History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c23.3

Language: English

v1.c23.3.1

The earliest Gaṅga inscription was dealt with by the late Dr. J. F. Fleet in 1874-75 and the last word on the subject was uttered by the late Dr. E. Hultzsch in July 1926. According to this method, the earliest date is no doubt the regnal year six on the Komarti plates of the Mahārāja Chandavarman,¹ but, as the late Dr. Kielhorn has already pointed out, Chandavarman may not be a Gaṅga king at all.¹ Similarly, the regnal year 30 on the Bṛihatproshṭha grant of Umāvarman may or may not be a date in the Gaṅga era, though it is yet doubtful whether this king really belonged to the Gaṅga family or not.² Gaṅga history, therefore, really begins with the Chikakol plates of Devendravarman, son of Anantavarman. This inscription is dated in words, *Gāṅgeya-vaṁśa-pravardhamāna-vijaya-samvatsaram-eka-pañchāśat*, leaving no doubt about the fact that it was the intention of the engraver to put down "51" only without any figure for hundreds. The characters of this grant are certainly much later than many of the other Gaṅga plates, which are later than this plate according to the arrangement we follow in this chapter. The order was issued from the city of Kaliṅga and mentions the hereditary deity of the Gaṅga kings, Śiva-Gokarṇeśvara, on the top of Mahendra hill. The only genealogy given is that the donor, king Devendravarman, was the son of Anantavarman.

v1.c23.3.2

The charter records the grant of the village of Tāmarachheru in the district (*vishaya*) of Varāha-varttani to 300 Brāhmaṇas of the Vājasaneya (*Charana*). The order was written by the illustrious *Sāmanta* Nāgarāja and incised by the *Akshaśālī* Sarvadeva.³ Next in order is the inscription on the Urlam plates of a king named Hastivarman of the year 80. These plates are the private property of the Raja of Urlam in the Chikakol *taluga* of the Ganjam district. The charter records the grant of a piece of land in the village of Hoṇḍevaka in the district of Kroṣṭuka-varttani as an *agrahāra* to a Brāhmaṇa named Jayaśarman after purchasing the land from the residents of the village on the 8th *tithi* of Kārtika of the year 80. The grant was written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra, and in the verse in which the writer's name is given the king is called Rājasimha.¹ In an additional verse at the end of the inscription the king is also called Raṇabhīta. With these indications we must now proceed to consider the grants of Indravarman-Rājasimha which follow those of Hastivarman. The plates discovered at Achyutaparam in the Ganjam district were issued in the year 87.

v1.c23.3.3

By this charter Indravarman, *alias* Rājasimha, of the Gaṅga family granted the village of Siddhārthaka in the district of Varāha-varttani to a Brāhmaṇa of the Gautama *gotra* named Durggeśa-śarman on the occasion of the completion of the excavation of a tank by the king's mother on the new moon day of Chaitra of the year 87. In this case also, as in the case of the Urlam plates of Hastivarman, the name of the family is not connected with the date which is expressed simply as *Rājya-samvatsarāḥ* or "regnal years." This grant was also written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra and the king's *biruda*, Rājasimha, given in the same verse.² The Parlakimedi plates of the year 91 also belong to the same king. They were also issued from the city of Kaliṅga. By this charter Indravarman grants the *agrahāra* in the village of Kettaṭa in the Devanna *pañchālī* to a Brāhmaṇa of the city and of the Gārgya *gotra* named Dhruvaśarman on the 30th day of Māgha of the year 91. This grant also was written by Vinayachandra, son of Bhānuchandra, and the biruda Rājasimha occurs in this verse.¹ Authorities differ as to the identity of king Indravarman mentioned in the next two grants, because they are about 30 years removed from the Achuyutapuram plates of the year 91. The Chikakol plates of the year 120 was issued by king Indravarman of the Gaṅga family from the city of Kaliṅga.

v1.c23.3.4

By this charter the king granted the village of Tāmara-cheruvu in the district of Varāha-varttanī on the full day of the month of Mārgaśira on the occasion of a Lunar eclipse to a number of Brāhmaṇas of different gotras and charanas. The order was issued on the 15th day of Chaitra of the year 128 and the grant was drafted by Śaṅkaradeva, son of the Amātya Devachandra. It was written by Āditya, son of Vinayachandra. The name of the writer proves that the donor was a generation removed from the donor of the Chikakol plates, as in the year 128 Vinayachandra, who had written the grants of the years 87 and 91, had been succeeded by his son Āditya.² The next grant of the same king is still later in date. It was also discovered in Chikakol and issued from the city of Kaliṅga. The charter records the grant of the village of Pālamūla in the district of Korosataka Pañchālī to two brāhmaṇas named Skandaśarman and Lalitaśarman of the Kautsa gotra on the 7th tithi of the month of Māgha and the order was issued three days later, i. e., on the 10th Māgha of the year 146. The order was recorded by the Mahāmahattara Gaurīśarman, but the name of the scribe is Bhavadatta.³ In the last two plates the *biruda*, *Rājasimha*, of the king, Indravarman, is omitted, an additional proof, according to certain writers, of the want of identity between Indravarman Rājasimha of the year 91 and of the later grants. The third item in the series of proofs is the Purle plates of Indravarman of the year 149.

v1.c23.3.5

These plates were issued from Dantapura, the ancient capital of Kaliṅga, where the left canine tooth of the lower jaw of Buddha was brought by one of his disciples and a large *stūpa* built over it. This *stūpa* was destroyed by Brāhmaṇas and the tooth relic taken away to Ceylon. The most important fact mentioned in this inscription is that Indravarman’s father was Dānārṇava, from which scholars infer that Indravarman Rājasimha was Indravarman I and his son was Dānārṇava. Indravarman of the grants of the years 128 and 146 was Indravarman II, the grandson of Indravarman I. The plates of the year 149 were discovered in the village of Purle near Pālakonda in the Ganjam district. By this charter king Indravarman II records the grant of the village of Bhukkuku in the Kuraka-rāṣṭra to a brāhmaṇa of the Tiriliṅga and of the Kauśika *gotra* named Bhavadatta-śarman, on the full moon day of Kārtikeya. The charter was issued on the 30th day of Puṣyā of the year 149. The order was written by Khaṇḍichandra, the son of the Bhogika Āditya.¹ Five years later we find another king in Kaliṅga. He is apparently a son of Indravarman II who was named Dānārṇava II after his grandfather. These plates, issued in the year 154, are in the possession of the *Yuvarāja* of Tekkali in the Ganjam district. They were engraved by the same Khaṇḍichandra, son of the Bhogika Āditya.

v1.c23.3.6

They were issued from the city of Kalinga and the charter records the grant of one plough of land in the village of Tuganna in the district of Rupyavati to a Brāhmaṇa named Skandaśarman on the occassion of a Solar eclipse for the merit of a queen named Ambā-achchi-potī. The grant was composed by the Sarvādhikṛta Śāmbauropādhyāya, who is mentioned in the previous grant.¹