History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c10.13

c10.13

Sālankāyanas, *circa A.D. 350 to 500*.—Almost contemporaneously with the Pallava kings of the Sanskrit charters, may be placed the Sālankāyana dynasty. The word Sālankāyana appears originally to have been the name of a Vedic Rishi. There are nearly five grants for this dynasty that are available to us. If Hastivarman of Vengi, who figures among the adversaries of Samudragupta in the Allahabad inscription, was a Sālankāyana (identified by Vincent Smith as a Pallava) he may be regarded as the earliest member of this family known hitherto. The Ellore Prakrit⁴ plate the alphabets of which closely resemble the Pikīra, Mangalūr and Uruvapalli plates, are dated in the thirteenth year of Māhārāja-Vijayadēvavarman, and were issued from Vengipuram. These plates describe Vijayadēvavarman as the performer of the *Aśvamedha* the fervent Māhēśvara and the devotee at the feet of the Holy Chiṭrarathasvāmī. The grant is addressed to the villagers of Ellora which may be identified with the modern town of Ellore.