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Ancient History of the Deccan c5.s5: § 3. The Śālaṅkāyanas

Ancient History of the Deccan c5.s5

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§ 3. The Śālaṅkāyanas

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This dynasty had Veṅgipura for its capital, and had a special cult for the god Chitrarathaswâmin. The remains of a temple dedicated to this deity are found at Pedda-vêgi near Ellore. As copper-plates connected with this dynasty and this country have been found in the environs of this town, I think we may admit the identity of Veṅgipura with Pedda-vêgi. The plates of king Vijaya-Dêvavarman (Ep. Ind. Vol. IX., No. 7, page 56) are in Prâkṛit but contain two sanskṛit verses. This king is said to be the ‘performer of horse sacrifices.’

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Another set of plates found near lake Kolleru (Ind. Ant. Vol. V., 1876, No. XVIII, page 175) is in Sanskrit and is probably not so ancient. It mentions Chaṇḍavarman and his son Vijaya-Nandivarman. The Śālaṅkāyanas ruled at this epoch over the same country of Kuḍuhâra which formerly was the native land of the Bṛihatphalâyanas.

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And J. F. Fleet says (Ind. Ant. Vol. V., 1876, page 175): “In Sir W. Elliot’s fac-similes I have another copper-plate inscription of Vijaya-Nandivarmâ and his Yuvamahârâja whose name seems to be Vijaya-Tuṅgavarma or Vijaya Buddhavarmâ . . . . . the language, even, is doubtful but seems to be prâkṛit.........” This name is probably Buddhavarmâ, for, in the margin there is the character “dha” ”.

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It is probable that these kings : Dêvavarman, Chaṇḍavarman, his son Nandivarman and perhaps also the problematical Buddhavarman, have reigned between 350 and 450 A. D. It appears in fact that these kings came after the invasion of Samudra-Gupta; and it is again probable that their kingdom was conquered in the fifth century by the Viṣṇukuṇḍins with the help of the Vâkâṭakas.

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§ 4. The Viṣṇukuṇḍins.

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The Râmatīrtham (Ep. Ind. Vol. XI., page 134) and the Chikkulla plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IV., page 193) give us genealogy No. I; and the Pulimbūru grant (Report on Epigraphy for 1913-14; G. O. No. 920, Public, 4th Aug. 1914, page 102) gives us genealogy No. II:

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| No I. | Mādhavavarman I. \| Vikramēndravarman I. \| Indrabhaṭṭārakavarman \| Vikramēndravarman II, Vikramahēndra |
| No II. | Govindavarman \| Mādhavavarman (II). |

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I am of opinion that Vikramahēndra may be identified with Vikramēndravarman II. In fact, I have remarked that in several documents the information regarding the grand-father or other ancestors of the reigning king has been sometimes altered. It is probable that the real name of the grandfather of Mādhava II was Vikramēndravarman II.

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It seems that the capital of the kingdom was Lendulūra which is probably the present village of Dendulūru, in the Ellore taluq near the ancient city of Veṅgi.

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The tutelary deity of the dynasty is the "Holy Lord of Śrī Parvata," Śrī Sailam in the Karnul District. This God was the favourite deity of Prabhāvatī, widow of Rudrasēna II. and mother of Pravarasēna II, the Vākāṭaka king. On the other hand, Mādhavavarman I., the first Viṣṇukuṇḍin king had married a Vākāṭaka princess and we have said already, that very probably, in the middle of the V century, the Vākāṭakas uprooted the ancient Śālaṅkāyana dynasty of Veṅgi and placed on the throne their relation Mādhavavarman I. This king, in fact, is reported to have performed numerous sacrifices, 11 of them being horse sacrifices which are emblems of victory. Besides that, the eulogies of this king resemble those found in the Vākāṭaka copper-plates of Pravarasēna I.

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The king Vikramēndravarman I. had no other merit than that of birth. He was the ornament of two families, the Viṣṇukuṇḍins and the Vākāṭakas. His reign was probably short.

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On the contrary, Indrabhaṭṭārakavarman had a long reign as the Rāmatirtham plates are dated in the 37th year of his reign; besides, during this reign, there was a terrible attack made by a king, who probably reigned in Kaliṅga, who was also called "Indra" and who seems to have been the head of a coalition of kings. These plates tell us that Indrabhaṭṭārakavarman "encountered in hundred thousands of battles numerous four-tusked elephants (chaturdanta)"; we know that God Indra is mounted on the elephant of the East which has four tusks. That statement is wholly confirmed by copper plates written in a similar alphabet which have been found in the Gōdaveri District. They are those of Pṛthivimūla (J. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. XVI., page 116). From lines 17-20, we learn an alliance was entered into by several chiefs to uproot by force Indrabhaṭṭāraka whose élephant Kumuda (the elephant of the S. W. quarter) was struck down by Indrādhirāja mounted on his own elephant Supratika (the elephant of N. E. quarter). So there were two Indras present: Indrādhirāja, king of the northeast, that is, of Kaliṅga along the coast of Orissa, and Indrabhaṭṭāraka, the Viṣṇukuṇḍin who reigned in the southwest, that is to say in Vēṅgi. Now, it seems that it was the king of the Viṣṇukuṇḍins that was the victor. In fact the same Rāmatirtham plates commemorate the grant made by Indra of a village situated in the Pḷaki-rāṣṭra. This province is mentioned in the Timmapuram plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IX., page 317) under the name of Paḷaki-vishaya. And we know that this same province of Paḷaki-vishaya contained the village of Cherúpúra, which is nothing but Chipurupalli in the Vizagapatam District (Ind. Ant. Vol. XX., pages 15 and 16). Since the Viṣṇukuṇḍin Indra was the master of Vizagapatam District after his war with the king of Orissa, it is certain that he was the victor. We have said that there was a coalition of many kings against Indrabhaṭṭāraka. Among them perhaps was Hariṣēna the Vākāṭaka;

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in fact, the Ajaṇṭā inscription says that Harishēṇa vanquished the king of the Āndhra country. This word shows the country between the Gōdāvarī and the Kṛṣṇa, that is to say, the kingdom of the Viṣṇukuṇḍins.

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The son of Indrabhaṭṭāraka was Vikramēndravarman II. It is certain that this king reigned on the banks of the Kṛṣṇa as the Chikkulla plates mention the village of Rēgoṇram to the S. E. of Rāvirēva on the bank of the Kṛṣṇabeṇṇā; and Rāvirēva has been identified by Mr. Sewell with Raveralah 80°10'E and 16°50'N):

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The son of Vikramēndravarman II. (Vikramahēndra) was Gōvindavarman and his grandson Mādhavavarman II (Janāśrāya). The last of them "crossed the river Gōdāvari with the desire to conquer the eastern region". This event probably took place shortly before the invasion of Pulakēśin II. who put an end to the dynasty of Viṣṇukuṇḍins and annexed the kingdom of Vēṅgi.

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In my work "The Pallavas" (chapter III., page 34), I have attributed the caves of Uṇḍavalli, Sittanagaram, Bezwāda, Mogalrājapuram to the Viṣṇukuṇḍins. I shall not speak of it once again.

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The seal of the Chikkula plates (Ep. Ind. Vol IV., plate facing the page 244) resembles that of the Rāmatīrtham plates: an advancing lion with its fore-paw raised, mouth wide open and the tail swung over the back so as to end in a loop (G. O. No. 538; Rep. on Epi. 28th July 1909). The lion was then the crest of the Viṣṇukuṇḍins. It is to be remarked that the Kadambas have the same crest which proves the family relationship that existed between the Kadambas and the Viṣṇukuṇḍins. We find the image of a vase sculptured on the pillars at Uṇḍavalli and Mogalrājapuram, and the image of a lion at Uṇḍavalli. Coins bearing the image of a lion on the obverse and the image of a vase on the reverse have also been found. (see for instance, in Mr. Vincent A. Smith's, "Early History of India," the plate concerning the Indian coins in the British Museum: coin No. 16, from Elliot, "Coins of Southern India" Pl., II, 49). These coins have been attributed to the Pallavas. In 1917, in my work "The Pallavas" (Chapter III, page 34), I have attributed these coins to the Viṣṇukuṇḍins.

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§ 5. The Kings of Kalinga.

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We have six documents that give us information about the kings of Kalinga. We have said that, about A. D. 340, Samudra-Gupta met on the coast of Orissa with Maṇṭarāja, king of Korāla, Svāmidatta of Koṭṭūra, Damana of Eraṇḍapali and Mahendra of Piṣṭāpura. The last of them had probably the title of king of Kalinga : we shall see, in fact, that Śaktivarman ( Ragolu plates ) who also reigned at Piṣṭāpura had this title. The six documents we have mentioned being all in Sanskrit are probably posterior to the year 400 A. D. On the other hand the coast of Orissa was conquered by Pulakēśin II ( Aihole inscription ) about 609 A. D. and was probably shared between the Eastern Chālukyas in the south and the Eastern Gaṅgas in the north. The dates of the 6 documents in question are therefore between 400 and 600 A. D.

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Unfortunately, it is impossible to establish a chronology of the kings of Kalinga whose names we know. Therefore we shall now proceed to enumerate those documents without any ascertained chronological order.

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a) The Ragolu plates ( Ep. Ind. Vol XII, page 2 ) mention Vāsiṣṭhīputra Śaktivarman, king of Kalinga who reigned at Piṣṭāpura. It is said that this sovereign "adorns the Māgadha family," which goes to show that this prince was related to the Guptas and reigned towards the middle of the V century when the Guptas and the Vākāṭakas dominated the Deccan.

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b) The Gōdāvarī copper plates ( J. B. B. R. A. S. Vol XVI, page 116 ) had been studied when we gave the history of Indrabhaṭṭāraka of the Viṣṇukuṇḍin dynasty : the king Pṛthivimula who was the donor of the Gōdāvari plates was the son of Śri-Prabhākara and reigned in the city of Kândâḷi. He was the vassal of another more powerful king named Indra who was the son of Mitavarman, reigned at Maṇalkudi and had for his war-elephent Supratika (the elephent of the N. E. quarter). The document says that this king was the victor in the struggle against the king Indrabhaṭṭāraka. But we have said that this is not probable and that, on the contrary, the Viṣṇukuṇḍin king seems to have aennxed the districts of Gôdâvari and Vizagapatam and driven away the kings of Kalinga to the north. In fact, the capital of the kings of Kalinga which was Piṣṭâpuram at the times of Mahêndra and Vâsiṣṭhiputra Śaktivarman seems to have been transferred further north to Sârapalli and Simhapura after the Viṣṇukuṇḍins captured Piṣṭâpuram. This event probably took place in the first quarter of the VI Century.

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c) The Chikakole plates (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIII., page 48) of Nandaprabhañjavarman issued from Sârapalli and

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d) the Kômarti plates (Ep. Ind. Vol. IV., page 143) of Chandavarman issued from Simhapuram, have many points of resemblance; the phraseology of both these documents is almost the same; the seals bear the word "Pitṛbhaktah"; Nandaprabhañjana and Chandavarman are both of them called kings of Kalinga; and lastly, Simhapura, the capital of Chandavarman may be identified with Singupuram, a village neâr Chikakole where the plates of Nandaprabhañjana were discovered.

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e) The Brihatprôṣṭha grant of Umâvarman, lord of Kalinga, issued from Simhapura (Ep. Ind., Vol. XII., page 4) surely belongs to the same group as the plates of Chikakole and Kômarti. It is impossible to say in what chronological order, Umâvarman, Nandaprabhañjana and Chandavarman reigned. Their epoch is also uncertain; they might possibly have reigned between 525 and 609 A. D.

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f) Lastly, we have to mention the Sarabhavaram plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. XIII., page 104) for, this village where they were discovered is in the Gôdâvarî district and it is probably here that the Lord of Chikûra, whose name is not mentioned and who perhaps lived in the VI century, reigned. He was probably not a "king of Kalinga" but only a simple feudatory.

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