Gaṇapavaram plates attributed to Viṣṇuvardhana III

Author of digital edition: Dániel Balogh (daba).

Palaeographic description: Anusvāra is usually a small dot at headline level, sometimes a small circle at median level. Short and long dependent ī are barely distinguishable, the latter being open at the bottom left, the former being normally closed into a circle. Final M is a reduced and simplified old-style ma. The plates are written in a very clumsy hand. The last line, squeezed into insufficient vertical space, begins with an indent of about 3 characters and skips many spots where there are descenders from the penultimate line.

Language: Sanskrit (san).

Version: 2025-10-02 17:09 (9dde221), last modified 2025-10-01 17:48 (dfbfb79).

Edition

⟨Page 1r⟩

⟨Page 1v⟩
⟨1⟩ svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago-
⟨2⟩ trā(ṇā)ṁ hāriti-putrāṇāṁ kauś¿ī?k¿i?-vara-prasāda-labdha-r(ā)¿bdha?nā⟨ṁ⟩
⟨3⟩ mātr̥◯-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu-
⟨4⟩ ddhyā◯tānā⟨ṁ⟩ bhagavan-nārāya¿nā?-prasāda-samāsād¿ī?ta-vara-va-
⟨5⟩ rāha-lā⟨ṁ⟩chanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāt¿ī?-maṇḍalā¿ṇa?ṁ Aśva-

⟨Page 2r⟩
⟨6⟩ (medhā)vabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitr¿i?kr̥ta-vapu¿p?āṁ caḷukyā¿ṇa?ṁ kula⟨m a⟩-
⟨7⟩ la(ṁ)kariṣṇor vvividha-yu⟨d⟩dha-labdha-yaśa⟨saḥ⟩ śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājasya
⟨8⟩ (pau)◯traḥ para-nr̥pati-makuṭa-taṭa-ghaṭitāneka-maṇi-kiraṇa-
⟨9⟩ -rāga-ra◯ñj¿ī?ta-caraṇa-yuga¡ḷ!a¿ḥ? Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-⟨ka⟩¡ḷ!adhau-
⟨10⟩ ta-dāna-¿s?ūta-śarīra¿ḥ? samasta-bhuvanāśraya-(ś)rī-(v)ijayādi

⟨Page 2v⟩
⟨11⟩ -(śrī)-ma(ṁgi)-yuvarājasya putraḥ samatiś¡ai!ta-pitr̥-guṇa-śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-(pra)-
⟨12⟩ jā-pālana-paraḫ parama-brahmaṇya⟨ḥ⟩ mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhy¿a?taḥ samasta-bhuvanāśra-
⟨13⟩ ya-śrī-(vi)◯(ṣṇu)varddhana-mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭ¿a?rakaḥ (A)ttili-viṣaye
⟨14⟩ Ariye◯ṟu nāma grāme rāṣ¿p?rakūṭa-pramukhāN sva-viṣaya-vā(si)naḥ kuṭu⟨ṁ⟩binaḥ sarvvā(n ittha)-
⟨15⟩ m ājṇāpayati viditam astu vo ⟨’⟩smābhiḥ padminy-agrahāra-vāstavyāya pāt¡ā!ñjala-sa(go)-
⟨16⟩ trāya Akhilātharvva-veda-vid¡āya! sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ pautrāya (vi?)nyiśarmmaṇaḫ putr¿a?ya (n)ūriśarmma(ṇe?)
⟨17⟩ (divya-s)āmpadādi-karmma-vid¡āya! (sūryya-gra)haṇa-ni⟨mi⟩t⟨t⟩e nivarttana-dvayaṁ kṣetram u[daka]-

⟨Page 3r⟩
⟨18⟩ -pūr¿ddh?van ¿y?atta(M) Āvāsa-nikaṭa-sahitaM Asya (kṣe)trasya s¿(o)?mantāḥ⟨.⟩ pūrvvataḥ tā-
⟨19⟩ mararvvā⟨.⟩ dakṣiṇata⟨ḥ⟩ duttiśa⟨r⟩mmaṇaḥ kṣetraM⟨.⟩ paścimata⟨ḥ⟩ grāma-kṣetra⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ Uttarataḥ pambi(kh?)o-
⟨20⟩ rāvi⟨.⟩ A◯s(y)opari na kenacid (b)ādhā karttavyā⟨.⟩ yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai-
⟨21⟩ s saṁyu◯kto bhavati⟨.⟩ tathā vyāsenāpy uktaM bahubhi⟨r⟩ vvasudhā dattā bahubhi-
⟨22⟩ ś cānupālitā(||) yasya yasya yadā bhūmis tasya tasya tadā phalaM|| sva-dat(t)ā-
⟨23⟩ m para-dattā(ṁ) vā yo ha¿k?eta vasundharā⟨ṁ⟩ ṣaṣ¿ṭh?i-va⟨r⟩ṣṣa-sahasrāṇi viṣṭhāyā⟨ṁ⟩ jā(ya)-
⟨24⟩ te kr̥miḥ|| Ājñaptir asya dha⟨r⟩mmasya nissaramiṇyi

⟨Page 3v⟩

⟨Page 1r⟩

⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨1⟩ svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago⟨2⟩trā(ṇā)ṁ hāriti-putrāṇāṁ kauś⟨i⟩k⟨ī⟩-vara-prasāda-labdha-r(ā)⟨jyā⟩nā⟨ṁ⟩ ⟨3⟩ mātr̥◯-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu⟨4⟩ddhyā◯tānā⟨ṁ⟩ bhagavan-nārāya⟨ṇa⟩-prasāda-samāsād⟨i⟩ta-vara-va⟨5⟩rāha-lā⟨ṁ⟩chanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāt⟨i⟩-maṇḍalā⟨nā⟩ṁ Aśva⟨Page 2r⟩⟨6⟩(medhā)vabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitr⟨ī⟩kr̥ta-vapu⟨ṣ⟩āṁ caḷukyā⟨nā⟩ṁ kula⟨m a⟩⟨7⟩la(ṁ)kariṣṇor vvividha-yu⟨d⟩dha-labdha-yaśa⟨saḥ⟩ śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājasya ⟨8⟩ (pau)◯traḥ para-nr̥pati-makuṭa-taṭa-ghaṭitāneka-maṇi-kiraṇa⟨9⟩-rāga-ra◯ñj⟨i⟩ta-caraṇa-yuga⟨l⟩a⟨sya⟩ Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-⟨ka⟩⟨l⟩adhau⟨10⟩ta-dāna-⟨p⟩ūta-śarīra⟨sya⟩ samasta-bhuvanāśraya-(ś)rī-(v)ijayādi ⟨Page 2v⟩ ⟨11⟩ -(śrī)-ma(ṁgi)-yuvarājasya putraḥ samatiś⟨ayi⟩ta-pitr̥-guṇa-śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-(pra)⟨12⟩jā-pālana-paraḫ parama-brahmaṇya⟨ḥ⟩ mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhy⟨ā⟩taḥ samasta-bhuvanāśra⟨13⟩ya-śrī-(vi)◯(ṣṇu)varddhana-mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭ⟨ā⟩rakaḥ (A)ttili-viṣaye ⟨14⟩ Ariye◯ṟu nāma grāme rāṣ⟨ṭ⟩rakūṭa-pramukhāN sva-viṣaya-vā(si)naḥ kuṭu⟨ṁ⟩binaḥ sarvvā(n ittha)⟨15⟩m ājṇāpayati

viditam astu vo ⟨’⟩smābhiḥ padminy-agrahāra-vāstavyāya pāt⟨a⟩ñjala-sa(go)⟨16⟩trāya Akhilātharvva-veda-vid⟨e⟩ sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ pautrāya (vi?)nyiśarmmaṇaḫ putr⟨ā⟩ya (n)ūriśarmma(ṇe?) ⟨17⟩ (divya-s)āmpadādi-karmma-vid⟨e⟩ (sūryya-gra)haṇa-ni⟨mi⟩t⟨t⟩e nivarttana-dvayaṁ kṣetram u[daka]⟨Page 3r⟩⟨18⟩-pūr⟨vv⟩van ⟨d⟩atta(M) Āvāsa-nikaṭa-sahitaM

Asya (kṣe)trasya s⟨ī⟩mantāḥ⟨.⟩ pūrvvataḥ tā⟨19⟩mararvvā⟨.⟩ dakṣiṇata⟨ḥ⟩ duttiśa⟨r⟩mmaṇaḥ kṣetraM⟨.⟩ paścimata⟨ḥ⟩ grāma-kṣetra⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ Uttarataḥ pambi(kh?)o⟨20⟩rāvi⟨.⟩ A◯s(y)opari na kenacid (b)ādhā karttavyā⟨.⟩ yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai⟨21⟩s saṁyu◯kto bhavati⟨.⟩ tathā vyāsenāpy uktaM

1. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhi⟨r⟩ vvasudhā dattā

bahubhi⟨22⟩ś cānupālitā(||)

yasya yasya yadā bhūmis

tasya tasya tadā phalaM||

2. Anuṣṭubh

sva-dat(t)ā⟨23⟩m para-dattā(ṁ) vā

yo ha⟨r⟩eta vasundharā⟨ṁ⟩

ṣaṣ⟨ṭ⟩i-va⟨r⟩ṣṣa-sahasrāṇi

viṣṭhāyā⟨ṁ⟩ jā(ya)⟨24⟩te kr̥miḥ||

Ājñaptir asya dha⟨r⟩mmasya nissaramiṇyi

⟨Page 3v⟩

⟨Page 1r⟩

⟨Page 1v⟩ ⟨1⟩ svasti⟨.⟩ śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago⟨2⟩trā(ṇā)ṁ hāriti-putrāṇāṁ kauś¿ī?⟨i⟩k¿i?⟨ī⟩-vara-prasāda-labdha-r(ā)¿bdha?⟨jyā⟩nā⟨ṁ⟩ ⟨3⟩ mātr̥◯-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu⟨4⟩ddhyā◯tānā⟨ṁ⟩ bhagavan-nārāya¿nā?⟨ṇa⟩-prasāda-samāsād¿ī?⟨i⟩ta-vara-va⟨5⟩rāha-lā⟨ṁ⟩chanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāt¿ī?⟨i⟩-maṇḍalā¿ṇa?⟨nā⟩ṁ Aśva⟨Page 2r⟩⟨6⟩(medhā)vabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitr¿i?⟨ī⟩kr̥ta-vapu¿p?⟨ṣ⟩āṁ caḷukyā¿ṇa?⟨nā⟩ṁ kula⟨m a⟩⟨7⟩la(ṁ)kariṣṇor vvividha-yu⟨d⟩dha-labdha-yaśa⟨saḥ⟩ śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājasya ⟨8⟩ (pau)◯traḥ para-nr̥pati-makuṭa-taṭa-ghaṭitāneka-maṇi-kiraṇa⟨9⟩-rāga-ra◯ñj¿ī?⟨i⟩ta-caraṇa-yuga¡ḷ!⟨l⟩a¿ḥ?⟨sya⟩ Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-⟨ka⟩¡ḷ!⟨l⟩adhau⟨10⟩ta-dāna-¿s?⟨p⟩ūta-śarīra¿ḥ?⟨sya⟩ samasta-bhuvanāśraya-(ś)rī-(v)ijayādi ⟨Page 2v⟩ ⟨11⟩ -(śrī)-ma(ṁgi)-yuvarājasya putraḥ samatiś¡ai!⟨ayi⟩ta-pitr̥-guṇa-śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-(pra)⟨12⟩jā-pālana-paraḫ parama-brahmaṇya⟨ḥ⟩ mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhy¿a?⟨ā⟩taḥ samasta-bhuvanāśra⟨13⟩ya-śrī-(vi)◯(ṣṇu)varddhana-mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭ¿a?⟨ā⟩rakaḥ (A)ttili-viṣaye ⟨14⟩ Ariye◯ṟu nāma grāme rāṣ¿p?⟨ṭ⟩rakūṭa-pramukhāN sva-viṣaya-vā(si)naḥ kuṭu⟨ṁ⟩binaḥ sarvvā(n ittha)⟨15⟩m ājṇāpayati

viditam astu vo ⟨’⟩smābhiḥ padminy-agrahāra-vāstavyāya pāt¡ā!⟨a⟩ñjala-sa(go)⟨16⟩trāya Akhilātharvva-veda-vid¡āya!⟨e⟩ sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ pautrāya (vi?)nyiśarmmaṇaḫ putr¿a?⟨ā⟩ya (n)ūriśarmma(ṇe?) ⟨17⟩ (divya-s)āmpadādi-karmma-vid¡āya!⟨e⟩ (sūryya-gra)haṇa-ni⟨mi⟩t⟨t⟩e nivarttana-dvayaṁ kṣetram u[daka]⟨Page 3r⟩⟨18⟩-pūr¿ddh?⟨vv⟩van ¿y?⟨d⟩atta(M) Āvāsa-nikaṭa-sahitaM

Asya (kṣe)trasya s¿(o)?⟨ī⟩mantāḥ⟨.⟩ pūrvvataḥ tā⟨19⟩mararvvā⟨.⟩ dakṣiṇata⟨ḥ⟩ duttiśa⟨r⟩mmaṇaḥ kṣetraM⟨.⟩ paścimata⟨ḥ⟩ grāma-kṣetra⟨M⟩⟨.⟩ Uttarataḥ pambi(kh?)o⟨20⟩rāvi⟨.⟩ A◯s(y)opari na kenacid (b)ādhā karttavyā⟨.⟩ yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai⟨21⟩s saṁyu◯kto bhavati⟨.⟩ tathā vyāsenāpy uktaM

1. Anuṣṭubh

bahubhi⟨r⟩ vvasudhā dattā

bahubhi⟨22⟩ś cānupālitā(||)

yasya yasya yadā bhūmis

tasya tasya tadā phalaM||

2. Anuṣṭubh

sva-dat(t)ā⟨23⟩m para-dattā(ṁ) vā

yo ha¿k?⟨r⟩eta vasundharā⟨ṁ⟩

ṣaṣ¿ṭh?⟨ṭ⟩i-va⟨r⟩ṣṣa-sahasrāṇi

viṣṭhāyā⟨ṁ⟩ jā(ya)⟨24⟩te kr̥miḥ||

Ājñaptir asya dha⟨r⟩mmasya nissaramiṇyi

⟨Page 3v⟩

Apparatus

Plates

⟨2⟩ r(ā)¿bdha?⟨jyā⟩nā⟨ṁ⟩ ⬦ rā(jyā)nāṁ MDS.

⟨6⟩ vapu¿p?⟨ṣ⟩āṁ ⬦ vapuṣāṁ MDS. — ⟨6⟩ kula⟨m a⟩⟨7⟩la(ṁ)kariṣṇor ⬦ kulam ā⟨7⟩(laṁ)kariṣṇor MDS • The top right corner of the plate is broken off. The blurred marks near the corner may perhaps be remnants of ma (or mā as per MDS), but if a character had ever been present here, it must have been very small. Scribal omission is more likely.

⟨7⟩ yaśa⟨saḥ⟩ śrī- ⬦ yaśaś śrī- MDS.

⟨10⟩ -¿s?⟨p⟩ūta- ⬦ -pūta- MDS. — ⟨10⟩ -(v)ijayādi- ⬦ -vijayādi⟨tya⟩- SS MDS • The name Vijayāditya is not applied to Maṅgi Yuvarāja anywhere else, so I prefer not to restore it here. See the commentary.

⟨11⟩ samyak-(pra)⟨12⟩jā-pālana-paraḫ parama- ⬦ [2×]⟨12⟩jāpāla[3×]ṟparama- MDS.

⟨13⟩ -śrī-(vi)◯(ṣṇu)varddhana- ⬦ -viṣṇuvarddhana- MDS.

⟨14⟩ Ariye◯ṟu ⬦ Ariyeḍu SS MDS. — ⟨14⟩ rāṣ¿p?⟨ṭ⟩rakūṭa- ⬦ rāṣṭrakūṭa- MDS.

⟨16⟩ sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ ⬦ sūriśarmmaṇaḫ SS MDS • The intended name may have been Sūriśarman, but the k is certain in the estampage. Cf. haketa in line 23 and the grandson’s name later in this line. — ⟨16⟩ pautrāya (vi?)nyiśarmmaṇaḫ ⬦ (pautrāya na)nyiśarmmaṇaḫ SS; pautrāyan-Angiśarmmaṇaḥ MDS • The character I tentatively read as vi may well be na, as well as a number of other things. The next character is beyond doubt nyi. I am unable to guess the exact reading MDS had in mind and cite his transliteration to the letter. — ⟨16⟩ (n)ūriśarmma(ṇe?) ⬦ sūriśarmmaṇe SS MDS • The intended name may have been Sūriśarman, but the consonant looks like n. Cf. the grandfather’s name earlier in this line.

⟨17⟩ (divya-s)āmpadādi-karmma- ⬦ divya-sāṁpradāyādi-karmma- SS; (divya)-sārmmadādi-karmma- MDS • The reading is reasonably clear for the first two characters and certain for the rest, but I cannot confidently interpret it. I wonder if divya-sāmpādika-karmma may have been intended. — ⟨17⟩ -ni⟨mi⟩t⟨t⟩e ⬦ nimitte MDS. — ⟨17⟩ u[daka]- ⬦ udaka- MDS • The broken-off corner of the plate is too small to have accommodated two lost characters comfortably. Either they were very small, or only one was inscribed and the other omitted by the scribe. MDS is unlikely to have seen those characters, since SS also shows them as lost and supplied.

⟨18⟩ -pūr¿ddh?⟨vv⟩van ¿y?⟨d⟩atta(M) ⬦ -pūrvvvam dattaM MDS. — ⟨18⟩ s¿(o)?⟨ī⟩mantāḥ ⬦ sīmāntāḥ MDS. — ⟨18⟩ tā⟨19⟩mararvvā ⬦ tā⟨19⟩maravvā⟨ḍa⟩ SS; tā⟨19⟩maravvāḍa MDS • I assume that the (silent) emendation by the Telugu-speaking previous scholars is meaningful.

⟨19⟩ pambi(kh?)o⟨20⟩rāvi SS ⬦ tā⟨19⟩sannidhi-ko⟨20⟩rāvi MDS • The initial pa might be read ṣa, but this is likewise true of other pa-s on the page. SS is probably correct in reading kh for the last consonant in line 19; a similar glyph for kh is attested in some early plates of the dynasty, but was here probably misinterpreted by the engraver as g with a subscript v or dh.

⟨20⟩ (b)ādhā karttavyā⟨.⟩ yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai⟨21⟩s saṁyu◯kto bhavati ⬦ bādhaḥ-karttavyāyaḥ-kāriti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakam⟨21⟩s saṁyukto rbbavati MDS.

Translation

⟨1–15⟩ Greetings. The grandson of His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣṇuvardhana¹ who acquired glory in diverse battles and who was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Calukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hāriti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed (to kingship) by Lord Mahāsena, to whom the realms of adversaries instantaneously submit at the mere sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions (avabhr̥tha) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice—; the dear son of His Majesty Vijayādi His Majesty Maṅgi Yuvarāja,² shelter of the entire universe (samasta-bhuvanāśraya), whose pair of feet are tinted by the hues of the rays from the many gems fitted to the surfaces of the crowns of enemy kings, whose body has been purified by the donation of gold weighed in many a balance scale:³ [namely] His Majesty the supremely pious Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja) and Sovereign (bhaṭṭāraka) Viṣṇuvardhana, shelter of the entire universe (samasta-bhuvanāśraya), who was deliberately appointed [as heir] by his mother and father, thoroughly surpassing the virtues of his father, endowed with power (śakti), bent on competently protecting his subjects, commands all householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—who reside in the village named Ariyeṟu in Attili district (viṣaya) as follows.

⟨15–18⟩ Let it be known to you that to ¿S?ūriśarman, a resident of the Padminī brahmanical holding (agrahāra), belonging to the Pātañjala gotra, who is learned in the entire Atharvaveda and familiar with the rituals (karma) divya and sāmpada and so forth,⁴ the grandson of Sū¿r?iśarman and son of ¿Vi?nyiśarman, we have given on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun, [the donation being] sanctified by (a libation of) water and exempt from all taxes, a field of [an extent of] two nivartanas, together with a homestead nearby.

⟨18–21⟩ The boundaries of this field [are as follows]. To the east, ¿Tāmararvvā?. To the south, the field of Duttiśarman. To the west, the field of the village. To the north, ¿Pambikhorāvi?. Let no-one pose an obstacle (to the enjoyment of rights) over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. So Vyāsa has said:

Many (kings) have granted land, and many have preserved it (as formerly granted). Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit {reward (accrued of granting it)} belongs to him at that time.

He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty millennia.

⟨24⟩ The executor (ājñapti) of this this provision (dharma) is Nissaramiṇyi.

Commentary

This charter could be called the Ariyeṟu grant, but in order to distinguish it more clearly from the Ariyeṟa grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III, I refer to it, along with earlier editors, as the Gaṇapavaram plates.

Between the end of plate 2 recto and the beginning of plate 2 verso, the text changes abruptly. The scribal hand changes only a little (see the palaeographic description), but the number of lines per plate is five up to this point and seven after it, and the number of characters per line also increases by 25% or more. There is also a glitch in the text, with samasta-bhuvanāśraya-śrī-vijayādi unfinished, then followed by śrī-maṁgi-yuvarājasya. Note that śrī is not normally used twice in a name, and that samasta-bhuvanāśraya first occurs for Vijayāditya I and is nowhere else employed as an epithet of Maṅgi Yuvarāja (who is sarva-lokāśraya). It is likewise incompatible with Viṣṇuvardhana III (also sarva-lokāśraya).

The primary byname of Maṅgi Yuvarāja is vijaya-siddhi⁵, so the characters vijayādi may be a misinterpretation of vijaya-siddhi traced on the plate for the engraver to carve. If the tracing had been faint or smudged, then si may have been mistaken by the artisan for an ā mātrā attached to ya, and the subscript dh of the next character may have been overlooked. This hypothesis, however, does not explain the other striking anomalies in the text.

The text up to the abrupt transition at the end of line 10 is literally identical to two grants (the Permmañcili grant and the Ḻūḷā grant; in the former, the ends of the first five lines are lost but can be confidently restored on the basis of the latter) that can be attributed with confidence to Viṣṇuvardhana IV (with a very slight chance that they belong to Viṣṇuvardhana V). This section of texts includes phrases found nowhere else in the corpus, such as aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-kaḷadhauta-dāna-pūta-śarīraḥ and samatiśayita-pitr̥-guṇaḥ śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-prajā-pālana-paraḥ (with -paraḥ missing, presumably by mistake, in the two cited grants). In the two grants cited, the text continues with vijayāditya-mahārājasya priya-tanayaḥ (corresponding to vijayādi śrī-maṁgi-yuvarājasya putraḥ in the present grant), and is then again identical up to the name of the district, except for the anomalous samasta-bhuvanāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana of the present grant, for which the other two have the expected sarvva-lokāśraya-śrī-viṣnuvarddhana.

The royal style mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭāraka is never used in the corpus before Vijayāditya I. The phrase ājñaptir asya dharmasya (an anuṣṭubh quarter) is common in the grants of Vijayāditya I and recurs in some of his successors’ charters (including the two grants of Viṣṇuvardhana IV noted for their similarity to the present grant), but is not reliably attested before his time.⁶ The name of the executor Nissaramiṇyi, however, is attested (with variations and/or illegible details) in grants by Maṅgi Yuvarāja⁷ and Jayasiṁha II,⁸ so he may have been active in the early part of Viṣṇuvardhana III’s reign, but certainly not under any later king.

These discrepancies, coupled with the absence of a seal and my observation that the first two seem to be slightly hourglass-shaped, while the third is rather rectangular (although whether they are truly different is difficult to assess from the estampages), imply that the charter is in some way spurious. Up to line 10, our inscription is probably a genuine charter of Viṣṇuvardhana IV that had been left unfinished, or was copied verbatim from such a charter. The rest of the text appears to have been clumsily edited to give it a semblance of earliness, substituting the name of Maṅgi Yuvarāja into the introduction of Vijayāditya I, using the wrong cognomen for the issuer, and substituting the probably misspelled name of a long-ago courtier into a modern phrase introducing the executor. The contents of the executive section may be fraudulent, but they may also represent a legitimate (though careless) reissue of an older grant. The similarity of the writing in the two sections suggests that the second part was written not long after the first, probably in the same workshop, and possibly by the same scribe.

Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1924-25, p. 7, appendices A/1924-25, № 3.⁹ Published in Telugu by Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma (1924) with facsimiles. Edited in English by M. D. Sampath (2016, № 2) without facsimiles and without translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on estampages preserved at the ASI, Mysore, collated with Sampath’s edition.¹⁰ Readings by Somasekhara Sarma are only shown for problematic loci.

Primary

[SS] Somasekhara Sarma, Mallampalli. 1924. “మూఁడవ విష్ణువర్ధనుని గణపవరము తామ్రశాసనము (Mūm̐ḍava Viṣṇuvardhanuni Gaṇapavaramu tāmraśāsanamu).” Bhārati 1 (12), pp. 86–96.

[MDS] Sampath, M. D. 2016. “Pamiḍimukkala grant of Vishṇuvardhana (Praḷayāditya) and Gaṇapavaram plates of Vishṇuvardhana III.” JESI 41, pp. 75–78. Item 2.

Secondary

ARIE 1924-25. Annual report on South-Indian epigraphy for the year ending 31st March 1925. Edited by G. Venkoba Rao. Calcutta: Government Press, 1926. Page 7, appendixes A/1924-25, item 3.

Notes

1. The subsequent reference to Maṅgi Yuvarāja suggests that this sould be Viṣṇuvardhana II, but see the commentary for the problems with the genealogy in this charter.
2. See the commentary on this anomalous name.
3. That is, gold weighed on a scale against his body, the tulāpuruṣa mahādāna.
4. I am unable to identify these rituals. It is also possible that “divine and efficacious rituals” were intended; see the apparatus to line 17.
5. in the text of four of the five known complete charters attributable to him with certainty (Nutulapaṟu grant, London plates, Cendalūr plates, Elūru grant) and on the seal of all five (the fifth being the Peñceṟekuru grant), as well as in numerous grants of his successors
6. The phrase occurs in the probably spurious Pamiḍimukkala plates (set 1) of Viṣṇuvardhana II, year 3 and the possibly spurious Pasapubaṟṟu grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III .
7. The Nutulapaṟu grant, where Fleet reads nissarami(ji?) (no visual documentation available) and the London plates where the reading is fairly certainly nissāramiṇḍi
8. The Cendaṟa grant, where Ramesan reads vissarami[2+] but the correct reading is more likely nissarami followed by a single character which is very probably ṇi with a lost subscript component
9. This is not the Ariyēṟa grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III which has not been reported in ARIE.
10. Sampath’s edition has numerous (presumed) typos and minor errors, which are not shown in the apparatus here. Where I do show his readings, I arbitrarily interpret his inconsistent bracket-based markup as he presumably intended.

Display Options Word Wrap Line Numbers Comments Processing Instructions

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<?xml-model href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erc-dharma/project-documentation/master/schema/latest/DHARMA_Schema.rng" type="application/xml" schematypens="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0"?>

<?xml-model href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/erc-dharma/project-documentation/master/schema/latest/DHARMA_SQF.sch" type="application/xml" schematypens="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron"?>

<?xml-model href="https://epidoc.stoa.org/schema/latest/tei-epidoc.rng" schematypens="http://relaxng.org/ns/structure/1.0"?>

<?xml-model href="https://epidoc.stoa.org/schema/latest/tei-epidoc.rng" schematypens="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron"?>

<title>Gaṇapavaram plates attributed to Viṣṇuvardhana III</title>

<resp>Encoding</resp>

<forename>Dániel</forename>

<surname>Balogh</surname>

</persName>

</respStmt>

<resp>intellectual authorship of edition</resp>

<forename>Dániel</forename>

<surname>Balogh</surname>

</persName>

</respStmt>

</titleStmt>

<authority>DHARMA</authority>

<pubPlace>Berlin</pubPlace>

<idno type="filename">DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00105</idno>

<p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported

Licence. To view a copy of the licence, visit

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ or send a letter to

Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View,

California, 94041, USA.</p>

</licence>

</availability>

</publicationStmt>

<repository>DHARMAbase</repository>

<idno/>

</msIdentifier>

</msContents>

<summary><p>Anusvāra is usually a small dot at headline level, sometimes a small circle at median level. Short and long dependent ī are barely distinguishable, the latter being open at the bottom left, the former being normally closed into a circle. Final M is a reduced and simplified old-style ma. The plates are written in a very clumsy hand. The last line, squeezed into insufficient vertical space, begins with an indent of about 3 characters and skips many spots where there are descenders from the penultimate line.

</p></summary>

<!-- If you need to identify individual hands (EG §7.5/) in addition to one or more paragraphs of general palaeographic description, wrap <summary> around the <p> or <p>s above, and, outside <summary>, create <handNote> elements for each hand as follows:

-->

<handNote xml:id="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00105_hand1">A rather clumsy hand as described in the summary. The bottoms of rounded character bodies (particularly ma; also va and dha) are notched.</handNote>

<handNote xml:id="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00105_hand2">A very similar hand, possibly the same scribe in more haste. Character formation and ductus are similar, but the writing is much more compressed and the bottoms of rounded character bodies are not notched.</handNote>

</handDesc>

</physDesc>

</msDesc>

</sourceDesc>

</fileDesc>

<p>The project DHARMA has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC)

under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant

agreement no 809994).</p>

</projectDesc>

<p>Public URIs with the prefix bib to point to a Zotero Group Library named

ERC-DHARMA whose data are open to the public.</p>

</prefixDef>

<p>Internal URIs using the part prefix to point to person elements in the

<ref>DHARMA_IdListMembers_v01.xml</ref> file.</p>

</prefixDef>

</listPrefixDef>

</encodingDesc>

<change who="part:daba" when="2025-09-29" status="draft">Initial encoding of the file</change>

</revisionDesc>

</teiHeader>

<body>

<p><pb n="1v"/><lb n="1"/><handShift new="#DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00105_hand1"/>svasti<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago<lb n="2" break="no"/>trā<unclear>ṇā</unclear>ṁ hāriti-putrāṇāṁ kauś<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice>k<choice><sic>i</sic><corr>ī</corr></choice>-vara-prasāda-labdha-r<unclear>ā</unclear><choice><sic>bdha</sic><corr>jyā</corr></choice>nā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> <lb n="3"/>mātr̥<space type="binding-hole"/>-gaṇa-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānu<lb n="4" break="no"/>ddhyā<space type="binding-hole"/>tānā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> bhagavan-nārāya<choice><sic>nā</sic><corr>ṇa</corr></choice>-prasāda-samāsād<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice>ta-vara-va<lb n="5" break="no"/>rāha-lā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied>chanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥tārāt<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice>-maṇḍalā<choice><sic>ṇa</sic><corr>nā</corr></choice>ṁ Aśva<pb n="2r" break="no"/><lb n="6" break="no"/><unclear>medhā</unclear>vabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitr<choice><sic>i</sic><corr>ī</corr></choice>kr̥ta-vapu<choice><sic>p</sic><corr>ṣ</corr></choice>āṁ caḷukyā<choice><sic>ṇa</sic><corr>nā</corr></choice>ṁ kula<supplied reason="omitted">m a</supplied><lb n="7" break="no"/>la<unclear>ṁ</unclear>kariṣṇor vvividha-yu<supplied reason="omitted">d</supplied>dha-labdha-yaśa<supplied reason="omitted">saḥ</supplied> śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana-mahārājasya <lb n="8"/><unclear>pau</unclear><space type="binding-hole"/>traḥ para-nr̥pati-makuṭa-taṭa-ghaṭitāneka-maṇi-kiraṇa<lb n="9" break="no"/>-rāga-ra<space type="binding-hole"/>ñj<choice><sic>ī</sic><corr>i</corr></choice>ta-caraṇa-yuga<choice><orig>ḷ</orig><reg>l</reg></choice>a<choice><sic>ḥ</sic><corr>sya</corr></choice> Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-<supplied reason="omitted">ka</supplied><choice><orig>ḷ</orig><reg>l</reg></choice>adhau<lb n="10" break="no"/>ta-dāna-<choice><sic>s</sic><corr>p</corr></choice>ūta-śarīra<choice><sic>ḥ</sic><corr>sya</corr></choice> samasta-bhuvanāśraya-<unclear>ś</unclear>rī-<unclear>v</unclear>ijayādi <pb n="2v"/><lb n="11"/><handShift new="#DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00105_hand2"/>-<unclear>śrī</unclear>-ma<unclear>ṁgi</unclear>-yuvarājasya putraḥ samatiś<choice><orig>ai</orig><reg>ayi</reg></choice>ta-pitr̥-guṇa-śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-<unclear>pra</unclear><lb n="12" break="no"/>jā-pālana-paraḫ parama-brahmaṇya<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhy<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice>taḥ samasta-bhuvanāśra<lb n="13" break="no"/>ya-śrī-<unclear>vi</unclear><space type="binding-hole"/><unclear>ṣṇu</unclear>varddhana-mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭ<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice>rakaḥ <unclear>A</unclear>ttili-viṣaye <lb n="14"/>Ariye<space type="binding-hole"/>ṟu nāma grāme rāṣ<choice><sic>p</sic><corr>ṭ</corr></choice>rakūṭa-pramukhāN sva-viṣaya-vā<unclear>si</unclear>naḥ kuṭu<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied>binaḥ sarvvā<unclear>n ittha</unclear><lb n="15" break="no"/>m ājṇāpayati</p>

<p>viditam astu vo <supplied reason="subaudible">’</supplied>smābhiḥ padminy-agrahāra-vāstavyāya pāt<choice><orig>ā</orig><reg>a</reg></choice>ñjala-sa<unclear>go</unclear><lb n="16" break="no"/>trāya Akhilātharvva-veda-vid<choice><orig>āya</orig><reg>e</reg></choice> sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ pautrāya <unclear cert="low">vi</unclear>nyiśarmmaṇaḫ putr<choice><sic>a</sic><corr>ā</corr></choice>ya <unclear reason="eccentric_ductus">n</unclear>ūriśarmma<unclear cert="low">ṇe</unclear> <lb n="17"/><unclear>divya-s</unclear>āmpadādi-karmma-vid<choice><orig>āya</orig><reg>e</reg></choice> <unclear>sūryya-gra</unclear>haṇa-ni<supplied reason="omitted">mi</supplied>t<supplied reason="omitted">t</supplied>e nivarttana-dvayaṁ kṣetram u<supplied reason="lost">daka</supplied><pb n="3r" break="no"/><lb n="18" break="no"/>-pūr<choice><sic>ddh</sic><corr>vv</corr></choice>van <choice><sic>y</sic><corr>d</corr></choice>atta<unclear>M</unclear> Āvāsa-nikaṭa-sahitaM</p>

<p>Asya <unclear>kṣe</unclear>trasya s<choice><sic><unclear>o</unclear></sic><corr>ī</corr></choice>mantāḥ<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> pūrvvataḥ tā<lb n="19" break="no"/>mararvvā<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> dakṣiṇata<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> duttiśa<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied>mmaṇaḥ kṣetraM<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> paścimata<supplied reason="omitted">ḥ</supplied> grāma-kṣetra<supplied reason="omitted">M</supplied><supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> Uttarataḥ pambi<unclear reason="eccentric_ductus" cert="low">kh</unclear>o<lb n="20" break="no"/>rāvi<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> A<space type="binding-hole"/>s<unclear>y</unclear>opari na kenacid <unclear>b</unclear>ādhā karttavyā<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai<lb n="21" break="no"/>s saṁyu<space type="binding-hole"/>kto bhavati<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> tathā vyāsenāpy uktaM</p>

<l n="a">bahubhi<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied> vvasudhā dattā</l>

<l n="b">bahubhi<lb n="22" break="no"/>ś cānupālitā<unclear>||</unclear></l>

<l n="c">yasya yasya yadā bhūmis</l>

<l n="d">tasya tasya tadā phalaM||</l>

</lg>

<l n="a">sva-dat<unclear>t</unclear>ā<lb n="23" break="no"/>m para-dattā<unclear>ṁ</unclear> vā</l>

<l n="b">yo ha<choice><sic>k</sic><corr>r</corr></choice>eta vasundharā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied></l>

<l n="c">ṣaṣ<choice><sic>ṭh</sic><corr>ṭ</corr></choice>i-va<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied>ṣṣa-sahasrāṇi</l>

<l n="d">viṣṭhāyā<supplied reason="omitted">ṁ</supplied> jā<unclear>ya</unclear><lb n="24" break="no"/>te kr̥miḥ||</l>

</lg>

<p>Ājñaptir asya dha<supplied reason="omitted">r</supplied>mmasya nissaramiṇyi</p>

</div>

</div>

<div type="textpart" n="B"><head xml:lang="eng">Plates</head>

</app>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">vapuṣāṁ</rdg>

</app>

<lem>kula<supplied reason="omitted">m a</supplied> <lb n="7" break="no"/>la<unclear>ṁ</unclear>kariṣṇor</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">kulam ā<lb n="7" break="no"/><unclear>laṁ</unclear>kariṣṇor</rdg>

<note>The top right corner of the plate is broken off. The blurred marks near the corner may perhaps be remnants of <foreign>ma</foreign> (or <foreign>mā</foreign> as per MDS), but if a character had ever been present here, it must have been very small. Scribal omission is more likely.</note>

</app>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">yaśaś śrī-</rdg>

</app>

</app>

<lem>-<unclear>v</unclear>ijayādi-</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01 bib:Sampath2016_01">-vijayādi<supplied reason="omitted">tya</supplied>-</rdg>

<note>The name Vijayāditya is not applied to Maṅgi Yuvarāja anywhere else, so I prefer not to restore it here. See the commentary.</note>

</app>

<lem>samyak-<unclear>pra</unclear><lb n="12" break="no"/>jā-pālana-paraḫ parama-</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01"><gap reason="illegible" quantity="2" unit="character"/><lb n="12" break="no"/>jāpāla<gap reason="illegible" quantity="3" unit="character"/>ṟparama-</rdg>

</app>

<lem>-śrī-<unclear>vi</unclear><space type="binding-hole"/><unclear>ṣṇu</unclear>varddhana-</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">-viṣṇuvarddhana-</rdg>

</app>

<lem>Ariye<space type="binding-hole"/>ṟu</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01 bib:Sampath2016_01">Ariyeḍu</rdg>

</app>

<lem>rāṣ<choice><sic>p</sic><corr>ṭ</corr></choice>rakūṭa-</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">rāṣṭrakūṭa-</rdg>

</app>

<lem>sūkiśarmmaṇaḫ</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01 bib:Sampath2016_01">sūriśarmmaṇaḫ</rdg>

<note>The intended name may have been Sūriśarman, but the <foreign>k</foreign> is certain in the estampage. Cf. <foreign>haketa</foreign> in line 23 and the grandson's name later in this line.</note>

</app>

<lem>pautrāya <unclear cert="low">vi</unclear>nyiśarmmaṇaḫ</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01"><unclear>pautrāya na</unclear>nyiśarmmaṇaḫ</rdg>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">pautrāyan-Angiśarmmaṇaḥ</rdg>

<note>The character I tentatively read as <foreign>vi</foreign> may well be <foreign>na</foreign>, as well as a number of other things. The next character is beyond doubt <foreign>nyi</foreign>. I am unable to guess the exact reading MDS had in mind and cite his transliteration to the letter.</note>

</app>

<lem><unclear reason="eccentric_ductus">n</unclear>ūriśarmma<unclear cert="low">ṇe</unclear></lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01 bib:Sampath2016_01">sūriśarmmaṇe</rdg>

<note>The intended name may have been Sūriśarman, but the consonant looks like <foreign>n</foreign>. Cf. the grandfather's name earlier in this line.</note>

</app>

<lem><unclear>divya-s</unclear>āmpadādi-karmma-</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01">divya-sāṁpradāyādi-karmma-</rdg>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01"><unclear>divya</unclear>-sārmmadādi-karmma-</rdg>

<note>The reading is reasonably clear for the first two characters and certain for the rest, but I cannot confidently interpret it. I wonder if <foreign>divya-sāmpādika-karmma</foreign> may have been intended.</note>

</app>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">nimitte</rdg>

</app>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">udaka-</rdg>

<note>The broken-off corner of the plate is too small to have accommodated two lost characters comfortably. Either they were very small, or only one was inscribed and the other omitted by the scribe. MDS is unlikely to have seen those characters, since SS also shows them as lost and supplied.</note>

</app>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">-pūrvvvam dattaM</rdg>

</app>

<lem>s<choice><sic><unclear>o</unclear></sic><corr>ī</corr></choice>mantāḥ</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">sīmāntāḥ</rdg>

</app>

<lem>tā<lb n="19" break="no"/>mararvvā</lem>

<rdg source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01">tā<lb n="19" break="no"/>maravvā<supplied reason="omitted">ḍa</supplied></rdg>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">tā<lb n="19" break="no"/>maravvāḍa</rdg>

<note>I assume that the (silent) emendation by the Telugu-speaking previous scholars is meaningful.</note>

</app>

<lem source="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01">pambi<unclear reason="eccentric_ductus" cert="low">kh</unclear>o<lb n="20" break="no"/>rāvi</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">tā<lb n="19" break="no"/>sannidhi-ko<lb n="20" break="no"/>rāvi</rdg>

<note>The initial <foreign>pa</foreign> might be read <foreign>ṣa</foreign>, but this is likewise true of other <foreign>pa</foreign>-s on the page. SS is probably correct in reading <foreign>kh</foreign> for the last consonant in line 19; a similar glyph for <foreign>kh</foreign> is attested in some early plates of the dynasty, but was here probably misinterpreted by the engraver as <foreign>g</foreign> with a subscript <foreign>v</foreign> or <foreign>dh</foreign>.</note>

</app>

<lem><unclear>b</unclear>ādhā karttavyā<supplied reason="subaudible">.</supplied> yaẖ karoti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakai<lb n="21" break="no"/>s saṁyu<space type="binding-hole"/>kto bhavati</lem>

<rdg source="bib:Sampath2016_01">bādhaḥ-karttavyāyaḥ-kāriti sa pañcabhir mmahā-pātakam<lb n="21" break="no"/>s saṁyukto rbbavati</rdg>

</app>

</listApp>

</div>

<p n="1-15">Greetings. The grandson of His Majesty King <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>mahārāja</foreign></supplied> Viṣṇuvardhana<note>The subsequent reference to Maṅgi Yuvarāja suggests that this sould be Viṣṇuvardhana II, but see the commentary for the problems with the genealogy in this charter.</note> who acquired glory in diverse battles and who was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Calukyas—who are of the Mānavya <foreign>gotra</foreign> which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hāriti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed <supplied reason="explanation">to kingship</supplied> by Lord Mahāsena, to whom the realms of adversaries instantaneously submit at the mere sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>avabhr̥tha</foreign></supplied> of the Aśvamedha sacrifice—; the dear son of His Majesty Vijayādi His Majesty Maṅgi Yuvarāja,<note>See the commentary on this anomalous name.</note> shelter of the entire universe <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>samasta-bhuvanāśraya</foreign></supplied>, whose pair of feet are tinted by the hues of the rays from the many gems fitted to the surfaces of the crowns of enemy kings, whose body has been purified by the donation of gold weighed in many a balance scale:<note>That is, gold weighed on a scale against his body, the <foreign>tulāpuruṣa mahādāna</foreign>. </note> <supplied reason="subaudible">namely</supplied> His Majesty the supremely pious Supreme Lord <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>parameśvara</foreign></supplied> of Emperors <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>mahārājādhirāja</foreign></supplied> and Sovereign <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>bhaṭṭāraka</foreign></supplied> Viṣṇuvardhana, shelter of the entire universe <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>samasta-bhuvanāśraya</foreign></supplied>, who was deliberately appointed <supplied reason="subaudible">as heir</supplied> by his mother and father, thoroughly surpassing the virtues of his father, endowed with power <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>śakti</foreign></supplied>, bent on competently protecting his subjects, commands all householders <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>kuṭumbin</foreign></supplied>—including foremost the territorial overseers <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>rāṣṭrakūṭa</foreign></supplied>—who reside in the village named Ariyeṟu in Attili district <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>viṣaya</foreign></supplied> as follows.</p>

<p n="15-18">Let it be known to you that to <seg cert="low">S</seg>ūriśarman, a resident of the Padminī brahmanical holding <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>agrahāra</foreign></supplied>, belonging to the Pātañjala <foreign>gotra</foreign>, who is learned in the entire Atharvaveda and familiar with the rituals <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>karma</foreign></supplied> <foreign>divya</foreign> and <foreign>sāmpada</foreign> and so forth,<note>I am unable to identify these rituals. It is also possible that “divine and efficacious rituals” were intended; see the apparatus to line 17.</note> the grandson of Sū<seg cert="low">r</seg>iśarman and son of <seg cert="low">Vi</seg>nyiśarman, we have given on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun, <supplied reason="subaudible">the donation being</supplied> sanctified by <supplied reason="explanation">a libation of</supplied> water and exempt from all taxes, a field of <supplied reason="subaudible">an extent of</supplied> two <foreign>nivartana</foreign>s, together with a homestead nearby.</p>

<p n="18-21">The boundaries of this field <supplied reason="subaudible">are as follows</supplied>. To the east, <seg cert="low">Tāmararvvā</seg>. To the south, the field of Duttiśarman. To the west, the field of the village. To the north, <seg cert="low">Pambikhorāvi</seg>. Let no-one pose an obstacle <supplied reason="explanation">to the enjoyment of rights</supplied> over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. So Vyāsa has said:</p>

<p rend="stanza" n="1">Many <supplied reason="explanation">kings</supplied> have granted land, and many have preserved it <supplied reason="explanation">as formerly granted</supplied>. Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit <seg rend="pun">reward <supplied reason="explanation">accrued of granting it</supplied></seg> belongs to him at that time.</p>

<p rend="stanza" n="2">He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty millennia.</p>

<p n="24">The executor <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>ājñapti</foreign></supplied> of this this provision <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>dharma</foreign></supplied> is Nissaramiṇyi.</p>

</div>

<p>This charter could be called the Ariyeṟu grant, but in order to distinguish it more clearly from the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00093.xml">Ariyeṟa grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III</ref>, I refer to it, along with earlier editors, as the Gaṇapavaram plates.</p>

<p>Between the end of plate 2 recto and the beginning of plate 2 verso, the text changes abruptly. The scribal hand changes only a little (see the palaeographic description), but the number of lines per plate is five up to this point and seven after it, and the number of characters per line also increases by 25% or more. There is also a glitch in the text, with <foreign>samasta-bhuvanāśraya-śrī-vijayādi</foreign> unfinished, then followed by <foreign>śrī-maṁgi-yuvarājasya</foreign>. Note that <foreign>śrī</foreign> is not normally used twice in a name, and that <foreign>samasta-bhuvanāśraya</foreign> first occurs for Vijayāditya I and is nowhere else employed as an epithet of Maṅgi Yuvarāja (who is <foreign>sarva-lokāśraya</foreign>). It is likewise incompatible with Viṣṇuvardhana III (also <foreign>sarva-lokāśraya</foreign>). </p>

<p>The primary byname of Maṅgi Yuvarāja is <foreign>vijaya-siddhi</foreign><note>in the text of four of the five known complete charters attributable to him with certainty (<ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00014.xml">Nutulapaṟu grant</ref>, <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00048.xml">London plates</ref>, <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00050.xml">Cendalūr plates</ref>, <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00072.xml">Elūru grant</ref>) and on the seal of all five (the fifth being the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00090.xml">Peñceṟekuru grant</ref>), as well as in numerous grants of his successors</note>, so the characters vijayādi may be a misinterpretation of vijaya-siddhi traced on the plate for the engraver to carve. If the tracing had been faint or smudged, then si may have been mistaken by the artisan for an ā mātrā attached to ya, and the subscript dh of the next character may have been overlooked. This hypothesis, however, does not explain the other striking anomalies in the text.</p>

<p>The text up to the abrupt transition at the end of line 10 is literally identical to two grants (the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00084.xml">Permmañcili grant </ref> and the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00085.xml">Ḻūḷā grant</ref>; in the former, the ends of the first five lines are lost but can be confidently restored on the basis of the latter) that can be attributed with confidence to Viṣṇuvardhana IV (with a very slight chance that they belong to Viṣṇuvardhana V). This section of texts includes phrases found nowhere else in the corpus, such as <foreign>aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-kaḷadhauta-dāna-pūta-śarīraḥ</foreign> and <foreign>samatiśayita-pitr̥-guṇaḥ śakti-sampannaḥ samyak-prajā-pālana-paraḥ</foreign> (with <foreign>-paraḥ</foreign> missing, presumably by mistake, in the two cited grants). In the two grants cited, the text continues with <foreign>vijayāditya-mahārājasya priya-tanayaḥ</foreign> (corresponding to <foreign>vijayādi śrī-maṁgi-yuvarājasya putraḥ</foreign> in the present grant), and is then again identical up to the name of the district, except for the anomalous <foreign>samasta-bhuvanāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddhana</foreign> of the present grant, for which the other two have the expected <foreign>sarvva-lokāśraya-śrī-viṣnuvarddhana</foreign>.</p>

<p>The royal style <foreign>mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara-bhaṭṭāraka</foreign> is never used in the corpus before Vijayāditya I. The phrase <foreign>ājñaptir asya dharmasya</foreign> (an <foreign>anuṣṭubh</foreign> quarter) is common in the grants of Vijayāditya I and recurs in some of his successors’ charters (including the two grants of Viṣṇuvardhana IV noted for their similarity to the present grant), but is not reliably attested before his time.<note>The phrase occurs in the probably spurious <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00088.xml">Pamiḍimukkala plates (set 1) of Viṣṇuvardhana II, year 3</ref> and the possibly spurious <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00092.xml">Pasapubaṟṟu grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III</ref> .</note> The name of the executor Nissaramiṇyi, however, is attested (with variations and/or illegible details) in grants by Maṅgi Yuvarāja<note>The <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00014.xml">Nutulapaṟu grant</ref>, where Fleet reads <foreign>nissarami<unclear cert="low">ji</unclear></foreign> (no visual documentation available) and the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00048.xml">London plates</ref> where the reading is fairly certainly <foreign>nissāramiṇḍi</foreign></note> and Jayasiṁha II,<note>The <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00060.xml">Cendaṟa grant</ref>, where Ramesan reads <foreign>vissarami<gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/></foreign> but the correct reading is more likely <foreign>nissarami</foreign> followed by a single character which is very probably <foreign>ṇi</foreign> with a lost subscript component </note> so he may have been active in the early part of Viṣṇuvardhana III’s reign, but certainly not under any later king.</p>

<p>These discrepancies, coupled with the absence of a seal and my observation that the first two seem to be slightly hourglass-shaped, while the third is rather rectangular (although whether they are truly different is difficult to assess from the estampages), imply that the charter is in some way spurious. Up to line 10, our inscription is probably a genuine charter of Viṣṇuvardhana IV that had been left unfinished, or was copied verbatim from such a charter. The rest of the text appears to have been clumsily edited to give it a semblance of earliness, substituting the name of Maṅgi Yuvarāja into the introduction of Vijayāditya I, using the wrong cognomen for the issuer, and substituting the probably misspelled name of a long-ago courtier into a modern phrase introducing the executor. The contents of the executive section may be fraudulent, but they may also represent a legitimate (though careless) reissue of an older grant. The similarity of the writing in the two sections suggests that the second part was written not long after the first, probably in the same workshop, and possibly by the same scribe.</p>

</div>

<p>Reported in <bibl><ptr target="bib:ARIE1924-1925"/><citedRange unit="page">7</citedRange><citedRange unit="appendix">A/1924-25</citedRange><citedRange unit="item">3</citedRange></bibl>.<note>This is not the <ref target="DHARMA_INSVengiCalukya00093.xml">Ariyēṟa grant of Viṣṇuvardhana III</ref> which has not been reported in ARIE.</note> Published in Telugu by Mallampalli Somasekhara Sarma (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:SomasekharaSarma1924_01"/></bibl>) with facsimiles. Edited in English by M. D. Sampath (<bibl rend="omitname"><ptr target="bib:Sampath2016_01"/><citedRange unit="item">2</citedRange></bibl>) without facsimiles and without translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on estampages preserved at the ASI, Mysore, collated with Sampath's edition.<note>Sampath's edition has numerous (presumed) typos and minor errors, which are not shown in the apparatus here. Where I do show his readings, I arbitrarily interpret his inconsistent bracket-based markup as he presumably intended.</note> Readings by Somasekhara Sarma are only shown for problematic loci.</p>

</listBibl>

</listBibl>

</div>

</body>

</text>

</TEI>