SII 2.23: original edition by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch

Alternative title: “No. 23. ON THE SOUTH WALL, FIRST TIER.”

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

Summary: This inscription contains an order of king Tirumalaidēva, by which a number of villages were exempted from taxes. This was probably done, because they had been granted to the Tañjāvūr temple. The date of the inscription is Śaka 1377 (expired), the cyclic year Yuvan, i.e., A.D. 1455. Consequently, the king to whose reign it belongs, must be distinct from the Karṇāṭa king Tirumalaidēva, whose four inscriptions near Vēlūr are dated in Śaka 1488 (expired).¹ It is not impossible that Tirumalaidēva is identical with Timma, the founder of the second dynasty of Vijayanagara, for whose grandson Narasa, Nṛisiṁha or Narasiṁha we have the dates Śaka 1404 and 1418.² In favour of this identification it can be adduced, that in the subjoined inscription, Tirumalaidēva receives the same birudas which were borne by Narasiṁhadēva according to an inscription at Viriñchipuram,³ and that some of the fiscal terms, which occur in the text of the royal order, are of Kanarese extraction.

Both the spelling and the execution of this inscription are not very careful.⁴ Lines 2 to 6 are damaged by a crack, which has caused the loss of a few letters. The language is Tamil, with the exception of line 1, which consists of a Sanskrit ślōka.

Languages: Sanskrit (san) [Grantha (grantha)], Tamil (tam) [Grantha (grantha), Tamil (tamil)].

Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv02p0i0023.

File path: SII_B_clean/SII02/DHARMA_INSSIIv02p0i0023.xml.

Version: 2026-06-02 17:59 (9775a99), last modified 2026-06-02 17:59 (9775a99).

Edition

⟨1⟩ dānapālanayormmaddhye dānā¿ś?chreyonupālanaM [|] dā¿r?āT svargamavāpnot¿a? pālanādacyutaM padaM [∥ 1]
⟨2⟩ (௳) śubhamastu śrī [∥] śakābdaM Ā(yirattu) muṉṉūṟṟu Eḻupattu Eḻiṉ meṟcellāniṉṟa bhāvavaruṣattukkuccellum
⟨3⟩ yuvavaruṣam cittirai ௴ (10 7) [**] śrīmaNmahāmaṇḍaleśvaraN ¿meti?¿ṉi?¿misara? kaṇṭa kaṭṭāri cāḷuvacāḷuva {ti}tirumalaiteva-
⟨4⟩ mahārācar tañcāvūr va [***] ṇṭayam ta(ñ)camāmaṇikaṇṭaṅkuṟai nākaḷāpuram paḻamāṟaṉEri ¿Aṉ?pati¿N? melAkaram
⟨5⟩ velaṅkuṭi AmmaiA[ppapu?]ram teṉAḷūr karu¿y?ūr maruvūr Irāce{nti}ndracoḻanallūr cuṅkantavi⟨r⟩ttacoḻanallūrāṉa
⟨6⟩ tirumalaiIrācapuram camuttiṟa [***] puram Āka Inta Akaraṅkaḷil vāriyaN kāraṇattāṉukku n¿ī?rupam ⟨§2⟩ taṅkaḷ Akaraṅkaḷukku Avatāvaga-
⟨7⟩ kkaṉai rājasapakkaṉai (pra)dhānijoṭi karaṇikkacoṭi talaiyā(ri)kkam māvaṭai maravaṭai kuḷavaṭai maṟṟu-
⟨8⟩ m E¿pepa?rpaṭ=ṭa pala Upādhikaḷu(mi)ḻittu viṭ=ṭa Aḷavukku candrādityavaraiyum sarvvamānnyamāka sukhame Irukkavum ௳ ⟨§3⟩
⟨9⟩ rājāviṉ Aruḷi ceyalpaṭikku mantramūrtti veṭṭuvitta(tu) ⟨§4⟩

Apparatus

⟨3⟩ metiṉimisara • Read medinīśvara.

⟨5⟩ AmmaiA [3+] ram • Read AmmaiAppapuram (?).

Translation by Hultzsch 1891

1. “Of a gift and protection, protection is more meritorious than a gift; by a gift (one) obtains (only) heaven, by protection the eternal abode.”

2. Let there be prosperity ! Fortune ! [On the 17th day] of the month of Śittirai in the Yuvan year, which was current after the Bhāva year (and) after the Śaka year one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven, the illustrious Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Mēdinīśvara Gaṇḍa Kaṭṭāri Sāḷuva-sāḷuva Tirumalaidēva-mahārāja (addressed the following) order (nirubam) to Vāriyaṉ, the Kāraṇattāṉ⁵ in the village (agaram) of Tañjāvūr, . . . . . . . . . . , Ta[ñ]jamāmaṇigaṇḍaṅguṟai, Nāgaḷāpuram, Paramāṟaṉēri, Vēlaṅguḍi, (which was) the chief village (of a division) of fifty (villages),⁶ Ammaia[ppapu]ram, Teṉaḷūr, Karuppūr, Maruvūr,⁷ Rājēndra-Śōṛa-nallūr, Śuṅgandavi[r]tta-Śōṛa-nallūr,⁸ alias Tirumalairājapuram, and Samudra . . . . . puram:—

3. “Having remitted to your villages . . . . . . . . . . the prime minister’s quit-rent (pradhāni-jōḍi),⁹ the Karaṇam’s quit-rent (karaṇikka-jōḍi), the village-watchman’s quitrent,¹⁰ (the dues on) animals, trees and tanks,¹¹ and all other dues (? upādhi) of whatever kind, (we order that these villages) to the extent up to which they were granted, shall remain taxfree (sarvamānya) and undisturbed, as long as the moon and the sun endure.”

4. Mantramūrti caused (the above) to be engraved, as ordered by the king.

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 2.23 by Hultzsch 1891 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

See revised edition by Emmanuel Francis (INStfaSIIv02p0i0023).

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1891. South-Indian inscriptions: Tamil inscriptions of Rajaraja, Rajendra-chola, and others in the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjavur. Volume II, Part I: Inscriptions on the walls of the central shrine. South Indian Inscriptions 2.1. Madras: Government Press. Pages 117–119, item 23, plate V.

Notes

1. Vol. I, page 69 f. Read there Tirumalaidēva for Tirumalaiyadēva, and in the transcripts of Nos. 13 to 16 tirumalaiydeva for tirumalaiyadeva.
2. Vol. I, p. 132, No. 119, and p. 131, No. 115; Epigraphia Indica, p. 362.
3. Vol. I, p. 132, No. 119.
4. Plate xix in Dr. Burnell’s South-Indian Palaeography, second edition, is based on this inscription. The table contains three mistakes:—The sign entered as â is not ā, but a vicarious form of a; the sign entered as kû is not kū, but ku; and the sign entered as ḷu is not ḷu, but nnya (Grantha nnya).
5. kāraṇattāṉ is another form of, or a mistake for, karaṇattāṉ, which is used instead of karaṇam, ‘a village-accountant,’ in a Māmallapuram inscription, Vol. I, No. 40, text line 60.
6. Another division of fifty villages is mentioned in two Māmallapuram inscriptions, Vol. I, No. 40, text line 16, and No. 41, text line 33.
7. According to Mr. Sewell’s Lists (Vol. I, p. 276), Karuppūr and Maruvūr are the names of two villages in the Tañjāvūr tālluqa.
8. This village is the object of the grant recorded in No. 22.
9. See Sanderson’s Canarese Dictionary, s.v. jōḍi.
10. talaiyārikkam seems to be the Tamil equivalent of the Kanarese term taḷavāṟike, which occurs in a Vijayanagara inscription of Kṛishṇarāya; Epigraphia Indica, p. 402, note 40.
11. On māvaṭai maravaṭai kuḷavaṭai see p. 117, note 6.

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<title>SII 2.23: original edition by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch</title>

<title type="alt">No. 23. ON THE SOUTH WALL, FIRST TIER.</title>

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<p>This inscription contains an order of king <hi rend="bold">Tirumalaidēva</hi>, by which a number of villages were exempted from taxes. This was probably done, because they had been granted to the <hi rend="bold">Tañjāvūr</hi> temple. The date of the inscription is Śaka 1377 (expired), the cyclic year <hi rend="italic">Yuvan, i.e.</hi>, A.D. 1455. Consequently, the king to whose reign it belongs, must be distinct from the <hi rend="bold">Karṇāṭa</hi> king <hi rend="bold">Tirumalaidēva</hi>, whose four inscriptions near <hi rend="bold">Vēlūr</hi> are dated in Śaka 1488 (expired).<note>Vol. I, page 69 f. Read there <hi rend="italic">Tirumalaidēva</hi> for <hi rend="italic">Tirumalaiyadēva</hi>, and in the transcripts of Nos. 13 to 16 <foreign>tirumalaiy<hi rend="grantha">de</hi>va</foreign> for <foreign>tirumalaiya<hi rend="grantha">de</hi>va</foreign>.</note> It is not impossible that Tirumalaidēva is identical with <hi rend="bold">Timma</hi>, the founder of the second dynasty of <hi rend="bold">Vijayanagara</hi>, for whose grandson <hi rend="bold">Narasa, Nṛisiṁha</hi> or <hi rend="bold">Narasiṁha</hi> we have the dates Śaka 1404 and 1418.<note>Vol. I, p. 132, No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0119">119</ref>, and p. 131, No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0115">115</ref>; <hi rend="italic">Epigraphia Indica</hi>, p. 362.</note> In favour of this identification it can be adduced, that in the subjoined inscription, <hi rend="bold">Tirumalaidēva</hi> receives the same <hi rend="italic">birudas</hi> which were borne by <hi rend="bold">Narasiṁhadēva</hi> according to an inscription at <hi rend="bold">Viriñchipuram</hi>,<note>Vol. I, p. 132, No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0119">119</ref>.</note> and that some of the fiscal terms, which occur in the text of the royal order, are of Kanarese extraction.</p>

<p>Both the spelling and the execution of this inscription are not very careful.<note>Plate xix in Dr. Burnell's <hi rend="italic">South-Indian Palaeography</hi>, second edition, is based on this inscription. The table contains three mistakes:—The sign entered as <hi rend="italic">â</hi> is not <foreign>ā</foreign>, but a vicarious form of <foreign>a;</foreign> the sign entered as <hi rend="italic">kû</hi> is not <foreign>kū</foreign>, but <foreign>ku</foreign>; and the sign entered as <hi rend="italic">ḷu</hi> is not <foreign>ḷu</foreign>, but <foreign><hi rend="grantha">nnya</hi></foreign> (Grantha <hi rend="italic">nnya</hi>).</note> Lines 2 to 6 are damaged by a crack, which has caused the loss of a few letters. The language is Tamil, with the exception of line 1, which consists of a Sanskrit <hi rend="italic">ślōka</hi>.</p>

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<l n="a"><lb n="1"/>dānapālanayormmaddhye</l>

<l n="b">dānā<choice><sic>ś</sic><corr>c</corr></choice>chreyonupālanaM <supplied reason="undefined"><g ref="sym:danda" type="punctuation">.</g></supplied></l>

<l n="c">dā<choice><sic>r</sic><corr>n</corr></choice>āT svargamavāpnot<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>i</corr></choice></l>

<l n="d">pālanādacyutaM padaM <supplied reason="undefined"><g ref="sym:ddanda" type="punctuation">.</g> 1</supplied></l>

</lg>

<p>

<lb n="2"/><unclear><g ref="sym:tam-pillaiyarCuli" type="ideogram">@</g></unclear> <hi rend="grantha">śubhamastu śrī</hi> <supplied reason="undefined"><g ref="sym:ddanda" type="punctuation">.</g></supplied> <hi rend="grantha">śakābdaM</hi> Ā<unclear>yirattu</unclear> muṉṉūṟṟu Eḻupattu Eḻiṉ meṟcellāniṉṟa <hi rend="grantha">bhā</hi>vavaru<hi rend="grantha">ṣa</hi>ttukkuccellum

<lb n="3"/><hi rend="grantha">yu</hi>vavaru<hi rend="grantha">ṣa</hi>m cittirai <g ref="sym:tam-matam" type="ideogram"/> <num value="17"><unclear><g type="numeral">10</g> 7</unclear></num> <gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/> <hi rend="grantha">śrīmaNmahāmaṇḍa</hi>le<hi rend="grantha">śvaraN</hi> <choice><sic>meti</sic><corr><hi rend="grantha">medi</hi></corr></choice><choice><sic>ṉi</sic><corr>nī</corr></choice><choice><sic><hi rend="grantha">misa</hi>ra</sic><corr><hi rend="grantha">śvara</hi></corr></choice> kaṇṭa kaṭṭāri cāḷuvacāḷuva <surplus>ti</surplus>tirumalaiteva

<lb n="4" break="no"/>ma<hi rend="grantha">hārā</hi>car tañcāvūr va <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/> ṇṭayam ta<unclear>ñ</unclear>camāmaṇikaṇṭaṅkuṟai nākaḷāpuram paḻamāṟaṉEri <choice><sic>Aṉ</sic><corr>Aim</corr></choice>pati<choice><sic><hi rend="grantha">N</hi></sic><corr>ṉ</corr></choice> melAkaram

<lb n="5"/>velaṅkuṭi AmmaiA<supplied reason="lost" cert="low">ppapu</supplied>ram teṉAḷūr karu<choice><sic>y</sic><corr>pp</corr></choice>ūr maruvūr Irāce<surplus>nti</surplus><hi rend="grantha">ndra</hi>coḻanallūr cuṅkantavi<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied>ttacoḻanallūrāṉa

<lb n="6"/>tirumalaiIrācapuram camuttiṟa <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/> puram Āka Inta Akaraṅkaḷil vāriya<hi rend="grantha">N</hi> kāraṇattāṉukku n<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice>rupam <supplied reason="subaudible">§2</supplied>

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taṅkaḷ Akaraṅkaḷukku Avatāva<hi rend="grantha">ga</hi>

<lb n="7" break="no"/>kkaṉai rā<hi rend="grantha">jasapa</hi>kkaṉai <hi rend="grantha"><unclear>pra</unclear>dhā</hi>ni<hi rend="grantha">jo</hi>ṭi karaṇikkacoṭi talaiyā<unclear>ri</unclear>kkam māvaṭai maravaṭai kuḷavaṭai maṟṟu

<lb n="8" break="no"/>m E<choice><sic>pepa</sic><corr>ppe</corr></choice>rpaṭ=ṭa pala Upā<hi rend="grantha">dhi</hi>kaḷu<unclear>mi</unclear>ḻittu viṭ=ṭa Aḷavukku ca<hi rend="grantha">ndrāditya</hi>varaiyum <hi rend="grantha">sarvva</hi>mā<hi rend="grantha">nnya</hi>māka <hi rend="grantha">sukha</hi>me Irukkavum <g ref="sym:tam-pillaiyarCuli" type="punctuation">.</g> <supplied reason="subaudible">§3</supplied>

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<lb n="9"/><hi rend="grantha">rājā</hi>viṉ Aruḷi ceyalpaṭikku <hi rend="grantha">mantramūrtti</hi> veṭṭuvitta<unclear>tu</unclear> <supplied reason="subaudible">§4</supplied>

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<lem>metiṉi<hi rend="grantha">misa</hi>ra</lem>

<note>Read <foreign><hi rend="grantha">medi</hi>nī<hi rend="grantha">śvara</hi></foreign>.</note>

</app>

<lem>AmmaiA <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/> ram</lem>

<note>Read <foreign>AmmaiAppapuram</foreign> (?).</note>

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<p>1. “Of a gift and protection, protection is more meritorious than a gift; by a gift (<hi rend="italic">one</hi>) obtains (<hi rend="italic">only</hi>) heaven, by protection the eternal abode.”</p>

<p>2. Let there be prosperity ! Fortune ! [On the 17th day] of the month of <hi rend="italic">Śittirai</hi> in the <hi rend="italic">Yuvan</hi> year, which was current after the <hi rend="italic">Bhāva</hi> year (<hi rend="italic">and</hi>) after the <hi rend="bold">Śaka</hi> year one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven, the illustrious <hi rend="italic">Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Mēdinīśvara Gaṇḍa Kaṭṭāri Sāḷuva-sāḷuva</hi> <hi rend="bold">Tirumalaidēva-mahārāja</hi> (<hi rend="italic">addressed the following</hi>) order (<hi rend="italic">nirubam</hi>) to <hi rend="bold">Vāriyaṉ</hi>, the <hi rend="italic">Kāraṇattāṉ</hi><note><foreign>kāraṇattāṉ</foreign> is another form of, or a mistake for, <foreign>karaṇattāṉ</foreign>, which is used instead of <hi rend="italic">karaṇam</hi>, ‘a village-accountant,’ in a Māmallapuram inscription, Vol. I, No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0040">40</ref>, text line 60.</note> in the village (<hi rend="italic">agaram</hi>) of <hi rend="bold">Tañjāvūr, . . . . . . . . . . , Ta[ñ]jamāmaṇigaṇḍaṅguṟai, Nāgaḷāpuram, Paramāṟaṉēri, Vēlaṅguḍi</hi>, (<hi rend="italic">which was</hi>) the chief village (<hi rend="italic">of a division</hi>) of fifty (<hi rend="italic">villages</hi>),<note>Another division of fifty villages is mentioned in two Māmallapuram inscriptions, Vol. I, No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0040">40</ref>, text line 16, and No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0041">41</ref>, text line 33.</note> <hi rend="bold">Ammaia[ppapu]ram</hi>, <hi rend="bold">Teṉaḷūr, Karuppūr, Maruvūr</hi>,<note>According to Mr. Sewell's <hi rend="italic">Lists</hi> (Vol. I, p. 276), Karuppūr and Maruvūr are the names of two villages in the Tañjāvūr tālluqa.</note> <hi rend="bold">Rājēndra-Śōṛa-nallūr, Śuṅgandavi[r]tta-Śōṛa-nallūr</hi>,<note>This village is the object of the grant recorded in No. <ref target="DHARMA_INSSIIv02p0i0022">22</ref>.</note> <hi rend="italic">alias</hi> <hi rend="bold">Tirumalairājapuram</hi>, and <hi rend="bold">Samudra . . . . . puram:</hi>—</p>

<p>3. “Having remitted to your villages . . . . . . . . . . the prime minister's quit-rent (<hi rend="italic">pradhāni-jōḍi</hi>),<note>See Sanderson's <hi rend="italic">Canarese Dictionary</hi>, s.v. <hi rend="italic">jōḍi</hi>.</note> the <hi rend="italic">Karaṇam's</hi> quit-rent (<hi rend="italic">karaṇikka-jōḍi</hi>), the village-watchman's quitrent,<note><foreign>talaiyārikkam</foreign> seems to be the Tamil equivalent of the Kanarese term <hi rend="italic">taḷavāṟike</hi>, which occurs in a Vijayanagara inscription of Kṛishṇarāya; <hi rend="italic">Epigraphia Indica</hi>, p. 402, note 40.</note> (<hi rend="italic">the dues on</hi>) animals, trees and tanks,<note>On <foreign>māvaṭai maravaṭai kuḷavaṭai</foreign> see p. 117, note 6.</note> and all other dues (<hi rend="italic">? upādhi</hi>) of whatever kind, (<hi rend="italic">we order that these villages</hi>) to the extent up to which they were granted, shall remain taxfree (<hi rend="italic">sarvamānya</hi>) and undisturbed, as long as the moon and the sun endure.”</p>

<p>4. <hi rend="bold">Mantramūrti</hi> caused (<hi rend="italic">the above</hi>) to be engraved, as ordered by the king.</p>

</div>

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<p>Digital edition of SII 2.23 by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Hultzsch1891_01"/></bibl> converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.</p>

<p>See revised edition by Emmanuel Francis (<ref target="DHARMA_INStfaSIIv02p0i0023"/>).</p>

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