SOUTH-INDIAN INSCRIPTIONS [3-4]

⟨SIIv03p0i0206⟩ No. 206.—TWO PANDYA COPPER PLATE GRANTS FROM SINNAMANUR.

These are two of the four sets of Pāṇḍya copper plate grants discovered so far and are herein published for the first time. The Vēḷvikuḍi grant of Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ has been edited by me in the Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XVII, pp. 291 to 309 and the Madras Museum Plates of Jaṭilavarman, by the late Rai Bahadur V. Venkayya in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXII, pp. 57 to 75. These four, studied together, furnish a genealogy of the Pāṇḍyas from the early king Kaḍuṅgōṉ, who is said to have flourished at the close of the first Śaṅgam of Tamiḻ poets, down to Rājasiṁha-Pāṇḍya 1, the contemporary of the Chōḷa king Parāntaka I, who reigned at the commencement of the 10th century A.D. With the invasion of the latter into the Pāṇḍya country and his capture of Madura, which earned for him the title ‘Madiraikoṇḍa’, the early Pāṇḍya power seems to have come to an end, and made room, for the next two centuries at least, for the unchallenged sway of the Chōḷas over the whole of Southern India.

The two grants under consideration have been thoroughly reported in the Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1906-1907, pp. 62 ff. Speaking of their provenance, Mr. Venkayya states “the plates are reported to have been found about 20 or 25 years ago (now nearly forty years) while digging for the foundation of the kitchen in the Vishṇu temple at Śiṉṉamaṉūr 2 in the Periyakuḷam taluka of the Madura district, and have since been purchased for deposit in the Madras Museum, from their owner Mr. Rajam Ayyar.”

The bigger of the two sets consists of seven copper plates, measuring approximately 10" by 3(3/8)". The thin rims which they once seem to have had, are now completely worn out. The plates are numbered on their obverse sides, with the Tamiḻ numerals 2 to 8 close to the right side of the ring hole, thus showing that the first plate, whose obverse must have borne the number 1, is now lost. The last plate ending with the word Kaṟkuḷattil, also shows that one or more plates which contained the last portion of the grant are lost. The ring which held the plates together and which, judging by the size of the ring holes in the middle of the left margin of each plate, must have been a little less than 3/8" in thickness, is missing. The existing seven plates weigh 390 tolas.

The smaller set consists of three thin plates without rims, viz. the first, second and the last, with one or more plates of two written sides, missing between the second and the last. The first and the last plates are not numbered as in the larger set. The ring with which the ⟨Page 442⟩ plates were held together is lost. The ring-hole is not, as usual, bored in the middle of the left margin, but at the left bottom or the left top corner, according as the written side of the plate is odd or even—the sheets being meant evidently to be read by turning over the leaf, as in a palm-leaf manuscript without the necessity of actually removing the plate from the ring. The plates measure 8(11/12)" by 3" and the three plates, together, weigh 51 tolas.

Both sets of plates use the Grantha alphabet wherever Sanskrit verses and Sanskrit words occur and the Tamiḻ Vaṭṭeḻuttu where the Tamiḻ language is employed. The palaeography of the smaller set of plates does not differ much from that of the Madras Musuem plates of Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ, who, as I have stated already in my paper on the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, has to be identified with the donor of the latter and therefore also with Māṟajañjaḍaiyaṉ of the Āṉaimalai inscription. 1

The remark made by Mr. Venkayya that the Madras Museum plates and the smaller Siṉṉamaṉūr plates are nearer in point of time to the larger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates than they are to the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, has been already examined by me in the light of the palaeography of the plates under publication. I have noticed that the difference in the formation of the Grantha characters of the Vēḷvikuḍi, the Madras Museum and the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates all of which in my opinion belong to the same period, should be due to their having been written at different periods later than their Vaṭṭeḻuttu portions. In the matter of their Vaṭṭeḻuttu writing, the smaller and the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates are far separated by time and the palaeographical differences are apparent. The formation of the initial vowel a, the emark in consonants, the letters na, ma, and ya,—of which the two latter, it is surprising to find, resemble the ma and ya of the Vēḷvikuḍi and the Āṉaimalai inscriptions,—show marked differences. The differences which the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates and the Madras Museum plates present, except in the formation of the letter ya, are very slight. They are almost nil. Consequently, Mr. Venkayya's identification of the second king Arikēsari Asamasaman Māṟavarman mentioned in the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates with Māṟavarman Pallavabhañjana of the Madras Museum plates and that of his son—his unnamed son who was victorious at Marudūr—with Jaṭilavarman Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ of the same plates, becomes untenable even on the grounds of palaeography. This point will become clearer in the sequel where the identification of the kings mentioned in the smaller and the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates is discussed.

The Sanskrit portion of the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates begins with a fragmentary verse in which the king (perhaps Pāṇḍya) boasts of having subdued the ocean—an attribute which the mythical Pāṇḍya kings generally assumed in consequence, perhaps, of their sea-bordering kingdom, their naval power, and their sea-borne trade, from the earliest historical times. From him were descended the kings known as Pāṇḍyas (v. 2) ‘who engraved their edicts on the Himalaya mountain’ and whose family-priest was the sage Agastya (v. 3). One of the Pāṇḍya kings is said to have occupied the throne of Indra (v. 4) and another to have shared it with that god, and still another, to have caused the Ten-Headed (i.e., Rāvaṇa of Laṅkā) to sue for peace (v. 5). One was a conqueror of the epic hero Arjuna (v. 7) 2. Verse 8 refers to a king who cut off his own head in order to protect that of his master and also to a certain Sundara-Pāṇḍya who had mastered all the sciences. Many kings of this family had performed Vēdic sacrifices Rājasūya and Aśvamēdha (v. 9). 3 ⟨Page 443⟩

In this family was born king Arikēsarin. His son was Jaṭila; his son Rājasiṁha (II); his son Varaguṇa (I); and his son Śrī-Māṟa entitled Śrīvallabha (v. 10). Śrī-Māṟa conquered Māyā-Pāṇḍya, the kings of Kēraḷa and Siṁhaḷa, the Pallava and the Vallabha (v. 11). His son was Parāntaka the younger brother of Varaguṇa II (v. 12), who fought a battle at Kharagiri and captured Ugra (v. 13). His wife was Vāṉavaṉmahādēvī (v. 15) and their son was Rājasiṁha (III), the banner (both) of the solar and the lunar races (vv. 16 and 17).

A favourite of this king was the Brāhman Parāntaka, the son of Śrēshṭhiśarman, the grandson of the Vēdic scholar Bhāskara (v. 21) and the great-grandson of Śrēshṭhin, a Seṅguṭi-Kauśika of Puttūr (vv. 20 and 21). The ancestors of this Parāntaka were the followers of Āgnivēśya-kalpa—evidently the science of medicine—and his maternal grandfather was the famous Ūraśarman of the Maudgalya lineage, of Syandanagrāma. To Śrēshṭhiśarman, king Parāntaka Vīranārayaṇa had given the village of Maṇiyāchi, surnamed Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgala in Vaḍa-Kaḷavaḻi-nāḍu. The ruling king Rājasiṁha (III) gave to the Brāhman Parāntaka. In the 16th year of his reign, while encamped at Chūḻal in Rājasiṁha-kuḷakkiḻ, the agrahāra Naṟcheygai-Puttūr surnamed Mandaragauravamaṅgalam in Aḷa-nāḍu.

The vijñapti of the grant was the councillor and poet Jaṭila (v. 33) of the Atri-gōtra, while the ājñapti was Kūṟṟaṅgōṉ, a servant of king Māṟavarman (v. 34). The kuḍikāval was Nakkaṅkumāṉ, son of the headman of Kūra in Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu, who was a minister and the chief of the elephant forces. Nakkaṅ-Kāḍa, Kōṉ-Vēḷāṉ and Paṭārañ-Chōlai were three officers who witnessed the demarcation of the boundary line. Verse 37 supplies for the king the surname Abhimānamēru.

The composer of the praśasti was Vāsudēva, a friend of Madhuraguṇa and the elder brother of Vishṇu (v. 38).

The Tamil portion which begins with line 76 also praises the Pāṇḍya kings who belonged to the lunar race and bore the crest of the double fish, had Agastya as their family preceptor and counted the god (Śiva) as one of their family members. Many other incidents, mostly mythical, are also registered of some of the early kings: such as, (1) churning the ocean for nectar; (2) bathing in the waters of the four oceans in a single day; (3) going round the earth; (4) sending embassy to the gods on many occasions; (5) taking away the necklace of Pākaśāsana (Indra); (6) mastering the Tamiḻ language of the south; (7) driving away the sea by throwing a javelin; (8) giving a thousand golden hills (Mēru) in charity; (9) founding the town of Madura and erecting a wall round it; (10) studying Tamiḻ and Sanskrit (vaḍa-moḻi) as even to excel Paṇḍits; (11) leading elephants in the Bhārata war against the Mahārathas; (12) relieving Vijaya (Arjuna) from the curse of Vasu; (13) engraving the victorious symbols of the fish, the tiger, and the bow on the top of the Northern mountain, i.e., the Himalayas; (14) getting huge giants to work for them in building many tanks; (15) cutting off the heads of two kings in the battles fought at Chitramayari and Talaiyālaṅgāṉam; (16) getting the Mahābhārata translated into Tamiḻ; and (17) establishing the Tamiḻ Śaṅgam in the town of Madura. After these kings had passed away, there came a king named Parāṅkuśa who saw the back of (i.e., defeated) the Chēra king at Nelvēli and the Pallava king at Śaṅkaramaṅgai. His grandson was Rājasiṁha, after whom came a king named Varaguṇa-Mahārāja. The exact relationship of this Varaguṇa-Mahārāja to his predecessor Rājasiṁha has not been recorded. Rājasiṁha's son was Parachakrakōlāhala who was successful in battles fought at Kuṇṇūr, Śiṅgaḷam ⟨Page 444⟩ (Ceylon) and Viḻiñam and who at Kuḍamūkkil won a deadly battle against the combined armies of the Gaṅga, Pallava, Chōḷa, Kaliṅga, Magadha and other kings. Next came Varaguṇavarman, whose relationship to Parachakrakōlāhala is also not specified. His younger brother was Parāntakaṉ Śaḍaiyaṉ, who fought battles at Śennilam, Kharagiri and Peṇṇāgaḍam in the Koṅgu country. To him and his queen Vāṉavaṉmahādēvī was born Rājasiṁha surnamed Vikaṭavāḍava and Mandaragaurava. This latter fought a battle at Ulappinimaṅgalam, drove the king of Tañjai (Tanjore) in a battle fought at Naippūr, won a battle at Koḍumbai, burnt the town of Vañji on the northern bank of the Poṉṉi (Kāvērī) river and destroyed the lord of the southern Tañjai country at Nāval.

In the 14th year opposite to the second year of his reign (i.e., the 16th year as stated in the Sanskrit portion), this Rājasiṁha, while he was encamped at Chūḻal, a town founded by himself in the district of Rājaśiṅgapperuṅguḷakkīḻ or Rājasiṁhakuḷakkīḻ, granted to the Brāhman Parāntaka, the village Naṟcheygai-Puttūr in Aḷa-nāḍu, re-naming it Mandaragauravaṁaṅgalam. As in the Sanskrit portion, lines 147 to 155 seem to record that Bhāskaran-Śeṭṭi (Śrēshṭhiśarman of the Sanskrit portion) the son of Bhāskara and the foremost of the Ombāḻvas of the Āgnivēśya-kalpa and the Komara-Kauśika-gōtra (Śeṅguṭi-Kauśika of the Sanskrit portion) dwelling in Puttūr, in the Mīyguṇḍāṟu (district) of Koḻuvūr-kūṟṟam (division), had received from Parāntaka Vīranārāyaṇa, the village of Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgalam in the Vaḍakaḷavaḻi-nāḍu (province). From the Sanskrit passage, we learn that Maṇiyāchi, which may be identified with the well-known junction station on the South Indian Railway, was surnamed Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgalam. The viṇṇappam (vijñapti in Sanskrit) i.e., the one who made the formal request to the king, was, according to the Tamiḻ portion, a certain Śaḍaiyapirāṉ-Bhaṭṭasōmayājin of Pullamaṅgalam in Śōḻa-nāḍu: and the ājñapti, as in the Śanskrit portion, was Kūṟṟaṅgōṉ, a native of Vēmbaṟṟūr in Kaḷavaḻināḍu. Kumāṉ or Nakkan-Kumāṉ 1 (as he is called in Sanskrit) of the village of Kūra in Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu, was the kuḍikāval-nāyakaṉ or the chief revenue officer. The three officers, who, according to the Sanskrit portion, were to witness the demarcation of the boundary line, are stated in the Tamiḻ portion, to have been the kaṇakkar or accountants, the demarcation itself being done by the nāṭṭār, i.e., the district people of Aḷa-nāḍu. Of the boundaries, the eastern boundary was the Śuruḷi-āṟu (river). The southern boundary of the village granted, which commences at the end of the eighth plate, must have been continued on the next, which is however missing.

Compared with the Vēḷvikuḍi plates of Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ, we find that the account given in the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates includes, as it should, many later Pāṇḍya kings. The mild Purāṇic tradition of the Vēḷvikuḍi plates connecting the Pāṇḍyas with Agastya, the churning of the milk ocean, and the sharing with Indra of half his throne and necklace, grows here into a big list with seven or eight other extra items added to it. Some of these are interesting. For instance, the going round the earth, and the bathing in the waters of the four oceans in a single day, are feats attributed to Vāli, king of the monkeys 1. Again, calling the aid of huge giants to build tanks in the Pāṇḍya land also seems to suggest the near connection which the Pāṇḍya country had with Ceylon, the land of Rāvaṇa. The driving away of the sea by throwing a javelin is perhaps a reminiscence of a similar feat ascribed to the epic hero Rāma. The leading of elephants against the Mahārathas in the Bhārata war is a fact which is commemorated also in literature, of the Chēra king Śeṅguṭṭuvaṉ, ⟨Page 445⟩ who is said to have fed the soldiers in the Mahābhārata war. Some of the other attributes, however, are of much historical value. The mastery over the Tamiḻ language of the south, the foundation of the town of Madura and the erection of a wall round it, the studying of Tamiḻ and Sanskrit as even to excel Paṇḍits, the initiating of the translation of the Mahābhārata into Tamiḻ and the establishing of the Tamiḻ Śaṅgam (academy) in the town of Madura— these, clearly indicate the close connection the Pāṇḍya kings had with the development of the Tamiḻ language and the foundation of the town of Madura. The battles of Chitramuyari and Talaiyālaṅgāṉam mentioned of one of the unnamed Pāṇḍya kings must be a reference to Neḍuñjeḻiyaṉ who is spoken of in literature as the hero who gained success in the battle of Talaiyalāṅgāṉam by defeating the Chōḷa and the Chēra kings. Our plates add that the heads of these two kings were actually cut off and this was not in one battle as literature suggests, but in two, viz., Chitramuyari and Talaiyālaṅgāṉam. 1

The genealogies of the Pāṇḍya kings as given in the Sanskrit and Tamiḻ portions differ widely; but still as both refer to the same grant, which was made in the sixteenth year of the same king, there cannot be any room for doubt. Consequently, the statements of the Sanskrit and the Tamiḻ portions have to be supplemented one with the other, in order to obtain a complete genealogy (see Table D in the attached sheet of genealogical tables).

The smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, after the usual invocation to god Purushōttama (Vishṇu) (v. 1), confer a benediction on the family of the Moon, in which were born the (Pāṇḍya) kings who crushed the pride of the enemies of gods (v. 2).

In that family of the Moon, after many kings of great deeds had expired, came forth a son of Jayantavarman, the great king (paramēśvara) Arikēsari Asamasaman Alaṅghyavikrama Akālakāla Māṟavarman. His son was one who fought battles at Marudūr and Kuvaḷaimalai. Here comes a break and one or two plates on which the genealogy should have been continued, are lost. What is left on the last plate treats only of the description of the boundary line of the granted land or village, and mentions the Bhagavatī temple of Koṟṟaṉputtūr. The āṇatti) of the grant was Tāyaṉ Śiṅgaṉ, the uttaramantri of Kuṇḍūr in Kuṇḍūrkūṟṟam of Aṇḍa-nāḍu. The puraṅkāval of this village was eighty-five kalams (of paddy). The king himself, as in the Vēḷvikuḍi plates (ll. 151-152), made a declaration and caused the copper-plate grant to be executed. It may be noted that Koṟṟaṉputtūr mentioned above, also figures among the boundaries of Vēḷvikuḍi. The record was written (or witnessed) by Arikēsari, son of Pāṇḍi-Perumbaṇaikkāraṉ who also wrote the Madras Museum plates.

Before proceeding further, it is necessary to have clearly before us the genealogical tables supplied by the four Pāṇḍya copper-plate grants, viz., (A) the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, (B) the Madras Museum plates, (C) the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates and (D) the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, severally. For convenience of reference, it will be noted that the numbers given to the kings in the Vēḷvikuḍi table are repeated in the other tables in cases where, for reasons explained in the sequel, the kings are identical. ⟨Page 446⟩

PĀṆḌYA GENEALOGY

(A)

From the Vēḷvikuḍi grant.

Pāṇḍya: a mythical king of a past kalpa born in this kalpa as Budha, son of the Moon.

Purūravas.

In his family

Palyāgaśālai Mudukuḍumi-Peruvaḻudi: an Adhirāja of the Pāṇḍyas.

Inter-regnum in the Pāṇḍya country.

The Kali king Kaḷabhraṉ: drove away numberless Adhirājas before him and took possession of the Earth (i.e., usurped the Pāṇḍya country).

(1) Pāṇḍyādhirāja Kaḍuṅgōṉ: recovered the Pāṇḍya country from the enemy, i.e., the usurper Kaḷabhraṉ.

(2) Avanichūḷāmaṇi Māṟavarman.

(3) Śeḻiyaṉ Vāṉavaṉ Śēndaṉ: the over-lord of the hill chiefs.

(4) Arikēsari Asamasaman Māṟavarman: won a battle at Pāḻi; conquered Vilvēli at Nelvēli; destroyed the Paravas; annihilated the race of the people of Kuṟu-nāḍu; gained victory at Śeṉṉilam and fought the battle of Puliyūr against the Kēraḷa king.

(5) Śaḍaiyaṉ Raṇadhīra: lord of the Koṅgas; entitled Teṉṉaṉ, Vāṉavaṉ, Śembiyaṉ, Śōḻaṉ and the beautiful Karunāṭakaṉ; defeated Āyavēḷ at Marudūr; gained victories at Śeṅgōḍu and Pudānkōḍu; and destroyed the Mahārathas at Maṅgalapura.

(6) Tērmāṟaṉ Rājasiṁha (I): fought a battle at Neḍuvayal; defeated his enemies at Kuṟumaḍai; destroyed their power at Maṉṉikuṟichi and Tirumaṅgai; defeated insubordinate chiefs at Pūvalūr; won a victory at Koḍumbāḷūr; crushed the Pallava at Kuḻumbūr and at Periyalūr; crossed the Kāviri (Kāvērī) and conquered Maḻa-Koṅgam; reached Pāṇḍi-Koḍumiḍi; contracted relationship with Gaṅgarāja; renewed Kūḍal, Vañji and Kōḻi; and married a daughter of the Maḻava king.

(7) Jaṭila Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ: entitled Koṅgarkōṉ, king of the Nēriyar (i.e., the Chōḷas); Paṇḍitavatsala, Kalippagai, Puṉappūḻiyaṉ, Śiṉachchōḻaṉ; Śrīvaraṉ; Teṉṉaṉ; and Vāṉavaṉ; defeated the Kāḍava king at Peṇṇāgaḍam on the northern bank of the Kāvērī; drove away Āyavēḷ and the Kuṟumbas at Nāṭṭukkuṟumbu; married a daughter of Gaṅgarāja and renewed the grant of Vēḷvikuḍi. His minister fought a battle at Veṇbai in which the opponents were the Vallabha and the Pūrvarājar (kings of the East).

(B)

From the Madras Museum plates.

In the Pāṇḍya race whose first ancestor was the Moon and whose family priest was Agastya.

(6) Māṟavarman: destroyed the Pallava in battle (Pallavabhañjana).

(7) Jaṭilavarman (Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ): entitled Teṉṉaṉ, Vāṉavaṉ, Śembiyaṉ; fought battles at Viṇṇam, Śeḻiyakkuḍi and Veḷḷūr; defeated Adiyan at Ayirūr, Pugaḻiyūr and Āyiravēli, on the northern bank of the river Kāvērī; marched against the allied armies of the Pallavas and the Kēraḷas; captured the king of Western Koṅgu; unfurled his banner at Kūḍal (Madura); subdued the Koṅgu country and became famous throughout the Gaṅga kingdom; entered Kāñchivāyppērūr and built a temple there for Vishṇu; destroyed Viḻiñam, whose fort was as strong as that of Laṅkā and subdued the king of Vēṇ (Vēṇāḍu); built a wall round Karavandapuram and came back to (his capital) Kūḍal.

(C)

From the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates.

In the race of the Moon were born the Pāṇḍya kings whose family priest was Agastya.

(3) Jayantavarman.

(4) Arikēsari Asamasaman Alaṅghyavikrama Akālakala, Maṟavarman, a paramēśvara.

(5) An un-named son who fought battles at Marudūr and Kuvaḷaimalai.

[Plate or plates lost after this.]

(D)

From the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates.

The Pāṇḍyas were descended from the Moon; had Agastya for their family priest. In this family were born (a) a king who subdued and relieved Vijaya (i.e., Arjuna) from the curse of Vasu, (b) Sundara-Pāṇḍya, a helmsman in the ocean of Śāstras, (c) a king whose surname was Pūḻiyaṉ, (d) a king who stood firmly in the field of battle at Pāḻi and obtained the title Pañchavaṉ, (e) the builder of Madura with its surrounding wall, (f) a king who cut off the heads of two kings in the battles at Chitramuyari and Talaiyālaṅgānam.

(6) Arikēsari Parāṅkuśa: king of the Pañchavas; defeated the Chēra king at Nelvēli and the Pallava king at Saṅkaramaṅgai

(7) Jaṭila

(8) Rājasiṁha (II)

(9) Varaguṇa (I) or Varaguṇa-Mahārāja.

(10) Srī-Māṟa, Śrīvallabha, Parachakrakōlāhala: fought successful battles at Kuṇṇūr, Siṅgaḷam and Viḻiñam; defeated at Kuḍamūkkil the Gaṅga, Pallava, Chōḷa, etc.; conquered Māyā-Pāṇḍya, the Kēraḷa, the Siṁhaḷa, the Pallava and the Vallabha.

(11) Varaguṇa II or Varaguṇavarman: succeeded to the throne in A.D. 862.

(12) Parāntaka Vīranārāyaṇa Saḍaiyaṉ: fought battles at Kharagiri, Śeṉṉilam Nilambēr and Kuḻumbūr; destroyed Peṇṇāgaḍam; won battles in the Koṅgu country; subdued the whole of Jambudvīpa (Nāvaltīvu) and married Vāṉavaṉmahādēvī.

(13) Rājasiṁha (III): entitled Vikaṭavāḍavaṉ, ‘the banner of both the solar and the lunar races’; fought battles at Ulappinimaṅgalam, Naippūr and Koḍumbai; burnt Vañji on the northern bank of the river Kāvērī; fought a battle at Nāval where he defeated the lord of southern Tañjai and was the donor of Naṟcheygaiputtūr or Mandaragauravamaṅgalam. ⟨Page 447⟩

The description of the three kings given in the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates enables us to identify at once the last who fought the battle at Marudūr with (5) Śaḍaiyaṉ Raṇadhīra of the Vēḷvikuḍi plates and his father with (4) Arikēsari Asamasaman Māṟavarman of the same. From this it further follows that Jayantavarman the father of Arikēsari Asamasaman must be identified with (3) Śeḻiyaṉ Śēndaṉ. Mr. K.V.Subrahmanya Ayyar suggests that Jayantavarman is perhaps a Sanskritized form of Śēndaṉ. Thus the three kings referred to in the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr record, must be Nos. (3), (4) and (5) of Mr. Venkayya's genealogical table given at page 54 of part II of the Madras Epigraphical Report for 1908. It is, therefore, difficult to see how or why Rai Bahadur V. Venkayya must have been inclined to attribute the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates to Parāntaka Vīranārāyaṇa Śaḍaiyaṉ of the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates (D), who comes three generations after (7) of the Vēḷvikudi grant, especially after seeing that the three names mentioned in the smaller set are evidently only the first three names of what might have been a longer genealogy, similar to that of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant or the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates. The Madras Museum plates of Jaṭilavarman and the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, palaeographically, are almost of the same period, and if, as proved in my paper on the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, the donor of the Madras Museum plates is identical with the donor of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, it follows that the donor of the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates too must be either Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant or an immediate successor of his. So, the missing plate or plates after the second in the smaller Śiṉṉamaṉūr set should have contained the names of (5) Śaḍaiyaṉ Raṇadhīra, (6) Tērmāṟaṉ, (7) Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ and perhaps also his successor Rājasiṁha II. It is very disappointing that these plates are lost; else, we would have had enough material to compare the genealogies and to identify the names.

In comparing next, the historical Pāṇḍya genealogy derived from the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates with that of the Vēḻvikuḍi grant, one has to be guided not only by the common names and titles of kings belonging to about the same age, but also by the common battles fought and the common enemies conquered by them—though it is not impossible that these may be repeated in history. Palaeographical similarities no doubt often help in the identification of names but sometimes they also fail when the particular inscription from which we draw the inference happens to be a copy of some older document, written in a latter hand. Applying these methods we find that the first king Arikēsari of the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, who is said to have fought the battle of Nelvēli against a Chēra king, will at first appear to be the same as Arikēsari Māṟavarman (No. 4) of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant whose enemy at Nelvēli was a certain Vilvēli 1 (perhaps a Chēra). But Arikēsari of (A) did not, however, fight with the Pallava king as did Arikēsari mentioned in (D). The battle of Śaṅkaramaṅgai where Parāṅkuśa Arikēsari of (D) defeated the Pallavas is not mentioned of No. 4 in (A) but Tērmāṟaṉ (No. 6) a grandson of Arikēsari (No. 4) is clearly said to have crushed the Pallava power. Again, the title Parāṅkuśa, given to Arikēsari in the Tamiḻ portion of (D) makes it difficult to connect him with the first Arikēsari Māṟavarman (No. 4) of the Vēḷvikuḍi plates. So, it has to be assumed, at least hypothetically, that a second battle was fought at Nelvēli by Parāṅkuśa Arikēsari, like the first by his grandfather, Asamasaman Arikēsari, against the very same or a different Chēra king. The fact that Parāṅkuśa Arikēsari's grandson is called Rājasiṁha in (D) suggests the possibility of ⟨Page 448⟩ Arikēsari himself being also called Rājasiṁha, which title we actually find for the first time given to Tērmāṟaṉ in the Vēḷvikuḍi plates. Thus, the battle of Śaṅkaramaṅgai and the defeat of Pallavamalla and a possible second battle at Nelvēli are the only common factors that might enable us to connect the genealogy of the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates with that of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant. Parāṅkuśa Arikēsari must therefore be No. 6 Tērmāṟaṉ, the contemporary of Pallavamalla (Cir. A.D. 760) as we learn from the Vēḷvikuḍi grant. If this is admitted, Tērmāṟaṉ (No. 6) of (A) must be presumed to have also had the titles Arikēsarin and Parāṅkuśa, to have defeated the Pallavas at Śaṅkaramaṅgai before actually crushing Pallavamalla in the battles at Kuḻumbūr and Periyalūr and to have fought a second battle at Nelvēli against an unnamed Chēra. 1

Of king Jaṭila, the second in the genealogical list (D) given above, nothing is stated in the plates in the Sanskrit portion, the Tamiḻ portion omitting his name altogether. On the hypothesis, however, of Arikēsari Parāṅkuśa being identical with Tērmāṟaṉ of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant, Jaṭila will have to be identified with (No. 7) Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ, the donor of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant—it being inexplicable, however, why this king of whom we hear so much in the Vēḷvikuḍi and in the Madras Museum plates, should have been mentioned without any remarks in the Sanskrit portion and omitted altogether in the Tamiḻ portion. The other kings who follow are later names in the Pāṇḍya genealogy and their achievements are detailed in the genealogical table (D) given above.

The successor of Jaṭila was Rājasiṁha (II) 2 of whom nothing is stated. After him came Varaguṇa or Varaguṇa-Mahārāja of great prowess who was separated by two generations or roughly 50 years from Tērmāṟaṉ (No. 6 of A) the contemporary of Pallavamalla Nandivarman already mentioned. Consequently, he should have flourished about the beginning of the 9th century A.D. Though very scanty information is supplied about this king by the bigger Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, still he is familiar to students of epigraphy and we know of very many references in inscriptions to Varaguṇa or Varaguṇa-Mahārāja 3, sometimes also called Māṟañjaḍaiyaṉ. We learn, e.g., that Varaguṇa, for the first time, carried his conquests north ward into the Chōḷa country against Iḍavai 4 on which occasion also he should perhaps have destroyed the fortified walls of Vēmbil (Vēmbaṟṟūr). Varaguṇa thence pushed further north into the Toṇḍai-nāḍu making there a grant from his camp at Araiśūr, a village on the banks of the Pennar to the temple of Erichchā-Uḍaiyār at Ambāsamudram in the Tinnevelly district. Again, an inscription at Kaḻugumalai 5, also in the Tinnevelly district, supports the above statement by referring to an expedition of the king (herein called only Māṟañjaḍaiyaṉ) against Arividūrkkōṭṭai and casually mentions the village Pūndaṇmali (i.e., Poonamalli) in Toṇḍai-nāḍu. The Tiruviśalūr inscription dated in the 4th year of the reign of Varaguṇa-Mahārāja might also belong to this same king 6. The Aivarmalai inscription which supplies the initial date Śaka 784 or A.D. 862 to Varaguṇa must refer to the ⟨Page 449⟩ later Varaguṇavarman who was the grandson of Varaguṇa I. An inscription from Tiruveḷḷaṟai which is dated in his 13th year, and where the king is called Māṟañjaḍaiyaṉ supplies astronomical details for the verification of the date. The actual calculation, worked out by Mr. Sewell at page 253 of Ep. Ind., Vol. XI, fits in with the 13th year of this Varaguṇavarman II, viz., Monday the 22nd November, A.D. 874. This is the second sure date in the Pāṇḍya chronology, the first being A.D. 769-70 (or thereabouts) of the Āṉamalai inscription, for king Maṟañjaḍaiyaṉ Parāntaka, Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ, the donor of the Vēḷvikuḍi grant and of the Madras Museum plates. Thus the initial date of Varaguṇa II got from the Aivarmalai inscription, is A.D. 862 and the nearest possible date of Parāntaka Neḍuñjaḍaiyaṉ is A.D. 770. The difference between these two dates i.e. 92 years, suggests at least four generations and Rai Bahadur Venkayya has, accordingly in his genealogical table of the Pāṇḍyas given at page 54 of his Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1908, Part II, taken the Varaguṇa of the Aivarmalai inscription to be the second of that name who, according to the Udayēndiram plates, killed the Gaṅga king Pṛithvīpati I in the battle at Śrīpurambiyam or Tiruppurambiyam near Kumbhakōṇam, being himself subsequently defeated by the last Pallava king Aparājita or Aparājitavikramavarman son of Nṛipatuṅga 1. Leaving alone the second Varaguṇavarman for the present, it may be stated that in the time of Varaguṇa-Mahārāja I the Pāṇḍya dominion was largely extended as to include in it the Chōḷa and the Pallava country right up to the bank of the Pennār in Toṇḍai-nāḍu. This invasion could not have been allowed to pass without severe resistance by the kings concerned, viz., the Chōḷas and the Pallavas, and consequently, we see that in the next reign king Śrīvallabha (10) had to fight fierce battles, three of them being at Kuḍamūkkil, i.e., Kumbhakōṇam in the heart of the Chōḷa country, against perhaps the allied Chōḷas, Gaṅgas and Pallavas. 2 This was perhaps the commencement of the struggle. It perhaps ended only with the defeat of Varaguṇa II, by the Pallava king Aparājita at Śrīpurambiyam, near Kumbhakōṇam, where his Gaṅga ally Pṛithivīpati I also died. The Chōḷa enemies of the Pāṇḍyas, now turned against their allies, the Pallavas Rājakēsarivarman Āditya I overran the Toṅḍai-nāḍu in the north and occupied it. But the Pāṇḍya king Rājasiṁha III (No. 13), the son of Parāntaka Śaḍaiyaṉ, defeated the king of Tañjai (Tanjore) at Naippūr, fought a battle at Koḍumbai (Koḍumbāḷūr) the seat of one of the powerful Chōḷa subordinates, burnt Vañji and destroyed the king of southern Tañjai (perhaps another subordinate of the Chōḷas) at Nāval. Āditya's son Parāntaka I defeated this Rājasiṁha-Pāṇḍya, the nephew of Varaguṇa II and captured the Pāṇḍya capital Madura, thereby acquiring for himself the wellknown title Madiraikoṇḍa. The mention of Māyā-Pāṇḍya as in rebellious union against Śrīvallabha (10) and that of Ugra (perhaps also a Pāṇḍya king) against Parāntaka Vīranārāyaṇa Śaḍaiyaṉ (12) show internal dissensions in the Pāṇḍya family which must have been the cause of their eventual downfall. The Pāṇḍya king Parāntaka appears to have courted the friendship of the rising powerful Chōḷa and to have married Vāṉavaṉmahādēvī, evidently a Chōḷa princess as the title 3 the flag of both the lunar and the solar races' 3 borne by his son Rājasiṁha clearly shows. ⟨Page 450⟩

Of the topographical and other proper names mentioned in both the sets of Śiṉṉamaṉūr plates, viz., Chitramuyari, Talaiyālaṅgānam, Nelvēli, Śaṅkaramaṅgai, Kuṇṇūr, Śiṅgaḷam, Viḻiñam, Kuḍamūkkil, Śeṉṉilam, Kharagiri, Peṇṇāgaḍam, Koṅgu, Ulappinimaṅgalam, Tañjai, Naippūr, Koḍumbai, Vañji [on the northern bank of the Poṉṉi (Kāvērī) river], Nāval, Chūḻal, Rājasiṅgapperuṅguḷakkīḻ, Naṟcheygaiputtūr, Aḷa-nāḍu, Puttūr, Mīyguṇḍāṟu, Koḻuvūr-kūṟṟam, Maṇiyāchi or Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgalam, Vaḍa-Kaḷavaḻināḍu, Pullamaṅgalam, Śōḻa-nāḍu, Vēmbaṟṟūr in Kaḷavaḻi-nāḍu, Kūra in Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu, Śuruḷi-āṟu (river), Marudūr, Kuvaḷaimalai, Koṟṟaṉputtūr, Kuṇḍūr and Aṇḍa-nāḍu, almost all are familiar and known to us from inscriptions. The first two are not identified, the second being known only to literature. Kuḍamūkkil is Kumbhakōṇam; Viḻiñam is a port in the Travancore State; Śiṅgaḷam is Ceylon; Peṇṇāgaḍam is a village in the Tanjore District; Koṅgu comprises the modern districts of Salem and Coimbatore; Tañjai is the well-known Tanjore; Koḍumbai is Koḍumbāḷūr in the Pudukkōṭṭai State. Rājaśiṅgakuḷakkīḻ may be identified with Rājaśiṅgamaṅgalam in the Śivagaṅga Zamīndāri. It is called Varaguṇamaṅgalam in its inscriptions. Naṟcheygaiputtūr must be identical with Śiṉṉamaṉūr in the Periyakuḷam taluk where these plates were obtained. The stone inscriptions of the place, however, show that it bore the name Arikēsarinallūr and was a brahmadēya in Aḷa-nāḍu, a subdivision of Pāṇḍi-maṇḍalam. 1 A hamlet of it was Koṟṟaṉputtūr, identical, perhaps, with the native village of the donee. 2 Mention is also made in stone inscriptions of the places Mandaragauravamaṅgalam and Arapadaśēkharamaṅgalam, which had assemblies similar to that of Arikēsarinallūr that met together in a common place, evidently showing that these places were not far distant from each other. 3 Aḷa-nāḍu is the territorial division in which Śiṉṉamaṉūr was situated. Kōttārpoḻil-Puttūr is identical with Tirupputtūr in the Ramnad district and is the headquarters of a taluk. From No. 90 of the Madras Epigraphical collection for 1908, we learn that it was situated in Mīguṇḍāṟu in Koḻuvūr-kūṟṟam, which is the description given of Kōttārpoḻil-Puttūr in these plates. Pullamaṅgalam is a village in the Pāpanāśam taluk of the Tanjore district. It was situated in Kilār-kūṟṟam. Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu is a subdivision of the Pāṇḍya country in which Tinnevelly was situated. As such, the village of Kūra must be looked for near about Tinnevelly. Śuruḷiyāṟu is the river that takes its rise from the Śuruḷi-malai, 7 miles from Cumbum in the Periyakuḷam taluk of the Madura district, and flows past Cumbum and Śiṉṉamaṉūr and joins the Vaigai. Aṇḍa-nāḍu is that territorial division of the Pāṇḍya country in which Periyakōṭṭai in the Dindigul taluk was. Hence Kuṇḍūr and Koṟṟaṉputtūr must be traced out in that locality.

Larger Śiṉṉamaṉūr Plates.

TEXT. 4

[Metres: Vv. 1 and 30, Upajāti; V. 2, Vaiśvadēvī; Vv. 3, 4, 5, 8 and 31, Upēndravajrā; Vv. 6, 7, 13, 27 and 38, Pushpitāgrā; Vv. 9, 11, 14, 16 and 23, Śālini; Vv. 12 and 32, Drutavilambitam; Vv. 15, 22, 26, 28, 29, 34 and 36, Anushṭubh; Vv. 25, 33 and 35, Indravajrā; V. 24, Mandākrāntā; Vv. 10 and 20, Śārdūlavikriḍitam; V. 21, Sragdharā; and Vv. 17, 18, 19 and 37, Vasantatilakā]. ⟨Page 451⟩

Second Plate: First Side. 1

⟨1⟩ tvaṁgattaraṁgāvalibhaṁgaraṁgatpataṁganakṣatraśaśāṁkaratnaḥ [|*] kalpāvasānakṣubhi-

⟨2⟩ topi sindhuryyatpādapīṭhaśriyamālalambe2|| 3 [1*] vaṁśastasyāsīdvikramākrā-

⟨3⟩ ntaviśvaśśatrukṣatraśrīśarvvarīsaptasaptiḥ [|*] puṇyaślokānām bhūridhāmnānnṛi4pāṇā-

⟨4⟩ m yatrotpa[nna]ānāndharmmapatnī dharitrī || [2*] hatākhilārātimahīpatī-

⟨5⟩ nāṁ himācalāropitaśāsanānām [|*] purohitobhūdavanīpatīnā[m]

⟨6⟩ yadudbhavānām bhagavānagastyaḥ [3*] nihatya devāsurayuddhamadhye mahā-

⟨7⟩ surānmānadhano yadudbhūḥ [|*] adhoniṣaṇṇāmaralokamekassurendrasiṁhāsana-

⟨8⟩ madhyatiṣṭhat || [4*] jayāya dautyantridivālayānāñjagāma kaścitkṛitadhīḥ kṛitajñaḥ [|*] da-

⟨9⟩ śānanansandhiparañcakāra5nareśvaraḥ kaścidakhaṇḍitā 6 jñaḥ || [5*] narasakhata-

⟨10⟩ nayāpatirnnarendrastribhuvanagītaguṇastrilocanaśca [|*] mathitajalanidhiśca

Second Plate: Second Side.

⟨11⟩ yatra jāta[ḥ*] kṣitipatirapratimopyagastyaśiṣyaḥ || [6*] vidalitavalayassure-

⟨12⟩ ndramaulau hṛitaharihāravibhūṣitaśca yadbhūḥ [|*] kurupatibala[tū]lakālava[hni]-

⟨13⟩ rjitavijayaśca yadudbhavo narendraḥ || [7*] cakartta kaścinnijamuttamāṁgaṁ guru-

⟨14⟩ nnijam pālayituṁ [ya]dudbhūḥ [|*] samastaśāstrārṇṇavakarṇṇadhāro yadudbhavassundara-

⟨15⟩ pāṇḍyanāmā || [8*] yatrotpannā rājasūyāśvamedhairiṣṭvāne-

⟨16⟩ kairdevabhūyaṁ prapatnāḥ7[|*] saṁkhyātītāssārvvabhaumā narendrāḥ kastā-

⟨17⟩ nmartyaḥ kṛitsnaśo vaktumīṣṭe || [9*] tatrāsīdarikesarī narapatirvvaṁśe va-

⟨18⟩ śī śrīnidhistatputro jaṭilassuto['*]sya nṛipati[ḥ*] śrīrājasiṁhaḥ kṛitī [|*] prājña[ḥ*] sphī-

⟨19⟩ taparākramo varaguṇastasyātmajastatsuta[ḥ*] śrīmāra[ḥ*] śravaṇīyakīrttiraji-

⟨20⟩ ta[ḥ*] śrīvallabho bhūpatiḥ || [10*] māyāpāṇḍyaṁ keraḷaṁ siṁhaḷe[ndra]ñjitvā saṁkhe8

Third Plate: First Side. 9

⟨21⟩ pallavam vallabhañca [|*] ekacchatrām medinīmekavīra[ḥ] prārakṣadyaḥ pre-

⟨22⟩ mapātram prajānām || [11*] nṛipakiriṭamaṇidyumaṇiprabhāvisarabhāsitapādasa-

⟨23⟩ roruhaḥ [|*] varaguṇasya vibhoranujaḥ kṛitī narapatistanayo['*]sya parāntakaḥ || [12*]

⟨24⟩ kharagirimabhitaḥ karīndrayū[thaṁ] ripunṛipaśoṇitaśoṇadantamājau [|*] karakalitakṛi-

⟨25⟩ pāṇamā[tra]sainyassarabhasamugramudagramagrahīnyaḥ10|| [13*] agrāhārai- ⟨Page 452⟩

⟨26⟩ raprameyairanekairdevasthānairastasamkhyaista1ṭākai-

⟨27⟩ ḥ [|*] pū[rṇṇa]m puṇyairyyasvayam2puṇyakīrttiścakre cakrañcakravarttī dha[rā]-

⟨28⟩ yāḥ [|| 14*] śrīriva śrīnivāsasya paulomīva śatakratoḥ [|*] [śrī]vānavanmahā-3

⟨29⟩ devī devī tasya prabhorabhūt || [15*] tasyāñjāta[ḥ*] śrīnidhestasya devyām

⟨30⟩ putraśśatrukṣatrīvatrāsanaśrīḥ [|*] prajñāśauryyasthairyyadhairyyābhi-

⟨0⟩ Third Plate: Second Side.

⟨31⟩ jātyatyāgādhāraḥ pārtthivo rājasiṁhaḥ || [16*] rājanvatī bhavati yam

⟨32⟩ patimetya pṛitthī devandi4vākaraniśākaravaṁśaketum [|*] ārtti[m]5

⟨33⟩ parāmarikadam5bakamartthisārttham 5pūrttinnayantamakhilā haritaśca kīrttim || [17*] nā-

⟨34⟩ lam bhavanti nikhilārtthijanābhilāṣāstyāgasya yasya ripavo['*]pi parākramasya [|*] kī-

⟨35⟩ rttessamastabhuvanāni samullasantyā vācaspaterapi va-

⟨36⟩ cāṁsi guṇastutīnām || [18*] artthairanarttharahitairakhilāndvi-

⟨37⟩ 6jendrānatyartthamarttharahitairahitānanartthaiḥ [|*] āpūrayandaśadiśopyama-

⟨38⟩ lairyaśobhiryyo['*]yam bhunakti bhuvanam bharatānubhāvaḥ || [19*] śrīmān [kau]-

⟨39⟩ [śi]kavaṁśajaśśrutadhana[ḥ*] śrīśreṣṭhiśarmmātma[ja][ḥ*] śreṣṭhaśśīlavatām parānta-

⟨40⟩ ka iti prakhyātanāmo[j*]jvalaḥ [|*] tasyāsti prathitānvayaḥ pṛithuyaśāḥ prā-

Fourth Plate: First Side. 7

⟨41⟩ jñaḥ kṛitajñaḥ kṛitī rājñaḥ prā[jya]guṇaḥ prabhūtavinayaḥ premaikapātram prabhoḥ || [20*]

⟨42⟩ pautrastraiyekadhāmnaḥ8parahitanirato bhāskarākhyasya yo['*]bhūdvidyānadyā-

⟨43⟩ [ḥ] payo[dhi]rvvividhabudhajanaprārtthanāpārijātaḥ [|*] puttūrāptodayānām9

⟨44⟩ purutaratapasoṁñceṁkuṭikkauśikānāṁ śreṣṭhasya śreṣṭhi-

⟨45⟩ nāmnaśśrutavinayanidheḥ śrīnidheryyaśca naptā || [21*] āgniveśya-

⟨46⟩ kṛitaṁ ka[lpa]manalpaṁ yasya pūrvvajāḥ [|*] pratiṣṭhām bhūtadhāriṇyāmanayanveda-

⟨47⟩ pāragāḥ || [22] maudgalyānāṁ syandanagrāmajānām mukhyaḥ khyāta[ḥ*] sphīta[vṛi]ttābhi-

⟨48⟩ jātyaḥ [|*] śrīmāndhīgānkīrttimānūraśarmmā dharmmādhāro yasya mātāmaho['*]bhūt

⟨49⟩ || [23*] vidyā vṛittaṁ vinayavibhava[ḥ*] ślāghanīvā10ca lakṣmīrllakṣmībharttuścaraṇakamalā- ⟨Page 453⟩

Fourth Plate: Second Side.

⟨50⟩ saṁginī cittavṛittiḥ [|*] nityottuṁgaśśucirabhijanaḥ śāśvatī kīrttiruccaiḥ

⟨51⟩ prajñā ceti prathitayaśaso yasya vaṁśavratāni || [24*]1vṛirttāvadāto vina-

⟨52⟩ yaikapātram prabhuḥ pitā yasya pitāmahaśrīḥ [|*] prājñaḥ prasatnaḥ2prathitābhi-

⟨53⟩ jātya[ḥ] śrīśreṣṭhiśarmmā śravaṇīyakīrttiḥ || [25*] pāṇḍyānvavāyatilakā-

⟨54⟩ tpuṇyaślokātparāntakāt [|*] vīranārāyaṇāddevādvīrāddhīmat-

⟨55⟩ purogamaḥ || [26*] vaṭakaḷavaḻi rāṣṭrato3['*]grahāram mahitaguṇam maṇiyāccinā-

⟨56⟩ madheyam [|*] alabhata matimānanūnasāram vihitaticaiccuṭarmaṁgalābhi-

⟨57⟩ dhānam || [27*] sa rājā rañjitāśeṣabhūcakraśśakravikramaḥ [|*] ṣoḍaśe rājya-

⟨58⟩ varṣe sve sāditārātimaṇḍalaḥ || [28*] rājasiṁhakuḷakkīḻityu[kte] rā-

Fifth Plate: First Side. 4

⟨59⟩ ṣṭre pratiṣṭhitam [|*] cūḻalākhyojvalaṁ5grāmamā[va]sannamaropamaḥ || [29*] a-

⟨60⟩ nūnalakṣmī6aḻaṉāṭabhājam naṟceykaiputtū 7rabhidhānabhājam [|*] kārā-

⟨61⟩ ṇmaimīyāṭciyutaṁ samastannirastapṛithvīvalayopasarggaḥ || [30*] kare-

⟨62⟩ [ṇu]sañcāravibhaktasīmācatuṣṭayastuṣṭikaraprajānām8[|*] sa brahmadeya-

⟨63⟩ sthitimam bu9pūrvvandvijāya tasmai sakalaṁ samagram || [31*] vi-

⟨64⟩ hitamandaragauravamaṁgalāhvayavirājitamagraharaṁ10varaṁ [|*] sa-

⟨65⟩ madiśatsa parāntakaśarmmaṇe11nirupa[ma*]m nṛipatirnayaketanaḥ || [32*] dharmmo-

⟨66⟩ padeṣṭā nṛipateramuṣya mantrī kaviśśrīnidhiratrigotraḥ [|*] vijñaptirasyāhṛitasa-

⟨67⟩ ptatantustuṁgābhijātyo jaṭilo['*]janiṣṭa || [33*] śrīmāravarmmaṇastasya bhṛityaḥ

⟨68⟩ kṣatraśikhāmaṇeḥ [|*] kūṟṟaṅkonāhvayo['*]syābhūrājñapti12ramalānvaya[ḥ | 34*]

Fifth Plate: Second Side.

⟨69⟩ kīḻvempanāṭābhijanasya putro nakkaṁkumānityavadātanāmnaḥ [|*] kūrāptaja-

⟨70⟩ nmā sacivo nṛipasya nāthaḥ kariṇyā[ḥ*] kuṭikāvalāsīt || [35*] nakkaṁkāṭassa konve-

⟨71⟩ ḷānpaṭārañcolayāṁhvayaḥ13[|*] ityete gaṇakāścātra kariṇībhramaṇe['*]bhava- ⟨Page 454⟩

⟨72⟩ t1|| [36*] pātaprasatna 2manasassukṛitammameti so['*]yaṁ samastavasudhādhipa-

⟨73⟩ vandanīyaḥ [|*] baddhāñjaliḥ pratidinam praṇamatyaśeṣānāgāmi-

⟨74⟩ naḥ kṣitipatīnabhimānameruḥ || [37*] viditasakalavāṁ[nma]ya-3

⟨75⟩ sya viṣṇorvvinayanayaprabhavasya pūrvvajo yaḥ [|*] aracayadatulā-

⟨76⟩ mimām praśastim madhuraguṇasya sakhā sa vāsudevaḥ || [38*] svasti śrī [||*]

⟨77⟩ tiruvoṭun teḷḷamirta[t*]toṭuñ ceṅkatiroḷik kaustubhattoṭum a-

⟨78⟩ ruvimatak kaḷiṟoṉṟoṭun toṉṟi araṉavircaṭaimuṭi viṟṟirun-

⟨79⟩ ta veṇṭiṅkaḷ mutalāka veḷippaṭ[ṭa]tu nā[ṟ]ṟicaiōr pukaḻnīratu nā-

Sixth Plate: First Side. 4

⟨80⟩ ṉilattilai 5 peṟṟatu bhāradvājādikaḷāl nera stutikkappaṭṭatu vi-

⟨81⟩ ravalark kariyatu mīnadvayaśāsanattatu poruvaruñcir a-

⟨82⟩ kattiyaṉai purohitaṉākap peṟṟatu ūḻiūḻitoṟu muḷḷa-

⟨83⟩ tu niṉṟa oruvaṉai uṭaiyatu vāḻiyar pāṇṭiyar tirukkula mi-

⟨84⟩ (ṟ)taṉil vantun toṉṟi vāṉavellaivarait tāṇṭum malai(k)kaṭal [ka]-

⟨85⟩ ṭain tamirtu koṇṭun nāṉilattor vismayap(p)paṭa

⟨86⟩ nāṟkaṭa lorupaka lāṭium maṟuki 6[l]oḷi maṇimu-

⟨87⟩ ṭioṭu caṅkaveḷvaḷait tarattum 7 nilavulakam valañ-

⟨88⟩ ceytun nikaril veṉṟi amararkkup palamuṟaiu[n]9

⟨89⟩ tū tuyttum pākaśāsana ṉāram vavviuñ 9 cemmaṇip pūṇoṭu

⟨90⟩ toṉṟit teṉṟamiḻiṉ karaikaṇṭum vemmuṉai veloṉṟu viṭṭum

⟨91⟩ viraivaraviṟ kaṭal miṭṭum pūḻiyaṉeṉap peya reytium 9 por(k)-8

⟨92⟩ kkuṉṟāyiram micium 9 pāḻiyampāyali ṉimirntum pañca-

⟨93⟩ vaṉeṉum peyar niṟīum 9 vaḷamaturainakar kaṇṭum maṟṟataṟku mati-

Sixth Plate: Second Side. 10

⟨94⟩ ḷ vakuttum uḷamikka matiataṉā loṇṭamiḻum vaṭamoḻi-

⟨95⟩ um 9 paḻutaṟat tāṉārāyntu paṇṭitaril mentoṉṟium 9 mā-

⟨96⟩ ratar malaikaḷat taviyap pāratattiṟ pakaṭoṭṭium 9 vijayaṉai

⟨97⟩ vasuśāpa nikkium 9 ventaḻiyac curam po[k*]kium 9 vacaiil 11māk-

⟨98⟩ kayal puli cilai vaṭavarai neṟṟiil varaintun taṭampūtam paṇi [ko]-

⟨99⟩ ṇṭu taṭākaṅkaḷ pala tiruttium 9 aṭumpaci noy nā[ṭa]kaṟ[ṟi]

⟨100⟩ ampoṟ citramuyariun 9 talaiālaṅkāṉattiṟ ṟaṉṉokka

⟨101⟩ miruventaraik kolaivāḷiṟ ṟalai tumittuk kuṟattalai[yi]ṉ

⟨102⟩ kūttoḻittum mahābhāratan tamiḻp paṭuttum madhurāpuric ca-

⟨103⟩ ṅkam vaittum mahārājarum sārvvabhaumaru[m*] mahimaṇḍalaṅ kāt- ⟨Page 455⟩

⟨104⟩ tikantapiṉ villavaṉai nelvelium 1 viripoḻi[ṟ]c

⟨105⟩ caṅkaramaṅkaip pallavaṉaium 1 puṟaṅkaṇṭa 2 parāṅkucaṉ pañcavar toṉ-

⟨106⟩ ṟalu[m*] maṟṟavaṟku paḷatraṉāyiṉa maṉṉapirā ṉirācaciṅkaṉuṅ koṟṟa-

⟨107⟩ va[r*]ka ṭoḻukaḻaṟkāṟko varaguṇamahārājaṉum āṅkavaṟ kātmajaṉā-

⟨108⟩ ki avaṉitalam poṟai tāṅkit teṅkamaḻ poḻiṟ kuṇṇūriluñ ci-

⟨109⟩ ṅkaḷattum viḻiñattum vāṭāta vākai cūṭik koṭāt ceṅkoṉaṭ[ā]-

Sevnth Plate: First Side. 3

⟨110⟩ vik koṅkalarpoḻiṟ kuṭamukkiṟ porkuṟittu vantetirn-

⟨111⟩ ta gaṅgapallavacoḷakāliṅgamāgadhādikaḷ kurutip perumpuṉaṟ

⟨112⟩ kuḷippak kūrveṅkaṇaitoṭai ñekiḻttup paruti āṟṟaloṭu vi-

⟨113⟩ ḷaṅkiṉa paracakkirakolālaṉuṅ kuraikaḻaṟkā larai ciṟaiñcak kuva-

⟨114⟩ laiyatalan taṉatākkiṉa varaipuraiyu maṇineṭuntoḷ maṉṉarkoṉ raku-

⟨115⟩ ṇavarmmaṉum maṟṟavaṉuk kiḷaiyaṉāṉa maṉucaritaṉ vāṭcaṭai-

⟨116⟩ yaṉ poṟṟaṭampūṇ ciriparāntakaṉ puṉaimaṇip poṉmuṭi

⟨117⟩ cūṭik kainnilantoy karikulamum [v]ājibrandamuṅ4kālā-

⟨118⟩ ḷuñ cennilatti ṉilañcerat tiṇcilaivāyk kaṇai cita-

⟨119⟩ ṟium1 kharagiriiṟ 5 karutātavar [va]rakarikulanirai vāriu-

⟨120⟩ m nilamper nikar kaṭantun neṭum peṇṇākaṭa maḻittum

⟨121⟩ ālum porppari oṉṟā lakaṉkoṅki lamar kaṭantun devadā-

⟨122⟩ nam pala ceytum brahmadeyam pa[la] tiruttiun 1 nāvalantivaṭi-

⟨123⟩ ppaṭutta 6 narapatium 1 vāṉaṭaintapiṉ vāṉavaṉmahādevi eṉ-

⟨124⟩ ṉu malarmaṭantai muṉ payanta miṉavarko ṉirācaciṅkaṉ vikaṭa-

⟨125⟩ vāṭava ṉavaṉey ahipati āyirantalaiyā laritākappoṟukki-

Seventh Plate: Second Side.

⟨126⟩ ṉṟa mahimaṇṭalap perumpoṟai taṉ mahābhujapalattāṟ ṟāṅki

⟨127⟩ bhujaganāya[ka] dharaṇidhāraṇa haraṇarājita bhujabalaṉāy ulappi-

⟨128⟩ 7 nimaṅkalat tetirnta tevvaruṭa lukutta cennir nilappeṇ-

⟨129⟩ ṇiṟ kaṅkarākameṉa nivappāṇi tantum maṭaippakarnirt[ta]ñcai-

⟨130⟩ yarkoṉ tāṉaivarai naippūriṟ paṭaipparicāran tantu[po]kat

⟨131⟩ taṉ paṇai muḻakkiuṅ 1 koṭumpai mānakar niṟainta kuraika-

⟨132⟩ ṭalp peruntāṉai iṭumpaiuṟ 1 ṟiriyat ta[ṉi]raṇotaiya mel[ko]-

⟨133⟩ ṇṭum puṉaṟ poṉṉi vaṭakaraiiṟ 5 poḻil puṭaicūḻ mati-

⟨134⟩ ḷ vañcik kaṉaṟpaṭa viḻittetirnta vīrar kavanta māṭak ka-

⟨135⟩ ṇ civantuñ cevaluyar[ko]ṭik kuma[ra]ṉeṉac cīṟit teṉṟañcai

⟨136⟩ kāvalaṉatu kariturakapatāti saṅ[gha]m kaḷat taviyap pūmpuṉa [ṉā]va-

⟨137⟩ ṟpatiil 5 vāmpuravi palaṅ kāṭṭium1 vijayadhvajam vicum pa-

⟨138⟩ ṇavac ceṅko ṟicaiviḷim paṇavak kucaimāvuṅ kolaik kuṉṟamu-

⟨139⟩ ṅ kurutiāramuṅ kuṇantum kulavarddhaṉa raṭivaṇaṅka ma-

Eighth Plate: First Side. 8

⟨140⟩ hendrabhoga maṉubhavitta vikaṭavāṭavan śrīkāntan mināṅkitaśaile-

⟨141⟩ ntiraṉ rājaśikhāmaṇi teṉṉaṉ rājitaguṇagaṇa ṉaṅkoṉ e- ⟨Page 456⟩

⟨142⟩ ṇṇiṟanta1 prahmadeyamum eṇṇiṟanta devadānamum eṇṇiṟanta pa-

⟨143⟩ ḷḷiccantamum etticaiu 2 miṉitiyaṟṟi urāmpilo-

⟨144⟩ ti olikaṭalpo loruṅku muṉṉan tāṉamaitta vali rā-

⟨145⟩ caciṅkapperuṅkuḷakkiḻc cūḻaṉaka rirunta-

⟨146⟩ ruḷi rājyavarṣam iraṇṭāvata ṉetir patiṉāṉkā-

⟨147⟩ m yāṇṭil māk koḻuvūrkkūṟṟattu varupuṉal miy-

⟨148⟩ kuṇṭāṟṟup [pu]ttūreṉap peyareytiya kottārpoḻiṟgrā-

⟨149⟩ mattiṟ komara kauśika gotratti lāgniveśyakalpatti lompāḻ-

⟨150⟩ varil mikko ṉuyartaru perumpukaḻc ceṭṭikulamatalai ku-

⟨151⟩ valaiyasuran nalamiku bhāskara nandanan teṉṉavarkoṉ śrīparāntaka-

⟨152⟩ n śrīviranāraṇa ṉaruḷāl vaṭakaḷavaḻināṭṭiṉkaṭ ṭicaiccuṭa-

⟨153⟩ rmaṅkalameṉṉu miṭaṉuṭaiya brahmadeya mekabhogamāppe-

Eighth Plate: Second Side. 3

⟨154⟩ ṟaṟoṉ patmāsana sadṛiśaṉāyiṉa pala[r*]pukaḻ bhāskaraṉce-

⟨155⟩ ṭṭitaṉ māmakaṉ sādhumārggan satvamitran sadtuṇālayan paṭai-

⟨156⟩ kkamalavaṉac ceṅkuṭik kauśikan parāntakaṉ ṟaṉak kanugraha-

⟨157⟩ buddhiyaṉāki muṉṉuraitta araicarpirāṉ antaṇpuṉalaḻaṉāṭ-

⟨158⟩ ṭila naṟceykaiputtūrataṉai mantaragauravamaṅka-

⟨159⟩ lameṉṟu taṉ peyariṭṭuk k[ā]rāṇmai miyāṭci uḷ-

⟨160⟩ ḷaṭaṅkak kaṇṭaruḷi ēkabhoga brahmadeyamāka naṉku

⟨161⟩ koṭuttaruḷiṉaṉ [||*] mākan toy kuṭai maṉṉavaṉ śrī-

⟨162⟩ rājasiṁhavarmman || coḻanāṭṭup pullamaṅkalattu caṭaiya-

⟨163⟩ pirāṉ bhaṭṭassomayāci 4 viṇṇappañ ceya kaḷavaḻināṭṭu vempaṟṟūrk kūṟṟaṅkoṉā-

⟨164⟩ ṇai āḷākavum kiḻvempaṉiṭṭuk 5 kūrakkumāṉai kuṭikāval nāyakaṉākavum tiruk-

⟨165⟩ kāṉapperkkūṟṟattuc ciṟucevvūr nakkaṅkāṭaṉum miḻalaikkū-

⟨166⟩ ṟṟattu naṭuviṟkūṟṟiṟ ṟuñcalūrp paṭārañcolaium 2 kaḷātti-

⟨167⟩ rukkaip peruṅkākkūrkkoṉ veḷāṉuṅ kaṇakkarākavum aḻa[ṉā]-

⟨168⟩ ṭṭuṉāṭṭār niṉ ṟellai kāṭṭap piṭicūḻnta perunāṉkellai kiḻe-

⟨169⟩ llai curuḷiāṟṟukku mekkun teṉṉellai kaṟkuḷattil 6

TRANSLATION.

Sanskrit portion.

(Verse. 1.) The ocean, in whose rows of bounding disturbed waves, as in a dancing hall, are (seen) like gems the sun, the stars and the moon, even when agitated at the end of the Kalpa, bore the form of his foot-stool. 7

(V. 2.) (Victorious) was the family of him whose prowess had filled the earth and was a sun (in destroying) the night (viz.) the great heroism of its enemies. The kings of great glory and merited fame born in this (family), held the earth as their legally married wife. ⟨Page 457⟩

(V. 3.) Of the kings born in this (family) who had destroyed all enemy kings and had their edicts established on the snowy mountain, the priest was the venerable Agastya.

(V. 4.) One (of the kings) born here, whose wealth was his honour, and who had killed the powerful demons in a battle between the gods and the demons, sat alone on the throne of the Lord of the gods (i.e.), Indra) in heaven brought down (to earth).

(V. 5.) Another wise king of right conduct, was an ambassador to secure victory for the gods; and (still) another of unopposed commands, caused the Ten-headed giant (i.e., Rāvaṇa) to sue for peace.

(V. 6.) (Again), in that family was born a king who was the husband of (Gaṅgā) the daughter of the friend of Nara (Arjuna) (i.e., Vishṇu), who (like Śiva) had three eyes (trilōchana) 1 whose virtue was praised by the three worlds, a matchless king who stirred the ocean and was a pupil of Agastya.

(V. 7.) (Another) born in that (family) was adorned with the necklace of Hari (i.e., Indra) (which he had) captured (from him) after breaking (his) wristlet on the head of the Lord of gods (i.e., Indra); still (another) king born in that (family) conquered Vijaya (i.e., Arjuna) and was the conflagration at the end of time to the cotton (namely) the army of the lord of the Kurus.

(V. 8.) Another (king) born in that (family) cut off his own head in order to save his master; and (a king) named Sundara-Pāṇḍya born in this (family) was a helmsman in the ocean of all Śāstras.

(V. 9.) Countless number of emperors and kings born in this race attained godhood having performed numberless Rājasūya and Aśvamēdha sacrifices. Which mortal could describe them thoroughly ?

(V. 10.) In that family was born king Arikēsari, the home of glory, who had controlled his passions. His son (was) Jaṭila. His son (was) the glorious (and) virtuous king Rājasiṁha. His son (was) the wise Varaguṇa of great prowess. His son (was) king Śrī-Māra whose fame was delightful to hear and who was the invincible lord of wealth (Śrīvallabha).

(V. 11.) He (i.e., Śrī-Māra) the matchless hero, the beloved of his subjects, having conquered in battle Māyā-Pāṇḍya, the Kēraḷa, the king of Siṁhaḷa, the Pallava and the Vallabha, protected the earth under (his) one umbrella.

(V. 12.) His son, the younger brother of king Varaguṇa, was the virtuous king Parāntaka, whose lotus-feet were brightened by the spreading lustre of the sun-like gems in the crowns of (prostrating) kings.

(V. 13.) He quickly captured in a battle near Kharagiri the powerful (king) Ugra who possessed a herd of strong elephants whose tusks were red with the blood of enemy kings with an army (which was) the only sword (held) in hand. ⟨Page 458⟩

(V. 14.) This emperor, himself of meritorious fame, caused the circle of the earth to be filled with holy boundless Brāhmin settlements 1, numerous temples and countless tanks.

(V. 15.) The wife of that king was the glorious Vānavanmahādēvī, as Śrī (was) of Śrīnivāsa (i.e., Vishṇu) and as Paulōmī (Śachī) (was) of Śatakratu (Indra).

(V. 16.) Of this queen was born to him, who was the abode of prosperity, the son, king Rājasimha who was the repository of intelligence, valour, stability, courage, nobility and liberality and who successfully scared away the heroism of (his) enemies.

(V. 17.) Having obtained him, the banner of (both) the (solar) (and the lunar) races, who caused the utmost grief to the host of enemy kings, satisfaction to the crowds of supplicants and fame (to reach) all directions, the earth (now) became (truly) possessed of a king.

(V. 18.) The requests of all supplicants are not enough for (i.e., to satisfy) his liberality; nor the enemies for his prowess; nor all the worlds for (his) lustrous fame; nor (again) the words of the Master of Words (i.e., Bṛihaspati) for praising (his) virtues.

(V. 19.) Dignified as Bharata, he rules the earth filling all Brahmans with endless wealth, the enemies with ruin which fully deprives (them) of (their) wealth and the ten quarters with faultless fame.

(V. 20.) A great favourite of this lord, the king, was the glorious son of the illustrious Śrēshṭhiśarman, who was famous by the well-known name Parāntaka, who was born in the Kauśika lineage, was possessed of wealth which was learning, who was the best of the upright and of famous descent, who was widely known, wise, dutiful and virtuous, of excellent character and highly modest.

(V. 21.) This (Parāntaka) who was ever devoted for the good of others, who was the ocean (into which emptied itself) the river of learning and who was the Pārijāta (celestial) tree (in fulfilling) the desires of all classes of wise men, was the grandson of him who was named Bhāskara, the sole repository of the Trayī (Vēdas), and the great-grandson of him named Śrēshṭhin who was the purest of the Śeṅkuṭi-Kauśikas of great religious austerity born in Puttūr, a mine of knowledge and modesty and the home of prosperity.

(V. 22.) His ancestors who had reached the (other) end of Vēdic (learning) established on this earth the extensive work called Kalpa written by Āgnivēśya 2.

(V. 23.) His maternal grandfather was the famous Ūraśarman, the chief of the residents of Syandana-grāma, of the Maudgalya (lineage), who was of high birth and noble character, illustrious, intelligent, famous and a prop of virtue.

(V. 24.) Knowledge, noble conduct, wealth, modesty, praiseworthy riches, a conscience ever attached to the lotus-feet of the lord of Lakshmī (Vishṇu), a descent ever high and pure, permanent fame and superior intelligence—these were the rule in the family of him (i.e., Ūrasarman) whose fame was widely known.

(Vv. 25—27.) His (i.e., Parāntaka's) father, the wise and illustrious Śrēshṭhiśarman, whose conduct was pure, who was as powerful and glorious as Pitāmaha ⟨Page 459⟩ (Brahma) who was the one resort of modesty, intelligent, good and of noble descent whose fame was pleasant to hear and who was the leader of the wise, received from the heroic (king) Parāntaka, lord Vīranārāyaṇa of meritorious fame and an ornament of the Pāṇḍya race, the Brahman village (agrahāra) named Maṇiyāchi of unfailing fertility, (which was) a famous agrahāra (situated) in Vaḍa-Kaḷavaḷi-rāshṭra 1 re-naming (it) Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgala.

(Vv. 28—32.) The same god-like king of unfailing prosperity, who pleased the whole circle of the earth and satisfied (his) subjects, who destroyed the host of enemies, who was the banner of polity, whose prowess was (equal to) that of Śakra (i.e., Indra) and who removed the troubles (of the people) on the circle of the earth, in the 16th year of his reign, while camping 2 in the famous village named Chūḻal situated in the territorial division (rāshṭra) called Rājasiṁhakuḷakkīḻ, gave with libations of water, to the Brahman, Parāntakaśarman, the whole of the matchless and excellent agrahāra named Naṟcheygai-Puttūr situated in Aḷa-nāḍu which was famous with its (second) name Mandaragauravamaṅgalam, as a brahmadēya property, together with (its) kārāṇmai and miyāṭchi and with (its) four boundaries marked off by the circumambulation of the female elephant.

(V. 33.) The vijñapti of this (grant) was the minister Jaṭila of respectable descent and a storehouse of prosperity who was the councillor of the king and a poet of the Atrigōtra, who had performed (Vēdic) sacrifices.

(V. 34.) The ājñapti of this (grant) was the servant of that crest-jewel of warriors, the illustrious Māravarman, who was descended of a pure family and was called Kūṟṟaṅgōṉ.

(V. 35.) A minister of the king, born at (the village of) Kūra, the son of a nobleman of Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu and known by the famous name Nakkaṅkumāṉ, was the master of the female elephant 3 and the warden (kuḍikāval).

(V. 36.) Also Nakkaṅ-Kāḍa, Kōn-Vēḷān and he, called Paṭārañ-Chōla —these (three) accountants were appointed (to supervise) the circumambulation of the female elephant.

(V. 37.) Worshipped by all rulers, this (king) Abhimānamēru prostrates (himself) every day before all future kings with palms folded (over his head) (and saying) “Oh! pureminded kings! Protect (this) my gift!”

(V. 38.) Vāsudēva, the friend of Madhuraguṇa and the elder brother of Vishṇu who had studied the whole (science of) literature and was the birth place of modesty and intelligence, composed this matchless praśasti.

Tamiḻ portion.

(Line 76.) Hail ! Prosperity ! May the prosperous family of the Pāṇḍyas live long— (the family) which came forth commencing with the white Moon enthroned on the brilliant ⟨Page 460⟩ plaited hair of Hara (i.e., Śiva), and born (from the milk ocean) along with (the goddess of) prosperity, the pure ambrosia, the Kaustubha (gem) of lustre like that of the Sun's and that single elephant (the Airāvata) of flowing rut;—a fit object of praise for the people of the four quarters which possesses the four (divisions) of the earth; which was justly extolled by Bhāradvāja and other (sages); which was beyond the reach of enemies; whose commands bore (the seal of) the double 1 fish; which had for its family priest (the sage) Agastya of unequalled glory; which has been in existence through aeons and which counts (among its members) the one ever-lasting Being. 2

(L. 84.) After many great kings and emperors born in this (family) who ruled right up to the boundaries of the heavens, (such as) he who churned the billowy ocean and obtained nectar; he who bathed in a single day 3 in the four oceans, causing admiration to the people of the four (divisions of) the earth, who with a crown (bedecked) with gems of faultless lustre, wore (also) an anklet of white conch; he who went round the globe of the earth; he who sent ambassadors on several occasions to the gods of matchless victory; he who carried away the garland of Pākaśāsana (i.e., Indra); he who, appearing with ornaments of valuable gems, mastered the Tamil (language) of the south; he who by throwing a sharp-edged javelin caused the quick return of the sea; acquired the name Pūḻiyaṉ; who gave away thousands (of gifts) of the golden hill (Mēru); he who stood firmly in the field (of battle) at Pāḻi and obtained the name Pañchavaṉ; he who founded the prosperous city of Madura and built (a surrounding) wall for it; he who with the supreme intelligence of his mind, was profoundly versed in the beautiful Tamil and Sanskrit and became the foremost among scholars; he who led the elephants in the Bhārata (war) so as to destroy the great charioteers in a hill-battle 4; he who relieved Vijaya (Arjuna) from the curse of Vasu; he who drove (his enemies) to the forest so that they might be scorched up and destroyed (there) and had the blameless (royal emblems) of the big fish, the tiger and the bow engraved on the top of the Northern Mountain (i.e., the Himālayas); he who, securing the services of huge giants, restored many tanks and relieved the country from disease and pinching hunger; he who with a dreadful sword cut off the heads of two kings that advanced against him in the battles at Chitrmuyari and Talaiyālaṅgānam and stopped the dance of their (two) headless trunks and he who had the Mahābhārata translated in to Tamiḻ and had established the “Śaṅgam” in the town of Madhura. had ruled the circle of the earth and had passed away.

(L. 104.) Then (came) Parāṅkuśa, the king of the Pañchavas (i.e., Pāṇḍyas) who saw the back of the Chēra king (Villavan) at Nelvēli and that of the Pallava (king) at Śaṅkaramaṅgai of extensive pleasure gardens. His grandson (was) Rājasiṁha, the lord of kings. (Next came) king Varaguṇa-Mahārāja whose feet (wearing) anklets are worshipped by monarchs. 5 His son was Parachakrakōlāhala, who bore the burden of the earth, who wore (a victorious garland of) never-fading vāgai ⟨Page 461⟩ (flowers) 1 at Kuṇṇūr, (surrounded by) gardens of delightful fragrance, at Śiṅgaḷam and at Viḻiñam; who firmly wielded his sceptre and who shining with the prowess of the Sun and shooting from (his) bow-string sharp and deadly arrows on Gaṅga, Pallava, Chōḷa, Kaliṅga, Magadha and other (kings) that came to give battle and opposed (him) at Kuḍamūkkil of fragrant and blooming flower-gardens and made them bathe in a big river of blood.

(L. 113.) (Next came) Varaguṇavarman, the lord of kings, whose feet were worshipped by kings (wearing) jingling anklets on their legs, and who by (his) beautiful long arms resembling hills, made the earth his own.

(L. 115.) His younger brother, the glorious warrior Parāntakaṉ Śaḍaiyaṉ, the king whose conduct (followed the rules prescribed by) Manu, who wore many golden ornaments, who put on a golden crown decorated with gems; who showered arrows from (his) powerful bow so that the elephant troops whose (long) trunks touched the earth, the horse battalions and the infantry (of the enemies) fell on the earth at (the battle of) Śeṉṉilam; who captured at Kharagiri crowds of files of powerful elephants of enemy (kings) and won a battle at Nilambēr; who had destroyed the extensive Peṇṇāgaḍam, who with the help of a single powerful prancing horse, won battles in the extensive Koṅgu (country); who performed many (gifts of) dēvadāna (lands) and restored many brahmadēya (grants) and who subdued the whole of India (Nāvaltīvu) 2, having also gone to heaven.

(L. 123.) The first son of the goddess of the (lotus) flower (i.e., Lakshmī) called Vānavaṉmahādēvi, was he the king of the Mīṉavar, (i.e., the Pāṇḍyas) Rājasiṁha Vikaṭavāḍavaṉ 3, who having himself borne (easily) by the strength of his broad shoulders, the great burden of the circle of the earth which the lord of serpents (i.e., Śēsha) bears with much difficulty by his thousand heads, became distinguished as “the strong-armed that relieved the serpent Lord of (the pain of) carrying the earth”; who at Ulappinimaṅgalam pierced the bodies of the enemies that attacked (him), and gave (their) blood, the superior (position) of becoming the scented cosmetics of the gooddess Earth, who sounded his drum when the king of the Tañjai (country) (full of) water flowing from sluices, ran away surrendering his arms, 4at Naippūr which was filled with mountain-like battalions 5; who commenced his battle 6 at the big city of Koḍumbai where the assembled (enemy's) forces, vast like the roaring ocean, dispersed suffering affliction; whose looks caused (the town of) Vañji with walls surrounded on all sides by flower-gardens (and situated) on the northern bank of the Kāvērī (Poṉṉi) abounding in water to be consigned to flames, and whose eyes which became red (with anger) made to dance the headless bodies of the heroes that opposed him; who like Kumāra (Skanda) of the high cockflag, swelled with rage and displayed the strength of (his) galloping steeds by destroying in the battle at the beautiful and well watered town of Nāval the crowds of elephants, horses and foot-men of the lord of the southern Tañjai (country). (His) victorious flag reaching the sky, his sceptre wielded (right) up to the ends of quarters, acquiring the bridled horse, the chief mountain and the blood-red garland, was enjoying the pleasure of Mahēndra with his prosperous sons worshipping at his feet, the king Vikaṭavāḍava, the lord of Prosperity, who marked the chief of mountains with his fish ⟨Page 462⟩ emblem, the crest-jewel of kings, this lord of the south (Teṉṉaṉ), of many brilliant virtues having founded with pleasure in every direction numberless brahmadēyas, numberless dēvadānas, and numberless paḷḷichchandam.

(L. 143.) Being pleased to stay in the town of Chūḻal (situated) in Rājaśingapperuṅguḷam, abounding in wreath of water-lilies and resembling the noisy ocean which was formerly founded by himself—in the 14th year opposite the 2nd year of his reign, the Brāhman Bhāskaran-Śeṭṭi who was like the lotus-born (Brahmā) and was praised by all, the son of the virtuous Bhāskara, the chief of the noble and illustrious race of the Śeṭṭis, the foremost of Ombāḻvas of the Āgnivēśya-kalpa and the Komara-Kauśika-gōtra (living) in the village Kōttārpoḻil 1 named Puttūr in the watery Miyguṇḍāṟu (district) (which was included) in the big (district of) Koḻuvūr-kūṟṟam, having obtained as ēkabhōga the brahmadēya consisting of the place (called) Tiśaichchuḍarmaṅgalam in Vaḍa-Kaḷavaḻi-nāḍu, by the grace of the Pāṇḍya king the glorious Parāntakaṉ śrī-Vīranāraṇaṉ.

(L. 155.) The chief of kings mentioned above, the illustrious Rājasiṁhavarman, the sovereign whose umbrella touched the sky, desirous of doing some good to Parāntaka the famous son of Bhāskaran Śeṭṭi (i.e., Śeṭṭi son of Bhāskara) who walked in the path of the virtuous, a Kauśika of Śeṅguḍi (surrounded by) a forest of lotuses, the friend of the created beings and the home of good qualities, was pleased to kindly confer as ēkabhōga-brahmadēya together with kārāṇmai and mīyāṭchi (the village) Naṟcheygai-Puttūr in Aḷa-nāḍu of beautiful streams of cool water which he was pleased to found calling it Mandaragauravamaṅgalam after his own name.

(L. 162.) The viṇṇappam (of this grant) was Śaḍaiyapirāṉ Bhaṭṭasōmayājin of Pullamaṅgalam in Śōḻā-nāḍu; the ājñapti (āṇai-āl) (of the grant) was Kūṟṟaṅgōṉ of Vēmbaṟṟūr in Kaḷavaḻi-nāḍu; the chief warden (Kuḍikāval-nāyakan) was Kumān of Kūra in Kīḻ-Vēmba-nāḍu and the accountants were Nakkaṉ-Kāḍaṉ of Śiṟu-Śevūr in Tirukkānappēr-kūṟṟam, Paṭārañ-Chōlai of Tuñjalūr in Naḍuviṟ-kūṟṟam (a sub-division) of Miḻalaik-kūṟṟam and Kōṉ-Vēḷāṉ of Peruṅgākkūr (near) Kaḻāttirukkai.

(L. 167.) The residents (nāṭṭār) of Aḻā-nāḍu being appointed to mark the boundary line, the female elephant was led around and (the following) four big boundaries were thus (marked). The eastern boundary (was) to the west of Śuruḷiyāṟu; the southern boundary (was) • • • • in Karkuḷam. 2

TEXT. 3

[Metres: Vv. 1—4, Anushṭubh.]

First Plate.

⟨1⟩ svasti4[||*] patmā5[bhu]japariṣvaṁgapramadotpuḷakāyu[dhī]ḥ6[|*] vidyāyaśovibhūtī-

⟨2⟩ rnnaḥ puṣṇātu puruṣotta[ma*]ḥ ||—[1] anvayassuciraṁ stheyāda7mṛitāṁ- ⟨Page 463⟩

⟨3⟩ śusamudbhavaḥ [|*] surāridarppahantāro narendrā yatra jajñire || [2*] amṛita-

⟨4⟩ kiraṇa(ṉ) ṉaṉvayattilākhaṇḍhalaṉa taḻivakala samaramukhat ta-

⟨5⟩ suragaṇantalai aḻiyac cilai kuṉittu vaṭavaraiyatuvalā-

⟨6⟩ racūḷikai maṇikkeṇṭaippoṟi cūṭṭiyun teṉvaraimi-

⟨7⟩ caik kumbhodbhavanatu tintamiḻiṟ cevi kaḻuviyum harihaya-

⟨8⟩ natu hāram pūṇṭu marddhāsana mavaṉo ṭeṟiuñ 1 curivaḷaiyavaṉ-

⟨9⟩ ṟirumuṭimicait tūṇi palapaṭat toḷocciu 1 mota mi-

Second Plate: First Side.

⟨10⟩ ḷa veleṟintum morāiraṅ2 kṛituc ceytum bhūtagaṇam

⟨11⟩ paṇiyāṇṭum bhuvanatalam potu nikkiyum yāṉai yāyi-

⟨12⟩ ra maiyyamiṭṭu(m) maparimita matiśayaṅkaḷ cey tū-

⟨13⟩ ṉamil pukaḻp pāṇḍyavaṁśat tolokanāthar palar kaḻi-

⟨14⟩ ntapiṉ jagadgitayaśorāśirjjayantavarmmaṉ3makaṉākip pa-

⟨15⟩ kai(p)bhūpar talai paṉippap parameśvaraṉ veḷi[ṟ]paṭṭu 4 arikesa-

⟨16⟩ ri asamasamaṉ alaṅghyavikraman akālakāla(ṉ)ṉeṉat taṉa-

⟨17⟩ kkuriyaṉa pala guṇanāma mulakumuḻu tukantettap parā-

⟨18⟩ vaṉipakula miṟañca 5p pārakalam potu nikki ddharāsurara

⟨19⟩ tiṭarakala ddhanavarṣa[m*] poḻita[ṟ]ku valāhakattiṉ vratam koṇ-

Second Plate: Second Side.

⟨20⟩ ṭu tulābhāra miṉiteṟi śaraṇyaṉā yulakaḷittu hiraṇya-

⟨21⟩ garbhamirukāl pukku gosahasrattuṭakkattuk guru[dā]-

⟨22⟩ ṉam pala ceytu vāsavaṉ pola viṟṟiruntaṉaṉ vasu-

⟨23⟩ dhāpati māravarmmaṉ [|*] maṟṟavaṟku makaṉāki matipuraiyuṅ ku-

⟨24⟩ ṭainiḻal laṟṟa miṉṟi avaṉimaṇḍala muṭaṉom-

⟨25⟩ pi aruḷpayantu kalpakattiṉ vratam koṇṭu kalikalu-

⟨26⟩ ṣa maṟanikki aṟpamallā dravyam koṭut tavaṉisura ri-

⟨27⟩ ṭarnikkik karutātu vantetirnta kaḻalventaruṭa-

⟨28⟩ ṉaviya marutūroṭu kuvaḷaimalaiyu mattaveḻañ cela vuntic-

Last Plate. 6

⟨29⟩ kkuk kiḻakkum vaṭavellai koṟṟaṉputtūr pakavatiko ilu 2-

⟨30⟩ kkut teṟ[ku*] mivviṟaitta 7 perunāṉkellaiyuṭpaṭṭatu sarvvapari-

⟨31⟩ hārañ ceytukuṭuttu 8 mitaṟkāṇatti[p*]paṭṭā ṉaṇṭaṉāṭṭuk

⟨32⟩ kuṇṭūrkkūṟṟattuk kuṇṭū ruttaramantiriyāyiṉa tāyaṉ

⟨33⟩ ciṅkaṉ itaṉ puṟaṅkāva leṇpattaiṅkalaṅ kuṭukka patu-

⟨34⟩ tu 910māṟṟitaṉaik kāttār [ta*]ṉ 11 malaraṭi eṉ muṭi melaṉa eṉṟu koṟ-

⟨35⟩ ṟavaṉey paṇittaruḷit teṟṟeṉat tāmraśāsanañ cey[vi]ttāṉ [|*] ⟨Page 464⟩

⟨36⟩ svadattāṁ paradattāṁ vā yo hareta vasu[ndha]rām [|*] ṣaṣṭhī varṣasahasrāṇi

⟨37⟩ viṣṭhāyāñjāyate kṛimī | [|*] [3*] brahmasvaratṣa1ṇādanyatpuṇyamūlanna vidyate [|*] tasyāti-

⟨38⟩ [kramaṇādanyatpā]pamūlanna vidyate [||*] [4*] pāṇṭi[p]perumpaṇaikāraṉ makaṉ arikesari eḻuttu |

TRANSLATION.

(V. 1.) Hail! May Purushōttama (i.e., Vishṇu) who wears his characteristic weapons 2 and whose hairs stand on end in the rapture of an embrace from the arms of Padmā (i.e., Lakshmī), profusely grant us knowledge, fame and prosperity.

(V. 2.) May the family prosper long, that which is produced from the nectar-rayed (Moon), in which were born kings who crushed the pride of the enemies of gods (i.e., demons).

(L. 3.) After a number of kings of the Pāṇḍya family of endless fame (born) in the race of the Moon,—who drew their bow to cut off the heads of crowds of Asuras on the battle-front, to prevent the destruction of Ākhaṇḍala (i.e., Indra); who decorated the adamantine crest of the Northern Mountain (i.e., the Himalayas) with the (royal) sign of the beautiful carp; who bathed their ears with the sweet Tamiḻ of Kumbhōdbhava (i.e., Agastya), residing on the top of the Southern Mountain 3; who wore the necklace of Harihaya (i.e., Indra) and sat with him on one half of his throne; who raised (their) arms showering many (arrows) from (their) quivers on the sacred crown of Śurivaḷaiyavaṉ; who threw the javelin in order to drive back the (encroaching) sea; performed a thousand sacrifices; exacted service from crowds of goblins; released the expanse of Earth of (her) common possession (by kings); bestowed on supplicants a thousand elephants and did many (other) astounding deeds—had passed away;

(L. 14.) there was seated on the (Pāṇḍya) throne like Vāsava (Indra), the king, the great lord Māravarmaṉ,—who being the son of Jayantavarmaṉ whose great fame was sung by the world, burst forth causing the heads of hostile kings to tremble, (his) many characteristic titles (such as) Arikēsari, Asamasamaṉ, Alaṅghyavikramaṉ and Akālakālaṉ, being ravishingly proclaimed by the whole world, a host of enemy kings prostrating, released the extensive Earth of (its) common possession (by other kings), resolved to act in the fashion of the thunder cloud in raining gold on Brāhmaṇas and removed their distress; ascended the Tulābhāra with pleasure, ruled the world offering protection to all, entered twice the (womb of) hiraṇyagarbha and made many other great gifts beginning with gōsahasra.

(L. 23.) And his son was • • • who having immediately protected without a flaw the circle of the Earth brought (her) under the shade of his moon-like umbrella, who in giving forth benevolence resolved to act in the fashion of the wishing tree (Kalpaka), expelled completely the sins of the Kali (age), averted the misery of the gods of Earth (i.e., Brāhmaṇas) by giving great wealth, who at Marudūr and Kuvaḷaimalai drove rutting elephants (into the battle-field) so that heroes wearing anklets who opposed, attacked or unwaringly advanced and stood in his way became extinct, who • • ⟨Page 465⟩

(L. 29.) • • • to the east of • • • ; the northern boundary (was) to the south of the Bhagavatī temple of Koṟṟanputtūr. (The land) comprised within the thus-described four big boundaries was given away with all exemptions. Its āṇatti (Skt. ājñapti) was Tāyaṉ Śiṅgaṉ who was the uttaramantri of Kuṇḍūr (a village) in Kuṇḍūr-kūṟṟam of Aṇḍa-nāḍu. The puṟaṅkāval 1 to be given on this (land) is eighty-five kalam (of paddy).

(L. 34.) “The flower-like feet of those that protect this (gift) shall be on my crown”: So saying, the king himself graciously ordered and had (this) copper edict executed at once.

[Verses 3 and 4 are the usual imprecations.]

(L. 38.) (This is) the signature of Arikēsari, son of Pāṇḍi-Perumbaṇaikāraṉ.

⟨SIIv03p0i0207⟩ No. 207.—TIRUKKALAR PLATE OF RAJENDRA-CHOLA I.

These are five copper-plates belonging to the Pārijātavanēśvara temple at Tirukkaḷar, a village ten miles south-east of Mannārguḍi in the Tanjore district 2. A short notice of these appeared in Dr. Hultzsch's Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1902—03, paragraph 17. The report also contains a list of 23 stone inscriptions which were copied from the same temple. 3 These five copper-plates, strung on a copper-ring of 5" diameter, have flat rims, measure 1'(7/8)"x5(1/2)" each, weigh together 566 tolas and have ring-holes bored in the middle of the left margin about an inch from the edge. They contain in them five complete inscriptions of different Chōḷa kings. The first of them, which is also the earliest, is a record of Parakēsarivarman Rājēndra-Chōḷa I who ascended the Chōḷa throne in A.D. 1012. It begins with the king's usual historical introduction commencing with the words tiru maṉṉi vaḷara, enumerates his conquests up to the capture of Kaḍāram, is dated in the 18th year of his reign and registers the extent of the dēvadāna lands belonging to the temple of Mahādēva at Tirukkaḷar which is said to be a village in Puṟaṅgarambai-nāḍu, a subdivision of Arumoḻidēva-vaḷanāḍu.

Compared with the inscription of this king found at Tirumalai 4, dated in the 13th year of reign and his Tanjore epigraph 5, dated in the 19th year of reign, the present inscription furnishes a few differences in reading which are noticed in foot-notes.

The identification of all the place names occurring in the historical introduction has been made by Professor Hultzsch 6, and it remains to note here only a few facts in this connection. Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu which has been taken to be Yeḍatore, a small village in the Mysore district by Mr. Rice, has since been shown by Dr. Fleet to be identical with the ⟨Page 466⟩ territorial division Eḍedoṟe, two thousand, a tract of country lying between the rivers Kṛishṇā on the north and Tuṅgabhadrā on the south, comprising a large part of the present Raichur district 1. The Kanyākumāri inscription of Vīrarājēndra shows that Maṇṇaikaḍakkam is not to be identified with Maṇṇe in the Nelamaṅgala taluk of the Bangalore district but is the same as Mānyakhēṭa, which Rājēndra-Chōḷa is said to have made a playground for his armies 2. Chakkara-kōṭṭam has been satisfactorily identified by Rai Bahadur Hira Lal with Chitrakūṭa or ºkōṭa, eight miles from Rājapura in the Bastar State: he has also adduced epigraphical evidence to show that its king was really Dhārāvarsha in A.D. 1111 3, as stated in the epigraphs of Kulōttuṅga I. Dakshiṇa-Lāḍam has been taken to be Dakashiṇa-Virāṭa or Southern Berars; but it looks likely that it is identical with Dakshiṇa-Rāḍha in Bengal 4. Śrī-Vijaya appears under the form Śrī-Vishaya in a Kaṇḍiyūr inscription 5 of the same king; and the large Leyden grant states that Māravijayōttuṅgavarman was the overlord of this territory 6. This has been taken to be the same as San-fotsai of the Chinese annals and has been identified with Palembang, a residency of Sumatra 7.

TEXT.

First Plate: First Side.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī || tiru maṉṉi vaḷara irunilamaṭantaiyum porccayappāvaiyum cīrtta-

⟨2⟩ ṉic celviyun taṉ perunteviyarāki yiṉpuṟa 8 neṭitiya 9 lūḻiyu ḷiṭaituṟai

⟨3⟩ nāṭum tuṭarvaṉavelip paṭar vaṉavāciyum 10cūḷḷic cūḻū 11matiṭ koḷḷippākkaiyu-

⟨4⟩ m naṇṇaṟ karumaraṇ 12 maṇṇai kkaṭakkamum porutaṭa 13rīḻattaraiyarta muṭiyu māṅkavar teviya

⟨5⟩ roṅkeḻiṉmuṭiyu muṉṉavar [pa]kkaṟ ṟeṉṉavar vaitta cuntaramuṭiyu mintiranāramun te-

⟨6⟩ ṇṭirai yīḻamaṇṭala muḻuvatum eṟipaṭaik 14kaur muṟaimaiyiṟ cūṭuṅ kulataṉa-

⟨7⟩ mākiya palar pukaḻ muṭiyum ceṅkatirmālaiyum caṅkatir velait tolpe-

⟨8⟩ ruṅkāvaṟ pala paḻantīvum ceruviṟ ciṉavi lirupattorukā laraicukaḷai kaṭṭa paracurā-

⟨9⟩ maṉ mevaruñ cāntimattīvaraṇ karuti yiruttiya cempoṟ ṟiruttaku muṭiyum payaṅko- ⟨Page 467⟩

⟨10⟩ ṭu paḻi mika muyaṅkiyil 1 mutukiṭṭoḷitta cayaciṅkaṉ aḷapperum 2 pukaḻoṭu 3piṭiyiliraṭṭapāṭi yeḻa-

⟨11⟩ rai yilakkamum navaṉetikkulapperumalaikaḷum 4vīkkiramavīrar cakkarakoṭṭamu mutir-5vaṭavallai matu-

⟨12⟩ ra maṇṭalamum kāmiṭaivaḷa nāmaṇai(y)kkoṇaiyum 6 veñcilai 7 vīrar pañcappaḷḷiyum pācaṭaippa-

⟨13⟩ ḻaṉa mācuṇitecamum 8 ayarvilvaṇpūrttiyaiyātiñakara 9vaiyiṟ cantiraṉ ṟolkulattintirātaṉai 10 [vi]-

⟨14⟩ ḷaiyamarkkaḷattuk kiḷaiyoṭum piṭittup palataṉattoṭu niṟaikulataṉakkuvaiyum 11kiṭ ṭaruñce-

Second Side.

⟨15⟩ ṟimiḷai [y]oṭṭaviṣaiyamum pūcurar cer nalk kocalaiñāṭum taṉmapālaṉai vemmuṉai yaḻittu va-

⟨16⟩ ṇṭuṟai colait taṇṭaputtiyum iraṇacūraṉai muraṇuka 12 ttākkit tikkaṇai kīrttit takkaṇalāṭamum ko-

⟨17⟩ vintacantaṉ māviḻintoṭat taṅkāta cāral vaṅkāḷatecamum toṭukaḻaṟ caṅkuvoṭṭal 13 mayipālaṉai ve-

⟨18⟩ ñcamar viḷākat tañcuvittaruḷi yoṇṭiṟal yāṉaiyum peṇṭir paṇṭāramum nittila neṭuṅkaṭalu-

⟨19⟩ ttiralāṭamum veṟimalarttīrat teṟipuṉaṟ kaṅkaiyum 14 alaikaṭaṉaṭuvaṭ 15 palakalañ celuttic caṅkirāma-

⟨20⟩ vijaiyottuṅkapaṉmaṉākiya kaṭārattaraiyaṉai vākaiyam 16 poru[ka]ṭakku 17[mpa]kkari-

⟨21⟩ yoṭu makappaṭu[t turi]maiyiṟ piṟakkiya perunetip piṟakkamum ārttavaṉakaṉakarp po-

⟨22⟩ rttoḻil vācalil viccātara 18 (to)toraṇamu moyttoḷir puṉaimaṇipputavamum kaṉa- ⟨Page 468⟩

⟨23⟩ maṇikkatavamum niṟai śrīvijaiyamum 1 tuṟainīrppaṉṉaiyu 2maṉmalaiyūreyiṟ ṟoṉ malai[yū]-

⟨24⟩ rum āḻkaṭalakaḻcūḻ māyiruṭiṅkamum kalaṅkā valviṉai yilaṅkācopamum 3 kāppuṟu niṟai-

⟨25⟩ puṉal māppappāḷamum kāvalampuricai mevilimpaṅkamum 4viḷaippain tūṟuṭai vaḷaippaintū 5-

⟨26⟩ ṟum kalaittakkor pukaḻ talaittakkolamum 6tīyatamāvalviṉai 7mātamaliṅka[muṅ kalā]mutir kaṭuntiṟal ilāmu-

⟨27⟩ ritecamum teṉakkalar 8 poḻil māṉakkavāramun toṭukaḻaṟ 9kāvaṟ kaṭumuraṭ kaṭāramu māpporu taṇṭāṟ ko[ṇ*]ṭa ko-

⟨28⟩ pparakecaripaṉmarāṉa uṭaiyār śrīrājentiracoḻatevarkku yāṇṭu patiṉeṭṭāvatu arumoḻiteva[va]-

⟨29⟩ ḷanāṭṭu puṟaṅkarampai nāṭṭu veṅkūrkkaḷa tirukkaḷar mahādevar devatānam nilam i

⟨30⟩ 19khamapanṉilam vaḷai[yi]ṟcuṟṟu mikitikkuṟaivu 10 uḷḷaṭaṅka ||u

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In the eighteenth year (of the reign of) king Parakēsarivarman alias Uḍaiyār Śrī-Rājēndra-Chōḷadēva, in (his) life of high prosperity, while Tiru (Lakshmī), having become constant, was increasing, (and) while the goddess of the great earth, the goddess of victory in battle, and the matchless goddess of fame rejoiced to have become his great queens,—conquered with (his) great, warlike army (the following):—

Iḍaiduṟai-nāḍu, Vanavāsi, whose unbroken hedge of forest (trees) was extending; Koḷḷippākkai, whose walls were surrounded with brushwood; Maṇṇaikkaḍakkam, whose fortification was unapproachable; the crown of the king of Īḻam who came to close quarters in fighting; the exeedingly fine crowns of the queens of that (king); the beautiful crown and Indra's pearl necklace, which the king of the south (i.e., the Pāṇḍya) had previously deposited with that (king of Īḻam); the whole Īḻa-maṇḍala (on) the transparent sea; the crown praised by many and the garland emitting beautiful rays, family treasures, which the (kings of) Kēraḷa, whose armies possessing missile weapons, rightfully wore; many ancient islands whose old, great guard was the ocean which resounds with its conches; the crown of pure gold, worthy of Tiru (Lakshmī) which Paraśurāma, having considered the fortifications of Śāndimattīvu impregnable, had deposited (there), when, in anger (he) bound the kings twenty-one times in battle; the seven and a half lakshas of Iraṭṭapāḍi (which was) strong by nature, (and which he took), together with immeasurable fame, (from) Jayasiṁha, who, out of fear, turned his back at Muśaṅgi and hid himself (thus earning) great infame; the principal great mountains (which contained) the nine treasures (of Kubēra); Śakkarakōṭṭam (guarded by) brave warriors; the ancient and strong northern Madura-maṇḍala; Nāmaṇaikkōṇam, which was surrounded by dense groves; Pañchapaḷḷi (protected by) warriors (who bore) cruel bows; the moth (-grown) ancient Māśuṇidēśa; ⟨Page 469⟩ a large heap of family-treasures, together with many (other) treasures (which he carried away) after having captured Indraratha of the old race of the moon, together with (his) family, in a fight which took place in the beautiful city of Ādinagar, filled with unceasing abundance; Oḍḍa-vishaya, which was difficult to approach, (and which he subdued in) close fight; the good Kōśalai-nāḍu, where Brāhmaṇas abounded; Daṇḍabutti, in whose gardens beetles abounded (and which he acquired) after having destroyed Dharmapāla (in) a hot battle; Takkaṇa-Lāḍam, whose fame reached (all) directions (and which he occupied) after having forcibly attacked Raṇaśūra; Vaṅgāḷadēśa, where the rain-wind never stopped (and from which) Gōvindachandra fled, having descended (from his) male elephant; elephants of rare strength and treasures of women, (which he seized), after having been pleased to put to fright on a hot battle-field, Mahīpāla, decked (as he was) with ear-rings, slippers and bracelets; Uttira-Lāḍam in the neighbourhood of the expansive ocean abounding in pearls; and the Gaṅgā, whose waters dashed against the banks filled with fragrant flowers; and (who), having despatched many ships in the midst of the rolling sea and having caught Samgrāmavijayōttuṅgavarman, the king of Kaḍāram, along with (his) rutting elephants, which put up rare fight and brought victory,—(took) the large heap of treasures, which (that king) had rightfully accumulated; the (arch called) Vidyādhara-tōraṇa put up at the “gate” of his wide inland city provided with accoutrements of war; the “jewel-gate”, adorned with great splendour; the “gate of large jewels” the prosperous Śrī-Vishaiya; Paṉṉai with a ghat of (bathing) water; the ancient Malaiyūr (with) a fort situated on a fine hill; Māyiruḍiṅgam, surrounded by the deep sea (as) a moat; Ilaṅgāśōgam (i.e., Laṅkāśōka) undaunted (in) fierce battles; Māppappāḷam, having abundant high waters as defence; Mēvilimbaṅgam, having fine walls as defence; Vaḷaippandūṟu, possessing (both) cultivated land (?) and jungle; the principal (city of) Takkōlam, praised by great men (versed in) the sciences; the island of Mādamaliṅgam, of strong battlements; Ilāmuri-dēśam, provided with scientifically ripe excessive strength; the great Nakkavāram, whose gardens (abounded in) flowers dribbling honey; and Kaḍāram, of fierce strength, protected by foot-soldiers wearing kaḻal; the dēvadāna lands (belonging to the temple) of the Mahādēva at Veṅgūrkkaḷa-Tirukkaḷar in Puṟaṅgarambai-nāḍu (a sub-division) of Arumoḻidēva-vaḷanāḍu, measured (1/2) (vēli) 19(1/4), (1/160) and • • 1. This land was inclusive of excess and deficiency (in measurement) of the surrounding parts.

⟨SIIv03p0i0208⟩ No. 208.—TIRUKKALAR PLATE OF RAJADHIRAJA I.

This inscription in six lines is engraved on the second plate of the Tirukkaḷar set. It is dated in the 31st year of the reign of the Chōḷa king Rājakēsarivarman Rājādhirāja I and registers an arrangement made, by a certain Tirumaṇappichchaṉ, who bore the double surname Araiyaṉ Nāgaraiyaṉ and Mahīpālakulakālappēraraiyaṉ, whereby one brahmin had to perform worship in the temple at Tirukkaḷar in addition to another who was doing that service till then. From the short historical introduction which states that the king with the help of his army took the head of Vīra-Pāṇḍya, Śālai of the Chēra king and Ilaṅgai, it is clear that “Śālai is an important place in the Chēra dominions and not a feeding house” as the late Mr. T.A.Gopinatha Rao had taken to be. 2 ⟨Page 470⟩

TEXT1.

⟨1⟩ vīrapāṇṭi[ya*]ṉ ṟalaiyum cerala[ṉ*] cālaiyu[m*] ilaṅkaiyum taṇṭāṟ koṇṭa ko irāja[ke]-

⟨2⟩ caripanmarāna uṭaiyār śrīrājādhirāja deva[r*]kku yāṇṭu 31 āvatu araiya[ṉ] nākaraiyaṉāna

⟨3⟩ mahipālakulakālapperaiya[ṉā]na tirumaṇa(p)ppiccaṉ uṭaiyārkku muṉpu tiruva[r*]rātiṉai ce-

⟨4⟩ yum pirāmaṇan oruvaṉum tirumaṇa(ṭa)ppiccaṉ cetaṉivantaṅkoṇṭu ceyum pirāma-

⟨5⟩ ṇaṉ oruvaṉumāka iruvarkku ḷ 1- kku tūṇikuṟuṇi āka ḷ 360kku ī57ḷakkuviṭṭani kava itu

⟨6⟩ aḻipp[ā*]r tiruvāṇai ||

TRANSLATION.

In the 31st year of (the reign of) king Rājakēsarivarman alias Uḍaiyār Śrī-Rājādhirājadēva, who, with his army, had taken the head of Vīra-Pāṇḍya, Śālai of the Chēra king and Ilaṅgai (i.e., Ceylon), Araiyaṉ Nāgaraiyaṉ alias Mahīpālakulakālappēraraiyaṉ alias Tirumaṇappichchaṉ gave 1(1/4) (vēli of) land for (yielding an income of) 150 (kalam of paddy) for the expenses of two brahmins, viz., one brahmin, performing the worship of the god from of old and one brahmin who is to perform (the same) receiving the income provided for by Tirumaṇappichchaṉ at the rate of (one) tuni and (one) kuṟunī 2 of paddy per day for 360 days. Those who destroy this (shall incur the sin of acting against) the sacred (or royal) order.

⟨SIIv03p0i0209⟩ No. 209.—TIRUKKALAR PLATE OF KULOTTUNGA-CHOLA.

This inscription in 19 lines is engraved on the third plate of the Tirukkaḷar set. It is dated in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Tribhuvanachakravartin Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷadēva without any distinguishing epithet or historical introduction. In the absence of these, though it is not generally possible to say to which of the three kings who bore that name this record must be attributed, yet it appears to be a record of Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa I, since it is stated in the fourth inscription in this set in referring to this record that the king abolished tolls—which is generally a feat attributed to Kulōttuṅga I. It registers a gift of paddy made by a certain Śivaṉ Tillaināyakaṉ alias Śiṟuttoṇḍanambi of Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam in Neṉmali-nāḍu to the temple of Mahādēva at Tirukkaḷar in Puṟaṅgarambai-nāḍu which was a sub-division of Rājēndraśōḻa-vaḷanāḍu for the purpose of taking in procession Aravābharaṇadēva, for offerings to Piḷḷaiyār and the god in the Mūlaṭṭānam and for feeding devotees on the days of the new-moon.

Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam, to which the donor belonged, is a village 7 miles to the east of Maṉṉārguḍi in the Tanjore District. The modern village of Nemmeli in the same Taluk, must have been the principal place in the division Neṉmali-nāḍu in which Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam is said to have been situated.

TEXT.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||*] tiripuvaṉacakkaravarttikaḷ śrī k[o*]lottuṅkacoḻatevarkku yāṇṭu

⟨2⟩ irupatteṭṭāvatu irācentiracoḻavaḷanāṭṭu puṟaṅkarampaināṭṭu tirukkaḷaruṭai-

⟨3⟩ yamātevarkku amāv[ā*]ci aravāparaṇatevar tiruviḻā veḻuntaruḷukaikku aṟṟai nāḷā- ⟨Page 471⟩

⟨4⟩ l tevar perumtiruvamutu ceyvikkavum piḷḷaiyārkku tiruvamutu ceyvikkavum śrīmulat-

⟨5⟩ tānammuṭaiyār amutuceytaruḷavum aṟṟai nāḷāl tevaraṭiyārai amutu-

⟨6⟩ ceyvikkavum neṉmalināṭṭu taṇṇirkkunṟammuṭaiyān civan tillai nāyaka(n)nāna

⟨7⟩ ciṟuttoṇṭanampi ceyta upaiyamāvitu [|*] ikkoyil civappirāmaṇan kaucikan ve-

⟨8⟩ ṇkāṭaṉpaṭṭaṉum kāciyavan kāṟāyil muḷaiccāṉum kaucikaṉ 1 atittaṉ āṭavalāṉum uḷ-

⟨9⟩ ḷiṭṭa civappirāmaṇarom ivarpakkal ivvāṭṭai vaikāci mācattu nāṅkaḷ po-

⟨10⟩ liyuṭṭu 2 koṇṭa mutal nel[lu] aṟupatiṉ kalattukkum kalattukku mukkuṟuṇiyā-

⟨11⟩ ka palicai poliyum nellu pati(n)ṉaiñkalattu[k*]kum celavāka amāvācitoṟum kalane

⟨12⟩ mukkuṟu(ṇ)ṇiyāka 3cañtirātittavaṟ mu[n]niṉṟome ceyakkaṭavomākavum ivvur 4 aravāpa-

⟨13⟩ raṇan eṭuttapātamāna tirucciṟṟampalakkālā[ṉu*]m aravāparaṇaṉ iyapara[ta*]nātanam 5 āṭavalāṉ

⟨14⟩ āṉa puvacivanāṉa 6 patta[r*]ka(ḷ)ṇāyaka pi[c*]caṉum aravintan kunṟaṉāṉa nāṟpatte[ṇ*]ṇāyirapiccanum kūtta-

⟨15⟩ n kaṅkaikoṇṭāṉāna civacaraṇacekaramuventaveḷāṉum[*] ivaivo[m*] civan tillaināyakan pakkal

⟨16⟩ ṉāṅkaḷ upaiyam paṇṇi poliyūṭṭukkoṇṭa nellu nuṟṟu 7 irupatin kalattukkum kalanellukku

⟨17⟩ mukkuṟuṇiyāka orāṭṭaināḷaikku palicai nellu muppatin kalam[|*] amāvāci onṟukku nellu irukalane

⟨18⟩ 8 tuṇippata[k*]kāka tevaraṭiyār muppatu kalam amutu cevi[kkak*]kaṭavo[m*] eṅkaḷil puṇaiva[ca]m[|*]caṉtirātittavaṟ śrīmā-

⟨19⟩ yeśuva[ra*]rakṣ[ai] kaṇapeṟṟār māyecuvarak kāṇiyāniṟka [|*] ivai e[ṉ*] ne[ḻuttu] [||*]

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In the twenty-eighth year of (the reign of) the emperor of the three worlds, the glorious Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷadēva, Śivaṉ Tillaināyagaṉ alias Śiṟuttoṇḍanambi of Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam in Neṉmali-nāḍu made the following gift to (the temple of) Mahādēva of Tirukkaḷar in Puṟaṅgarambaināḍu (a subdivision) of Rājēndraśōḻa-vaḷānaḍu, for the purpose of conducting the festival of Aravābharaṇadēva on the day of the new-moon, the grand offerings to the god to be made on that day, offerings to Piḷḷaiyār (i.e., Gaṇapati), offerings to the god in the central shrine (Mūlasthāna) and for the feeding of the devotees (dēvaraḍiyār) (to be made) on the (same) day.

For the interest in paddy of fifteen kalam which accrues at the rate of three kuṟuṇi per kalam on the sixty kalam of paddy which, we the Śiva-Brāhmaṇas, (viz.,) Kauśikaṉ Veṇkāḍabhaṭṭaṉ, Kāśyapaṉ Kāṟāyil Muḷaichchaṉ, Kauśikaṉ Ādittaṉ Āḍavallāṉ and other Śiva-Brāhmaṇas of this temple had received as principal for (bearing) interest from this person (i.e., Śivaṉ Tillaināyakaṉ) in the month of Vaigāśi of this year, we the five viz., Aravābharaṇaṉ Eḍuttapādam alias Tiruchchiṟṟambalakkālāṉ, Aravābharaṇaṉ Iyabaradanādaṉ, ⟨Page 472⟩ Ādavallāṉ alias) Pūrvaśivaṉ (alias) Pattargaṇāyaka-Pichchaṉ, Aravindaṉ Kuran alias Nāṟpatteṇṇāyira-Pichchaṉ, Kūttaṉ Gaṅgaikoṇḍāṉ alias Śivaśaraṇaśēgara-Mūvēndavēḷāṉ of this village, who came forward (for this purpose) shall conduct the (specified) expenses on each new-moon day, at the rate of (one) kalam and three kuṟuṇi as long as the Moon and the Sun (endure).

For the (one) hundred and twenty kalam of paddy which we had received on interest by agreement from Śivaṉ Tillaināyagaṉ of this village, the interest in paddy for a period of one year calculated at the rate of three kuṟuṇi per kalam, is thirty kalam.

With these thirty kalam, through those who stand for us we shall feed the devotees at the rate of two kalam, (one) tūṇi and (one) padakku of paddy for one new-moon day.

As long as the sun and the moon (endure), the Srī-Māhēśvaras shall be surety (for this). Kaṇpeṟṟāṉ shall be in charge of the Māhēśvara-kāṇi. This is my writing.

⟨SIIv03p0i0210⟩ No. 210.—TIRUKKALAR PLATE OF TRIBHUVANACHAKRAVARTIN RAJARAJADEVA.

This is the fourth inscription in the Tirukkaḷar set. It is engraved on the second side of the third plate and belongs to the 18th year of the reign of Tribhuvanachakravartin Rājarājadēva. It records that some of the families of the donees, who received the gift made by Śivaṉ Tillaināyagaṉ of Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa; the abolisher of tolls, ceased to have male members and that in consequence a question arising as to how the feeding pertaining to these families should be conducted in future, the Māhēśvaras settled that the feeding stipulated in the grant to be done by the donees devolved on the female descendants as well and that arrangements were made in accordance with that order. The inscription may probably belong to the reign of Rājarāja II, though the distinguishing epithet of the king is missing and the characters appear to belong to a later period.

TEXT.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||*] tiripuva[ṉacakkaravatti]kaḷ śrīirājarājatevaṟ[ku] yāṇṭu patineṭṭāvatu nāḷ

⟨2⟩ nūṟṟeṇpatinā[l ir]ācēntiracoḻavaḷanāṭṭup puṟaṅkarampaināṭṭut tiru-

⟨3⟩ kkaḷar muḷaitta mātevaṟku amāvāci eḻuntaruḷi tevaraṭiyārai amutu ceyvi-

⟨4⟩ kkac cuṅkantavuttaruḷiṉa kolottuṅkacoḻatevaṟku irupatteṭṭā[va]-

⟨5⟩ tu taṇṇiṟkuṉṟamuṭaiyāṉ civantillaināyakan pakkal ittevar tirumaṭai-

⟨6⟩ [viḷ]ākattirukkum āṇṭārkaḷ upaiyamāka koṇṭa nellukku amutu cey[vi]-

⟨7⟩ kkumpaṭikku muṉpu veṭṭiṉa ceppeṭṭupaṭiyil upaiyaṅkoṇṭu amu-

⟨8⟩ tuceyvittuvarukiṟa āṇṭārkaḷil āṇvaḻi aṟṟup peṇvaḻiyā-

⟨9⟩ ṉa kottukku amutu ceyvikkumpaṭi kaṉakarāyarum śrīmākecuvara-

⟨10⟩ rum aṟuti paṇṇukiṟa iṭattup poliūṭṭup peṇvaḻiyum varume-

⟨11⟩ ṉṟu śrīmāgecuvarar niccayittamaiyil ippaṭi cammatittup peṇvaḻiyi-

⟨12⟩ lār iṭṭa tiṭṭuppaṭi āṭavalāṉ pūrvacivaṉāna pattakanāyakap piccan maka-

⟨13⟩ ḷaik koṇṭa kaṇpeṟṟāṉ manṟu niṟaintānāṉa aṉpaṟkaṭi-

⟨14⟩ yān amutu ceyvikkum per munṟu ivaṉ koḻunti makan tevaṉ

⟨15⟩ [tivākara?]ṉ uḷḷiṭṭār amutu ceyvikkum per munṟum āṇvaḻi tirucciṟ-

⟨16⟩ ṟampalakkālāṉ amutu ceyvikkum aiñcu kūṟiṭ ṭiraṇṭu kūṟṟāl per pa-

⟨17⟩ ṉniraṇṭum amutu ceyvik[ka*] [||*]

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In the eighteenth year and one hundred and eightieth day of (the reign of) the emperor of the three worlds the glorious Rājarājadēva, when male descendants ceased to exist in some of the families of the āṇḍār who had been living in the tirumaḍaivilāgam of the god and who had obtained a paddy-gift for conducting the feeding specified ⟨Page 473⟩ in a copper-plate grant engraved formerly (i.e.), in the twenty-eighth year of (the reign of) Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷadēva, the abolisher of tolls, from Śivaṉ Tillaiṅāyagaṉ of Taṇṇīrkuṉṟam, who made provision for the new-moon festival and for feeding the devotees (dēvaraḍiyār) of the god Mahādēva who had sprung at Tirukkaḷar in Puṟaṅgarambai-nāḍu, (a sub-division) of Rājēndraśōḻa-vaḷanāḍu and who (i.e., the āṇḍār) had been conducting the feeding with the gifts and when Kanakarāyar and the Māhēśvaras wished to decide how the feeding pertaining to the families having only female descendants should be conducted, the Māhēśvaras came to the settlement that the feeding from the interest (of a gift) devolved also on the female descendants. It was so agreed and that in accordance with the agreement made by the female descendants, (it was decided that) three persons had to be fed by Kaṇpeṟṟāṉ Maṉṟuniṟaindāṉ alias Aṉbaṟkaḍiyāṉ who had taken (to wife) the daughter of Āḍavallāṉ Pūrvaśivaṉ alias Pattargaṇāyaga-Pichchaṉ, that three persons had to be fed by Dēvaṉ Divākaraṉ, the son of her koḻundi (husband's younger sister) and others and that twelve persons pertaining to two shares out of the (whole) five,—which (number) was fed by Tiruchchiṟṟambalakkālāṉ,—shall now be fed by the male descendants (of his).

⟨SIIv03p0i0211⟩ No. 211.—TIRUKKALAR PLATE OF KULOTTUNGA-CHOLA III.

This is the fifth inscription in the Tirukkaḷar set. It is engraved on both sides of the fourth plate and the inner side of the fifth. It is dated in the 29th year of the reign of Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷadēva (i.e., Kulōttuṅga III) who took Madura, Ceylon, Karuvūr and the crowned head of the Pāṇḍya king and furnishes a list of gold and silver ornaments belonging to the temple at Tirukkaḷar with their weights as measured by the standard weight called the kuḍiñai-kal and the fineness in each case.

First Side.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||*] tiripuvaṉaccakkaravattikaḷ maturaiyum īḻamuṅ karuvūrum pāṇṭiyaṉ muṭittalaiyuṅ koṇṭaruḷi-

⟨2⟩ ya śrīkulottuṅka coḻatevaṟku yāṇṭu 26- vatu tirukkaḷar muḷaitta nāyaṉār ko-

⟨3⟩ yil tiruvāparaṇattukku mutal kuṭiṉaikkalliṭai tirukkoḷkai 1- m itaṉ

⟨4⟩ mel paṟamamum uṭpaṭa 8 māṟipoṉ nūṟṟoru kaḻañcarai itaṉ viḷimpi-

⟨5⟩ ṟ tiraitta veḷḷi patiṉāṟkaḻañce mukkāl ||—tiruvotā 1ramālai poṟpū pa-

⟨6⟩ tiṉāṟināl 8 māṟi poṉ paṉṉiru kaḻañcu ||—tiruvuttariyam 1- ṉāl 8i māṟi

⟨7⟩ poṉ irukaḻañce nālu mañcāṭiyum āṟu mā ||—tiruppiṟai 1- ṉāl 8 mu-

⟨8⟩ kkāl māṟi poṉ mukkāl ||— kaṉṉapuṣpa[m*] 3- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ irukaḻañ-

⟨9⟩ ce kāl ||—tiruppaṭṭikaippalakai 1- ṉāl 8va māṟi poṉ aṟupattu

⟨10⟩ nāṟkaḻañcarai itaṉ viḷimpittiraitta veḷḷi pattoṉpatiṉ kaḻañcaraiy-

⟨11⟩ e nālu mañcāṭiyum āṟumā itaṉuḷ palaviṭattun taitta ceppāṇi iṭai

⟨12⟩ āṟarai palam ||—aṉṉiyuṭaiyā riṭṭa poṟpū 1- ṉāl poṉ kaḻañcu itu kotta

⟨13⟩ veḷḷikkāṟai 1- ṉāl veḷḷi araik kaḻañcu ||— 20- vatu māḷikai mulapaṇṭāra-

⟨14⟩ ttiniṉṟum vanta tiruppaṭṭam 1- ṉāl poṉ eḻukaḻañce kāl ||—

Second Side.

⟨15⟩ tiruppaḷḷiyaṟai nācciyār[k*]kuc cāttukiṟa ciṟutāli 1- m maṇi 1- ṉālum poṉ ira-

⟨16⟩ ṇṭu mañcāṭiyu 2 nālumā itu māṟṟu 8i itu kotta kāṟai 1- ṉāl veḷḷi kāl

⟨17⟩ tirumaṅkalanāṇ 1- m tāli 1- m kokkuvāy paṭukaṇ uṭpaṭa 9 māṟi poṉ irukaḻa- ⟨Page 474⟩

⟨18⟩ ñcu ||—aravāparaṇatevaṟkuccāttiyaruḷa 23- vatu potimaṅkalamuṭaiyāṉ

⟨19⟩ irācāṇṭāṉāna coḻaviccātarappallavaraiyar ceyvitta tiruvācikai 1- ṉā-

⟨20⟩ l 8vapa māṟi poṉ irunūṟṟaimpattu aiṅkaḻañce kāle muṉṟu

⟨21⟩ mañcāṭiyu mañcumā ||—apiṣekam 1- ṉāl 9i māṟi poṉ patiṉāṟu ka-

⟨22⟩ ḻañcarai ||—ittevar tiruvāram 1- ṉāl 9kha māṟi poṉ nāṟkaḻañce mukkā-

⟨23⟩ le iraṇṭu mañcāṭiyum eḻumā ||—ivar tiruttoṭu 2- ṉāl 8va māṟi poṉ

⟨24⟩ mukkaḻañcu ||—ivar nācciyār apiṣekam 1- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ patiṉ kaḻañ-

⟨25⟩ cu ||—ivar tiruvāram 1- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ irukaḻañce kāl || ivar(t)toṭu

⟨0⟩ 2- ṉā-

⟨26⟩ l 8i māṟi poṉ irukaḻañcu ||—tiruvaṭṭamaṇi 24- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ kaḻañcarai

⟨27⟩ tiruvaṭṭamaṇivaṭam 1- ṉāl maṇi 30- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ kaḻañce iraṇṭu mañcāṭi-

⟨28⟩ yu nā[lu] mā ||—tiruvaṭṭamaṇivaṭam 1- ṉāl maṇi 40- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ • • • • 1 mā ||-

First Side.

⟨29⟩ tiruvaṭṭamaṇivaṭam 1- ṉāl maṇi 40- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ irukaḻañcu ||—tirucci-

⟨30⟩ lampu oraṇaiyiṉāl 8nta māṟi poṉ nāṟkaḻañcu ||—niṟaitavañceyta nācciyā-

⟨31⟩ ṟkuc cāttiyaruḷa tiruvaiyāṟuṭaiyā riṭṭa tiruvapiṣekam 1- ṉāl 9 māṟi poṉ

⟨32⟩ patiṉaiṅkaḻañcarai ||—tiruneṟṟittiṟaṉai 1- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ aiṅkaḻañce

⟨33⟩ kāl ||—tirumaṅkalanāṇ 1 tāli kaṭaittoḻiluṭpaṭa 8i māṟi poṉ kaḻañcu ||—

⟨34⟩ tiruttāvaṭam 1- ṉāl maṇi 41- ṉāl 9 māṟi poṉ kaḻañcu ||—tirukkaiccari 4- ṉāl

⟨0⟩ 9 mā-

⟨35⟩ ṟi poṉ irukaḻañce mukkāle mañcāṭi ||—veḷḷimaṇi 35- ṉāl veḷḷi

⟨36⟩ mukkāle iraṇṭu mañcāṭiyu muṉṟu mā ||—veḷḷikkāṟai 1- ṉāl veḷḷi

⟨37⟩ mukkāle iraṇṭu 2 mañcāṭi itil kotta tāli 1- ṉāl 8i māṟi poṉ araik kaḻañcu ||—

⟨38⟩ tiruttoṭu 2- ṉāl 8nta māṟi poṉ kaḻañcarai || tiruvāram 1- ṉāl poṉ

⟨39⟩ 3 || ciraccakkaram 1- ṉāl 9 māṟi poṉ irukaḻañcu || tirukkaṇṭavāḷi 2- ṉāl 9 mā-

⟨40⟩ ṟi poṉ mukkāl || uṭaiyāṟku tirumañcaṉattu 4kkuc cāttiyaruḷa uṭaiyār coḻaviccā-

⟨41⟩ tirappallavaraiyar iṭṭa tiruvuttariyam 1- ṉāl poṉ mukkāle nālu mañcāṭiyu-

⟨42⟩ m āṟumā || māṟṟu kācumi || tiruvācikaippurimattil 5pāmpu 1- ṉāl poṉ kaḻañ-

⟨43⟩ ce mukkāle iraṇṭu mā ||—

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In the 26th year of (the reign of) the emperor of the three worlds, the glorious Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷadēva who had been pleased to take Madura, Īḻam (i.e., Ceylon) Karuvūr and the crowned head of the Pāṇḍya (king), the following list of sacred ornaments in the temple of the Nāyaṉār who had sprung at Tirukkaḷar, was made weighed with the kuḍiñai-kal:—

1 tirukkoḷgai; inclusive of the paṟama over this, one hundred and one kaḻañju and a half of gold of 8(5/8) fineness; silver fastened to the edges weigh fourteen kaḻañju and three-fourths.

By sixteen gold flowers in the tiruvodaramālai, twelve kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred upper-cloth (tiruvuttarīyam), two kaḻañju, four mañjāḍi and six mā of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred crescent (tiruppiṟai), three-fourth (kaḻañju) of gold of 8 and three-fourths fineness. ⟨Page 475⟩

By 3 ear-flowers (kannapushpam), two kaḻañju and a quarter of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred girdle-plate (tiruppaṭṭigai-palagai), sixty-four kaḻañju and a half of gold of 8(1/4) fineness. Silver, covering the edges of this, nineteen kaḻañju and a half, four mañjāḍi and six mā. The weight of copper nails fixed in the several parts of this (ornament) is six and half palam.

By 1 gold flower given by Anniyuḍaiyār, one kaḻañju of gold. By one silver necklace in which this was strung, half a kaḻañju of silver.

By 1 sacred diadem (tiruppaṭṭam) received in the 20th (year) from the central treasury of the palace (māḷigai), seven kaḻañju and a quarter of gold.

By 1 small marriage-badge (tāli) to be worn by the goddess of the bed-chamber and one maṇi (gem), two mañjāḍi and four mā of gold. This is of 8(1/2) fineness. By 1 necklace on which this was strung, quarter (kaḻañju) of silver. Inclusive of 1 string of the marriage-badge,

1 marriage-badge, together with the kokkuvāy and paḍugaṇ, two kaḻañju of gold of 9 fineness.

By 1 garland (tiruvāśigai) made by Irāśāṇḍāṉ alias Śōḻavichchādira Pallavaraiyar of Pōdimaṅgalam in the 23rd (year of reign), for being put on (the image of) Aravābharaṇadēva, two hundred and fifty-five kaḻañju and a quarter, three mañjāḍi and five mā of gold of 8(5/16) fineness.

By 1 abhishēka, sixteen kaḻañju and a half of gold of 9(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred garland (tiruvāram) of this god, four kaḻanju and three-fourths, two mañjāḍi and seven mā of gold of 9(1/4) fineness.

By 2 sacred ear-rings (tirutōḍu) of this (god), three kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/4) fineness.

By 1 abhishēka of the consort of this (god), ten kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred garland (tiruvāram) of this (god) two kaḻañju and a quarter of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 2 ear-rings (tōḍu) of this (god), two kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 24 sacred round beads (tiruvaṭṭamaṇi), (one) haḻañju and a half of gold of 8(1/2) fineness. By 1 string of sacred round beads (tiruvaṭṭamaṇi) and 30 beads, (one) kaḻañju, two mañjāḍi and four mā of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 string of sacred round beads and 40 beads, [1 kaḻañju, 8 mañjāḍi and 2 mā] 1 of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 string of sacred round beads and 40 beads, two kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 pair of sacred anklet (tiruchchilambu), four kaḻañju of gold of 8(3/4) fineness.

By 1 tiru-abhishēkam presented by Tiruvaiyāṟuḍaiyāṉ for being worn by the Nāchchiyār (i.e., the goddess Pārvatī) who performed full penance, fifteen kaḻañju and a half of gold of 9 fineness.

By 1 tiraṉai for the forehead, five kaḻañju and quarter of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 string of marriage-badge inclusive of the end-workings of the marriage-badge, (one) kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 1 sacred foot-string (tiruttāvaḍam), and 41 beads, (one) kaḻañju of gold of

9 fineness.

By 4 sacred wristlets, two kaḻañju and three fourths and (one) mañjāḍi of gold of 9 fineness. ⟨Page 476⟩

By 35 silver beads, three-fourths of a (kaḻañju), two mañjāḍi and three mā of silver.

By 1 silver bracelet (kāṟai), three fourths (kaḻañju) and two (mañjāḍi) of silver.

By 1 marriage-badge strung on this, half a kaḻañju of gold of 8(1/2) fineness.

By 2 sacred ear-rings (tiruttōḍu), (one) kaḻañju and a half of gold of 8(3/4) fineness.

By 1 sacred garland • • • gold. 1

By 1 head circlet (śirachakram), two kaḻañju of gold of 9 fineness.

By 2 sacred necklaces (tirukkaṇḍa-vāḷi), three-fourths (of a kaḻañju) of gold of 9 fineness.

By 1 sacred upper cloth presented by Uḍaiyār Śōḻavichchādira-Pallavaraiyar to be worn by the god during the sacred bath, three-fourths (of a kaḻañju), four (mañjāḍi) and six mā of gold. 2

By 1 snake in the tiruvāśigaippurimam, (one) kaḻañju and three-fourths and two mā of gold.

⟨SIIv03p0i0212⟩ No. 212.—TIRUCHCHENGODU PLATE OF RAJAKESARIVARMAN. 3

This short inscription in seven lines is engraved on the first side of the first plate of the set of copper-plates obtained from M.R.Ry. Muthuswamy Konar of Tiruchcheṅgōḍu. It is dated in the 10th year of the reign of king Rājakēsarivarman and registers evidently an order of one of the feudatory chiefs of the sovereign named Maḻavaraiyaṉ Sundaraśōḻaṉ, stating that the taxes on full house-sites and half house-sites shall be recovered at (1/4)th and (1/8)th (kāśu ?) respectively from the citizens of Tūśiyūr and that fines and faults, if any, shall be realised at the rate prevailing in Nandipuram. The chief Maḻavaraiyaṉ Sundaraśōḻaṉ gets the surnames Piradigaṇḍaṉ and Kolli-Maḻavaṉ in B and Oṟṟiyūraṉ Piradigaṇḍavarman in No. 213. Rao Bahadur H. Krishna Sastri has identified the king Rājakēsarivarman of this and the following record with Rājarāja I and notes as follows regarding the donor's father who, in B is stated to have died at Īḻam (i.e., Ceylon) 4:—“He was evidently a military officer of Rājarāja I or of one of his predecessors. An inscription from Tiruveṇkāḍu of the time of Rājarāja I refers to the general Śiṟiyavēḷāṉ of Koḍumbāḷūr who fell in a battle-field in Īḻam in the ninth year of Poṉmāḷigai-tuñjiṉa-dēva (i.e., Sundara-Chōḷa Parāntaka II). It is not impossible that the father of Maḻavaraiyaṉ was also connected with the battle in which Śiṟiyavēḷār fell”.

It is not possible to identify Tūśiyūr mentioned in this inscription.

TEXT. 5

A.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||*] kovirājakecaripaṉmaṟkku 6 yā-

⟨2⟩ ṇṭu 10 āvatu maḻavaraiyaṉ cuntaracoḻaṉe-

⟨3⟩ ṉ 7 tūciyūr nakarattārai nāṅ koḷḷum miṟai muḻuma-

⟨4⟩ ṉai kālum araimaṉai araikkālum niṉṟa iṟaiā- ⟨Page 477⟩

⟨5⟩ kak koḷvatākavum taṇṭaṅkuṟṟa muḷḷatu nantipura ma-

⟨6⟩ ṟcāti 1 koḷavatākavum itaṉ ṟeṉṟāṉ sukitacantāṉa-

⟨7⟩ m tuppaṉa vaṟuvāṉ itu ira[kṣi]ttāṉaṭi eṉ talai melatu.

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In the 10th year of (the reign of) king Rājakēsarivarman, I, Maḻavaraiyaṉ Sundaraśōḻaṉ (ordered as follows):—

The tax which we used to receive from the citizens of Tūśiyūr (viz.) one-fourth (kāśu) on (each) full house-site, and one-eighth on (each) half house-site shall be realised as permanent tax; any fine or fault shall be realised according to (the rate prevalent at) Nandipuram. The merit and progeny of him who contradicts this shall be entirely 2 cut off. The feet of him who protects this shall (rest) on my head.

TEXT.

B 3.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||*] kollimaḻavaṉ piratikaṇṭaṉ cuntaracoḻaṉeṉ

⟨2⟩ eṅkaḷācca riḻattup paṭa avar śrīmadāhattukkuc ciṟu-

⟨3⟩ pāṭu kalloṭu kuḻikkut teṉme[ṟ*]kku tūciyur 4 ti-

Second Side.

⟨4⟩ rukkaṟṟaḷi parameśvararkku cetukuṭutteṉ piratikaṇ-

⟨5⟩ ṭaṉ cuntaracoḻaṉeṉ ||—

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! My father having been killed in Īḻam (Ceylon), I, Kollimaḻavaṉ Piradigaṇḍaṉ Sundaraśōḻaṉ, 5 made a śiṟupāḍu 6 to the south-west of the boulder with a hole and gave it to the lord of the sacred stone temple at Tūśiyūr for (appeasing) his thirst.

⟨SIIv03p0i0213⟩ No. 213.—TIRUCHCHENGODU PLATE OF RAJAKESARIVARMAN. 7

This inscription, engraved on three plates—the last bearing writing only on the inner side—is dated in the 5th year of the reign of the Chōḷa king Rājakēsarivarman (identified with Rājarāja I) and registers gifts of lands made by the chief Kollimaḻavaṉ Oṟṟiyūraṉ Piradigaṇḍavarman, to the temple of Paramēśvara of the sacred Mūlasthāna at Tūśiyūr. Boundaries of the lands granted are furnished in detail and therein figure Kaṉṉāḍu, the dams called Pūnāṟṟu-aṇai and Kallōḍuaṇai, the tanks Śūḷai-kuḷam also known as Kāndaḷēri, Tāmaraikkuḷam and Kaṟṟaḷi-ēri also named Pudukkuḷam, the temple of Tāṉtōṉṟipirāṉ, Mūkkuṟukkā, Kaṭṭināgaṉkūval-iṭṭēr and Kaṇavadinallūr, otherwise called Amaṇkuḍi. ⟨Page 478⟩

Kaṉṉāḍu (kal-nāḍu) which occurs more than once in this inscription refers evidently to hero-stones which are stated in ancient Tamiḻ literature, as having been put up with great ceremony in honour of persons who had done valorous deeds in guarding their country and given up their lives in that cause. Being associated with the word peruvarampu it may even be an engraver's mistake for kaṇṇāṟṟu.

Traces of writing found in lines 13, 28, 29, 30 and 33 indicate that the present inscription is a palimpsest.

It is not possible to identify the places mentioned in this inscription.

TEXT. 1

First Plate: First Side.

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī2 [||*]

⟨2⟩ kovirājakesaripanma[rk*]kut tiruveḻutti-

⟨3⟩ (ruveḻutti)ṭṭuc cellāniṉṟa yāṇṭu añcāvatu ivv[ā*]ṇṭu kol-

⟨4⟩ limaḻavaṉ oṟṟiyūraṉ piratikaṇṭa[va]rmmaṉeṉ eṉṉāṭṭut tūciyūr-

⟨5⟩ t teṉpulat tūnilam kiḻakkellai piṭāriyā[r*] nilattukkum

⟨6⟩ amaiccikkum pūnāṟṟiaṇaikku[m*] mekkum teṟkkellai tiruppā-

⟨7⟩ ṟaikkuk kiḻakkuk kaṉṉāṭṭukkum peruvarampukkum vaṭakkum tiru-

⟨8⟩ pp[ā*]ṟaikku mekku kaṉṉāṭṭukkum peruvarampukkum vaṭakkum me-

⟨9⟩ kkellai cūḷaikuḷamāṉa kāntaḷerikkun tāṉṟoṉṟippirāṉ ko-

First Plate: Second Side.

⟨10⟩ yilun tūciyūrt teṉvāy vāyiliṉiṉṟu teṟkku nokkip

⟨11⟩ (p) poṉa peruvaḻikkum kiḻakkum vaṭakkellai tūciyūrup 3 paḻavūr-

⟨12⟩ kkut teṟkkum tāmaraikkuḷamum ikkuḷattāl nirkovai

⟨13⟩ yum itaṭupiviraṉ 4 bhūmiyum kaṟṟaḷiyeriyāṉa putukkuḷa-

⟨14⟩ mum ikkuḷattu nirkovaiyum ikkuḷakkiḻe-

⟨15⟩ llaiyāvatu kiḻakkellai kaṉṉāṭṭukku mekkun

⟨16⟩ teṟkkellai kaṭṭinākaṉkūva liṭṭerkku 5 vaṭakku mek[ke*]-

⟨17⟩ llai mūkkuṟukāviṟkku kiḻakkum vaṭakkellai erikku-

⟨18⟩ n teṟkkum kaṇavatinallūrāṉa amaṇkuṭiyum avvū-

⟨19⟩ r naṉpulamum ceppulamum ivvicaitta perunāṉ-

Second Plate: First Side.

⟨20⟩ ()kellaiyi ṉilam meṉokkiṉa maramum kiḻ-

⟨21⟩ nokkiṉa kiṇaṟum puṟṟu muṭakkuṟaiyum uṭumpoṭi yā-

⟨22⟩ mai tavaḻntatu epperppaṭṭa nilamum tūciyūr-

⟨23⟩ t tirukkaṟṟaḷi tirumulasthāṉamuṭaiya parameśvarark-

⟨24⟩ ku udagapūrvvañ ceytu ellaiyuṅ kal-

⟨25⟩ lun terittuk kuṭutteṉ kollimaḻava-

⟨26⟩ ṉ oṟṟiyūraṉ piratikaṇṭavarmmaṉeṉ [|*] kaṇava-

⟨27⟩ tinallū(r)rāṉ amaṇkuṭi tūciyūr tirumūlaṭṭāṉama-

⟨28⟩ uṭaiya parameśvararkku udakapūrvvakam 6caiytuku-

Second Plate: Second Side.

⟨29⟩ ṭutteṉ oṟṟiyūraṉ piratikaṇṭapaṉ-

⟨30⟩ maṉeṉ tūciyūr tirumūlaṭṭāṉ(ā)muṭaiya pa-

⟨31⟩ rameśvararun tamakku pañcamāśabdam koṭ- ⟨Page 479⟩

⟨32⟩ ṭukiṉṟa uvaccakaḷukku kaṇavatinallū(r)rāṉa

⟨33⟩ amaṇkuṭi udakapūrvvañ ceytukuṭutte-

⟨34⟩ ṉ tiru[k*]kaṟṟaḷiuṭaiya parameśvarar[kku*] [|*] itaṉai i-

⟨35⟩ rakṣippāṉ śrīpāda meṉ talaimelaṉa [|*] itiṟa-

⟨36⟩ kkiṉāṉ vaḻi yeḻecca moḻiyāma laṟuvāṉ [|*]

Third Plate: First Side.

⟨37⟩ kollimaḻavaṉ oṟṟiyūraṉ piratikaṇṭavaṉmaṉeṉ tūci-

⟨38⟩ yūr tevanilam paḻantevatāṉam [cū]ḷaikuḷa(m)m[ā*]ṉa kāntaḷe-

⟨39⟩ rik kuḷattiṉkiḻ tiruppāṟaikku teṟkku piramateya[m*] [c]eytamai-

⟨40⟩ yil annilattukku nilam kaḻāṟu [|*] itukku ellai ciṟukaraikku

⟨41⟩ mekku paḷḷiccanta[t*]tukku vaṭakkum amaccikku kiḻa-

⟨42⟩ kkum kalloṭaṇaikku[m*] kucavaṉkaḻaṉikku[m*] teṟkku-

⟨43⟩ [m] [|*] inn[ā]ṉku ellai nilam nilattukku nilam kuṭut-

⟨44⟩ (t)teṉ [||*]

TRANSLATION.

Hail! Prosperity! In this year, (viz.), the fifth year, current by the king's order, of (the reign of) king Rājakēsarivarman, I, Kollimaḻavaṉ Oṟṟiyūraṉ Piradigaṇḍavarman 1 gave with libation of water, the following lands situated within the four great boundaries described, inclusive of the trees growing thereon, the wells sunk therein, the ant-hills, the muḍakkuṟai, and containing all kinds of soil where inguanas run and the tortoises crawl,—after defining the boundaries and (boundary) stones, to the god (Paramēśvara) in the sacred Mūlasthāna of the sacred stone temple at Tūśiyūr:—

The fine land in the field to the south of Tūśiyūr in my division,—the eastern boundary of which is to the west of the land belonging to Piḍāriyār, of Amaichchi and of the dam called Pūnāṟṟu-aṇai; the southern boundary is to the north of the big ridge and the hero-stone (kaṉṉāḍu) on the eastern side of the sacred boulder, and to the north of the hero-stone and big ridge on the western side of the (same) sacred boulder; the western boundary is to the east of the high road passing southwards from the southern entrance of Tūśiyūr and the tank called Śūḷai-kuḷam alias Kāndaḷēri as well as the temple of Tāṉtōṉṟipirāṉ; the northern boundary is to the south of the old village of Tūśiyūr,—together with the lotus tank (Tāmarai-kuḷam), the nīrkōvai (i.e., land covered with water) of this tank, the land of [Itadupivīraṉ], 2 and the tank known as Kaṟṟaḷi-ēri alias Pudukkuḷam, together with the nīrkōvai of this tank.

The boundaries of the lands under this tank are as follow:—The eastern boundary is to the west of the hero-stone; the southern boundary is to the north of the by-path called Kaṭṭināgaṉkūvaliṭṭēr; the western boundary is to the east of Mūkkuṟugā; the northern boundary is to the south of the tank; they include Kaṇavadinallūr alias Amaṇkuḍi together with the lands and the dry lands belonging to that village.

I, Oṟṟiyūraṉ Piradigaṇḍavarman, gave with libation of water, Kaṇavadinallūr alias Amaṇkuḍi to the god Paramēśvara of the sacred Mūlasthāna in Tūśiyūr. I gave with libation of water, Kaṇavadinallūr alias Amaṇkuḍi, to the god Paramēśvara of the sacred Mūlasthāna of the stone temple 3 at Tūśiyūr and to the drummers who sound the five great sounds to him. The feet of him who protects this charity shall be on my head. He who acts against it, shall without fail lose progeny in seven births. ⟨Page 480⟩

As the lands situated to the south of the sacred boulder lying under the tank known as Śūḷai-kuḷam also called Kāndaḷēri, an old dēvadāna land in Tūśiyūr, had been constituted as a brahmadēya and given away, I, Kollimaḻavaṉ Oṟṟiyūraṉ Piradigaṇḍavarman made Kaḻāru as a substitute for that land. The boundaries of this land are:—

To the west of Siṟukarai; to the north of the Paḷḷichchandam; to the east of Amaichchi and to the south of the dam called Kallōḍaṇai and Kuśavaṉkaḻaṉi. As an exchange of land, I gave the land lying within these four boundaries.