Ancient History of the Deccan c4.s1.t2.20

c4.s1.t2.20

When speaking of the famous inscription of Bala-Śrī at Nāsik, we have said that Gautamiputra vanquished the Palhavas (Ep. Ind., Vol VIII., Pl I, No. 2, line 5) in 78 A. D. Again, we learn from the Girnar inscription that Suviśākha who was the minister of Rudradāman in 150 A. D. was a Pahlava (Junagadh inscription; Ep. Ind., Vol VIII., page 37 and Plate line 19). Thus the word which was written Palhava in 78 A. D. was written Pahlava in 150 A. D., and we note, when whe see the Girnar inscription, that the compound letter "hla" resembles the double ll. Besides, in Māyidavôlu plates written in Prākṛit: this question of letters has been solved in a very simple manner they wrote Palava. This can correspond to Pallava for in Prâkṛit the consonants are not doubled. In the Hiraḥadaɡalli plates it is written as Pallava though they are also in Prâkṛit. Later on, when the documents were written in Sanskrit, the word Pallava will be understood to mean "sprout". The identity of names leads us to think that the ancient kings of Kâñchî belonged to the same family as the minister of Rudradâman. He lived in 150 A. D. and we know Pallava kings reigning at Kâñchî in aboui 225 A. D. How did a member of this family that we find in Surâṣṭra in 150 A. D. establish himself in Kâñchî? The Vêlûrpâḷaiyam plates give the answer to this question : a Pallava became king by marrying the daughter of a Nâɡa king : and all the documents in our possession regarding the Nâɡas and the Pallavas seem to confirm this proposition. The Girnar inscription says that Rudradâman reigned in the province of Aparânta, that is, in the neighbourhood of Kaṇhêri, and that his minister was a Pahlava : and it is in this same Aparânta in Kaṇhêri that we find : (1) the inscription of the daughter of Rudradâman, (2) the inscription of Nâɡa-Mula-Nika, mother of Skanda-Nâɡa-Śâtakarṇi. The latter inscription is written in such an archaic alphabet that it was first believed to be an inscription of Puḷumâvi (Rapson, page LIII). Thus the minister of Rudradâman and the mother of the Nâɡa prince have lived almost at the same time and in the same country. We must not forget that the daughter of Rudradâman married a Śâtakarṇi. Moreover, the Hiraḥadaɡalli plates have been found in the Bellary district, not far from Chitaldroog, where have been found the coins of the Mahâraṭhis; these plates are written in an alphabet almost identical with that of the Banavâsi inscription; the Hiraḥadaɡalli plates are dated in the reign of Śiva-Skanda-Pallava and the Banavâsi inscription mentions Śiva-Skanda-Nâɡa. Thus the Nâɡas were the neighbours and the contemporaries of the Pallavas.