamboo (or of good family), endowed with a
string (or with virtues)
and a receptacle of arrows (or a refuge of beggars), but
is bent (or humble) and causes the
enemies (or the best) to bow.
(Verse 24.) Prince Irugapa, that moon (who causes to unfold) the lotus of
the goddess
of prosperity of the great empire of king Harihara, he who has reached the
highest point of
prowess and profundity, the only abode of valour, (was) a bee at the
lotus-feet of Siṁha-
nandin, the best of saints.
(Line 36.) Hail! In the Śaka year 1307, while the Krodhana year was current,
on
Friday, the second lunar day of the dark half of the month of Phālguna;——
(Verse 25.) There is a district (vishaya), Kuntala by name, which is
situated in the
midst of the vast country (dharā-maṇḍala) of Karṇāṭa, and
which resembles the hair
(kuntala) of the goddess of the earth.
(Verse 26.) In this (country) there is a city (nagara), named
Vijaya, which is
resplendent with wonderful jewels, and which exhibits the spectacle
of an unexpected
moonshine by the multitude of its whitewashed palaces.
(Verse 27.) There the girls play on roads paved with precious stones, stopping
by
embankments of pearl-sand the water (poured out) at donations.
(Verse 28.) In this city the general Iruga caused to be built of fine stones a
temple
(chaityālaya) of the blessed Kunthu, the lord of
Jinas.
(Line 42.) Let there be prosperity to the religion of Jina!
Next to No. 152, this is the oldest dated inscription at Vijayanagara. It
is
engraved on both sides of the north-west entrance of a ruined Jaina temple, which
is
situated to the south-west of the temple No. 35 on the Madras Survey Map. A
careless
transcript and paraphrase in the Asiatic Researches has been
useful so far as it enabled
Mr. R.Sewell to complete the pedigree of the first
Vijayanagara dynasty in his Lists of
Antiquities.
The inscription is written in large and handsome characters, which are,
however,
considerably obliterated in consequence of the usual coating with chunnam. It records,
in
Sanskrit, prose and verse, that in the Parābhava year, which was current after the
expiration
of the Śāka year 1348 (line 25), king Devarāja II. built a stone-temple
(chaityālaya or
chaityāgāra) of the Arhat Pārśvanātha (l.
5) or Pārśva-Jineśvara (l. 27) in a street
(vīthi) of the Pān-supārī
Bāzār (Kramuka-parṇāpaṇa, l. 4, or Parṇa-pūgīphalāpaṇa, l. 25)
at
his residence Vijayanagara (l. 4) or Vijayanagarī (l. 6), which belonged to
the
Karṇāṭa country (ll. 4 and 6).
The chief value of the inscription consists in the pedigree, which it gives no less
than
three times, of the first Vijayanagara dynasty:——
1. Bukka (ll. 1, 9, 24) of the race of Yadu (Yadu-kula, l. 8, or Yādavānvaya, l. 1).
2. His son, Harihara (II.) (ll. 2, 10, 24), mahārāja (l. 2).
3. His son, Devarāja (I.) (ll. 2, 13, 24).
4. His son, Vijaya (ll. 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24) or Vīra-Vijaya (l. 2).
5. His son, Devarāja (II.) (ll. 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24), Abhinava-Devarāja
(ll. 3 f.),
or Vīra-Devarāja (l. 16), mahārāja (l. 4), rājādhirāja,
rājaparameśvara, etc. (ll. 3 and 23).
In the subjoined genealogical table of the first or Yādava dynasty of
Vijayanagara,
the names of the father and of the elder brother of Bukka and
those Śaka dates, for which
no references are given in the foot-notes, are taken from Mr.
Fleet's table of the same
dynasty.
During the reign of Devarāja II. the city of Vijayanagara was visited by ‘Abdu’r-
razzāq as an ambassador of Sulṯān Shāh Rukh of Samarkand, a son of
the great Tīmūr.
‘Abdu’r-razzāq informs us, that he stayed at
Bījānagar (Vijayanagara), the capital of
Deo Rāī (Devarāja II.), from
the close of Z6u'l-ḥijja A.H. 846 = end of April A.D. 1443
to the 12th Sha'bān
A.H. 847 = 5th December A.D. 1443. An English translation of his
own account
of his journey is included in Elliot and Dowson's History of India.
Curiously
enough, the whole is also incorporated with slight alterations in Galland's
translation of
the Thousand and One Nights, where it forms part of the Story of
Prince Aḥmad and the Fairy
Parī Bānū. This is one of the twelve doubtful stories, the
originals of which are not found
in the existing Arabic MSS. of the Nights. The late
Professor Weil was of opinion, that
they were probably contained in the
fourth volume of the Paris MS., which was lost after
Galland's death; and two of the missing
stories have since been actually recovered by
M. Zotenberg. In
‘Abdu’r-razzāq's account of Vijayanagara, we possess the dated original,
from which part of
the Story of Prince Aḥmad was taken. In the absence of works of
reference, I cannot say
if this fact,——which furnishes us with a terminus a quo for the
compilation of that
story,——has been noticed before.
According to ‘Abdu'r-razzāq, Devarāja II. issued the following
coins:——I. Gold:
(1) varāha; (2) partāb = (1/2) varāha; (3) fanam = (1/10)
partāb. II. Silver: tār = (1/6) fanam. III.
Copper: jītal = (1/3)
tār. Pagodas or varāhas with the legend
copies is corrupted into
of Bukka.
The name partāb, which ‘Abdu’r-razzāq attributes to the half pagoda, is
probably
connected with the surname Pratāpa, which occurs before the names of Vijaya-
nagara kings both on coins and in inscriptions. Dr. Bain of Bangalore possesses a
half
pagoda with the legend
pagoda. Two quarter pagodas in my cabinet have on the
obverse an elephant which faces
the left, and on the reverse the legend
name has been hitherto
discovered. Copper coins of Devarāja are very common in the
South-Indian bāzārs. They
have on the obverse a bull or an elephant, and on the reverse
the legends
Let there be prosperity! (Verse 1.) May the religion of the lord of the three
worlds,
the religion of Jina, the unfailing characteristic of which is the glorious
and extremely
mysterious scepticism, be victorious!
(Line 1.) The victorious and illustrious prince Vīra-Vijaya sprang from the
brave
prince Devarāja (I.), who resembled the king of the gods and who was descended
in his
turn from the glorious mahārāja Harihara (II.), whose body was
produced by the results of
the good deeds of the illustrious king Bukka, who, just as
the full-moon from the ocean,
(rose) from the illustrious Yādava race
(Yādavānvaya). The virtuous mahārāja Abhinava-
Devarāja
(i.e., the young Devarāja, or Devarāja II.),——(who sprang) from this (Vīra-
Vijaya), just as a heap of large rubies from the Rohaṇa mountain, who made the throne of
his empire firm by polity and valour, and who was known by
the surnames of rājādhirāja,
rājaparameśvara, etc.,——in order that his fame and
merit might last as long as the moon and
the stars,——caused a temple (chaityālaya) of
stone to be built to the Arhat Pārśvanātha,——
who rules over the empire of
all knowledge, and who well knew how to proclaim the
doctrine of scepticism
(syādvāda-vidyā),——in a street of the Pān-supārī Bāzār
(Kramuka-
parṇāpaṇa) at his (the king's) residence
Vijayanagara, that was situated in the midst of
(the country called)
Karṇāṭa-deśa, which was protected by his orders.
(Verse 2.) There was a country (deśa), Karṇāṭa by name, which was the
abode of all
wealth, and which equalled heaven, the seat of the gods.
(Verse 3.) In this (country) there is a city, called Vijayanagarī, whose
lovely palaces
are as high as mountains, and than which none among the cities is more important
in great
power.
(Line 7.) Through the mass of the rays, (which issue from) its golden walls, and
which
are reflected in the water of its moat, this (city) closely resembles the earth,
that is
surrounded by the girdle of the ocean, which is encircled by the lustre of the
submarine
fire (bāḍaba).
(Verse 4.) The illustrious, brilliant and wise king Bukka,——who is the ornament
of the
race of Yadu (Yadu-kula), who has reached the highest point of power and
beauty, whose
appearance is as lovely as that of Rāma, who has acquired wealth
by his good fortune, who
has subdued (all) quarters by his valour, (who crushes)
the crowd of rival kings, just as a
young elephant a group of lotuses, and
whose arrows split the heads of the kings of his
enemies,——shines on earth (and) watches
over it.
(Verse 5.) Resplendent is his son, king Harihara (II.), whose strength is
well-known,
(who has proved) a splendid helmsman in crossing the great ocean of poverty,
who has equalled
the bearer of the axe by his gifts of land and the son of
the sun by his gifts of gold,
and who has deposited his fame in pillars of
victory (jayastambha), which he erected in an
uninterrupted line on the shore of the
great ocean.
(Verse 6.) From him sprang the most excellent and illustrious lord Devarāja
(I.), the
worship (nīrājana) of whose lotus-feet was performed with a lamp, (that
consisted of) the
precious stones, which were set in the glittering diadems on the
multitude of the heads of
the excellent kings of his enemies; (who gladdened) the learned, just as the moon the
night-lotuses; who was
a mine of well-known prowess; and who was voluntarily chosen as
husband by (Lakshmī)
the mistress of heroes.
(Verse 7.) Victorious in this world is his son, the liberal prince Vijaya, who
is to be
respected on account of his pious deeds, who has put an end to the distress of beggars
by
his gifts, who has crushed the armies of his foes, and the light of the courage of
whose
numerous enemies was extinguished by the (mere) touch of the violent wind, that was
produced by his banners, which were raised (or: by the
comet, which rose) at the very
moment of the starting of his victorious expeditions.
(Verse 8.) Just as Jayanta from (Inḍra) the conqueror of (the demon)
Jambha, and just
as the full-moon from the ocean, there was born in this world from that prince
Vijaya the
passionless and illustrious king Devarāja (II.), whose sword was
engaged in destroying
numbers of lives,——just as the king of serpents is engaged in swallowing
masses of wind,——
of rival kings, who met (him) in mighty battles,
which were fought with excessive fury.
(Verse 9.) Resplendent is the lord of the earth, the illustrious Vīra-Devarāja
(II.),
whose body was produced by the power of the austerities of prince Vijaya; who
removed
the great distress of the crowd of his prostrated enemies (by pardoning them);
and whose
enemies' great fortitude,——as a mass of clouds,——was scattered by the (mere)
touch of the
violent wind, that was produced by (the flapping of) the ears,——which
resembled winnow-
ing-baskets,——of the troop of his elephants, who were longing for
battles, that raged with
fierce fury.
(Verse 10.) (Ever) rising is this lord Devarāja (II.), the eyes of the
wives of the crowd
of whose rival kings are filled with showers of tears,——as if it were by the
dense smoke of
the fire of (his) prowess,——by the dust, (which rises from) the
earth, that is split by the hoofs
of his steeds, which are terrible in their attack; and who,
just as the sun (dispels) darkness,
(subdues) the excessive
anger,——which is indefatigable in bold challenges,—— of many brave
and daring
warriors of the opposite party.
(Verse 11.) In consequence of the rising of the sun, which is called the prowess
of
the illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), the son of king Vijaya, there
spreads its splendour
over the whole world the white lotus-flower of his fame, in which the
points of the compass
are the petals, the golden mountain (Meru) the seed-vessel, the elephants of the quarters the
bees, and the oceans so many drops of
honey.
(Verse 12.) Since the famous and illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), the son of
Vijaya, is
making gifts, the praise of Karṇa has ceased; Dadhīchi
and others are worthy of blame;
even the clouds (megha) have turned useless
(mogha); nobody thinks of the thinking-jewel
(chintāmaṇi); the
kalpa-trees appear very small (alpa); and the heavenly cow
(naichikī)
confesses her inferiority (nīchatā).
(Verse 13.) This excellent prince Devarāja (II.), (who resembles) the
tree of heaven
(by his liberality) to Brāhmaṇas, is sporting with his queens,
(viz.) the river of (his) fame,
the earth and the goddess of speech. Verily, he
resembles Śauri (Vishṇu), but has not to
beg for his revenue (bali),
(while Vishṇu in his dwarf-incarnation begged land from Bali); he
resembles the
moon, but is spotless; he resembles Śakra (Indra), but does not destroy
families
(gotra), (while Indra split the mountains:——gotra); and he
resembles the sun, but
never transgresses the right course, (while the sun daily changes his
course in the sky).
(Verse 14.) His form is as lovely as that of Cupid, and he overcomes the great pride
of
women. His own surnames (biruda) are rājādhirāja, rājaparameśvara, etc.
(Verse 15.) In power, he resembles king Bukka, in liberality——the lord
Harihara
(II.), in prowess——the illustrious lord Devarāja (I.), and in
wisdom——king Vijaya.
(Verse 16 to 20.) This illustrious lord Devarāja (II.), who was famed
both for
wisdom and modesty, caused to be built in a street of the above-mentioned city, in the
Pān-supārī Bāzār (Parṇa-pūgīphalāpaṇa), when the
Śāka year measured by the Vasus
(8), the oceans (4), the qualities (3) and the moon (1) had
passed, in the (cyclic) year
Parābhava, on Kārttikī (i.e., on
the day of the full-moon in the month of Kārttika), in order
to propagate (his)
merit and fame, a temple (chaityāgāra) of stone, which gives delight to
the good,
which is a bridge for (his) whole merit, and which shall last as long as the earth,
the sun and the moon, to the blessed Pārśva, the lord of Jinas,
who has maimed the
arrogant bombast of evil-speakers by establishing the doctrine of scepticism
(syādvāda-mata),
who is celebrated as a lion to the herd of extremely furious
elephants:——the eighteen sins
(dosha), who is a sun, (which gladdens) the good,
like lotuses, who is to be praised by Indra
and all other lords of the gods, who is the beloved
husband of the goddess of salvation, and
who is an ocean of mercy.
This inscription is engraved on a rock not far from the summit of the fort of
Gutti
(Gooty) in the Anantapur District and consists of one
verse in the Sragdharā metre. At the
time of the inscription, the fort of
Gutti (Gutti-durga) belonged to king Bukka. By
this, the well-known
king of the first dynasty of Vijayanagara, whose inscriptions range
between Śaka 1276
[current] and 1290 [expired], seems to be meant.
Besides the subjoined inscription, the fort of Gutti bears three very rough
rock-inscrip-
tions in Kanarese of Tribhuvanamalladeva, i.e., of the
Western Chālukya king
Vikramāditya VI., surnamed Tribhuvanamalla.
The dates of two of them, which I
succeeded in making out, are recorded in the new era started
by Vikramāditya VI., the
Chāḷukya-Vikrama-varsha, which, according to Mr. Fleet, began with the king's accession
in Śaka 997 [expired]. The two inscriptions are
dated in the 46th and 47th years, which
corresponded to the cyclic years Plava and
Śubhakr̥t, i.e., Śaka 1043 and 1044 [expired] or
A.D. 1121-22 and 1122-23.
Prosperity! Victorious is the king of forts, the best of mountains, Gutti-durga
by
name! (This mountain is) the nave of the wheel of the sovereignty over the whole
earth of
the illustrious king Bukka, the lord of fortune, who is another form
(assumed by) Vishṇu
for protecting the world, (and it is his) ancient
auspicious conch-shell with convolutions
from left to right
(dakshiṇāvarta-śaṅkha),——(and thus resembles) the centre of the
discus of
(Vishṇu) the lord of Lakshmī, and his conch-shell Pāñchajanya.
The subjoined Grantha inscription is engraved on the outside of the east wall of
the
innermost prākāra of the great temple at Chidambaram in the South Arcot
District. It
consists of two verses in the Sragdharā metre, each of which eulogises the
victories of
Kulottuṅga-Choḷa over the five Pāṇḍyas. The first verse
further states, that the king
burnt the fort of Korgāra (Korgāra-durga) and
defeated the Keraḷas. Korgāra is
probably a Sanskritised form of Koṟkai in
the Tinnevelly District, the ancient capital of
the Pāṇḍyas. The
second verse records, that Kulottuṅga-Choḷa placed a pillar of
victory on the
Sahyādri mountain, i.e., the Western Ghāṭs. This he must have done after
his
conquest of the Keraḷas, which is mentioned in the first verse.
According to a grant published by Mr. Fleet, Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva
was the name
of two of the Eastern Chalukyan successors of the Choḷa kings.
Of the first of these,
who was also called Rājendra-Choḍa and ruled from Śaka 985
to 1034, the Chellūr
grant reports that he conquered the Kerala and
Pāṇḍya countries. From an unpub-
lished
Chidambaram inscription it appears, that the surname
Kulottuṅga-Choḷa-
deva was also borne by the maternal grandfather of the
last-mentioned king, the Choḷa
king Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, among whose
conquests we find both the Keraḷa and
Pāṇḍya countries.
Consequently, it is impossible to say to which Kulottuṅga-Choḷa
the subjoined
inscription has to be referred.
Hail! Prosperity! (Verse 1.) Having defeated the five Pāṇḍyas by an army,
which
discharged numerous arrows, having burnt, like straw, the fort of Korgāra, just
as (Arjuna)
the son of Pāṇḍu burnt the Khāṇḍava
(forest), and having crushed the extremely
dense army of the
Keraḷas,——the illustrious Kulottuṅga-Choḷa, who resembled Siva in
splendour and Indra in might, placed a pillar (commemorative of his)
conquest of the three
worlds on the shore of the ocean.
(Verse 2.) (Having placed) a pillar (commemorative of
his) conquest of the three worlds
on the sacred peak of the Sahyādri
(mountain), and having defeated the five Pāṇḍyas by
masses of powerful
armies,——the illustrious Kulottuṅga-Choḷa, whose fame is voluntarily
sung by the
tender women of the Pārasis, and who has driven away his enemies, made
the
trembling crowd of kings subject to his orders.
A lately discovered inscription of the Bilvanātheśvara Temple at Tiruvallam
in
the North Arcot District contains the following important date:——
ayappacittiṅkaḷ
ṉāṉṟu;
on the day of an eclipse of the moon at
the equinox, which corresponded to (the nakshatra)
Revatī and to a full-moon
(in) the month of Aippaśi in this (above-mentioned) year.”
Mr. Fleet, to whom I submitted this date for favour of calculation, kindly informed me
by
return of post on the 18th January 1890, that the date of the inscription is the 26th
September
A.D. 1010 (Śaka 933 current), when there was an eclipse of the moon in
Aippaśi
on the day of the equinox and the Revatī nakshatra. This result falls
within the probable
period, which I have assigned to the Choḷa king
Ko-Rājakesarivarman, alias Rāja-
rāja-deva, and fixes Śaka 927 current = A.D. 1004-5 as the first year of his reign.
His
latest known date,——the 29th year of his reign,—— corresponds to Śaka
955 current = A.D.
1032-33.