Texts

Texts database last updated .

This interface allows you to look for texts in the DHARMA collection. The search form below can be used for filtering results. Matching is case-insensitive, does not take diacritics into account, and looks for substrings instead of terms. For instance, the query edit matches "edition" or "meditation". To look for a phrase, surround it with double quotes, as in "old javanese". Searching for strings that contain less than three characters is not possible.

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Note the use of quotation marks: the query editor:"emmanuel francis" matches all documents edited by Emmanuel Francis, but the query editor:emmanuel francis matches all documents edited by someone called Emmanuel and that also include the name Francis in any metadata field.

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Documents 51–100 of 2207 matching.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: At this temple there are two stones with fragmentary inscriptions. One of them is dated “in the fifty-second year of Ko-Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.”

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0108.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Both pillars of this aḷavukkal1 bear fragments of ancient inscriptions. That on the right pillar belongs to the time of some Ko-Parakesarivarman. It deserves to be noted that, in line 3, the syllable ṟā is written ṟā [[றா]], and not ṟā [[prereform ṟā as a single glyph]] as in modern Tamil.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0109.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0010.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This temple contains three fragmentary inscriptions in archaic characters.

This inscription records some gift, which the assembly (sabhā) of Velūr, alias Parameśvara-maṅgalam, made to the god Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara.1

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0110.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription seems to record another gift of the sabhā of Velūr. It mentions Śemmaṇpākkam (the modern Śembākkam) and Rājendra-Choḷeśvara,1 evidently the name of the temple itself.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0111.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription mentions both Rājendra-Choḷeśvara1 and Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara.2 The fragment seems to begin with a description of the boundaries of some gift, in which the term Piḍāri-paṭṭi3 occurs.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0112.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: There are three stones with almost illegible inscriptions built into the wall of this temple. Two of them contain the subjoined fragment, which may be read with the help of the nearly identical Paḍaveḍu inscription No. 81. The inscription seems to have belonged to Devarāja II. of Vijayanagara, the son of Vīra-Vijayarāya-mahārāyar. The latter is identical with Vijaya or Vīra-Vijaya, who, according to No. 153, below, was the son of Devarāja I. and the father of Devarāja II. The inscriptions of Devarāja II. which are published above (Nos. 54, 56, 79, 80 and 81) range between the current Śaka years 1348 and 1372.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0113.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Besides the inscription published under No. 55, above, this temple bears another much defaced inscription, which is engraved on the east wall and consists of seven lines. The date is the Vishu year, which was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1443. According to the third and fourth lines, the inscription seems to have recorded a grant, which Tirumalai-nāyaka made to the temple of Virūpāksha-nāyaṉār at Veppambaṭṭu in Āndi-nāḍu; line 4 also mentions Paḍaivīḍu.1 The passage alluded to runs as follows:

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0114.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara Immaḍi-Narasiṁharāyamahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).1

2. Date: Śaka 1418 expired2 and the Rākshasa year current.

3. Donor: Periya-Timmarāśa-uḍaiyar.

4. Remark: The inscription mentions a maṇḍapa, which Eṟama-nāyaka caused to be built at Tiru-Viriñchipuram.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0115.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. Date: the Nandana year (i.e., Śaka 1395).

2. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara Gaṇḍaṉ Kaṭṭā[ri] Sāḷuva Dharaṇivarāha Narasiṁharāya-uḍaiyar (of Vijayanagara).

3. Donee: Uḍaiyar Vaṛittuṇai-nāyaṉār1 of Tiru-Viriñchipuram.

4. Remark: The inscription mentions some nāyaka, the son of another nāyaka; the names of both are obliterated.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0116.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: Sakalalokachakravartin Rājanārāyaṇa.1

2. Remark: The inscription mentions Āndi-nāḍu.2

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0117.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahārājādhirāja, the illustrious Vīrapratāpa-[Achyutadeva]-mahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).1

2. Date: Śaka 1463 expired and the Plava year current.

3. Remark: The inscription mentions Kishṇama-nāyaka and the temple of Uḍaiyar Vaṛittuṇai-nāyaṉār at Tiru-Viriñchipuram.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0118.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Medinīśvara Gaṇḍa Kaṭṭāri Sāḷuva-sāḷuva Narasiṁhadeva (of Vijayanagara).

2. Date: Śaka 1404 expired and the Śubhakṛit year current.

3. Denor: Nāgama-nāyaka.

4. Donee: Uḍaiyār Vaṛittuṇai-nāyaṉār of Tiru-Viruñchapuram.

5. Remark: The inscription mentions the villages of Paśumarattūr and Veppūr.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0119.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription in Pallava-Grantha characters is much obliterated. Of the king’s name, only the epithet or surname ‘Mahāmalla’ is preserved, and the record has to be assigned to king Narasiṁhavarman I of the Pallava dynasty of Kāñchī. It is dated in the 13th year of the king’s reign. From the characters it may be ascribed to about the 7th century A.D. Bādāmi is herein mentioned under the ancient name of ‘Vātāpi.’ According to Dr. Fleet, the present inscription will have to be assigned to the end of the reign of Pulakēśin II.1

(Published in Ind. Ant., Vol. IX, p 99. The revised text of the inscription is given below with a plate).

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv11p0i0001.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0011.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. Date: Śālivāhana-Śaka 1457 expired and the Nandana year current.1

2. King: the illustrious mahārājādhirāja-parameśvara Achyutadeva-mahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).

3. Donee: Mārgasahāya-deva2 of Iriñchipuram (!).

4. Remarks: The inscription mentions Śiṟaleri (see No. 123). The grant seems to have consisted of a number of kuṛis of land and to have been made for the benefit of two Brāhmaṇas, Timmappayaṉ and Śaivādirāyar Vasantarāya-guru, who taught the Ṛik-śākhā and Yajuḥ-śākhā respectively. The second donee belonged to the Bhāradvāja-gotra and followed the Bodhāyana-sūtra.3

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0120.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara,1 the illustrious Vīrapratāpa, (the younger brother and successor of) Vīra-Narasiṁha-deva, Kṛishṇadeva-mahārāya (of Vijayanagara).2

2. Date: Śaka 1435 expired and the Śrīmukha year current.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0121.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. Date: Śaka 1432 [expired] and the Pramodūta1 year current.

2. Remark: The name of the king is entirely effaced; but the inscription begins with the same birudas, as were borne by the king Kṛishṇadeva of the inscription No. 121.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0122.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara rājādhirāja rājaparameśvara, the illustrious Achyutadeva-mahārāyar or Achyutarāya (of Vijayanagara).

2. Date: Śaka 1454 expired1and the Nandana year current.

3. Donee: Uḍaiyār Vaṛittuṇai-nāyaṉār or Śrī-Viriñcheśvara.

4. Donor: the karaṇikka (= karaṇam) Vīrappayaṉ or Vīraya, who belonged to the Gautamānvaya.

5. Object of the grant: (a) the village of Śiṟaleri within the boundaries (sīmā) of Kāvanūr;2 (b) the village of Vīraraśūr, excluding the agrahāra of Kīṛai-Vīraraśūr and including the open (i.e., unfortified) place (liṟappu) of Aṅgarāyaṉ-kuppam.3

6. Remark: The inscription mentions the maṇḍapa of Śamburāyaṉ, which may have formed part of the Viriñchipuram temple.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0123.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This and the next inscription belong to the same king, as No. 108. The present inscription is dated “in the ninth year of Ko-Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.”

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0124.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated “in the forty-seventh year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.”

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0125.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated in the third (?) year of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesarivarman.1

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0126.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The stone, which bears the subjoined inscription, is unfortunately very much worn. The text, as far as it can be made out, runs as follows: [[see below]]

An inscription of the same Rājendra-deva, which is dated in the ninth year and is found in a niche of the Varāhasvāmin Temple at Māmallapuram, was published by Sir Walter Elliot.1 He identified Āhavamalla with the Western Chālukya king Āhavamalla II. or Someśvara I. (about Śaka 964 to about 990), who, according to inscriptions2 and according to the Vikramāṅkacharita (sarga i, verses 90, 115, 116), fought with the Choḷas. The Rājendra-deva of the present inscription and of Sir Walter Elliot’s inscription may be identified with that Rājendra-deva of the Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter Madhurāntakī was married to the Eastern Chalukya king Rājendra-Choḍa (Śaka 985 to 1034) according to verse 12 of the Chellūr grant (No. 39).3

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0127.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription mentions Sakalalokachakravartin Rājanārāyaṇa Śambuvarāya[ṉ]1 and seems to record a gift to Vaṛittuṇai-appaṉ.2

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0128.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: On this stone, the name of Śambuvarāya and part of one of his birudas (Aṛagiya) are visible; see the introduction of the Poygai inscriptions (Nos. 59 to 64).

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0129.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0012.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The southern wall of this temple is covered with several Choḷa inscriptions. None of them can be made out completely, as the letters are much obliterated, and as the stones are, to all appearance, not in their original order.

This is dated “in the 11th (?) year of Ko-Rājakesarivarman, alias Chakravartin Śrī-Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva.”

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0130.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is engraved to the right of No. 130 and may have been intended for its continuation. It records a gift of land from the inhabitants of Aimbūṇḍi (the modern Ammuṇḍi)1 to their Śiva temple, which bore the name of Muppaṉaiyīśvara. The gift was made before the god Ādidāsa Chaṇḍeśvara-deva.2

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0131.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated “in the 10th (?) year of Tribhuvanachakravartin Koṉeri Meṉ-koṇḍa Kulottuṅga-Śoṛa-deva.” The donor was Śeṅgeṇi-Ammaiyappa . . . . Perumāḷ, alias Vikrama-Śoṛa-Śambuvarāyaṉ.1

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0132.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated during the reign of Vīra-Veṅkaṭapatirāyar and in the Śrīmukha year. This is Śaka 1556, two years before No. 107 and three years before an inscription of Veṅkaṭa II. published in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIII, p. 125. The inscription records that Govindappa-nāyaka caused the maṇḍapa to be built and allotted some land in Kaṛaṉipākkam for the maṇḍapa, which was to be used as a watershed and sattram.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0133.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: At this village, there are four stones with sculptures and rough inscriptions. The sculptures are the following:—on stone No. 134, a man with a bow; on stone No. 135, an elephant and a bird; on stone No. 136, an armed man; and on stone No. 137, a man fighting with a tiger.

This and the next inscription are dated in the third and eighteenth year, respectively, of Ko-Vijaya-Narasiṁhavarman.1

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0134.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0135.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This and the next inscription are dated in the twenty-ninth and thirty-second year, respectively, of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesarivarman.1

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0136.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0137.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Veṅkaṭadeva-mahārāyar.1

2. Date: Śaka 15[2]4 expired and the Śubhakṛit year current.

3. Donor: Bommu-nāyaṉ Nāṅgama-nāyaka,2 i.e., Nāṅgama-nāyaka, the son of Bommu-nāyaka.3

4. Donee: the Vīra Temple at Mariḷiyappaṭṭu.4

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0138.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated in the Durmati1 year, which was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1554. The third symbol of the Śaka date is not quite clear. There is a mistake either in the Śaka or in the cyclic year, as the only Durmati year of the 16th century corresponded to the current Śaka year 1544. The inscription mentions the temple of Raṅganātha-Perumāḷ at Paḷḷikoṇḍai.2

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0139.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0013.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: 1. King: the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara, the illustrious Sadāśivadeva-mahārāyar (of Vijayanagara).1

2. Date: Śālivāhana-Śaka 1489 expired and the Prabhava year current.

3. Donee: the liṅga of Mārgasahāya2 at Tiru-Viriñchapuram.

Language: Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0140.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The inscription is a fragment, dated in some year of Rājarāja-deva.1 In the second line the word Śoṛa-koṉ, “the Choḷa king,” occurs.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0141.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The beginning of both lines of this inscription is buried underground. From that part, which I have copied, it appears that the inscription refers to some gift (mānya, i.e., sarvamānya). At the beginning of the second line, the word paḍaivīḍu occurs in the plural and seems to be used in the sense of “encampments.”1 The inscription ends with “the signature of Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-Brahmā-rāyaṉ”; the same name is borne by a villageaccountant in a Tirumalai inscription.2

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0142.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is an incorrect duplicate of the first four lines of No. 81, above.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0143.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Besides the fragments noticed below, the shrine of Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara and its mahāmaṇḍapa contain a number of fragments in the Grantha character, which must have belonged to one or more inscriptions in Sanskrit verse and prose. One of the fragments, which is found on the floor of the mahāmaṇḍapa and which consists of 10 lines, mentions the Choḷas in the genitive case (coḷānām, line 3). A second fragment, which is found on the roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa, consists also of 10 lines and seems to be connected with the first. It mentions Choḷa-Triṇetra (lines 1 and 10) and three Eastern Chalukya kings, viz., [Vijay]āditya-Guṇakāṅga, Chāḷukya-Bhīma and Kollavigaṇḍa1 (line 3). The name of V[ai]dumba, a king who is known to have been conquered by the Choḷa king Parāntaka I.,2 occurs at the beginning of line 5. In lines 7 and 8, (the temple of the god) Bhīmeśvara is mentioned. The 8th line of both fragments seems to have contained a date in the Śaka era, of which the first number was 9 and the third was 3.3 A third fragment, which is found on the floor of the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Shrine and consists of 49 lines, mentions the Eastern Chalukya king Dānārṇava4 (line 17) and the Choḷa king Karikāla-Choḷa5 (line 38) and contains a long list of birudas of some king. Another list of birudas is contained in a fourth fragment, which is found on the roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa and consists of 30 lines. There is a fifth fragment in 9 lines on the roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa. Two small fragments, each of which contains 8 lines, are found near the window, which opens from the mahāmaṇḍapa into the front maṇḍapa.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0144.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Each line of this inscription is incomplete at the end. It is dated during the reign of Madirai-koṇḍa Ko-Parakesari[varman].1 Line 2 mentions “the holy stone-temple” (Tirukkaṟṟaḷi), i.e., the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple.2 According to lines 3 and 4, the inscription seems to have recorded an agreement made by the inhabitants of two quarters (śeri) of Kachchippeḍu (i.e., Kāñchīpuram), of which the second was called Ekavīrappāḍichcheri and the name of the first also ended in ppāḍichcheri. The term paḷḷichchandam3 occurs in line 5.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0145.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This fragment is dated in the twelfth year of Ko-Rāja-Rājakesarivarman, “who built a jewel (-like) hall at Kāndaḷūr.” The mention of Kāndaḷūr shows, that the king has to be identified with that Rājarāja-deva, who caused the inscriptions Nos. 40, 41 and 66 to be engraved, and that he built the hall at Kāndaḷūr before his twelfth year. The inscription seems to have recorded, that the assembly (sabhā) of some village pledged themselves, to furnish a yearly supply of paddy to the temple-treasurers (Śiva-paṇḍārigaḷ) from the interest of a sum of money,1 which they had received from “the large holy stone-temple, alias Rājasiṁheśvara, at Kāñchipuram,” or to pay a fine of a quarter poṉ daily. The document is signed by [Pu]ṟambi Sūrya of Tiruviṛāpuṟam.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0146.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: These two fragments belong to the time of Ko-Rājakesarivarman. The second is dated in his 3rd year. Each of them records an agreement made by the inhabitants of some village, who pledged themselves to furnish daily one uṛakku of oil for a nondā1 or nandā lamp in exchange for a loan of 15 kaṛañjus of gold, and is signed by Māṉatoṅgaḷ Maḷḷerumāṉ, a member of the village-assembly (kūṭṭam).

First inscription.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0147.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This fragment, which is dated in the fifteenth year of Ko-Parakesarivarman, contains an agreement made by the inhabitants of some village, who had received a certain sum of money from “the large holy stone-temple (i.e., the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Temple) at Kachchippeḍu (i.e., Kāñchīpuram).” From the interest of this sum, they pledged themselves to supply ghee for a lamp at the rate of 1 uṛakku per day or 7 nāṛis and 1 uri per mensem.1 The measure to be used was a nāṛi, which was equal to a rājakesari.2 As the Choḷa kings alternately bore the surnames Rājakesarin and Parakesarin,3 it must be assumed, that this measure was called after one of the predecessors of the king, to whose reign the inscription belongs. The writer of the inscription was the village-headman Nāga Alappaḍi.4

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0148.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: These are three fragments of what must have been a very long inscription. Its extent may be estimated from the fact, that line 1 of the first fragment corresponds to line 1 of No. 67, line 1 of the second fragment to line 5 of No. 67, and the first part of line 1 of the third fragment to the latter part of line 6 of No. 67. None of the fragments is in its original position. The first and second are built into the roof of the mahāmaṇḍapa of the Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara Shrine. The third fragment is built into the pavement of the veranda near the entrance into the mahāmaṇḍapa; some letters of each line are covered by a pillar.

Although the name of the king, during whose reign the inscription was engraved, is lost, the existing fragments of the first line, which agree literally with parts of the first, fifth and sixth lines of the inscription No. 67, prove, that the inscription was one of Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. As the list of his conquests reaches here only as far as “the high mountains of Navanedikkula,”1 the date must fall between the 7th and 10th years of the king. The inscription seems to have recorded some gifts of paddy, gold and money.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0149.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0014.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is dated in the 26th year of Tribhuvanachakravartin Rājarāja-deva. According to the Poygai inscriptions (Nos. 59 to 64) this year would correspond to Śaka 1163-64. By the subjoined document, some person pledged himself, to supply daily one āṛākku1 of ghee for five lamps (saṁdhi-viḷakku) “to the lord of the holy stone-temple, alias Rājasiṁhavarmeśvara, at Kachchippeḍu,” i.e., Kāñchīpuram. The ghee had to be made over daily to those, who were in charge of the nāṛigai (measure) within the temple.

Language: Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0150.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The original of the subjoined grant was bought for Government from the Dharmakartā of Kūram, a village near Kāñchīpuram.1 It is engraved on seven thin copper-plates, each of which measures 10(1/8) by 3(1/4) inches. As the plates are in very bad preservation, the work of deciphering them was somewhat difficult. Of the seventh plate about one half is completely lost. Next to it, the first, fifth and sixth plates have suffered most. An elliptic ring, which is about (3/8) inch thick and measures 4 by 4(3/4) inches in diameter, is passed through a hole on the left side of each plate. The seal is about 2(1/2) inches in diameter and bears a bull, which is seated on a pedestal, faces the left and is surmounted by the moon and a liṅga. Farther up, there are a few much obliterated syllables. A legend of many letters passes round the whole seal. Unfortunately it is so much worn, that I have failed to decipher it.

The language of the first 4(1/2) plates of the inscription is Sanskrit,—verse and prose; the remainder is written in Tamil. The Sanskrit portion opens with three benedictory verses, of which the two first are addressed to Śiva and the third mentions the race of the Pallavas. Then follows, as usual,2 a mythical genealogy of Pallava, the supposed founder of the Pallava race:—

[[genealogical table:]] Brahman. Aṅgiras. Bṛihaspati. Bharadvāja. Droṇa. Aśvatthāman. Pallava.

The historical part of the inscription describes three kings, viz., Parameśvaravarman, his father Mahendravarman and his grandfather Narasiṁhavarman. Of Narasiṁhavarman it says, that he “repeatedly defeated the Choḷas, Keraḷas, Kaḷabhras and Pāṇḍyas,” that he “wrote the (three) syllables of (the word) vijaya (i.e., victory), as on a plate, on Pulakeśin’s back, which was caused to be visible (i.e., whom he caused to turn his back) in the battles of Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, etc.,” and that he “destroyed (the city of) Vātāpi.” No historical information is given about Mahendravarman, who, accordingly, seems to have been an insignificant ruler. A laudatory description of the virtues and deeds of his son Parameśvaravarman fills two plates of the inscription. The only historical fact contained in this long and difficult passage is that, in a terrible battle, he “made Vikramāditya,—whose army consisted of several lakshas,—take to flight, covered only by a rag.”

The three kings who are mentioned in the Kūram grant, viz., Narasiṁhavarman, Mahendravarman and Parameśvaravarman, are identical with three Pallava kings described in Mr. Foulkes’ grant of Nandivarman Pallavamalla,3 viz., Narasiṁhavarman I., Mahendravarman II. and Parameśvaravarman I. Of Narasiṁhavarman I. the lastmentioned grant likewise states, that he “destroyed Vātāpi” and that he “frequently defeated Vallabharāja at Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, and other (places).” Here Vallabharāja corresponds to the Pulakeśin of the Kūram grant. If Mr. Foulkes’ grant further reports, that Parameśvaravarman I. “defeated the army of Vallabha in the battle of Peruvaḷanallūr,” it is evident that it alludes to the same fight as is described in the Kūram grant.

If we combine the historical information contained in both grants, it appears—1. that the Pallava king Narasiṁhavarman I. defeated Pulakeśin, alias Vallabharāja, at Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, Śūramāra, and other places, and destroyed Vātāpi, the capital of the Western Chalukyas, and—2. that his grandson Parameśvaravarman I. defeated Vikramāditya, alias Vallabha, at Peruvaḷanallūr. As stated above (p. 11), Pulakeśin and Vikramāditya, the opponents of the two Pallava kings, must have been the Western Chalukya kings Pulikeśin II. (Śaka 532 and 556) and his son Vikramāditya I. (Śaka 592 (?) to 602 (?)), who, more indico, likewise boast of having conquered their antagonists.4 Thus, a grant of Pulikeśin II. says, that “he caused the leader of the Pallavas to hide his prowess behind the ramparts of Kāñchīpura;”5 and, in a grant of Vikramāditya I., it is said that “this lord of the earth, conquering Īśvarapotarāja (i.e., Parameśvaravarman I.), took Kāñchī, whose huge walls were insurmountable and hard to be broken, which was surrounded by a large moat that was unfathomable and hard to be crossed, and which resembled the girdle (kāñchī) of the southern region (read dakshiṇadiśaḥ).”6

Another Pallava king, viz., Nandipotavarman, is mentioned as the opponent of the Western Chalukya king Vikramāditya II. (Śaka 655 to 669) in the Vakkaleri grant, which was published by Mr. Rice.7 The table inserted on p. 11, above, shows that this Nandipotavarman must be identical with the Pallava king Nandivarman Pallavamalla, who is mentioned in Mr. Foulkes’ grant. Though digressing from my subject, I now sub- join a transcript from the facsimile and a translation of that part of the Vakkaleri grant, which describes the reign of Vikramāditya II.

⟨36⟩ sakalabhuvanasāmrājyalakṣmīsvayaṁvarābhiṣekasamayānanta⟨37⟩rasamupajātamahotsāhaḥ Ātmavaṁśajapūrvvanṛpaticchāyā⟨38⟩pahāriṇaḥ prakṛtyamitrasya pallavasya samūlonmūla⟨39⟩nāya kṛtamatiratitvarayā tuṁḍākaviṣayaṁ prāpyābhimu¿s?⟨kh⟩āgatannandipotava⟨40⟩rmmābhidhānampallavaṁ raṇamukhe saṁprahṛtya prapalā¿s?⟨y⟩ya kaṭumukhavādi⟨41⟩trasamudraghoṣābhidhānavādyaviśeṣ¿ān?⟨au⟩khaṭvā¿ṁ?⟨ṅ⟩gadhvaja⟨ṁ⟩ prabhūtaprakhyāta⟨42⟩hastivarānsvakiraṇanikaravikāsanirākṛtatimirammāṇikyarāśi⟨43⟩ñca hastekṛtya kalaśabhavanilayaharidaṁganāṁcitakāṁcīya⟨44⟩mānāṁ kāṁcīmavināśya praviśya satatapravṛttadānān¿ā?⟨a⟩nditadvi{j}ja⟨45⟩dīnānāthajano narasiṁhapotavarmmanirmmāpitaśilāmayarāja⟨46⟩siṁheśvarādidevakulasuvarṇarāśipratyarppaṇopārjitorjitapuṇyaḥ A⟨47⟩nivāritapratāpaprasarapratāpitapāṇḍyacoḷakeraḷakaḷabhrapra⟨48⟩bhṛtirājanyakaḥ kṣubhitakarimakarakarahatadalitaśuktimuktamuktāphala⟨49⟩prakaramarīcijālavilasitavelāk¿u?⟨ū⟩le ghūrṇamānārṇobhidhāne dakṣi(ṇā)⟨50⟩rṇave śaradamalaśaśadharaviśadayaśorāśimayaṁ jayastambha⟨51⟩matiṣṭhipadvikramādityasatyāśrayaśrīpṛthivīvallabhamahārājādhirā⟨52⟩japarameśvarabhaṭṭāraka(ḥ)

Vikramāditya Satyāśraya Śrī-Pṛithivī-vallabha, the king of great kings, the supreme ruler, the lord,—to whom arose great energy immediately after the time of his anointment at the self-choice of the goddess of the sovereignty of the whole world, and who resolved to uproot completely his natural enemy, the Pallava, who had robbed of their splendour the previous kings born from his race,—reached with great speed the Tuṇḍākavishaya (i.e., the Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam8), attacked at the head of a battle and put to flight the Pallava, called Nandipotavarman, who had come to meet him, took possession of the musical instrument (called) “harsh-sounding” and of the excellent musical instrument called “roar of the sea,” of the banner (marked with Śiva’s) club, of many renowned and excellent elephants, and of a heap of rubies, which drove away darkness by the light of the multitude of their rays, and entered (the city of) Kāñchī,—which seemed to be the handsome girdle (kāñchī) of the nymph of the southern region,—without destroying it. Having made the twice-born, the distressed and the helpless rejoice by continual gifts, having acquired great merit by granting heaps of gold to (the temple) of stone (called) Rājasiṁheśvara, which Narasiṁhapotavarman had caused to be built,9 and to other temples, and having burnt by the unimpeded progress of his power the Pāṇḍya, Choḷa, Keraḷa, Kaḷabhra and other princes, he placed a pillar of victory (jayastambha), which consisted (as it were) of the mass of his fame that was as pure as the bright moon in autumn, on the Southern Ocean, which was called Ghūrṇamānārṇas (i.e., that whose waves are rolling) and whose shore glittered with the rays of the pearls, which had dropped from the shells, that were beaten and split by the trunks of the frightened elephants (of his enemies), which resembled sea-monsters.”

That Vikramāditya II. really entered Kāñchī and visited the Rājasiṁheśvara Temple, is proved by a much obliterated Kanarese inscription in the Kailāsanātha Temple at Kāñchīpuram. This inscription is engraved on the back of a pillar in the maṇḍapa in front of the Rājasiṁheśvara Shrine, close to the east wall of that maṇḍapa, which at a later time was erected between the front maṇḍapa and Rājasiṁheśvara. It begins with the name of “Vikramāditya Satyāśraya Śrī-Pṛithivī-vallabha, the king of great kings, the supreme ruler, the lord” and mentions the temple of Rājasiṁheśvara (rājasiṁgheśvara, line 4).

I now return to the Kūram plates. The three last of them contain the grant proper, and record in Sanskrit and Tamil, that Parameśvara (i.e., Parameśvaravarman I.) gave away the village of Parameśvara-maṅgalam,—which was evidently named after the king himself,—in twenty-five parts. Of these, three were enjoyed by two Brāhmaṇas, Anantaśivāchārya and Phullaśarman, who performed the divine rites and looked after the repairs of the Śiva temple at Kūram, which was called Vidyāvinīta-Pallava-Parameśvara, and which had been built by Vidyāvinīta-Pallava, probably a relative of the king. The fourth part was set aside for the cost of providing water and fire for the maṇḍapa at Kūram, and the fifth for reciting the Bhārata in this maṇḍapa. The remaining twenty parts were given to twenty Chaturvedins.

At the time of the grant, the village of Kūram belonged to the nāḍu (country) or, in Sanskrit, manyavāntara-rāshṭra of Nīrveḷūr, a division of Ūṟṟukkāṭṭukkoṭṭam (lines 49 and 57 f.), and the village of Parameśvaramaṅgalam belonged to the Paṉmā-nāḍu or Patmā-manyavāntara-rāshṭra, a division of Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam (lines 53 and 71). As, in numerous Tamil inscriptions, paṉma corresponds to the Sanskrit varman,—the form Paṉmānāḍu, which occurs also in No. 86, might mean the country of the Varmās, i.e., of the Pallavas, whose names end in varman, the nominative case of which is varmā. There is, however, a possibility of patmā being a mistake for, and paṉmā a Tamil form of, Padmā,10 one of the names of the goddess Lakshmī. With Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam compare Maṇaviṟkoṭṭam in No. 86 and Eyiṟkoṭṭam in No. 88. Possibly Maṇaviṟkoṭṭam is a mere corruption of Maṇayiṟkoṭṭam, and Maṇayil stands for Maṇ-eyil, “mud-fort,” which might be a fuller form of Eyil, a village in the South Arcot District, which seems to have given its name to Eyiṟkoṭṭam.11

In conclusion, an important palaeographical peculiarity of the Tamil portion of the Kūram plates has to be noted. The puḷḷi, which corresponds to the Nāgarī virāma, occurs frequently, though not regularly, in combination with seven letters of the Tamil alphabet. In the case of five of these (ṅ, m, l, ḷ, ṉ) it is represented by a short vertical stroke over the letter, as in the inscription No. 82, above.12 In the case of the two others (n and r) it has a similar shape, but is placed behind the letter and at an angle with it, in such a way that the lower part is nearer to the letter than the upper one.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0151.