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Ancient History of the Deccan c5.s4: § 2. The Bṛihatphalāyanas

Ancient History of the Deccan c5.s4

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§ 2. The Bṛihatphalāyanas

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The Koṇḍamudi plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. VI., p. 315) are dated in the 10th year of king Jayavarman, of the Bṛihatphalāyanas, who reigned at Kudūra. The alphabet of these plates is extremely archaic; they are in prākṛit; besides, "the language and phraseology of the inscription are so similar to the Nāsik inscriptions of Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi and of Vāsisthīputra Puḷumāyi, that Jayavarman's date cannot have been very distant from that of those two Āndhra kings" (Ep. Ind Vol. VII, No. 31, page 315). It must however be noted that the legend on the seal is in Sanskrit. It is therefore certain that Jayavarman reigned immediately after the Sātavāhanas.

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The Koṇḍamudi plates record the grant of the village of Pāṇṭūra in Kudūrahāra which is the province, as we know, of which Kudūra was the capital. Where were this province and especially this town of Kudūra situated? Koṇḍamudi, where the plates have been found, is situated in the Tenali taluq which is not far from the mouth of the Kṛishṇā. The town of Kudūra is found mentioned in an inscription at Amarāvatī (No. 1295 of Lüders's list). The country of Kuduhāra or Kudrahāra is mentioned in the plates of Nandivarman of the Sālaṅkāyana dynasty. These plates were issued from Veṅgi and have been found near the Kolleru lake (Ind. Ant., Vol V, 1876, page 175. See also Burnell, "South Indian Palægraphy, 2e Ed. page 135.) The country called Kudrahāra or Guḍrahara is referred to in many documents (see in particular: Ind. Ant., Vol XIII, page 138, line 17; Ind. Ant., Vol VII, page 191, line 12, and the Reṇḍubaḷḷi copper-plate, Rep. on Epigraphy for 1914-1915, G. O. No. 1260, Public, 25th Aug. 1915, page 8, copper-plate No. 2 of 1915) The geographical indications given by these documents [see also : Ind. Ant., Vol VIII, page 76; S. I. I. Vol I, page 47; and inscriptions Nos 539 and 544 of 1893)

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show that Kudûrahâra or Guḍravâra is the country adjoining the modern town of Masulipatam (Bandar.)

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Besides, there have been found at Masulipatam (Bandar Taluk) four sets of copper-plates that give information about this country;

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(1) The grant of Amma II. (S. I. I., Vol I., page 47) containing an order to the people living in Guḍravâra-vishaya.

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(2) The plates of Vijayâditya III. (Ind. Ant., Vol. XX, page 103, and Ep. Ind., Vol. V., page 122) granting the village of Traṇḍapâru situated in the Guḍravâra-vishaya.

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(3) The plates of Bhima II. (Ind. Ant., Vol. XX, page 270, and Ep. Ind., Vol. V., page 135) granting a field in Guḍravâra-vishaya.

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(4) The plates of Amma II. (Ind. Ant., Vol. VIII, page 74; and Vol. XX, p. 271; Ep. Ind., Vol. V., page 139) granting land. The last document is interesting as it shows the precise position of the land: it was situated beside the village of Pâmbaṛṛu in the Guḍravâra-vishaya and near Ghaṇṭaśâlâ; again this grant of land was made to a chief "for having improved the town of Guḍravâra"; we know that Ghaṇṭaśâlâ, which was situated in Guḍravâra-vishaya is a village in the Divi taluq situated at a distance of 10 miles from Masulipatam (Bandar) and 6 miles from the village of Kudûru.

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We shall therefore conclude that the town of Kudûra, which was the capital of Jayavarman in the III century of the Christian era, is but the modern village which is 4 miles west-north-west of Masulipatam and 6 miles from the village of Gaṇṭhaśâla and is mentioned under the name of Kudûru (Z) in the list of villages of Bandar (Masulipatam) taluq (see "List of villages of the Madras Presidency," 1914, page 150). The village named Pâṇṭura in the Koṇḍamudi plates, is perhaps Panduru, a village in the Bandar (Masulipatam) taluq.

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It so happens that the result we have arrived at is found to be of immense importance not only for the ancient history of the Deccan but also of Indo-China.

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We know that the civilisation of Indo-China is of Indian origin and a study of the Indo-Chinese documents has proved that the civilisation of Indo-China came almost exclusively from the Deccan. The Indo-Chinese inscriptions are dated in the Śaka era and their alphabets very closely resemble those of the inscriptions in the Deccan. Such an inscription of Cambodia (see, "Journal Asiatique" VIIe série, Tome XX., No. 2, Août-Septembre 1882) dated in the Śaka year 589 "essentially agrees with those of the first Châlukyas from the sixth to the eight century." The alphabet of the most ancient inscriptions found in Annam fully resembles, as has been remarked by M. Abel Bergaine (Journal Asiatique, Janvier 1888, page 15) the alphabets of the inscriptions of the kings of Vêngî, the Pallavas and the first Kadambas. Again, certain inscriptions (for example Nos 415 and 415 bis, XXI of the collection mentioned by Mr. Bergaine) are characterised by a peculiarity which is called the "box-headed" alphabet and M. Bergaine observes that "the relations between the Champâ kingdom and those of Southern India were so frequent that the alphabet changed there in the same manner. We shall even see that a simple ornamental appendage, a deeply cut square at the head of the letters which, in India proper, seems to have been in fashion during almost the whole of the V century finds its way into our XXI inscription.

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It must first be noted that this influence existed in the II century of the Christian era :

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(1) The inscription of Mura-râja or Śri Mara, king of the Champâs, which is found near the village of Vo-can, in the Nhatrang valley in the province of Khah-Hoo (Journal Asitique, Janv.-Fevrier 1891, page 17) in Annam, is written in Sanskrit and in an alphabet that is identical with that of the inscription of Rudradâman at Girnar.

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(2) Ptolemy gives the names of the towns situated on the coast of Annam that were not simply Indian but were also Sanskrit (Journal Asiatique-Rapport Annuel; Juillet-Août 1888, page 70).

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We thus arrive at the following very important conclusion : "The Indo-Chinese civilisation did not come from every place in India, but, from a port of the Deccan whence the travellers embarked for Indo-China".

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Where was this port situated? That is the important problem we are now going to solve. This port was existing at the time of Ptolemy, and is found mentioned by this geographer. In fact, this is how Ptolemy describes the east coast of the Deccan (see Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII., page 332) : "Mouth of the river Khabéros—Khabéris—Sabouras—Podoukê—Melangê—Mouth of the river Tyna—Kottis—Manarpha—Mouth of the river Maisôlus—Kontakossyla, a mart—Koddura—Allosyngê—The point of departure for ships bound for Khrysê—Paloura—Naingaina—Katikardama— Kannagara—Mouth of the river Madana''.

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We see that, in the II century, Ptolemy has said that the ships that wanted to go to the country of gold (Khrysê) i. e. the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Burma, Malacca, Cambodia, Annam) started from a fixed point (locus unde solvunt in Chrysen navigantes). Till now there was complete uncertainty in regard to the geographical position of this port. There was no doubt at all that ''Khabéris-emporium'' designated the town of Kâv'ripatnam; in fact, Ptolemy has mentioned above the ''mouth of the river Khabéros'' which is undoubtedly the Kâvêri. But between this town and the Ganges not a single place mentioned by Ptolemy could be identified with some amount of certainty. Many authors have put forth hypotheses but without any great success. Colonel Yule thought that the river Maisôlus was no other than the Krishnâ, because not far from its mouth there is the modern town of Masulipatam; but this reason was not very convincing. In the theory of Colonel Yule the town that Ptolemy calls Koddura was identified with Gûdûru, near Masulipatam. This identification was regarded with the greatest scepticism, for they replied to Colonel Yule that :

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(1) The word Koddura does not fully resemble the word Gûdûru.

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(2) There is nothing to prove that the village of Gûdûru existed at the time of Ptolemy and has preserved the same name for 18 centuries.

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It is no more the same thing to-day. In compiling the ancient history of the Deccan and in studying the Koṇḍamudi plates, we have made the following important discoveries: (1) That the modern town named Gûdûru by Colonel Yule was once called Kudûra (2) that Kudûra existed at the time of Ptolemy. So we can now think of identifynig the Koddura of Ptolemy with the Kudûra of Koṇḍamudi plates.

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Our knowledge of ancient Deccan enables us to make another new identification. Between Gûdûru and the mouth of the Kṛṣṇâ, there is the town of Ghaṇṭaśàlà, where Mr. Alexandre Rea (South Indian Bouddhist Antiquities—Madras 1894, page 32) has discovered the remains of a Stûpa which date from the beginning of the Christian era; so, Ghaṇṭaśàlà existed at the time of Ptolemy; and exactly at the required spot, on the sea side, between Koddura and the mouth of the river, Ptolemy places the mart of Kontakossyla.

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We have thus solved an important problem, we have been able to identify certain places named by Ptolemy in a part of the Deccan coast; and the place whence ships departed for Indo-China is found near Koddura, a little more to the north on the coast, i. e. not far from the mouth of the Godâvârî.

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We shall therefore conclude that the port of departure for vessels bound for Khrysê, during the time of Ptolemy, was situated near the mouth of the Godâvârî and that it was from there that the civilisation of India starteed to go over to Burma, Java, Cambodia and Annam.

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