Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t3: 3. Telugu (Telugu, Teṉugu)
Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t3
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3. Telugu (Telugu, Teṉugu)
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The official charters of the early ruling families of the Telugu-speaking area belonging to the 5th and the following centuries are written in Sanskrit, grants written in Telugu appearing only from about the 9th century A.D. A number of stone inscriptions dating from the close of the 6th century A.D. are, however, written in Telugu.
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The earliest Telugu inscriptions are those belonging to the Telugu-Coḍas of Reṇāṇḍu, which have been discovered in the Anantapur and Cuddapah Districts and assigned to the period between the 6th and 8th centuries A.D. Some of the earliest amongst them, written completely in Telugu, are the Kalamalla and Erragudipadu inscriptions¹ of Erikal Muturāju Dhanañjaya who flourished about the close of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century A.D. The Pottadurti-Malepadu inscription² is another early epigraph in Telugu belonging to the Telugu-Coḍa family. Records like the Bhairavakonda inscription³ of the time of Vikramāditya, probably belonging to the same royal house and flourishing about the middle of the 8th century, are written in Telugu, with an admixture of Sanskrit. Most of the private records of the following centuries are in Telugu.
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¹ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVII, pp. 221 ff.
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² Vyāsasaṁgrahamu, pp. 301 ff.
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³ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXIII, pp. 79ff.; cf. Vol. XXVII, p. 269, note 1.
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Of the copper-plate grants of the Telugu-Coḍa family, the Malepadu plates⁴ of Puṇyakumāra and the Madras Museum plates⁵ of Śrīkaṇṭha-coḍa are written in Sanskrit; but the Madras Museum plates⁶ of Balliya-coḍa, who seems to have flourished about the middle of the 9th century, are written in Telugu. This is the earliest copper-plate grant in Telugu so far discovered.
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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XI, pp. 337 ff.
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⁵ Journ. Ind. Hist., Vol. XV, pp. 255 ff.
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⁶ Ibid., p. 257.
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The copper-plate grants of the early Cālukya kings of Veṅgī are written in Sanskrit; but a few charters like the Ahada-nakaram plates⁷ of Viṣṇuvardhana IV or V are written partly in Sanskrit and partly in Telugu. The stone inscriptions of the Cālukya age are generally written in Telugu. Thus the Vipparla inscription of the time of Jayasiṁha I and the Lakshmipuram inscription of the reign of Maṅgi-yuvarāja, both of the 7th century A.D., are in Telugu.⁸ There are also some Telugu inscriptions of the 7th and 8th centuries quoting regnal years of the Cālukya kings of Badami,⁹ whose copper-plate grants found in the Teluguspeaking area, however, are all written in Sanskrit. Among the 10th century copper-plate grants in Telugu, mention may be made of the Madras Museum plates¹ (Śaka 893 for 891) of Bhuvanatriṇetra.
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⁷ Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, pp. 185 ff.
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⁸ A. R. Ep., 1900, para. 35.
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⁹ See, e.g., the Dimmagudi inscription (A. R. Ep., 1920, No. 864) of the time of Vikramāditya and the Kondupalli inscription (ibid., No. 359) of the reign of Vijayāditya.
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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 69.
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The stone inscriptions of the medieval rulers of the Telugu-speaking area, e.g. the Eastern Gaṅgas, Cālukyas, Chindas, Telugu-Coḍas, Kākatīyas, Reḍḍis, Gajapatis, the Vijayanagara kings, the Quṭub Shāhīs of Golkonda and others, are generally written in Telugu, while the copper-plate grants of some of these rulers so far known are written in Sanskrit although often they contain a section in Telugu especially in the description of the boundaries of the gift lands.
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Some of the copper-plate grants of the Reḍḍis, e.g., the charters of Komaragiri dated 1385 and 1403 A.D., are written partly in Sanskrit and partly in Telugu.² The Vijayanagara kings generally used Sanskrit in their charters; but there are a few of their copper-plate grants in Telugu; e.g., some of Kṛṣṇadevarāya and Acyutarāya.³ Among late medieval rulers, the Nāyakas of Madurai and Tanjavur sometimes used Telugu in their charters, in some cases along with Sanskrit.⁴
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² *A. R. Ep.*, 1946-47, No. A 4.
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³ See ibid., Nos. A 9-10 (of Kṛṣṇadevarāya); 1953-54, No. A 17. No. A 5 of 1852-53 and No. A 34 of 1957-58 referring themselves to Bukka and Harihara respectively, though in Telugu, were apparently forged at a much later date. For Telugu charters of later rulers of the family, see ibid., 1948-49, No. A 26. A few such records are written in both Sanskrit and Telugu (cf. ibid., 1956-57, No. A 61; *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XVI, pp. 88 ff.).
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⁴ See *A. R. Ep.*, 1949-50, Nos. A 29-30 (Telugu and Sanskrit); 1950-51, No. A 10 (Telugu); 1952-53, No. A 13 (Telugu). For some other Telugu copper-plate grants issued by late chiefs, see ibid., 1953-54, No. A 7; 1956-57, No A 4; etc. For a Telugu grant issued by an officer of the Mughals, see ibid., 1952-53, No. A 15 (dated 1714 A.D. during the reign of Farrukhsiyar).