Indian Epigraphy c8.s2.t3.2

c8.s2.t3.2

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.