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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Documents 51–100 of 221 matching.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Lacunose cave-temple wall inscription recording a eulogy of Śatrumalla, Nityavinīta, Sātyasandha, that is, Mahendravarman I Pallava, and probably his foundation of the cave-temple.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00026.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: A Sanskrit verse recording the foundation of a cave-temple by Vicitracitta (Mahendravarman I Pallava) around 600/625 CE.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00027.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Foundation of the Śrī-Śikhari-Pallaveśvara, at Siṅhapura, by Candrāditya.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00249.
Margherita Trento.
Summary: This plate records the donation of part of the income of the pearl fisheries at Maṉṉār and Tūttukkuṭi to the temple in Āvuṭaiyārkōyil. The donor is allegedly Tirumalai Nāyakkar (r. 1623-1659), but the date on the plate (śaka 1461, A.D. 1539) does not correspond to the period of his reign.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai (tfa-tiruvavatuturai-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTiruvavatuturai00004.
Margherita Trento.
Summary: This plate records the additional endowment of a village to perform pūja in honor of Tirumalai Nāyak and Cētupati Kātta Tēvar and the mother and father of the donor, Tirumalaiya Cētupati Rakunātat Tēvar.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu.
Repository: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai (tfa-tiruvavatuturai-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTiruvavatuturai00016.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Grant (paḷḷiccantam) of the village of Śramaṇāśrama/Amaṇcērkkai and of additional lands in Tāmar to Vajranandin of the Śrīvardhamāneśvaradharmatīrtha at Paruttikkuṉṟil for worshipping Jinendra.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00017.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: List of birudas of Mahendravarman I Pallava.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00028.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Foundation inscription of the Maheśvaracūḷāmaṇipallaveśvara by Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00062.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: A sanskrit verse in praise of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava, wishing him a long reign.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00063.
Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00090.
Margherita Trento.
Summary: This plate records an endowment made by Cuppiramaṇiya Tirumalai Cētupati Rakunāta to Ampalattāṭum paṇṭāram for performing pūja in Avudaiyarkoil to honor his ancestors and Tirumalai Nāyakkar.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai (tfa-tiruvavatuturai-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTiruvavatuturai00018.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00499.
K.V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00450.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00466.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00454.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00458.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00464.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00467.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00455.
G. Vijayavenugopal, Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00470.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Grant of four villages (Nelli, Pullūra, Takkāra and Kuḍiūra in the Kīḷveṇātaka in the Palkundakoṭṭaka according to the Sankrit portion; Nelli, Pullūr, and Kuṭiyūr in the Kīḻvēṇāṭu in the Palkuṉṟakkōṭṭam and Takkāṟu in the Maṇalaikuḷanāṭu in the Palkuṉṟakkōṭṭam according to Tamil portion), as a brahmadeya renamed as Nayadhīramaṁgala/Nayadhīramaṅkalam, to 108 Brahmins. In fact only 100 Brahmin donees are mentioned, including the 3 donees added, by afterthought, at the end of the grant, whereas there are 8 further donees, who appear to be officials involved in the transaction and religious dignitaries granted at the same time.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00081.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: Pāṇḍya (tfa-pandya-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPandya01004.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Maṇḍapa of the Śiva temple. Names engraved on three pillars.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00359.
Emmanuel Francis.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).
DHARMA_INSPallava00257.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0010.
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.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0012.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0013.
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.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0014.
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.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: The subjoined Grantha inscription is engraved on the outside of the east wall of the innermost prākāra of the great temple at Chidambaram in the South Arcot District. It consists of two verses in the Sragdharā metre, each of which eulogises the victories of Kulottuṅga-Choḷa over the five Pāṇḍyas. The first verse further states, that the king burnt the fort of Korgāra (Korgāra-durga) and defeated the Keraḷas. Korgāra is probably a Sanskritised form of Koṟkai in the Tinnevelly District, the ancient capital of the Pāṇḍyas.1 The second verse records, that Kulottuṅga-Choḷa placed a pillar of victory on the Sahyādri mountain, i.e., the Western Ghāṭs. This he must have done after his conquest of the Keraḷas, which is mentioned in the first verse.
According to a grant published by Mr. Fleet,2 Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva was the name of two of the Eastern Chalukyan successors of the Choḷa kings. Of the first of these, who was also called Rājendra-Choḍa and ruled from Śaka 985 to 1034, the Chellūr grant reports that he conquered the Kerala and Pāṇḍya countries.3 From an unpublished Chidambaram inscription4 it appears, that the surname Kulottuṅga-Choḷadeva was also borne by the maternal grandfather of the last-mentioned king, the Choḷa king Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, among whose conquests we find both the Keraḷa and Pāṇḍya countries.5 Consequently, it is impossible to say to which Kulottuṅga-Choḷa the subjoined inscription has to be referred.6
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0155.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0015.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0016.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0017.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0018.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This inscription is a duplicate of No. 18.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0019.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0001.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This fragment consists of the last verse of Nos. 18 and 19.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0020.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: The subjoined inscription, engraved in Pallava-Grantha characters, states that this rock-cut Śiva temple called Śrī-Śikhari-Pallavēśvaram was caused to be made at Siṅhapura by king Chandrāditya. This is the only record hitherto found for the king (See Plate V). This rock-cut temple contains no sculptures or ornamentation of any kind and it may be said to correspond to ‘the Mahēndra Style’ of architecture. The palaeography of the present record also suggests that the king who bore this title or name probably flourished in the time of Mahēndravarman or Narasiṁhavarman I at the latest. As, however, this title does not occur among the numerous birudas found for these in any rock-cut shrine, we have to conclude that Chandrāditya was a Pallava prince of this time, about whom we have at present no information.
Siṅhapura is identical with Śiṅgavaram which is the name of a village close by. The present name of Mēlaichchēri must have been given later to this hamlet with reference to the principal village Śiṅgavaram.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0115.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: The first portion of this record consists of a string of birudas in Sanskrit which describe the family, character and achievements of Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva. The concluding portion is in Tamil and contains an order of the chief issued, through his officer Nīlagaṅgaraiyar, to the residents of Āṟṟūr remitting, in favour of the god Āḷuḍaiya-Nāyaṉār, from the 5th year of the chief’s rule, the tax aripāḍikāval excluding kāvalpēṟu, on their village which was hitherto collected by the king. In the Sanskrit portion the chief is called Pallavakula-pārijāta, Kāḍavakula-chūḍāmaṇi, Avanipālana-jāta, etc. He claims supremacy over the Chōḷa, Pāṇḍya, Chēdi, Karṇāṭa and Āndhra kings. The chief’s conflict with Gaṇḍagōpāla and the extent of his dominions are indicated by the titles ‘Gaṇḍa-bhaṇḍāra1-luṇṭāka’ Kshīrāpagādakshiṇanāyaka, Kāvērī-kāmuka and Peṇṇānadī-nātha. The title ‘Khaḍgamalla’ corresponding to the Tamil ‘Vāḷvalla’ explains the heroism, while the epithets ‘Bhāratamalla’ and ‘Sāhityaratnākara’ describe the cultural attainments of the chief. His connection with Mallai i.e., Mahābalipuram and Conjeeveram is indicated by the titles Mallāpuri-vallabha2 and Kāñchīpurī-kānta.3 The last verse in the Sanskrit portion gives a clue to the identification of Kōpperuñjiṅga. This verse, conveying a double entendre, refers to the attempts of the chief to enjoy Dhātrī, i.e. Earth, when it is implied that the town Kāñchī was taken and Madhya-(dēśa) i.e., Naḍu-nāḍu was conquered. Since the capture of Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam and Naḍu-nāḍu is to be attributed to the elder Peruñjiṅga, this record may be assigned to him.
The officer Nīlagaṅgaraiyar, from the title piḷḷaiyār applied to him, appears to have been a favourite and important officer of Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva. Three generations of Nīlagaṅgaraiyars are known, viz., (l) Kulōttuṅgaśōḻa Kaṇṇappaṉ Nallanāyaṉār Pañchanadivāṇaṉ Nīlagaṅgaraiyar (16th year of Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa 111),4 (2) the officer figuring in the present inscription, and (3) his son, Pañchanadivāṇaṉ Aruṇagiriperumāḷ Nīlagaṅgaraiyar figuring in the time of Vijaya-Gaṇḍagōpāla,5 Sundara-Pāṇḍya6 and Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva II.7 They were in power in the present Chingleput district under the Chōḷas and their successors and sometimes issued orders in their own names.8
Aripāḍikāval may be explained as a tax payable in kind to the king for protection.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0120.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This inscription records in Tamil and Sanskrit the benefactions of the chief Sakalabhuvanachakravartti Kāḍavaṉ Avaṉiāḷappiṟandāṉ Kōpperuñjiṅga. He is called Bhūpālanōdbhava,1 Kāṭhakavaṁśa-mauktika-maṇi and the conqueror of the Āndhra and the Karṇāṭa kings. The record states that the chief constructed a temple for Hēramba-Gaṇapati on the banks of the tank at Tribhuvanamādēvī and that he repaired the embankments, sluices and irrigation channels of the tank which had breached in several places.
Since the inscription refers to the conquest of the Chōḷa (country), Madhyamamahī (i.e., Naḍu-nāḍu) and Tuṇḍiradēśa (i.e. Toṇḍai-maṇḍalam) by the chief, he may be identified with Kōpperuñjiṅga I.
Hēramba-Gaṇapati is generally represented with five elephant heads, 10 arms and as riding on a lion. [An early sculpture of this deity is found in a rock-cut temple at Tirupparaṅkuṉṟam near Madura-Ed.]
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0126.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This inscription is engraved in Pallava-Grantha characters in a single line on the beams of the upper and lower verandahs of the rock-cut cave (plates III and IV.) It gives a long list of birudas, some of them obscure in their import, of the Pallava king Mahēndravikrama (I) with whose name the inscription commences. These titles are in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu and indicate the character, erudition and personal tastes of the king. Some of these birudas are also found in the upper cave at Trichinopoly (No. 8 above).
The rock-cut temple is described in the Memoir of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 17, page 16.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Undetermined.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0013.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: Like the previous record this inscription also enumerates a few birudas of Mahēndravarman I (plate IV.) As this inscription is found on a detached pillar, it is evident that it must have formed part of a structural temple of the time of Mahēndravarman I. which has now disappeared.
West face.
Languages: Sanskrit, Telugu.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0014.
Emmanuel Francis.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0021.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This inscription gives Vīrapratāpa, Bhuvanaikavīra1 and Aḻagiya-Pallava as the titles of Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva. It is dated in the 27th year and records the writ of the officer Kachchiyarāyaṉ issued under orders of the chief to the trustees of the temple of Brahmīśvaram-Uḍaiyār regarding 20 mā of land which was situated in Paṉaiyūr, a hamlet of Ōgūr and originally granted, free of taxes, for the maintenance of a maṭha. The new order now issued retained only 4 out of 20 mā of land as maḍappuṟam transferring the remaining 16 mā as dēvadāna in order to conduct, from its income, a festival on the day of ‘Tiruvōṇam’ the natal star of the chief, to provide 1 padakku of rice daily in the month of Āvaṇi for offerings to the god during the service Aḻagiyapallavaṉ-śandi instituted in his name and for repairs to the temple.
The astronomical details of date given correspond to A.D. 1269, November 2, Saturday.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0230.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: The present inscription which is not dated gives the surnames Kāḍavaṉ Avaṉiyāḷappiṟandāṉ, Sarvajña, Khaḍgamalla,1 and Kṛipāṇamalla to Kōpperuñjiṅga II. It records that the chief constructed a sluice, with a feeder-channel, to the tank at Oḻugaṟai. In the Sanskrit version appended to the epigraph the channel is stated to have been named ‘Tribhuvananṛipanātha.’ The village Oḻugaṟai is in French India about 2 miles from Pondicherry. It was also known as Kulōttuṅgaśōḻanallūr (A.R. No. 175 of 1904), evidently after Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa I.
Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0246.
Emmanuel Francis.
Summary: This is a Grantha inscription praising the greatness of Mahārājasiṁha, i.e. Kōpperuñjiṅga (II), son of Jīyamahīpati by his wife Śīlavatī. Jīyamahīpati is the same as the Tamil Śīyaṉ in the name Aḻagiya-Śīyaṉ. No. donation to the local temple is recorded in this inscription, but its eulogistic character is emphasised by engraving a Nāgarī1 and Telugu2 version of it in the same temple. The chief is called an ornament of the Kāṭhaka race, Avanyavanasaṁbhavaḥ, Sarvajña, Khaḍgamalla, Niśśaṅkamalla3 etc. He claims to have ‘destroyed the pride of the Karṇāṭa king’ and to have been a ‘Sun to the lotus tank of the Chōḷa family’. He was a devotee at the feet of the god at Chidambaram, where he built the eastern gōpura4 resembling Mount Mēru from the riches obtained by the conquest of his enemies and called it after his own name. The decorations on the four sides of this gōpura are said to have been made with the booty acquired by subduing the four quarters and from riches used in his tulārōhaṇa-ceremony. The inscription also refers to the gifts made by the chief to the temples, among others, at Drākshārāma, Ēkāmra (Conjeeveram), Vīraṭṭānam, Śvētajambu (Jambukēśvaram), Madura5 and Kāḷahasti. His inscriptions are not, however, found in the last mentioned three places; but they are found at Tirupati close to Kāḷahasti wherein he is styled ‘Kāñchi-Nāyaka.’
His Drākshārāma inscription is dated in Śaka 1184 (A.D. 1262) and since his gift at this place is referred to in the present record, the latter has to be placed after that date, if not at a later time in the very same year.
Two important statements made in this inscription establish Kōpperuñjiṅga’s relationship with the Chōḷas and the Pāṇḍyas. He claims to have elevated in the south a Chōḷa prince ‘who was shuddering with fear’ (l. 9). The Chōḷa prince referred to was evidently Rājēndra-Chōḷa III who must have received assistance from the Kāḍava chief, probably against Rājarāja III. He also calls himself a sūtradhāra in the installation (sthāpanā) of the Pāṇḍyarāya. This suggests that Kōpperuñjiṅga should have proceeded to the north as an advance-guard of the Pāṇḍya ruler Jaṭāvarman Sundara-Pāṇḍya I.
Language: Sanskrit.
Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).
DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0247.