Texts

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: A rough transcript and paraphrase of the subjoined inscription was published as early as 1836 in the Asiatic Researches.¹ The original is engraved on a lamp-pillar in front of a Jaina temple at the ruined city of Vijayanagara. The temple is now-a-days styled Gāṇigitti Temple,² i.e., “the temple of the oil-woman.”³

The inscription consists of 28 Sanskrit verses and commences with an invocation of Jina (verse 1) and of his religion (Jina-śāsana, v. 2). Then follows a pedigree of the spiritual ancestors and pupils of the head of a Jaina school, who was called Siṁhanandin:—

[[genealogical table]] The Mūla-saṁgha. The Nandi-saṁgha. The Balātkāra-gaṇa. The Sārasvata-gachchha. Padmanandin. Dharmabhūshaṇa I., Bhaṭṭāraka. Amarakīrti. Siṁhanandin, Gaṇabhṛit. Dharmabhūsha, Bhaṭṭāraka. Vardhamāna. Dharmabhūshaṇa II., alias Bhaṭṭārakamuni.

The various epithets, which these teachers receive in the inscription, are:—āchārya, ārya, guru, deśika, muni and yogīndra. Other Jaina terms, which occur in the inscription, are:—syādvāda (v. 2.) or anekānta-mata (v. 22), paṭṭa (vv. 11 and 12) and chaityālaya (v. 28).

The pedigree of Jaina teachers is followed by a short account (vv. 15 to 18) of two kings of the first Vijayanagara dynasty, viz., Bukka, who was descended from the race of the Yādava kings, and his son Harihara (II). Harihara’s hereditary minister was the general (daṇḍādhināyaka, vv. 19 and 21; daṇḍanātha, v. 20) Chaicha or Chaichapa. Chaicha’s son, the general (daṇḍeśa, vv. 21, 22 and 28) or prince (kshitīśa v. 23; dharaṇīśa, v. 24) Iruga or Irugapa, adhered to the doctrine of the above-mentioned Jaina teacher Siṁhanandin (v. 24). In Śaka 1307 [expired],⁴ the cyclic year Krodhana (lines 36 f.), Iruga built a stone-temple of Kunthu-Jinanātha (v. 28) at Vijayanagara (v. 26). This city belonged to Kuntala, a district of the Karṇāṭa country (v. 25).

Through my assistant I received a copy,—printed with a Telugu commentary in the Rudhirodgāri-saṁvatsara (i.e., 1863-64 A.D.),—of a Sanskrit kośa, entitled Nānārtharatnamālā and composed by Irugapa-daṇḍādhinātha or, as he calls himself in the opening verses, Iruga-daṇḍeśa. Dr. Oppert⁵ mentions a large number of MSS. of the same work. Dr. Aufrecht⁶ describes three inferior MSS. of it and states that, according to one of these, its composer lived under a king Harihara. This notice enables us to identify the author of the Nānārtharatnamālā with the general Iruga or Irugapa of the subjoined inscription.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0152.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Next to No. 152, this is the oldest dated inscription at Vijayanagara. It is engraved on both sides of the north-west entrance of a ruined Jaina temple, which is situated to the south-west of the temple No. 35 on the Madras Survey Map. A careless transcript and paraphrase in the Asiatic Researches¹ has been useful so far as it enabled Mr. R.Sewell to complete the pedigree of the first Vijayanagara dynasty in his Lists of Antiquities.²

The inscription is written in large and handsome characters, which are, however, considerably obliterated in consequence of the usual coating with chunnam. It records, in Sanskrit, prose and verse, that in the Parābhava year, which was current after the expiration of the Śāka year 1348 (line 25), king Devarāja II. built a stone-temple (chaityālaya or chaityāgāra) of the Arhat Pārśvanātha (l. 5) or Pārśva-Jineśvara (l. 27) in a street (vīthi) of the Pān-supārī Bāzār (Kramuka-parṇāpaṇa, l. 4, or Parṇa-pūgīphalāpaṇa, l. 25) at his residence Vijayanagara (l. 4) or Vijayanagarī (l. 6), which belonged to the Karṇāṭa country (ll. 4 and 6).

The chief value of the inscription consists in the pedigree, which it gives no less than three times,³ of the first Vijayanagara dynasty:—

1. Bukka (ll. 1, 9, 24) of the race of Yadu (Yadu-kula, l. 8, or Yādavānvaya, l. 1).

2. His son, Harihara (II.) (ll. 2, 10, 24), mahārāja (l. 2).

3. His son, Devarāja (I.) (ll. 2, 13, 24).

4. His son, Vijaya (ll. 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 24) or Vīra-Vijaya (l. 2).

5. His son, Devarāja (II.) (ll. 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24), Abhinava-Devarāja (ll. 3 f.), or Vīra-Devarāja (l. 16), mahārāja (l. 4), rājādhirāja, rājaparameśvara, etc. (ll. 3 and 23).

In the subjoined genealogical table of the first or Yādava dynasty of Vijayanagara, the names of the father and of the elder brother of Bukka and those Śaka dates, for which no references are given in the foot-notes, are taken from Mr. Fleet’s table of the same dynasty.⁴

[[genealogical table]] [[L1C1]] Saṁgama. [[L2C1]] Harihara I. (Śaka 1261.⁵) [[L2C2]] Bukka. (Śaka 1276 [current], 1277, 1278, 1290.) [[L3C1]] Harihara II. (Śaka 1301, 1307,⁶ 1317,⁷ 1321.) [[L4C1]] Devarāja I. (Śaka 1332, 1334.) [[L5C1]] Vijaya.⁸ [[L6C1]] Devarāja II. (Śaka 1346, 1347, 1348, 1353 [current], 1371.⁹)

During the reign of Devarāja II. the city of Vijayanagara was visited by ‘Abdu’rrazzāq as an ambassador of Sult6ān Shāh Rukh of Samarkand, a son of the great Tīmūr. ‘Abdu’r-razzāq informs us, that he stayed at Bījānagar (Vijayanagara), the capital of Deo Rāī (Devarāja II.), from the close of Z6u’l-ḥijja A.H. 846 = end of April A.D. 1443 to the 12th Sha’bān A.H. 847 = 5th December A.D. 1443.¹⁰ An English translation of his own account of his journey is included in Elliot and Dowson’s History of India.¹¹ Curiously enough, the whole is also incorporated with slight alterations in Galland’s translation of the Thousand and One Nights, where it forms part of the Story of Prince Aḥmad and the Fairy Parī Bānū. This is one of the twelve doubtful stories, the originals of which are not found in the existing Arabic MSS. of the Nights. The late Professor Weil¹² was of opinion, that they were probably contained in the fourth volume of the Paris MS., which was lost after Galland’s death; and two of the missing stories have since been actually recovered by M. Zotenberg.¹³ In ‘Abdu’r-razzāq’s account of Vijayanagara, we possess the dated original, from which part of the Story of Prince Aḥmad was taken. In the absence of works of reference, I cannot say if this fact,—which furnishes us with a terminus a quo for the compilation of that story,—has been noticed before.

According to ‘Abdu’r-razzāq,¹⁴ Devarāja II. issued the following coins:—I. Gold: (1) varāha; (2) partāb = (1/2) varāha; (3) fanam = (1/10) partāb. II. Silver: tār = (1/6) fanam. III. Copper: jītal = (1/3) tār. Pagodas or varāhas with the legend śrīpratāpadevarāya, which on some copies is corrupted into śrīpratāpadāvarāya, are described by Dr. Bidie,¹⁵ who also figures a pagoda of Bukka.¹⁶The name partāb, which ‘Abdu’r-razzāq attributes to the half pagoda, is probably connected with the surname Pratāpa, which occurs before the names of Vijayanagara kings both on coins and in inscriptions. Dr. Bain of Bangalore possesses a half pagoda¹⁷ with the legend śrīpratāpadovarāya (sic) and of the same type as the corresponding pagoda. Two quarter pagodas in my cabinet have on the obverse an elephant which faces the left, and on the reverse the legend śrīdevarāya. No fanam or silver coin with Devarāja’s name has been hitherto discovered. Copper coins of Devarāja are very common in the South-Indian bāzārs. They have on the obverse a bull or an elephant, and on the reverse the legends śrīdevarāya, pratāpadevarāya, rāyagajagaṁḍabheruṁḍa, or śrīnīlakaṁṭha.¹⁸

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0153.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription is engraved on a rock not far from the summit of the fort of Gutti (Gooty) in the Anantapur District¹ and consists of one verse in the Sragdharā metre. At the time of the inscription, the fort of Gutti (Gutti-durga) belonged to king Bukka. By this, the well-known king of the first dynasty of Vijayanagara, whose inscriptions range between Śaka 1276 [current] and 1290 [expired],² seems to be meant.

Besides the subjoined inscription, the fort of Gutti bears three very rough rock-inscriptions in Kanarese of Tribhuvanamalladeva, i.e., of the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya VI., surnamed Tribhuvanamalla. The dates of two of them, which I succeeded in making out, are recorded in the new era started by Vikramāditya VI., the Chāḷukya-Vikrama-varsha, which, according to Mr. Fleet,³ began with the king’s accession in Śaka 997 [expired]. The two inscriptions are dated in the 46th and 47th years, which corresponded to the cyclic years Plava and Śubhakṛit, i.e., Śaka 1043 and 1044 [expired] or A.D. 1121-22 and 1122-23.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0154.

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 construction of a temple of Nirañjanēśvarattu-Mahādēva at Tiruvoṟṟiyūr by a certain Nirañjanaguravar of the place and the gift of 20,000 kuḻi of land by purchase from the assembly of Maṇali for its upkeep, are recorded in this inscription of Vijaya-Kampavarman dated in the 19th year. The document was drawn up by Rudrappōttar Kumāra-Kāḷan, the madhyastha of the village. The communities Mandirattār and Kombaṟuttār are mentioned in ll. 29-30.

The inscription is stated to have been engraved by Tiruvoṟṟiyūr-Āchāryaṉ alias Paramēśvaran, son of Śāmuṇḍāchārya.

The puḷḷis are marked in the inscription.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0105.

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.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This record engraved in Pallava-Grantha characters on two detached pillars, gives the birudas of a Pallava king. From the florid variety of the alphabet¹ used and from the occurrence of the titles Atyantakāma, Atiraṇachaṇḍa, etc., the king may be identified with Narasiṁha II whose identical birudas are also found engraved in the Kailāsanātha temple at Conjeeveram which is definitely known to have been constructed by him. As Tiruppōrūr is close to Mahābalipuram, it is possible that the pillars belonged to a structural temple of the time of Narasiṁha II built somewhere in this locality and may have been fixed up in their present position in the Kandasvāmin temple at a later date.

First Pillar.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0027.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription consists of the first six verses of No. 21.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0022.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a label inscription¹ in the Pallava-Grantha script engraved on the lateral face of a stray granite slab fixed at the northern entrance into the Okkapiṟandāṉkuḷam street. From general appearance, the slab seems to have formed the lintel of a structural temple in the village. The inscription reads ‘Śrī-Mahēndravarmmēśvaragṛiham’. A similar label is also found in the same village in the Kailāsanātha temple, engraved on the two wing-stones of the steps leading to the Mahēndravarmēśvara shrine which is stated to have been built by Mahēndravarman III (S.I.I. Vol. I. p. 23). The original location of this slab may be traced to this shrine where the present lintel appears to be a later substitution or to some other shrine not far from its present position.²

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0031.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0023.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0024.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0025.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0026.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a fragmentary record engraved in Pallava-Grantha characters of the 7th century A.D. A major portion of the inscription is erased, but from the preserved portion, the names of musical notes such as gāndhāram, pañchamam, dhaivatam, nishādam etc., can be read. A certain order is noticeable in the arrangement of the notes in seven sections with subsections. Unfortunately the subsections have been so erased as to make it impossible to follow the method adopted here. As the palaeography of the inscription resembles that of the Kuḍimiyāmalai epigraph, this record also may be attributed to the time of Mahēndravarman l.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0007A.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0027.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0028.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: Of the two monolithic caves, one at the foot and the other half-way up, of ‘the rock’ at Trichinopoly, the latter alone contains inscriptions, two of which, published in South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I, pages 29 and 30, state that the cave (upper) was constructed by Guṇabhara (i.e.) Mahēndravarman I. A verse inscription (No. 9 below) engraved on the beam over the inner row of pillars here, calls the cave ‘Laḷitāṅkura-Pallavēśvara-gṛiham’ after the title ‘Laḷitāṅkura’ of this king, which also occurs in his record at Pallāvaram. His birudas are engraved in bold Pallava-Grantha and Tamil characters on all the pillars in the upper cave at Trichinopoly. The outer wall of the sanctuary in this cave seems to have contained an inscription, but only a few letters of its first line are now visible, the rest being completely damaged. The name ‘Mahēndravikrama’ is found mentioned in the inscription on the extreme left outer pillar and most of the birudas occurring here are also found in the records of this king at Pallāvaram and other rock-cut excavations of his time. Some of these titles are unintelligible and appear to be Telugu in origin. The bottom of each of the four pillars contains a biruda in the Pallava-Tamil characters, of which only two are now clear, viz. Piṇapiṇakku and Chitti[rakāra]ppuli.

It is of interest to note that the birudas are alphabetically arranged and so engraved on the front face of the pillars. The same arrangement, though followed in the Pallāvaram inscription, is not so conspicuous there as in the present record (plates I and II).

The characters employed in the present inscriptions are of an ornate nature and provide an interesting contrast with the simpler variety of letters found in the Pallāvaram record of the same king, where almost all these birudas are repeated.

A description of the cave is found in the Memoir of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 17, pages 13-15.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Undetermined.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0008.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This inscription records an endowment of 60 kaḻañju of gold, made in the 8th year of Vijaya-Aparājitavarma-Pōttaraiyar, by Paiytāṅgi Kaṇḍaṉ, chief of Kāṭṭūr in Vaḍakarai Iṉṉambar-nāḍu, a subdivision of Śōḻa-nāḍu, for providing on the day of his natal star Svātī, offerings to the deity and for burning a perpetual lamp in the temple of Mahādēva at Tiruvoṟṟiyūr. The money was deposited with the Karmakkīḻvar of Tiruvoṟṟiyūr and the offerings included rice, ghee, plantains, sugar, vegetables, arecanuts, betel-leaves, tender cocoanuts, pañchagavya, sandal paste and camphor.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0092.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0029.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a Sanskrit verse engraved in Pallava-Grantha characters¹ stating that the (upper) cave called ‘Laḷitāṅkura-Pallavēśvaragṛiham’ was constructed by the Pallava king Laḷitāṅkura (i.e. Mahēndravarman I).

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv12p0i0009.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0002.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0030.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This records an endowment of 30 kaḻañju of gold by Vēḷāṉ Tiruveṇkāḍaḍigaḷ alias Mūvēnda-Piḍavūr-Vēḷāṉ of Piḍavūr in Piḍavūr-nāḍu for burning a perpetual lamp in the temple of Tiruchchōṟṟuttuṟai-Mahādēva. The ūrkiḻār-makkaḷ of Koḍiyālam, the brahmadēya-kiḻavargaḷ and the ūrār of the village, held themselves responsible for the maintenance of the lamp. Evidently the same gift is recorded in No. 137 of 1931 also in Sanskrit, the text of which is given below. To judge from its writing and disposition with regard to No. 138 of 1931 of the 13th year of Parāntaka I, this is possibly a record of Gaṇḍarāditya.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0126.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a bilingual record in Sanskrit and Tamil, of which the first portion is in Grantha. It records a gift of six mā of land for burning two perpetual lamps in the temple of Tiruchchēlūr-Mādēva at Rājakēsari-chaturvēdimaṅgalam, a brahmadēya on the southern bank, by Śēndaṉ Nakkaṉ of Kūṟṟamaṅgalam, a resident of the quarter of the village known as Naratoṅgachchēri evidently after the surname of of a king. This might possibly be a record of Sundara-Chōḷa’s reign.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0169.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The inscription opens with two verses in Sanskrit which are damaged, and which mention the heroic achievements in Siṁhaḷa (Ceylon) of a Bāṇa chief (name lost) ‘the ornament of Bali-kula’, and also refer to the daughter of Arikulakēsari. It records an endowment made by this princess, called Ariñjigai-Pirāṭṭiyār and the wife of the Bāṇa, for the conduct of worship and offerings and for burning 2 lamps during the three services every day to god Amarasundaradēva set up by her-probably in memory of her husband-in the temple at Tirunāgēśvaram, a dēvadāna in Tiraimūrnāḍu on the southern bank. Details of items required for each service are also given. As the record is incomplete the nature of the endowment is not clear.

Piḷḷaiyār Arikulakēsari, the father of the donatrix is no other than Ariñjaya. Rājakēsarivarman of this inscription should therefore refer to his son and successor Sundara-Chōḷa. The expedition to Ceylon mentioned in the record, wherein the Bāṇa prince is said to have distinguished himself (at the cost of his life), is known to have been led by the Koḍumbāḷūr chief and general Parāntakaṉ Śiṟiyavēḷār in the reign of Sundara-Chōḷa (Ep. Ind. Vol. XII, pp. 124 ff., and M.E.R. 1914., II, 15).

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0197.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: A facsimile of this inscription was kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Rāghavendrāchārya of Vānūr. It consists of one Sanskrit verse, which is identical with the last verse of Rājasiṁha’s large inscription at Kañchī (No. 24, above). Hence it may be concluded, that the Panamalai Cave was founded by Rājasiṁha and that in his time the Pallavas ruled as far south as Panamalai.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0031.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a bilingual record in Sanskrit (portions damaged) and Tamil, and registers an endowment of 20 Karuṅkāśu made to the temple by Bāradāyaṉ Śēnda-Nakkapirāṉbaṭṭa-Sarvakratuyājiyār of Kūṟṟamaṅgalam (the same as the donor of No. 169 above of the 7th year of Rājakēsarivarman), with the proviso that the annual interest of 3 kāśu accruing therefrom was to be given as prize among the competitors, excluding those who were successful in previous years, to the best reciter of prescribed portions of Jaiminīya-Sāmavēda before the god on the night of Tiruvādirai in Mārgaḻi month. The record might be one of Sundara-Chōḷa Parāntaka II.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0250.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This records a gift of 400 kuḻi of land for a perpetual lamp in the temple of Pulippagavadēvar at Kāvaṉūr in Mīyāṟu-nāḍu, made by [Ku]rōvi Channayakramavitta-Sarvakratukkaḷ, a member of the āḷuṅgaṇam of the village, after purchasing it tax-free from the sabhā. The gift was left in charge of the sabhā itself. This might probably be a record of Sundara-Chōḷa.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0262.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The subjoined Sanskrit inscription is engraved on three sides of an octagonal pillar,¹ which was excavated at Amarāvatī by Mr. R.Sewell and sent by Dr. Burgess to the Madras Museum. The top of the pillar and some letters of the uppermost lines of the inscription have been broken off. The inscription has hitherto remained a puzzle, as each line seems to end incomplete. Finding, that the first words of some lines were connected with the last words of the following lines, I was led to suppose that the inscription must begin from the bottom and not from the top. Curiously enough, this is really the case. If the inscription is read upwards, we find that it consists of eleven complete verses and of a prose passage, the end of which is lost through the mutilation of the pillar at the top.

The inscription opens with an invocation of Buddha and with a mythical genealogy of Pallava, the supposed founder of the Pallava dynasty.

[[genealigical table]] Brahman. Bharadvāja. Aṅgiras. Sudhāman. Droṇa. Aśvatthāman, married to the Apsaras Madani. Pallava.

Verse 8 gives a popular etymology of the name Pallava. Then there follow the names of seven Pallava kings:—

1. Mahendravarman, son of Pallava.

2. Siṁhavarman I., son of 1.

3. Arkavarman, son of 2.

4. Ugravarman.

6. Nandivarman, son of 5, Śrī-Siṁhavishṇu.

7. Siṁhavarman II.

The inscription contains no information about the relationship, which existed between 3 and 4, 4 and 5, 6 and 7. Neither does the genealogy agree with the lists derived by Mr. Foulkes² and Mr. Fleet³ from other Pallava inscriptions, although similar names of kings occur in them. For these reasons great care should be taken in using the above list for historical purposes.

From the incomplete prose passage at the end of the inscription, we learn that, on his return from an expedition to the north, Siṁhavarman II. came to a place sacred to Buddha, which was called Dhānyaghaṭa (line 38) or Dhānyaghaṭaka (line 47). The lost part of the pillar must have recorded a donation, which the king made to Buddha.

Dhānyaghaṭa or Dhānyaghaṭaka is evidently identical with Dhānyakaṭa or Dhānyakaṭaka, “corn-town,” the well-known old name of Amarāvatī. The use of gha instead of ka can perhaps be explained by the Tamil habit of softening a single consonant between two vowels.⁴

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0032.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: This is a record of Rājarāja I. It consists of two portions, a Sanskrit verse and a Tamil prose passage recording the same grant, viz., a gift of 30 suvarṇas (gold coins-kaḻañju ?) by Āditya for feeding a Brāhmaṇa in a maṭha at Gōvindapāḍi. In the Tamil portion his name and family are detailed as Madhurāntakaṉ Āchchapiḍāraṉ, the son of Vīraśōḻa Iḷaṅgōvēḷār of Koḍumbāḷūr in Kōnāḍu. The donor was evidently a later member of the dynasty of Koḍumbāḷūr chiefs who were connected by ties of marriage with the Chōḷa kings, and some of whom played an important part in the military campaigns of Rājarāja’s predecessors against Ceylon and the Pāṇḍyas (S.I.I. V, No. 980 and M.E.R. 1908, paras 84-91).

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0033.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: An endowment of gold for a perpetual lamp in the temple by a lady named Koṟṟi in the name of her husband Kaṇḍiyūr Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa-Bhaṭṭa of Bhuvanachūḷāmaṇichchēri (quarter) of the village, who is called Viḍyāsāgara-pāraga and Guṇanidhi in the Sanskrit portion. The maṉṟāḍikkalaṉai including the vāriyaṉ agreed to the daily supply of ghee for the purpose. The name of the quarter suggests that it was called after the biruda of a king, possibly Parāntaka I.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0340.

Emmanuel Francis.

Summary: The inscription records both in Sanskrit and in Tamil the provision made for burning a lamp in the temple of Perumānaḍigaḷ Kamsāri, i.e., Kṛishṇa, in the Sanskrit portion) at Gōvindapāḍi by a Veḷḷāḷa resident of Kuḷakkuḍi in Piḍavūr-nāḍu, a subdivision of Iruṅgōḷapāḍi. This is engraved almost as a continuation of, and in the same script as No. 311 of 1906 of the 34th year of Parāntaka I.

Languages: Sanskrit, Tamil.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv13p0i0034.

Emmanuel Francis.

Language: Sanskrit.

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

DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0033.