Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c16: Appendix A. A Chronological Index of Pallava Inscriptions

History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c16

Language
English

Contents

Appendix A. A Chronological Index of Pallava Inscriptions

c16.2

1. Nasik Buddhist Inscription of Śrī-Pulumāyi. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, pp. 60ff. The inscription records in Prakrit, the gift of a cow to the community of monks, by Queen Gotami Bālaśrī, mother of Gotamiputrasātakarṇi, king of Aśmaka, Mulika, etc., who destroyed the Śakas, Yavanas, and the Pahlavas. A village was granted by the queen's grandson for the embellishment of the cave.

c16.3

2. Junagaḍh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, pp. 36ff. Sanskrit fragment. Records the restoration of lake Śudarśana, situated at some distance from Girinagara (Girnar). The work was executed by Suviśāka, the son of Kulaipa, and a Pahlava, who had been appointed to rule the whole of Ānarta and Surāṣṭra. He is described as having been able, patient, not wavering, not arrogant, upright, and by his good government and proper views and dealings in things temporal and spiritual, to have increased the attachment of the people and the spiritual fame and glory of his master.

c16.4

3. The Myākadoni Inscription of Pulumāvi. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xiv, p. 153. Also *Rep. for Epig.*, Madras, for 1915–16, part ii, p. 112. Insc. No. 509, App. B. Prakrit record. This is dated in the eighth year of the Āndhra king Śrī-Pulumāvi, king of the Sātavāhana (family) and records the sinking of a reservoir by a resident of Vēpūraka, belonging to the Captain-Kumāradatta, in the country of Sātavāhani-Āhāra which belonged to the (great general) Mahasēnāpati- *Khandanāga* (Skandanāga). This inscription is important in so far as it establishes that the sway of the Sātavāhanas extended to the south of the Krishna.

c16.5

4. Mayidavōlu plates of Śivaskandavarman. Hultzsch. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. vi, p. 84.

c16.6

Eight copper-plates with a seal bearing in relief a bull and the legend *Śivaskandavarmaṇa*. The language is Prakrit, dialect different from literary Pāḷi, and the alphabet is considered an epigraphical curiosity. The grant was issued by the heir-apparent (*Yuvamahārāja*) Śivaskandavarman of the Bhāradvāja-gōtra and of the Pallava family, and records the gift of a village (Viripara) to two Brahmans. The village is said to have belonged to Āndhrapathā and has not been identified. The record is dated in the fifth *tithi*, of the sixth fortnight of summer, in the tenth year of the reign of Śivaskandavarman’s predecessor. The immunities secured by the village included, freedom from the diggings for salt, the supply of bullocks, in succession, the entrance of the soldiers, cots and dwellings.

c16.7

5. Hirahadagalli plates of Śivaskandavarman. Bühler, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. i, p. 5. Final corrections by Hultzsch, *Ibid.*, vol. vi, p. 88.

c16.8

Eight plates from Hirahadagalli, in the Bellari District. Prakrit. Records that the Pallava king Śivaskandavarman of Kāñchi, who belonged to the Bhāradvāja-gōtra and is said to have performed *Agniṣṭōma*, *Vājapēya* and *Aśvamedha* sacrifices, confirmed and enlarged in the eighth year of his reign a grant made formerly by the great king, the Lord-Bappa (his father), to certain Brahmans residing at Āpitti, and who are described as *bhojakas*, of the village of Chillarēkakoḍuṅka, in the Sātāhaniraṭṭha. The gift consisted of a garden in the above village, the income of which was to be divided in a specified manner.

c16.9

The writer of the grant was the Privy-Councillor (Rahasadhikata) Bhaṭṭi-Śarman. Among the other officials mentioned in this record are the Lords of Provinces, Royal Princes, Rulers of Districts, Custom-House Officers, Prefects of countries, Forest-officials, Sergeants, roaming spies, and others.

c16.10

6. British Museum plates of Chārudēvi. Noticed by Fleet. *Ind. Ant.*, vol. ix, pp. 100ff. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. vi, p. 88, No. 10. Final correction by Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, p. 143.

c16.11

The original copper-plates secured by Sir Walter Elliot, are now in the British Museum. Language is mostly in Prakrit prose and partly in Sanskrit verse. The seal contains a standing animal, apparently a bull, the crest of the Pallavas.

c16.12

The grant is dated in some year of Vijayaskandavarman (illegible). It records an order by the Queen Regent in behalf of the heir-apparent Vijaya-Buddhavarman who is described as a Pallava and affiliated to *Bhāradvāja-gōtra*. Dr. Hultzsch has read the name of the queen as Chārudēvi and that of the prince whose mother she claims to have been as Buddh(yan)kura. The grant supplies the genealogical order Mah. Vijayaskandavarman, his son Yuvamahārāja Vijaya Buddhavarman and his son Buddhyaṅkura.

c16.13

The object of the grant is to register a gift of land made by Chārudēvi consisting of a field near the king's tank to Nārāyaṇa of the Kuḷimahātāraka temple, at Dāḷūra. The village authorities were required to exempt the field from all immunities.

c16.14

7. Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta. Fleet, *Cor. Insc.*, *Ind.*, vol. iii, pp. 1–17.

c16.15

The inscription is written in an Asokan sandstone pillar.

c16.16

The characters belong to the Gupta alphabet, the language is partly Sanskrit prose and partly verse. The record is undated. It gives abundant details as regards the conquests of Samudragupta, the divisions and kings of India in the fourth century A.D. Among the southern kings that Samudragupta conquered and released, the record mentions Mahēndra of Kosala, Vyāgrarāja of Mahākāntara, Mantarāja of Kaurāla, Mahēndra of Paiṣṭāpura, Svāmidatta of Koṭṭūra on the hill, Damana of Erāṇḍapalla, Viṣṇugōpa of Kāñchī, Nilarāja of Āvamukta, Hastivarman of Vēṅgi, Ugrasēna of Palakka, Kubhēra of Dēvarāṣṭra, Danamjaya of Kausthalāpura, and all other kings of the region of the south. The inscription proves that Viṣṇugōpa of Kāñchī, one of the several southern kings defeated by Samudragupta, flourished in the second quarter of the fourth century A.D.

c16.17

⁸ Chendalūr plates of Kumāraviṣṇu II. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, p.

c16.18

²³³ Five copper-plates from Chendalūr in the Ongole Taluk of the Nellore District. Language is Sanskrit prose and the alphabets closely resemble those of Pikira, Uruvappalli, and Maṅgalūr plates. The inscription is an edict issued from Kāñchīpura in the second year of the reign of the Pallava-Mahārāja Kumāraviṣṇu (II) who is described as the son of Mah. Buddhavarman, the grandson of Mah. Kumāraviṣṇu (I), and the great-grandson of Mah. Skandavarman. The object of the grant is to register the gift of the king to a Brahman in the village of Chendalūra in Kavichakārabhōga, a subdivision of the district of Karmānkarāṣṭra. Of the localities mentioned in the record Kāñchīpuram is the well-known capital of the Pallavas and Chendalūr a village in the Nellore District.

c16.19

⁹ Oṃgoḍu plates of Vijayaskandavarman (II). H. K. Sastri, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xv, pp. 249ff. Four copper-plates. Language, Sanskrit characters belonging to the southern class. The grant is addressed from the Royal Camp the victorious Tāmbrāpasthāna. The record mentions in chrono-

c16.20

logical order Mah. Kumāraviṣṇu, who is described as a Pallava king of the Bhāradvāja gōtra and a performer of the Aśvamēdha sacrifice, his son Mah. Skandavarman who acquired his kingdom by his own prowess, his son Vīravarman victorious in many battles and his son Vijayaskandavarman, the donor. The grant conveys an order to the officers of Oṃgoḍu and the residents that the village was given as a Sātvika gift with the eighteen kinds of exemptions to Gōlaśarman of the Kaśyapa-gōtra, a student of two Vēdas, and well versed in the six Aṅgas. The grant was engraved in the victorious year 33, on the thirteenth day of the third fortnight of winter.

c16.21

10. Darśi copper-plate fragment. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. i, p. 397.

c16.22

Language and script: Same as above. The grant consists of the beginning of a Sanskrit inscription engraved on one side of a copper-plate. The name of the donor of the plate is lost but the record gives the name of his great-grandfather—Śrī Vīrakōrchavarman—the laudatory verses attributed to him agreeing literally with those attributed to the Pallava kings Skandavarman I and Skandavarman II. The king’s order was addressed from Vijaya-Daśanapura.

c16.23

11. Pikīra Grant of Siṃhavarman. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, p. 159.

c16.24

Five copper-plates with seal much worn but bearing in relief an animal perhaps the bull. Language is Sanskrit prose excepting the final imprecatory verses. The alphabet closely resembles the Uruvappalli plates.

c16.25

The record opens with an invocation to Viṣṇu (*Bhagavat*) and proceeds to record the grant of a village named Pikīra in the district of Muṇḍarāṣṭra. It is dated in the fifth year of the reign of Mah. Siṃhavarman and issued from the camp at Mēnmātūra, in the Nellore District. Mah. Siṃhavarman, the donor is described as the son of Yuva Mah. Viṣṇugōpa, the grandson of Mah. Skandavarman (II) and the great-grandson of Mah. Vīravarman. The term Yuva-mahārāja which is prefixed to Viṣṇugōpa in the present grant as well as in the Uruvappalli grant suggests that he probably never ruled.

c16.26

12. Mangalūr Grant of Simhavarman. Fleet, *Ind. Ant.*, vol. v, p. 154.

c16.27

Six copper-plates. Language, Sanskrit in the southern characters. The grant which was issued from Daśanapura registers the gift of the village of Mangadūr, situated in the country of Vengōrāṣṭra to certain Brahmans. The record is dated in the eighth year of the reign of Simhavarman who is stated to have been the great-grandson of Mah. Śrī-Vīravarman, the grandson of Mah. Skandavarman. Dr. Fleet considered that Simhavarman was an elder brother of Yuva Mahārāja Viṣṇugōpa one of whose grants is dated in the eleventh year of Simhavarman’s reign.

c16.28

13. Uruvappalli Grant of Yuva Mah. Viṣṇugōpavarman. Fleet, *Ind. Ant.*, vol. v, p. 50. Also the *Bombay Gazetteer*, part ii, p. 320.

c16.29

Language and characters same as above. The grant was issued from Palakkada and is dated in the eleventh year of Mah. Simhavarman. It mentions in genealogical order the names of four kings, Mah. Śrī Skandavarman, his son Mah. Śrīvīravarman, his son Mah. Skandavarman, and his son Yuva Mah. Viṣṇugōpavarman the donor who is described as the most divine worshipper of the divine one (*Paramabhāgavata*). The object of the grant is to register a gift of 200 *nivartanas* of land in the village of Uruvappalli in the Muṇḍarāṣṭra country to the temple of God Viṣṇuhāra established by Senāpati Viṣṇuvarman at the village of Kundukura. A minute description of the boundaries of the land is furnished.

c16.30

14. Ōmgōḍu Plates of Simhavarman II. H. K. Sastri, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xiv, p. 252; also *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1916*, Pt. ii, p. 113. Five copper-plates on a ring with no seal. Sanskrit language: characters same. The object of the grant is to register a gift of the village of Ōmgōḍu in Karmarāshṭra to a certain Dēvaśarman, who was a resident of Kēndūr and belonged to *Kasyapagōtra*. The grant was made in the fourth year of the reign, in the month of *Vaiśākha Śuklapaksha Panchami*. It is taken as having been given on the occasion of an eclipse. The donor Simhavarman (II) is stated to have been the son of Yuva Mahārāja Vishṇugōpa, grandson of Mah. Skandavarman, and the great-grandson of Mah. Vīravarman.

c16.31

15. Udayēndiram plates (spurious) of Nandivarman. Kielhorn, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. iii, p. 142; also *Ind. Ant.*, vol. iii, p. 167. Three copper-plates with a circular seal containing in bas-relief a standing bull. Language, Sanskrit in the southern script. The donor of the inscription is said to have been a devout worshipper of Vishṇu and the law-abiding Mahārāja Nandivarman of the *Bhāradvajagōtra*. He is said to have been the son of Mah. Skandavarman, the grandson of Mah. Simhavarman, and the great-grandson of Mah. Skandavarman. It registers the order of the King conveyed from Vijaya-Kāñchīpura recording a gift of the village of Kāñchivāyil, and four pieces of forest land situated in the district of Aḍayāra to a Brahman inhabitant of Kāñchivāyil named Kuḷaśarman. The grant was issued in the fifth lunar day of *Vaiśakhā* in the first year of the reign. The Tamil endorsement on the first plate which is dated in the twenty-sixth year of *Madiraikoṇḍa-Ko-Parakēsari* records the amalgamation of two villages.

c16.32

16. Chura Plates of Vijaya-Viṣṇugōpavarman. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1914*, part ii, p. 82. Sanskrit and Telugu. This record which is not dated, was issued from Vijayapālōtkaṭa and registers a grant of land by the donor Vijaya-Viṣṇugōpavarman, to a certain Chasmiśarman of the Kaśyapagōtra and a resident of Kundūr. According to this record Vijaya-Viṣṇugōpavarman was the son of Simhavarman, grandson of Mah. Viṣṇugōpavarman and the great-grandson of Skandavarman.

c16.33

17. Tālgunda Pillar Inscription of Kakutsthavarman. Bühler, *Ind. Ant.*, vol. xxv, p. 27; Fleet, *Dynasties*, pp. 286 ff; Rice, *Ep. Carn.*, vol. vii, p. 200; Kielhorn, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. viii, pp. 24 ff. The inscription which was discovered by L. Rice is written in Sanskrit in the box-headed variety of the Southern characters. It relates to the excavation of a tank near an ancient Śiva temple at Sthāṇukuṇḍūr, commenced by the Kadamba king Kakutsthavarman and completed by his son Śāntivarman. The author of the record which is written in high *Kāvya* style was Kubja. The greater portion of this inscription is devoted to an account of the early kings of Kadamba dynasty which is interesting for the information it gives of the relation of the Kadambas with the Pallava kings, the Bāṇas, etc. According to the inscription the Kadāmbas were a Brahman family belonging to the *Mānavyasagōtra* and descended from *Hāritiputra*. In this family was born Mayūraśarman who went to Kāñchī in order to study and there was involved in a quarrel with the Pallava rulers. He took up arms against them and after a prolonged struggle, the kings of Kāñchī conferred upon him the territory between *Amarārṇava* and *Premāra*. He was succeeded by his son Kangavarman, his son Bhagīratha, and his two sons Raghu and Kakutsthavarman. His successor was Śantivarman during whose reign this record was composed.

c16.34

18. The Penugonda Plates of Mādhava II. Rice, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xiv, pp. 331 ff. also *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1914*, p. 83, para 3.

c16.35

Old type of Kannaḍa Characters. (Telugu-Canarese).

c16.36

The plates mention in order Konkaṇivarma Dharma-Mahādhirāja of the *Kāṇvāyanagōtra*, his son Mādhava Mahādhirāja I, who was an able exponent of the science of polity, his son Āryavarman who is described to have been ‘duly installed on the throne by Simhavarma-Mahārāja, the lord of the prosperous Pallava family’ and his son Mādhava Mahādhirāja II who was duly installed on the throne by the illustrious Pallava king Skandavarman. The object of the grant is to register sixty-five paddy-fields in *Paruvivishaya* to Kumāra-Śarman of the *Vatsagōtra*. Exception has been taken by Dr. Fleet to this copper-plate grant. He considers them genuine as against others and the mention of the contemporaneous Pallava kings Simhavarma-Mahārāja and Skandavarma-Mahārāja is important. It is probable that they were related as father and son.

c16.37

19. Śiyamangalam Cave Inscription of Mahēndravarman. Madras. *Ep. Coll.*, No. 67 of 1900; Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. vi, No. 32, p. 319.

c16.38

This inscription is engraved on the rock-cut pillars in the Śiva temple called *Sthambēśvara*, in the village of Śiyamangalam, Wandiwash Taluk, North Arcot District. It consists of a single Sanskrit verse written in an archaic alphabet resembling the cave inscriptions at Trichinopoly and Mahēndravāḍi, and records the fact that the temple called *Avani-bhajana-Pallavēśvara* was caused to be excavated by a king called *Lalitānkura* who has been identified with Mahēndravarman I of the Pallava kings.

c16.39

20. Vallam Cave Inscription of Mahēndrapōtarāja. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, part iii, pp. 34ff. This inscription, written in archaic Tamil, is engraved on the upper portions of the doorpillars of the Vasantēśvara temple at Vallam, near Chingleput. It records that one Vasantapriyarāja, the servant of Pahāppiḍugu alias Lalitānkuran, Śatrumallan, Guṇabharan, Mahēndrapōta-Rāja caused the temple to be executed. The surnames belong to Mahēndravarman I.

c16.40

21. Mahēndravāḍi Inscription of Guṇabhara. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. iv, pp. 152ff. This inscription is written in the same archaic Pallava alphabet as the Trichinopoly rock inscription and consists of a single Sanskrit verse in the *kōkilaka* metre, inscribed on the pilaster on the left end of the facade in the rock-cut temple here. It records the fact that Guṇabhara caused the temple to be cut out of the rock and that it was dedicated to Viṣṇu and bore the name *Mahendra Viṣṇugṛiha*, i.e. the Viṣṇu temple of Mahēndra, that it stood on the bank of the *Mahēndrataṭāka*, i.e. the tank of Mahēndra and that it was situated in Mahēndrapura, the City of Mahēndra. Mahēndrapura is probably identical with Mahēndravāḍi and Guṇabhara with Mahēndravarman I.

c16.41

22. Trichinopoly Cave Inscriptions of Mahēndra. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. i, pp. 28–30. Two inscriptions in Sanskrit in archaic Pallava-Grantha characters on two pillars in the upper cave of the Rock at Trichinopoly record that a king called Guṇabhara, who bore the *birudas*, *Puruṣottama*, *Satyasaṃdha* and *Śatrumalla*, constructed a temple on the top of the mountain and placed in it a *linga* and a statue of himself. As the Kāvēri is here called ‘the beloved of the Pallavas’ and as the inscription is found in the Chōḷa territory it is clear that the Pallavas had extended their dominions during this period to the region of the Kāvērī.

c16.42

23. Maṇḍagappaṭṭu Inscription of Vichitrachitta. Jouveau-Dubreuil, *Conjeevaram Insc. of Mahēndravarman*, p. 2. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xvii, p. 14.

c16.43

The record is written in the Pallava-Grantha characters of the seventh century A.D., and is a Sanskrit verse in the *Giti* metre. It is somewhat damaged and can be read only with difficulty. It states that King Vichitrachitta caused to be constructed a temple for Brahma, Īśvara and Vishnu, without the use of bricks, timber, metals and mortar. Vichitrachitta is a surname of Mahēndravarman I.

c16.44

24. Daḷavānūr Cave Inscription of Narēndra. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xii, p. 225; *Ep. Col.*, Nos. 50 and 51 of 1905. Sanskrit and Tamil. The inscriptions are written on a pillar in a rock-cut cave at Daḷavānūr in the Tindivanam Taluk of the South Arcot District. The first inscription consists of a single Sanskrit *śloka* which states that the cave-temple containing the inscription was executed at the order of Śatrumalla and named Śatrumallēśvarālaya. The second is divided into two sections of which one is Tamil verse and the other prose, and records the same fact. The name of the locality is stated to be Veṇpaṭṭu. Narēndra is only a surname of Pallava Mahēndravarman I and the reference to the donor as *Toṇḍaiyamtārvendan* confirms this surmise.

c16.45

25. Pallavaram Inscription of Mahēndravikrama. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1909*, p. 75.

c16.46

This inscription written on the beams of the upper and lower verandahs of the cave temple at Pallavaram in archaic Pallava-grantha-characters. Fragment. It gives a list of *birudas* of which some are Sanskrit, others Telugu. Of these *Śrī-Mahēndravikrama*, *Mattavilāsa*, *Chēthakāri*, *Vichitrachitta*, *Aluptakāma*, *Kalahapriya*, and *Saṅkīrṇajāti* are in Sanskrit and *Nilvilonayambu*, *Ventulavittu*, etc., are in Telugu. Some of these *birudas* are those of Mahēndravarman.

c16.47

26. Conjeevaram Inscription of Mahēndravarman. *Ep. Col.*, No. 82 of 1921. Also see Jouveau-Dubreuil, *Conjeevaram Inscription of Mahēndravarman*. Pallava-Grantha.

c16.48

This is engraved on the pillar of the *Paurṇami Maṇḍapa* to the south of the central sanctuary of the Ekāmbaranāthasvāmi temple, and consists of a series of *birudas* of the king who got them engraved such as *Abhimukha*, *Chitrakārapuli*, *Vambara*, *Dṛḍabhakti*, etc. As some of these surnames occur in his other cave inscriptions it is probable that they belong to Mahēndravarman I.

c16.49

27. Kuḍumiyāmalai Inscription of music. P. R. Bhandarkar, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xii, p. 226; *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1905*, p. 47; *Ep. Col.*, No. 354 of 1904.

c16.50

The inscription is written in Sanskrit in the Pallava-grantha characters of the seventh century, on a rock behind the Sikhānāthasvāmi temple in Kuḍumiyāmalai (Pudukotta State). The inscription is divided into seven sections, corresponding to the seven classical *rāgas* and was engraved at the instance of an unnamed king who was a disciple of Rudrāchārya for the benefit of his pupils.

c16.51

28. Aihole inscription of Pulakēsin II. Kielhorn, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. vi, p. 4.

c16.52

Sanskrit in characters of the southern class. The inscription is a poem by a certain Ravikīrti who during the reign of Pulakēsin II founded the temple of Jinēndra on which it is engraved. It bears the date Śaka Samvat 556 corresponding to A.D. 634–35. It gives an eulogistic account of the history of Chāḷukya family especially of the exploits of Pulakēsin II who is described to have besieged Banavāsi, subdued the Gangas, the Āḷupas, and the Mauryas in the Konkaṇas, besieged Puri, subdued the Lāṭas, Māḷavas, and the Gūrjaras, defeated Harsha of Kanauj, fought with the Kalingas and the Kosalas, captured Pishṭapura, fought at the Kaunāḷa, defeated the Pallavas of Kāñchīpuram (‘ causing the splendour of the lord of the Pallavas who had opposed the rise of his power to be obscured by the dust of his army, and to vanish behind the walls of Kāñchīpuram ’), crossed the River Kāvērī and caused prosperity to the Chōḷas, Kēraḷas and the Pāṇḍyas. The fame of the composer of this poem is said to have exceeded that of Kālidāsa and Bhāravi, thus showing that already in the seventh century the fame of Kālidāsa had spread so as to be quoted in contemporary inscriptions.

c16.53

²⁹ Tirukkaḷukkuṉṟam Inscription of Rājakēsarivarman. Tamil. Venkayya. *Ep. Ind.*, vol. iii, p.

c16.54

²⁷⁶ This inscription is dated in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Rājakēsarivarman and records that at the request of a certain Puttan a grant which had been made by Skandaśishya and confirmed by Vātāpikonda-Narasingapōtarayar was renewed. The gift was originally made to the Mūlasthānattu-Perumān, which has not been identified. Both the kings are spoken of as former kings. On paleographical grounds the grant may be dated in the ninth century A.D. Tirukkaḷukkuṉṟam is spoken of as being in the Kaḷattūrkoṭṭam. Skandaśishya may be Skandavarman and Vātāpikonda-Narasingapōtarayar is Narasimhavarman I.

c16.55

³⁰ Bādāmi Stone Inscription (fragment). Fleet, *Ind. Ant.*, vol. ix, p.

c16.56

⁹⁹ This fragmentary inscription engraved on the north side of a shapeless rock lying to the north-west of the temple of Jeggina Īrappa in the Badami Taluq in the Biyapur District. The characters are of the same type as those of the Pallava grants of

c16.57

Vishṇugōpavarman. The fragment is of great interest as mentioning Badami under the ancient name of Vātāpi and speaking (l. 4) of ‘the Pallava, the foremost of kings’. It refers also to Narasimhavishṇu and contains a reference to the occupation of the city by Māmalla.

c16.58

31. Dharmarājaratha Stone Inscription at Mahābalipuram— Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. x, pp. 5ff., also *S.I.I.*, vol. i, p. 1.

c16.59

These inscriptions consist of a number of words in the nominative case. The characters resemble the Mahēndravādi and Śīyamangalam inscriptions of Mahēndravarman I. The language is Sanskrit. They do not contain any date and their approximate time has to be fixed on palæographical grounds. They appear from a comparative study to belong to Narasimhavarman I. Narasimha is twice mentioned. From the archaic nature of the alphabets Dr. Hultzsch thinks that the Narasimha of the Dharmarājaratha may be identified with the Narasimha I of the Pallavas. The identification is made almost certain by a reference to the published facsimile of the Badami stone inscription of Narasimhavarman I the alphabets of which are nearly identical with those of the Dharmarājaratha Inscriptions. Dharmarājaratha was probably sculptured in the first half of the seventh century A.D.

c16.60

32. Gaṇēśa temple Inscription of Paramēśvaravarman I. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. x, pp. 8ff. Eleven verses in Sanskrit.

c16.61

This inscription records that the monolith on which it is engraved was a Śiva temple and was called the Īśvara temple of Atyantakāma-Pallava. From *ślōka* 2 of this inscription Dr. Hultzsch has concluded that Atyantakāma must be either Paramēśvaravarman I, father of Rājasimha, or Paramēśvaravarman II, his son, preferably the former. The alphabets of Atyantakāma’s inscription of the Seven Pagodas bear so close a resemblance to Kailāsanātha temple epigraphs of Rājasimha that both of them may be assigned to about the same period (viz.) the third quarter of the seventh century A.D. Among Atyantakāma’s surnames the following are given—*Śrinidhi*, *Śrībhara*, *Raṇajaya*, *Taruṇāṅkura*, *Kāmarāga*.

c16.62

33. Dharmarāja Maṇḍapa Inscriptions. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. x, No. 22, pp. 10 and 11.

c16.63

This is a duplicate of Gaṇēśa temple inscription and proves that the cave-temple now called Dharmarāja Maṇḍapa was in reality a Śiva temple and that it was erected at the orders of the Pallava king Paramēśvara, who named it Atyantakāma-Pallavēśvara after one of his own surnames Atyantakāma.

c16.64

34. Inscription of Paramēśvaravarman at the Rāmānuja Maṇḍapa. *Ibid.*, p. 11.

c16.65

This inscription consists of the last *śloka* of the preceding inscription and the cave-temple on which it is inscribed accordingly was a Śiva temple having been excavated during the reign of the Pallava king Paramēśvaravarman.

c16.66

35. Sāḷuvankuppam Inscriptions of Atiraṇachaṇḍa. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. x, p. 12.

c16.67

This inscription on the left of the cave-temple at Sāḷuvankuppam records that the excavation was a temple of Śiva and that it was made by King Atiraṇachaṇḍa who named it after himself Atiraṇachaṇḍēśvara. *Verses* 1, 2 and 4 are identical with Paramēśvaravarman’s Mahābalipuram inscription. It contains the *birudas*, *Atyantakāma*, *Śrinidhi*, *Kāmarāga*, *Śrībhara*, *Raṇajaya*, *Anugraśīla*, *Kālakāla*, *Samaradanaṃjaya* and *Saṅgrāmadhīra*. Most of these are applied to Rājasimha in his inscriptions at Kāñchī. The alphabet resembles those of Kaśākkuḍi plates of Nandivarman II. The name Atiraṇachaṇḍa is unknown from other sources. Nos. 24, 25 and 26 are Nāgari copies of the above.

c16.68

36. Kūram plates of Paramēśvaravarman I. Hultzsch, S.I.I., vol. i, pp. 144ff.

c16.69

Seven copper-plates from Kūram near Conjeevaram.

c16.70

The seal bears the usual Pallava symbol the seated bull facing the left. The language is partly in Sanskrit verse and prose and the rest Tamil and the script Pallava-Grantha. The Sanskrit portion opens with benedictory verses of which the first two are addressed to Śiva. Then follows a mythical genealogy from Brahma to Pallava after whom are mentioned Mahēndravarman, his son Narasimhavarman, who is stated to have repeatedly defeated the Cholas, the Kēralas, the Kalabhras and the Pāṇḍyas, and who vanquished Pulakēsin in the battles of Pariyaḷa, Maṇimaṅgala, and Śūramāra and destroyed his capital Vātāpi. Of Paramēśvaravarman himself is given a long description of military exploits which mentions that he made Vikramāditya whose army consisted of several lakshas take to flight covered only by a rag. The object of the Kūram grant is a gift of the village of Paramēśvaramaṅgalam made to the temple of Śiva which had been built at Kūram by Vidyāvinīta-Pallava. The village was evidently named after the king himself and divided into twenty-five parts of which three were to be enjoyed by two Brahmans Anantaśivāchārya and Pullaśarman who looked after the divine service of the temple. The fourth part was set aside for the cost of providing water and fire for the temple maṇḍapa, the fifth for the reading of the Bhārata at this place while the remaining twenty parts were given to twenty Chaturvēdins. Kūram is mentioned as belonging to Manyavāntararāshṭra of Nirveḷur, a division of Uṛukāṭṭukkōṭṭam. The village of Paramēśvaramangalam belonged to Panmā-Nāḍu Patmamānyāvāntararāshṭra, a sub-division of Manavīrkoṭṭam.

c16.71

37. Gadvāl Plates of Vikramāditya, A.D. 674. Hultzsch, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. x, No. 22, p. 101.

c16.72

Three copper-plates. Language is Sanskrit prose and verse; alphabet like other Chāḷukyan grants. The inscription records the grant of land by the Western-Chāḷukya king Vikramāditya I, the son of Satyāśraya, (Pulakēśin II) grandson of Kīrtivarman (I) and great grandson of Pulakēśin (I). Several surnames of the king are mentioned such as *Śrīvallabha*, *Raṇarasika*, *Rājamalla*. *Śloka* 3 states that he defeated Narasimha, Mahēndra and Īśvara, the three successive Pallava kings, Narasimhavarman I, Mahēndravarman II and Paramēśvaravarman I. *Śloka* 4 alludes to the conquest of Kāñchī the capital of the Pallavas. *Śloka* 5 states that Vikramāditya first destroyed the Mahāmalla family. At the time of the grant Vikramāditya’s army having invaded the Chōḷa province was encamped in Uragapura on the southern bank of the Kāvēri (ii. 25ff). The date of the grant was the full-moon *tithi* of *Vaiśākha* in the twentieth year of the reign which was current after 596 Śāka, equivalent to Tuesday, 25th April, A.D. 674. (Dr. Hultzsch identified Uragapuram with Negapatam in the Tanjore District and Venkayya with Uraiyūr near Trichinopoly Town, the ancient Chola capital.)

c16.73

38. Panamalai Inscription of Rājasimha. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1916*, p. 114; *Ep. Col.*, No. 616 of 1915; also, *Pallava Ant.*, vol. i, p. 1.

c16.74

The beginning and end of this inscription found in the Talapurīśvara temple at Panamalai are covered by a paved floor. The record which consists of six verses is in the floried Grantha-Pallava characters and is written right round the temple as in the Kailāsanātha temple inscription of Rājasimha at Kāñchīpura. The existing portion mentions Aśvattāma, his son Pallava, who was the progenitor of the great Pallava family the members of which, washed their sins away by Aśvamedha sacrifices and belonged to the Bhāradvājavaṃśa. Rājasimha is described as a famous king of the line who was born from Parameśvara as ‘Guha from Śiva’. Under his care the tree of Dharma is said to have thriven even though oppressed by the hot sun, the Kali age.

c16.75

39. Rājasimheśvara Shrine Inscriptions of Rājasimha. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. i, No. 24, p. 13.

c16.76

Twelve Sanskrit verses in the Grantha-Pallava running round the outside of the central shrine. The record opens with a benediction addressed to Ganga, and then gives a mythical pedigree of Pallava from (Brahman). It further says that in the race of the Pallavas was born Ugradanḍa, the destroyer of the city of Raṇarasika whose son was Rājasimha who bore the surnames *Atyantakāma*, *Raṇajaya*, *Śrībhara*; he is said to have built the Śiva temple round which the inscription is written and called it after his own name Rājasimha-Pallaveśvara or Rājasimheśvara.

c16.77

40. Inscription of Raṅgapatākā. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. i, No. 29, pp. 23-24.

c16.78

The record consisting of three Sanskrit verses in characters similar to Rājasimha’s records that the small Śiva shrine was founded by Raṅgapatākā the wife of Narasimhavishṇu or Kālakāla whose sign was the Bull.

c16.79

41. Panamalai Cave Inscription of Rājasimha. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. i, No. 31, p. 24.

c16.80

This record consists of a single Sanskrit *sloka* in Grantha-Pallava characters and is identical with the last verse of Rājasimha’s Kāñchī inscription (*S.I.I.*, vol. i, No. 24). It mentions the *birudas* of Rājasimha, *Śrībhara*, *Chitrakārmuka*, *Ekavīra*, and *Śivachuḍāmaṇi*. Dr. Hultzsch from a study of this inscription concludes that the Panamalai cave was founded by Rājasimha and that the Pallava rule extended as far south as Panamalai at this period.

c16.81

42. Shore Temple Inscription of Rājasimha. *Ep. Col.*, 566 of 1912. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1913*, paras 8 and 9. This record consisting of about six Sanskrit verses is inscribed round the plinths of the two *bali-pīṭhas* recently excavated in the shore-temple. The record is not complete but contains an eulogy of a Pallava king whose attributes were *Atyaṇṭakāma*, *Aparājita*, *Śivachūḍāmaṇi*, etc. Another verse refers to him as Rājasimha, Raṇajaya, Śrībhara and Chitrakārmuka and is identical with the twelfth verse of the Kāñchīpuram inscription of Rājasimha. The mention in the record of the king as the ruling sovereign makes it probable that he was Rājasimha son of Paramēśvaravarman I, who bore the surnames Kshatriyasimha and Rājasimha. The two Śiva temples of the Shore Temple Kshatriyasimha and Rājasimhapallavēśvaram were evidently contemporary with Rājasimhapallavēśvaram of Kāñchīpuram and named after Rājasimha.

c16.82

⁴³ Vāyalūr stone pillar Inscription of Rājasimha. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1909*, part ii, para 16, p.

c16.83

¹⁷ Jouveau-Dubreuil, *Pallavas*, ch. ii, pp. 19-21; *Ep. Col.*, No. 368 of 1908; H. K. Sāstri, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xviii, p.

c16.84

¹⁴⁵ This record is engraved on a cubical pillar in the Vyāghrapurīśvara temple at Vāyalūr. It is written in the usual Grantha-Pallava characters of the florid type used in the Ramānuja *maṇḍapa* and the Gaṇeśa temple inscriptions at Mahābalipuram, and the Kailāsanātha inscription at Kāñchīpura. It gives a list of the Pallava kings in genealogical order. Beginning with the names of Brahma, Angirasa, etc., it proceeds to mention the names of Aśoka, Harigupta, Āryavarman, Bhūtadatta, etc. and a long list of further names obviously in the order of descent. These

c16.85

include Sūryavarman, Rūpamalla, Dhṛitaka Vimala Konkaṇika, Kālabhartṛ, Chūta-Pallava, Vīrakūrcha, Viṣhṇugōpa, Skandavarman, Kumāraviṣhṇu, among the early Pallava kings of the copper-plates. Then are mentioned the names of Simhavarman, Nandivarman, Simhaviṣhṇu, Mahēndravarman, Narasimhavarman and Paramēśvaravarman and Rājasimha. The value of the record consists in the connection which it establishes between the Pallavas of the Prakrit charters and those of the Sanskrit charters and the connection of these again with those of the Simhaviṣhṇu line.

c16.86

44. Inscription in the Kailāsanātha temple of Mahēndravarman II. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. i, No. 27, p. 22. The record consists of four Sanskrit verses in Grantha-Pallava characters of Rājasimha's period and registers the fact that Mahēndra, the son of Rājasimha and grandson of Lokāditya built a temple of Śiva and called it Mahēndrēśvara after his own name. The record is engraved round the smaller shrine which stands in front of Rājasimha's Kailāsanātha shrine. It speaks of Lokāditya that ‘his valour dried up the army of Raṇarasika, just as the heat of the sun does the mud.’

c16.87

45. Vīraṭṭānēśvara temple Inscription of Paramēśvaravarman II. *Ep. Col.*, No. 56 of 1903. Tamil. This inscription engraved on a slab lying in front of the Vīraṭṭānēśvara temple at Tiruvādi records in Tamil a gift of gold and is dated in the third year of Paramēśvarapotarayar.

c16.88

⁴⁶ Vaikuṇṭhaperumāḷ Inscription. *Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1906*, part. ii, pp. 62–63; *Ep. Col.*, No. 37 of 1888. Text, *S.I.I.*, vol. iv, pp. 10ff. Also see *Ep. Ind.*, vol. xviii, p.

c16.89

¹¹⁷ This is not a single record but a series of inscriptions each explaining the group of sculptures below which it is put up. They are in the nature of explanatory

c16.90

notes denoting particular events in Pallava history. The portion relating to the events leading to the accession of Pallavamalla is very important and contains a full account of the circumstances under which Nandivarman (II) succeeded to the Pallava throne which is depicted in twelve sculptured scenes on the south wall of the *veranda* running round the central shrine. It is stated therein that after the death of Paramēśvaravarman II a deputation of the officials and citizens waited on Hiraṇyavarma-Mahārāja for the selection of a sovereign to the Pallava throne. Hiraṇyavarman, thereupon, held an important consultation with the chief potentates and his sons. Ultimately Pallavamalla the twelve-year-old son of Hiraṇyavarman was selected by common consent and was crowned king under the name Nandivarman, and with the Pallava insignia and war instruments—*Samudraghosha*, *Khaṭvāṅgadhvaja* and *Vṛishabha-lañchana*. The members of the Merchants’-guild, the City-Council, and the Ubhaiyagaṇa of Kāñchī are also mentioned as having taken an important part in the above events.

c16.91

47. Sthambēśvara Temple Inscription of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman. *Ep. Col.*, No. 68 of 1900. Tamil record, dated in the third year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman records the building of a temple *maṇḍapa* at Sthambēśvara temple at Śīyamangalam (South Arcot District).

c16.92

48. Viraṭṭānēśvara Temple Inscription of Nandivikramavarman. *Ep. Col.*, No. 300 of 1902. Tamil record inscribed on a rock in the *prākāra* of the Viraṭṭānēśvara temple, Kiḷūr, near Tirukkoilūr, dated in the fourth year of Nandivikramavarman registering gift of gold for lamp.

c16.93

49. In the same place. *Ep. Col.*, No. 295 of 1902. Tamil inscription dated in the eleventh year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman records a gift of gold.

c16.94

This is a Tamil inscription found on the south wall of the rock-cut cave at Daḷavānūr (South Arcot District,) is dated in the fifteenth year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman. Much damaged.

c16.95

51. *Ep. Col.*, No. 296 of 1902. Tamil inscription, dated in the sixteenth year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman recording gift of gold for a lamp found in the *prākāra* of the Vīraṭṭānēśvara temple at Kiḷūr near Tirukkoilūr.

c16.96

52. *Ep. Col.*, No. 220 of 1902. Tamil inscription dated in the nineteenth year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman found on the west wall of the Rishabhanātha temple records gift of paddy. Incomplete.

c16.97

53. Udayēndiram Plates of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, p. 365. Sanskrit and Tamil. The grant consists of two parts, the first a grant of the Pallava king Nandivarman Pallavamalla in the Sanskrit, and the other an inscription of the time of the Chōḷa king *Madiraikoṇḍa-Kō-Parakēsari-varman* in Tamil.

c16.98

The object of the Sanskrit portion is to register a grant made at the request of one of his military officers Udayachandra by Nandivarman Pallavamalla in the twenty-first year of the reign. Udayachandra is described as belonging to the Pūchan family and as residing in the city of Villivala on the River Vēgavati. The record gives the mythical genealogy, and the race of Simhavishṇu and his successors. It describes Nandivarman-Pallavamalla as the son of Paramēśvaravarman II. The most interesting part of the grant is that relating to the services rendered by Udayachandra to Pallavamalla which included the release of his sovereign from Nandipura where he was besieged by the Tamil kings, the killing of Chitramāya, defeat of the Śabara king Udayana, the Nishāda chief Prithivī-Vyāghra, and the subjection of the district of Vishṇurāja to the Pallava, etc. The donees were hundred and eight Brāhmans, while the grant consisted of Kumāramangala-Veḷḷatur and two water-levers. The Tamil endorsement dated in the twenty-sixth year of Ko-Parakēsarivarman relates to the agreement of two villages Udayachandramangalam and the neighbouring village of Kānchivāyil to form one village of the two.

c16.99

⁵⁴ Kaśākkuḍi plates of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. Eleven copper-plates with a seal containing the figure of a bull facing left. Hultzsch, *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, p.

c16.100

³⁴⁶ Sanskrit and Tamil. The characters of the plates belong to the Pallava-grantha, and bear a close resemblance to the Kūram plates. The grant part of the record is preceded by an account of the ancestors of the donor Nandivarman Pallavamalla which was composed by Trivikrama. After the mythical genealogy from Brahma to Aśokavarman, the record mentions the Pallava kings Skandavarman, Kalindavarman, Kāṇagōpa, Virakūrcha, Virasimha, Simhavarman and Vishṇusimha. Then are mentioned Simhavishṇu called Avanisimha, Mahēndravarman (I), his son Narasimhavarman (I), his son Mahēndravarman II, his son Paramēśvaravarman (I), his son Narasimhavarman II, his son Paramēśvaravarman (II). The donor Nandivarman Pallavamalla in whose twenty-second year the record is dated is described as being descended from Simhavishṇu’s younger brother Bhīmavarman, between whom and Nandivarman (II) there intervened the kings Bhīmavarman, Ādityavarman, Govindavarman and Hiraṇya, the father of Nandivarman. The object of the grant which was made at the request of Brahmaśrīrāja was Koḍukoḷḷi which received the name of Ēkadhīramangalam. The donee was Jyēshṭhapāda-Sōmayājin who belonged to the Bhāradvājagōtra a Vedic

c16.101

scholar, and a student of *Kalpa*, *Vyākaraṇa*, *Jyotiṣa*, *Nirukta*, etc., and who lived in Pūniya in Tuṇḍāka-Rāṣṭra. There is an interesting list of immunities secured by the donee. Mention is also made of local officials and His Majesty’s Treasurer *Śrī-Paramēśvara-Mahākōṣṭhāgārin*.

c16.102

This inscription found in the west and east walls of the Muktēśvara temple of Conjeevaram is dated in the twenty-eighth year of Nandivarman and gives the ancient name of the temple as Dharmamahādēvīśvara evidently after Dharmamahādēvī, a Pallava Queen.

c16.103

56. Pañcapāṇḍavamalai Inscription of Nandipōttaraśar. *Ep. Col.*, No. 10 of 1895. This inscription written in very archaic Tamil characters consists of a single sentence in Tamil, records in the fiftieth year of Nandipōttaraśar an inhabitant of Pugalalaimangalam caused to be engraved an image of Ponniyakkiyār attended by the preceptor Nāganandin.

c16.104

57. *Ep. Col.*, No. 27 of 1887. Tamil fragmentry inscription on a stone in the Grāmadēvata temple at Saduppēri is dated in the fifty-second year of Kō-Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman.

c16.105

58. *Ep. Col.*, No. 154 of 1921. Tamil inscription, dated in the fifty-second year of Vijaya-Nandīśvaravarman found in Kuludikkai, North Arcot District, records the death of Kaṇṇāḍu-Perungangar, chief of Karkāṭṭūr who at the instance of the great Bāṇa king fought and fell on the day of the great Pallava invasion against Permānaḍigal and the destruction of Perunguḷikoṭṭai.

c16.106

⁵⁹ Taṇḍantōṭṭam plates of Kōvijaya-Nandivikramavarman. H. K. Sastri. *S.I.I.*, vol. ii, part v, p.

c16.107

⁵¹⁷ Also *Mad. Ep. Rep.* for 1912, paras 4 and 5. Fourteen copper-plates from Taṇḍanōṭṭam with seal bearing in relief a couchant Bull facing right,

c16.108

Sanskrit and Tamil in the *Grantha-Pallava* characters. Some of the introductory plates containing the genealogy of the Pallava kings are missing. The existing plates commence with the information that a particular king conquered the south, after which the birth of Hiraṇyavarman is recorded. From him was born Nandivarman who bore the *biruda* Ēkadhīra. Of him it is recorded that he took away from an unnamed Ganga-king a neck ornament which contained in it the gem called *Ugrōdaya*. The inscription also gives the name of Nandivarman's elephant as Paṭṭavardhana (v. 7.). The object of the grant was to register the gift of a village called Dayāmukhamangalam to 308 Brahmans learned in the *Vēdas*, and *Smṛtis* who were *Chaturvēdis*, *Trivēdis*, *Sōmayājins*, *Bhaṭṭas*, *Shaḍangavids*, *Kramavids*, etc. Provision was made for the conduct of worship to the local Viṣṇu and the Śiva temples, and also for the recitation of the *Mahābhārata* in the temple-hall. The Sanskrit part of the record ends with the portion which mentions that the *ajñapti* of the charter was Kumāra, the Chief of the Treasury, and the composer of the Praśasti, the poet Paramēśvara-Uttarakāraṇika, the Tamil portion is dated in the fifty-eighth year of Kōviśaiya-Nandivikramavarman and records an order which was issued to the residents of Tenkaraināḍu, a district of Śōḷanāḍu. The donees whose enumeration occupies more than eleven plates, number 244. To judge from their titles it may be presumed that most of them were learned. The concluding portion enumerates the obligations and the immunities of taxation secured by the donees.

c16.109

⁶⁰ Tiruvallam Rock Inscription of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman. *Ep. Col.*, No. 76 of 1899 and *S.I.I.*, vol. iii, p.

c16.110

⁹⁰ Tamil record. This inscription is engraved on the surface of a large boulder in the bed of the Nīva

c16.111

river, near Tiruvallam, and is written in archaic Grantha-Tamil characters. It is dated in the sixty-second year of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman while Māvali-Vāṇarāya was ruling the Vaḍuga-vaḷi-Twelve-thousand; it registers a gift of land for the renewal of a temple Vaḍaśikharakovil, at Vāṇapuram by a goldsmith called Aridhiran, a resident of Aḷingaṇappākkam in the district of Ūṟukāṭṭukōṭṭam.

c16.112

⁶¹ Koṟṟanguḍi Plates No. 5 of App. A, 1922-3. Q.J M.S., vol. xiv, pp. 125-139. Also Ep. Ind., vol. xviii, pp. 115 ff. Five copper-plates written on eight sides unearthed from a hamlet of Kottamangalam in Tanjore District. The engraving is partly in Grantha and partly Tamil. The record consists of eleven Sanskrit verses and a prose passage in Tamil. It opens with invocatory verses to Viṣṇu. Then is given the usual mythical genealogy of Pallava through Brahma, Aṅgiras, Bṛahaspati, etc. Verses 4 and 5 give a panegyric account of the Pallava family. The historical account which begins with (v. 6.) states that after Virākūrcha and others had gone to heaven, Hiraṇyavarma became king. Then came Nandivarma while yet he was very young and his conquests over Vallabha, Kaḷabhra, Kēraḷa Pandya and Chola, are detailed. The Tamil portion is dated in the sixty-first year of the reign of Ko. Vij. Nandivikramavarman and registers a gift of land which was received by the Brahmans of Nalgūr. The names of the donees are then enumerated.

c16.113

⁶² Ādivarāha temple inscription of Mahābalipuram, No. 666, 1922. Ep. Col. No. 666 of 1922. This Grantha-Tamil inscription is written on two sides of a slab lying in the court-yard of the Ādivarāha temple at Mahābalipuram. It is dated in the 65th year of Nandipotavarman and registers a gift of land by purchase from the citizens of Mahāmallapuram.

c16.114

⁶³ Kāñchi inscription of Vikramāditya II. Dr. Hultzsch, Ep. Ind., vol. iii, p.

c16.115

³⁵⁹ The inscription is in

c16.116

Kanarese prose and is engraved on the back of the pillar of the *maṇḍapa* in front of the Rājasimhēśvara shrine. It records that Vikramāditya Satyāśraya after his conquest of Kāñchī, did not confiscate the property of Rājasimhēśvara temple but granted large sums of money to the temple. The inscription ends with the imprecation that those who destroy the letters of the record and the stability of the king's charity, shall incur the sin of those who killed the men of the assembly of the city (Ghaṭikaiyār).

c16.117

64. Vakkalēri plates of Kīrtivarman. Rice, *Ind. Ant.*, vol. viii, p. 23, also Kielhorn, *Ep. Ind.*, vol. v, p. 200. Five copper-plates first brought to notice by L. Rice.

c16.118

The language of the record is Sanskrit and mostly prose. The record belongs to the Western Chāḷukya king Kīrtivarman II whose ancestors are mentioned between lines 2-59. The object of the inscription is to record in the eleventh year of his reign, 679 *Śaka*, the gift of Śulliyūr and two other villages to Mādhava-Śarman. The gift was made while the king was encamped on the northern bank of Bhīmarathi.

c16.119

The historical portion of the grant mentions the origin and exploits of the early Chāḷukyan Kings, Pulakēśin, Satyāśraya-Vikramāditya of whom it is said that he forced the king of Kāñchī ‘who had never bowed to any man to lay his crown at his feet’. Of his son Vinayāditya it is said that he captured the whole army of Trairājya-Pallava and also levied tribute from the rulers of Kavēra, Pārasika, Simhala, and other islands. Then Vijayāditya’s exploits are mentioned and is followed by an account of Vikramāditya who immediately after his coronation, being resolved to root out the Pallavas (who are described as the obscurers of the splendours of the former kings of his line and their natural enemies) entered the Tuṇḍakārāshṭra, slew the Pallava king Nandipōtavarman, captured his trophies, elephants and rubies, etc., triumphantly entered Kāñchī and without plundering it caused the statues in the Rājasimhēśvara to be overlaid with gold. Of Kirtivarman the donor of the grant, the inscription records that, while yet a Yuvarāja, he marched into the city of Kāñchī scattered the forces of the Pallava king who had to take refuge in a hill-fort, and returned with a large booty which he delivered to his father and in due course became a Sārvabhauma.

c16.120

65. Kēndūr plates of Kirtivarman II. Pathak, Ep. Ind., vol. ix, p. 200, Śaka 672.

c16.121

The record belongs to the Western Chālukya king Kirtivarman II. The language of the inscription is in Sanskrit and in prose while the characters belong to the southern class of alphabets. After recounting the exploits of Kirtivarman I and Pulakēśin II it says of Vikramāditya I, that he recovered part of the Chālukyan dominions by means of his horse Chitrakāṇtha which had been previously overrun by the Pallavas and had obeisance done to him by them. Vijayāditya though he was taken prisoner, contrived to effect a skilful escape. Of Vikramāditya II the record says that he led an excursion to the Tuṇḍākavishaya, defeated his natural foe, entered the Pallava capital Kāñchī and restored to Rājasimhēśvara and the other temples, heaps of gold and rubies which had been taken away from them. He was succeeded by Kirtivarman II, the donor of the grant. The object of the grant is to register the gift of the village of Bēpatti made at the request of his queen in the sixth year of his reign in Śaka 672 on the occasion of a lunar eclipse.

c16.122

66. Vēlvikkuḍi Plates of Neḍuñjaḍaiyan. Mad. Ep. Rep. for 1908, p. 62; Ep. Ind., vol. xvii, pp. 291 ff.

c16.123

The record consists of Sanskrit and Tamil, the Sanskrit portion being written in Grantha characters while the

c16.124

Appendix A

c16.125

Tamil portion is written in Vaṭṭeḻuttu characters. The Sanskrit portion after giving a mythical origin of the Pāṇḍya kings mentions Māravarman who is said to have performed the *tulābhāra* ceremony; his son was Raṇadhīra; his son was Māravarman Rājasimha who is stated to have defeated Pallavamalla in battle, and performed the *tulābhāra* and *hemagarbha* ceremonies. Jaṭila was his son born through a Maḷava princess whom he had married. His son was Rājasimha the donor of the present record. The *praśasti* was composed by Varōdayabhaṭṭa.

c16.126

The Tamil portion refers to the grant of Veḷvikkuḍi by Palyāgaśālai-mudukuḍumi-peruvaḻudi to Korkaikilān-Narkoṟṟan and mentions the Kaḷabhra-occupation of the country. Then it proceeds to record the re-establishment of the Pāṇḍya power under Kaḍungōn whose son was Adhirāja-Māravarman-Avani-Śūḷāmaṇi. His son was Śeḻiyan-Śēndan famous for his heroism, his son Arikēśarin Asamasaman-Māravarman of whom it is recorded that he overcame the ocean-like army of the Vilvēli in the battle of Nelvēli, conquered the king of Kerala and performed several times the ceremonies of *Hēmagarba* and the *Tulābhāra*. His son Kō-Śaḍaiyan is said to have destroyed at Marudūr the army, and at Maṅgaḷapura the Mahāratha who was overcome and destroyed. Tēr-Māran, his son, fought the battles of Neḍuvayal, Kuṟumaḍai, Maṇṇi-kurichchi, Tirumaṅgai, Pūvāḷūr, Koḍumbāḷūr, and Kuḷumbūr against the Pallava. He is further credited with having subdued Maḷakoṅgam, entered into relations with the Gaṅgarāja, renewed the walls of Kūḍal, Vañji and Koḷi. His son was Tennan-vānavan-Neḍuñjaḍayan, who is stated to have conquered at Peṉṉāgaḍam, the Āyavēḷ and the Kuṟumbas at the battle of Nāṭṭukuṟumbu. In the third year of his reign he renewed a land grant made by Palyāgaśālai-mudukuḍumi-Peruvaluḍi to the palace singer. The *āgnapti* of the grant was Māran-Kāri and the poet who composed the Tamil portion of the grant was Ēnādi *alias* Śāttan.

First 125 of 254 passages. Read on

Linked texts (16)