History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c14.1

c14.1

IT has already been pointed out that the newly discovered Inscription of Nandivarman at the Ādivarāha temple at Mahabalipuram dated in the sixty-fifth year probably represents the last year of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. If this is a genuine record the reign of this king must have come to a close about the year A.D. 775. For the succeeding period of a century and a quarter during which the Pallava power continued before the region comprised in their kingdom was annexed by the Chōḷas, we come across with the names of a number of kings who, to judge from their names, must have been members of the Pallava family. Of these it is a little difficult to separate the lineal descendants of Nandivarman Pallavamalla from the rest. We have for instance stone inscriptions or copper-plate records for Dantivarman, Nandivarman, Nripatungavarman, Kampavarman, Īśvaravarman, Narasimhavarman, Vayiramēgavarman and Chandrāditya, all of whom are ascribable to this period (circa A.D. 800-900). The task of distinguishing these kings and assigning them to particular periods on the evidence of inscriptions has been rendered not a little difficult by the use of certain prefixes and affixes to names which have bewildered some scholars and led them to postulate strange theories. The most important of these is what is known as the ‘Ganga-Pallava theory’ which was adopted by the official epigraphists¹ almost until recently. This may be illustrated by a specific example. The Pallava king Dantivarman who is known to have ruled for over fifty years and succeeded Nandivarman Pallavamalla figures in inscriptions as Dantivarma-Mahārāja, Dantivikramavarman, Dantipōttaraśar, Dantivarman of the Pallavatilakakula, and Ko-Vijaya-Dantivikramavarma. Similarly in the case of Nandivarman it is equally difficult as this name occurs in the inscriptions and copper-plate records in the following varieties:—Nandipōttaraśar, Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman, Nandivarman of the Bhāradvāja Gotra, the victorious Nandipōttarayar of Teḷḷāṟu and Danti-Nandivarman. The difficulty is also intensified as the inscriptions of these kings have been found not indistinctly separate localities but indiscriminately throughout the region of the Pallava kingdom. As none of these records is dated in the Śaka or any known era their date has to be determined independently by means of palæography and other details noted in inscriptions.