SII 2.63: original edition by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch – PART III. SUPPLEMENT TO THE FIRST AND SECOND VOLUMES. I. ADDITIONAL INSCRIPTIONS IN THE TANJAVUR TEMPLE. No. 63. ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE NORTH ENCLOSURE.

Editor: Emmanuel Francis.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv02p0i0063.

Summary: In the introductory remarks to No. 58 (page 229 f.) I had occasion to refer to four inscriptions of Rājarājadēva, the lower portions of which are buried underground. Two of these (Nos. 65 and 66),—which, to judge from their beginnings, promised a rich harvest of proper names,—were since temporarily excavated, and impressions of them taken, by my assistants. This led to the discovery of two further inscriptions, which are engraved underneath No. 66, one of Rājēndradēva (No. 67), and one of Vikrama-Chōḷadēva (No. 68). I did not consider it worth while to excavate and copy the whole of Nos. 63 and 64, but shall now publish their first two lines as specimens. From the published portion of No. 63, we learn that this inscription consists of a list of shepherds who had to supply ghee for temple lamps from the milk of a number of cattle, which had been presented to the temple before the 29th year of the reign of Rājarājadēva by the king himself and by others, or bought from the funds of the temple. To each lamp were allotted 96 ewes,1 or 48 cows, or 16 she-buffaloes. The daily supply for each lamp was one uṛakku of ghee.

Hand description:

Language: Tamil.

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

Version: (97de750), last modified (060bf5d).

Edition

⟨1⟩ (svasti śrī) || tiruma(ka)ḷ polapperunilaccelvi(yu)ntaṉak(e)yurimai pūṇṭamai maṉakk(o)ḷkk(ā)n(taḷū)rccālai kalamaṟuttaru(ḷi) veṅkaināṭuṅkaṅkapāṭiyunuḷampapāṭiyuntaṭikaipāṭiyuṅkuṭamalaināṭuṅkollamuṅkali(ṅ)kamum Eṇṭicai pukaḻ tara Īḻamaṇṭalamum Iraṭṭapāṭi Eḻarai Ilakkamun(ti)ṇṭiṟal veṉ(ṟi)ttaṇṭāṟkoṇṭa taṉṉe(ḻi)l vaḷarūḻiyuḷellāyā(ṇ)ṭuntoḻutaka (vi)ḷaṅkum yāṇṭe ceḻiyarait(t)e(cu) koḷ korā(ja)kesarivarmmarāṉa (śrī)rājarājadevarkku yāṇṭu Irupatt(o)ṉpatāvatu varai (U)ṭ(ai)yār śrīrājarājīśvaraM Uṭaiyārkkut(ti)ru(viḷa)kku(k)ku Uṭaiy(ār) śrīrājarājadevar kuṭutta kālmāṭ(ṭilu)ṅkuṭuttā(r ku)ṭutta (k)ā(lm)āṭ(ṭi)luṅkā(cu ku)ṭuttu mutalāṉa kāl(mā)ṭ(ṭi)lum (ti)ru(vi)ḷakkukku ney A(ḷa)kkakkaṭava(r)kaḷāka Iṭai(ya)r va(ḻi ti)ru(vi)ḷakku Oṉṟiṉukku Āṭu toṇṇūṟṟā(ṟā)kavum pacu (nā)ṟpatteṭṭākavum Erumai pa(ti)nāṟāka(vum Ivaiyiṟ)ṟu⟨2⟩k(ku pa)cuviṉ ka(ṉ)ṟu(m) Erutum (pa)cuccārttikkuṭutta(ṉa pa)cuvākavum Āṭṭukkuṭṭiyuṅkiṭāyum Āṭu cārttikkuṭuttaṉa Āṭā(ka)vum Erumaikkaṉ(ṟu)ṅki- ṭāvum Erumai cārttikkuṭuttaṉa Erumaiy(ā)kavum māṭaṭuttu māṭu koṇṭa Iṭaiyarum Ivarka(ḷ) Uṟavumuṟaiyāy Aṭaikuṭikaḷāṉārum Ivarkaḷ Aṭaikuṭikaḷuntiruviḷakku Oṉṟiṉukku Āṭavallānāl nicatam ney Uḻakkākattāṅkaḷuntaṅkaḷ va(rgga)ttārum candrādityavat· Uṭaiyār paṇṭāratte ney Aḷa(k)kakkaṭavarka(ḷāka) kallil (v)eṭṭiṉapaṭi ||~ ⟨1⟩ Uṭaiy(ā)r śrīrājarājadevar kuṭutta kālmāṭṭil tiruviḷakkukku Aṭuttapaṭi ⟨2⟩ tañcāvūr(p)pu(ṟa)mpaṭi (gāndha)rvvatt(e)ruvil Irukkum Iṭ(ai)yaṉ (cū)ṟṟi pākkaranukku Aṭutta (pacu nā)ṟpat(t)eṭṭiṉāl tiruviḷakku Oṉṟiṉukku Ivaṉ (t)ānum Ivaṉ (A)ṭaikuṭi Ivaṉ Uṭaṉ piṟanta (cūṟṟi) nāra(ṇa)ṉum cūṟṟi (cīrā)ḷanum ciṟṟappaṉ ma(ka)ṉ (co)lai kurava(num) vaṭa(ka)raikkuṉṟakkūṟṟamā(ṉa) Ut(tuṅka)tuṅkavaḷanāṭṭu paḻu(vūr I)rukkum I(ṭ)ai⟨3⟩[16+]

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ maṉakk(o)ḷ • I have now changed the transcription of maṉakkoḷa from maṉakkoḷa into maṉakkoḷ, because the saṁdhi after maṉa shows the whole to be a compound substantive, while the infinitive koḷa would require the accusative maṉam before it. An inscription of the 14th year at Mēlpāḍi near Tiruvallam in the North Arcot district adds karuti after maṉakkoḷ; maṉakkoḷkkaruti means “having formed the belief.”

Translation by Hultzsch 1895

1. Hail ! Prosperity ! Until the twenty-ninth year (of the reign) of Kō-Rājakēsarivarman, alias Śrī-Rājarājadēva, who, in his life of growing strength, during which,—(in) the belief that, as well as the goddess of fortune, the goddess of the great earth had become his wife,—he was pleased to destroy the ships (at) Kāndaḷūr-Śālai, 2 and conquered by his army, which was victorious in great battles, Vēṅgai-nāḍu, Gaṅga-pāḍi, Nuḷamba-pāḍi, Taḍigai-pāḍi, Kuḍamalai-nāḍu, Kollam, Kaliṅgam, Īṛa-maṇḍalam, (the conquest of which) made (him) famous (in) the eight directions,3 and the seven and a half lakshas of Iraṭṭa-pāḍi,—deprived the Śeṛiyas (i.e., the Pāṇḍyas) of (their) splendour at the very moment when (they were) resplendent (to such a degree) that (they were) worthy to be worshipped everywhere;4—cattle had been given by the lord Śrī-Rājarājadēva5 for (burning) sacred lamps before the lord of the Śrī-Rājarājēśvara (temple); (other) cattle had been given by (other) donors; and (other) cattle were represented by funds (mudal),6 as money (kāśu) had been paid (for their purchase into the temple treasury). (These) cattle were assigned to shepherds (Iḍaiyar), who had to supply ghee for the sacred lamps (from their milk), at the rate of ninety-six ewes, or forty-eight cows, or sixteen she-buffaloes for each sacred lamp. Besides, calves and bulls which were given along with cows, (had to be reckoned) as cows; lambs and rams which were given along with ewes, as ewes; and buffalo calves and he-buffaloes which were given along with she-buffaloes, as she-buffaloes. The shepherds who had received the cattle, themselves and their people, (viz.) their relations, and the relations of the latter, had to supply ghee to the treasury of the lord, as long as the moon and the sun endure, at the daily rate of (one) uṛakku of ghee by the Āḍavallāṉ (measure) for each sacred lamp. (The names of these shepherds) were engraved on stone as follows:—

2. The cattle which had been given by the lord Śrī-Rājarājadēva, were assigned to sacred lamps as follows:—

3. From forty-eight cows, which were assigned to the shepherd Śūṟṟi Pākkaraṉ (i.e., Bhāskara), who resides in the [Gāndha]rva Street within the limits7 of Tañjāvūr,—he himself and his relations, (viz.) his uterine brothers [Śūṟṟi] Nāra[ṇ]aṉ (i.e., Nārāyaṇa) and Śūṟṟi [Śīrā]ḷaṉ,8 and (his) uncle’s son [Śō]lai Kuravaṉ,9 [the shepherd] . . . . . . . . . . who resides at Paṛu[vūr] in Vaḍakarai-Kuṉṟa-kūṟṟam, alias Ut[tuṅga]tuṅgavaḷanāḍu, . . . . . . . . . . [have to supply] for one sacred lamp . . . . . . . . . .

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 2.63 by Hultzsch 1895 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1895. South-Indian inscriptions: Tamil inscriptions of Rajaraja, Rajendra-chola, and others in the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjavur. Volume II, Part III: Supplement to the first and second volumes. South Indian Inscriptions 2.3. Madras: Government Press. Pages 249–251, item 63.

Notes

  1. 1. In No. 6, paragraphs 18 and 21, the same number of ewes are allotted to ten lamps.
  2. 2. See page 241, note 1.
  3. 3. The composer adds this epithet to Īṛamaṇḍalam evidently because the latter is the eighth item in the list of Rājarāja’s conquests.
  4. 4. The above translation of this passage slightly differs from that which I gave on former occasions. A further change would be necessary, if a various reading, which occurs in an inscription of the 20th year at Sōmūr near Karuvūr in the Coimbatore district, in an inscription of the 29th year at Mēlpāḍi near Tiru- vallam in the North Arcot district, and in three inscriptions of the 1[7]th, 24th and 29th years at Ukkal near Māmaṇḍūr in the same district, should prove correct. These five inscriptions read toḻutakai instead of toḻutaka. Accepting this, we would have to translate:—“(who) deprived the Śeṛiyas of (their) splendour at the very moment when Udagai, which is worshipped everywhere, was (most) resplendent,” and to assume that Udagai was a city which Rājarājadēva took from the Pāṇḍyas. The storming of Udagai is actually mentioned in the Kaliṅgattu-Paraṇi, canto viii. verse 24; and this verse probably refers to the reign of Rājarāja, because the following verse (25) mentions the invasion of Maṇṇai on the bank of the Gaṅgā, and the annexation of Kaḍāram (by his successor Rājēndra-Chōḷa).
  5. 5. In two previously published inscriptions (No. 3, paragraphs 5 and 6, and No. 59, paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 9 and 11), the word māḍu, ‘cattle,’ was taken in the unusual sense of ‘gold.’ The present inscription shows, however, that Rājarāja actually gave cattle to the temple. Hence the translation has probably to be changed into:—“the cattle which the king had seized,” etc.
  6. 6. On two former occasions (No. 3, paragraph 1, and No. 59, paragraph 1), the expression mudal-āṉa was translated by ‘of the first quality,’ which I now consider less probable.
  7. 7. See page 124, note 2.
  8. 8. This person is evidently called after Śīrāḷadēvar, one of the characters of the Periyapurāṇam; see page 172, note 2.
  9. 9. This is the Tamil form of gurava, which occurs in Sanskrit inscriptions instead of guru; see Ind. Ant., Vol. XIV, p. 140, note 4, and Vol. XV, p. 304; Epigraphia Indica, Vol. II, p. 161. The word gurava must be derived from guravaḥ, the honorific plural of guru, which was popularly mistaken for a singular.