Attili grant of Bhīma I Encoding Dániel Balogh intellectual authorship of edition Dániel Balogh DHARMA Berlin DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00051

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

Copyright (c) 2019-2025 by Dániel Balogh.

2019-2025
DHARMAbase

Halantas. Final N (l8, l16) is a simplified na, reduced and raised, without a headmark. Final T is like a full-sized ta with a curly tail (l16, l18). Final M (l29, l30) is a circle with a vertical tail (straight or only slightly sinuous), slightly smaller than regular characters.

Original punctuation marks are plain short verticals, floating around median height.

Other palaeographic observations. Dependent o is sometimes written with a cursive single stroke, but the two-stroke form also occurs many times. Dependent au (e.g. l2) differs from cursive o in being conspicuously extended to the footline, and its humps are also slightly asymmetrical. Rare initial Ai occurs in line 28.

The project DHARMA has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no 809994).

Public URIs with the prefix bib to point to a Zotero Group Library named ERC-DHARMA whose data are open to the public.

Internal URIs using the part prefix to point to person elements in the DHARMA_IdListMembers_v01.xml file.

Collation with photos Re-collated with better scans Initial encoding of the file
Seal śrī-tribhuvanāṅkuśa
Plates

svasti. śrīmāa sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sagotrāṇaāṁ hāriti-putrāṇāṁ kauśikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rājyānāṁ mātr̥-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-masena-pādānuddhyātānāṁ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa-prasāda-samāsādita-vara-varāha-lāñchanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāti-maṇḍalānām aśvamedhāvabhr̥ttha-snāna-pavitriīkr̥ta-vapuṣāṁ cālukyānāṁ kulam alakariṣṇoḥ ssatyāśraya-vallabhendrasya bhrātā kujbja-viṣṇuvarddhano ṣṭādaśa varṣāṇi| tat-suto jayasiṁhas trayastriśata| tad-anujoendrarāja-nandano viṣṇuvarddhano nava| tad-ātmajo maṁgi-yuvarājaḥ pañcaviṁśati| tat-tanujo jayasiṁhas trayodaśa| tad-anujaḥ kokkiliṣ aṇ māsāN| tad-agrajo viṣṇurājo nujam uccāṭya saptatriṁśataṁ| tat-tanūjo vijayāditya-bhaṭṭāraka Ekānnaviṁśatiṁ| tat-tanujo viṣṇurājaḥ ṣastriṁśataṁ| tat-sūnur vvijayādityo bhīma-salki-nāmānāaṁ tat-pakṣa-dakṣiṇa-gaṁga-balaṁ ca nirjjityāṣṭaśata-narendreśvarāṇāṁ karttā catvāriṁśataṁ| tat-tanaya kali-viṣṇuvarddhano ddhyarddha-varṣaṁ| tat-putraḥ

kiraṇapuram acalapuram uru nellūra-purāaṁ vidāhya caitat tripuraṁ martya-maheśvara-nāmnaā khyāta-yaśo-rāśir ābabhau yas satataṁ| Atha ca| kāliṁga-gaṁga-rūpyādi kośaleśa-dvipādi ca| pāṇḍya-pallava-hemādi haṭhāt tyāgārttham āharaT| gaṁgān āropayad gaṁga kūṭam maṁgi-śiro ccchinaNT| kr̥ṣṇaṁ raṇe jayad vaktuṁ kas samarttho suya sāhasāN|

sa vijayādityaś catuścatvāriṁśataṁ| veṁgī-deśam anuvarṣam avarddhayaT| tad-anujanmano yuvarājasya vikrāamākrānta-sakala-dharā-cakrasya vikramāditya-bhūpateḥ priya-tanayaḥ|

śākeṣv abdeṣu yāteṣv atha manu-vasu-saṁprāptea-saṁkhyeṣu meṣe| mitre caitre ca maitre śaśini śaśi-dine kr̥ṣṇapakṣa-dvitīye| yugma-rkṣasyodgame dhāt sakala-jana-mude paṭṭam ā-candra-tāraṁ| śrīmānñ cālukya-bhīmaś catur-udadhi-lasan-mekhalelā-talasya| Atha ca| yasya khaḍga-jala-vārddhi-nimagnaṁ| kr̥ṣṇa-vallabha-balaṁ sa-sapatnaṁ|

sa sarvva-lokokāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājādhirāja-parameśvaraḥ parama-brahmaṇyaḥ cālukya-bhīma-nāmāttili-viṣaya-nivāsino rāṣṭrakūṭa-pramukhāN kuṭuṁbinaḥ Ittham ājñāpayati

viditam astu vo smābhiḥ yā sā Apsaropamā thuṇḍakākhyā tasyāḥ yaḥ putraḥ tuṁburu-samāno mallapākhyaḥ tat-sutāyāai callavākhyātasyai samasta-gāndharvva-vidyā-vedinyai Attili nāma grāme Aiśānyān diśi sahasra-kramuka-taru-sthānaM tasmainn eva grāme vāyavyān diśi pacāśat-khaṇḍikā-vriīhi-bījāvāpa-kṣetraṁ gr̥ha-sthānañ ca dattaM. Asyopari na kenacid bādhā karaīyā. karoti yas sa pañca-mahā-pātaka-saṁyuto bhavati. vyāsenāpy uktaM

aṣṭi varṣa-sahasrāṇi svargge modati bhūmi-daḥ Ākṣeptaā cānumantā ca tāny eva narake vaseT|

Ājñāptir asya dharmmasya kaḍeya-raājaḥ| bhaṭṭa-vāmanena raciteya śāsana-paddhatiḥ| cāmikuṟṟācāryyeṇa likhitā

Seal
Plates hāriti- hārīti- kujbja- kubja- -anujoendrarāja- -anujendrarāja- The right-hand stroke of the o marker is, here and throughout, a minuscule bend in the appendage of j (compare in line 24). Reading the expected je here would force me to also read the several instances of jo in the lower part of this page as je. Ekānna° Ekonna° °āṣṭaśata °āṣṭāśata -purāaṁ -purāN caitat tripuraṁ caitatripura- haṭhāt tyāgārttham harātyā Ittham For a parallel LR cites the Vedatulūru grant of Bhīma I as reading hemādikalātyāgārthamāharaT.The reading there, as well as in the the Moga grant, is in fact balāt tyāgārttham āharaT (with slight emendations; both originals actually inscribe tyā, as in the present text). I am confident of haṭhāt here. ccchinaNT cchinaT jayad vaktuṁ jayac chaktuṁ My reading is certain and is confirmed by the Moga grant. kas samarttho kasta| marttho kasta| is probably a typo in LR, since he explicitly emends samarttho, but notes nothing about this unintelligible word. suya sāhasāN| susāhasāN| I emend on the basis of the Moga grant The present reading is also intelligible, but the sandhi suggests that it is a scribal mistake. -saṁprāptea-saṁkhyeṣu LR prints -saṁprāpta-saṁkhyeṣu in his text and emends to -saṁprāpāsaṁkhyeṣu, but I believe this is a compound typo and his intent was to show the received reading and emend as I do. The character sa before khye is much smaller than other characters in the text, but the surface of the plate around it is pristine, so correction was certainly not involved. -tāraṁ| -tāra -sthānaM -sthānaṁ tasmainn tasminn -bījāvāpa- -bīja-vāpa- -saṁyuto There are some additional strokes below t; perhaps tko is in fact inscribed here.
Seal
Plates

Greetings! Satyāśraya Vallabhendra Pulakeśin II was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Caḷukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hāriti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon,Or, alternatively, by the grace of Kauśikī’s bridegroom, i.e. Śiva. In spite of its slight awkwardness, I prefer the former interpretation because the Bādāmi Cālukyas refer to themselves as nourished saṁvardhita by Kauśikī. who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed to kingship by Lord Mahāsena, to whom the realms of adversaries instantaneously submit at the mere sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions avabhr̥tha of the Aśvamedha sacrifice. His brother Kubja Viṣṇuvardhana reigned for eighteen years. His son Jayasiṁha I, for thirty-three. His younger brother Indrarāja’s son Viṣṇuvardhana II, for nine. His son Maṅgi Yuvarāja, for twenty-five. His son Jayasiṁha II, for thirteen. His younger brother Kokkili, for six months. After dethroning the younger brother, his elder brother Viṣṇurāja Viṣṇuvardhana III, for thirty-seven. His son Vijayāditya I Bhaṭṭāraka, for nineteen. His son Viṣṇurāja Viṣṇuvardhana IV, for thirty-six years. His son Vijayāditya II, who constructed a hundred and eight Narendreśvara temples after defeating the one named Bhīma Salki and the force of Southern Gaṅgas that sided with him, reigned for forty years. His son Kali Viṣṇuvardhana V, for a year and a half. His son—

who shone ever in a nimbus of glory by the name “Mortal Maheśvara Śiva,” for having burned the three cities of Kiraṇapura, Acalapura and spacious Nellūrapura;

furthermore,

vehemently seized, in order to donate it, the silver and other goods of the Kāliṅgas and the Gaṅgas, the elephants and other goods of the Lords of Kośala, and the gold and other goods of the Pāṇdyas and the Pallavas;

pressed the Gaṅgas up to the Gaṅga peak, struck off the head of Maṅgi, defeated Kr̥ṣṇa in battle—who would be capable of recounting his daring deeds?

—that Vijayāditya III strengthened the land of Veṅgī year after year for forty-four years. His younger brother was the Heir Apparent Prince bhūpati Vikramāditya who conquered the entire circle of the earth by his valour vikrama. His dear son,

His Majesty Cālukya-Bhīma I, upon the passing of Śaka years whose number is obtained through the Manus 14 and the Vasus 8 i.e. Śaka 814 expired, with the Sun mitra in Aries meṣa, in the month Caitra, with the moon in the asterism Maitra i.e. Anurādhā, on a Monday, the second day of the dark fortnight, at the ascension of the constellation Gemini yugma, donned to the delight of the people the eternal ā-candra-tāra turban of sovereignty over the surface of the earth whose glittering girdle is the four oceans.

Furthermore,

The ocean whose water was his swords swallowed up, along with his rivals, the forces of Kr̥ṣṇa Vallabha.If the second hemistich of this stanza was omitted by scribal oversight, then the full stanza as supplied from a parallel attestation (see the commentary) would translate, “Sunk in the ocean whose water was his swords, the four-branched forces of Kr̥ṣṇa Vallabha along with his rivals dissolved in battle like a chess army made of unbaked clay sunk in the actual ocean.” Lakshmana Rao interprets the text to mean “The army of Krishnavallabha who was (Bhīma’s) rival,” but sa-sapatna does not in my opinion allow this interpretation. Instead, rivals separate from Kr̥ṣṇa Vallabha must have been meant here, probably ones from his own family, usually referred to with the word dāyāda) in other Eastern Cālukya inscriptions.

that shelter of all the world sarva-lokāśraya, His Majesty Viṣṇuvardhana, the supremely pious Supreme Lord parameśvara of Emperors mahārājādhirāja, named Cālukya-Bhīma I, commands all householders kuṭumbin—including foremost the territorial overseers rāṣṭrakūṭa—who reside in Attili district viṣaya as follows:

Let it be known to you that to the woman known as Callavā, who knows the entire science of music gāndharva, who is the daughter of a man called Mallapa who is the equal of Tumburu and who is the son of that woman equal to an apsaras called Thuṇḍakā, we have given an orchard of a thousand betelnut trees at the village named Attili to the northeastern direction of the village, as well as as a field sufficient for sowing fifty khaṇḍikās of rice seed and a homestead plot at the same village, to the northwestern direction. Let no-one pose an obstacle to her enjoyment of her rights over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. Vyāsa too has said:

A donor of land rejoices in heaven for sixty millennia, while a seizer of granted land and a condoner of such seizure shall reside in hell for just as many.

The executor ājñapti of this provision dharma is the castellan kaḍeya-rāja. The formulation paddhati of this decree was composed by Bhaṭṭa Vāmana. Written likhita by Cāmikuṟṟācārya.

Stanza 5 consists only of two pādas. As LR notes, the remaining pādas can be supplied from stanza 3 of the Vedatulūru grant of Bhīma I as follows: mr̥ṇmayan tu caturaṁga-balaṁ vā kṣipram eva vilayaṁ gatam ājau.

Reported in 13A/1917-1814 with some further details at 1314. Edited from the original by K. V. Lakshmana Rao (), with estampages and translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on photos taken by myself in February 2023 at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Museum, Kakinada, collated with Lakshmana Rao's edition and facsimiles.The published estampages have been evidently doctored by hand. Lakshmana Rao's edition differs from the facsimile in numerous trivial details (e.g. reading an anusvāra where none is visible in the estampage), which may be silent emendations by the editor or details that were not cleared up by the person who retouched the plates. My apparatus does not indicate differences from Lakshmana Rao's edition that I deem to be silent emendations or obvious typographic mistakes in the latter.