History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c6.s1.4

c6.s1.4

*Stone Inscriptions.*—Stone inscriptions beginning from the seventh century, so far as this dynasty is concerned, form a distinct class by themselves. These records which are fairly abundant for the later Pallava period are for the most part, donative in character, though one or two of them such as the Vāyalūr pillar inscription of Rājasimha, and the Panamalai inscription of the same king give a genealogical account. Some are short, and record gifts to religious or other institutions, and they are invariably dated in the regnal year of the contemporary king without reference to any era. They are mostly in prose, though a few of these are to be found also in verse such as the inscription at the Pallava rock-cut temple at Daḷavānūr ¹ of King Mahēndravarman I. The earliest of these are those written in some of the rock-cut temples believed to have been excavated by Mahēndravarman I, such as the one at Vallam.² Many of these rock-cut temples such as those at Pallāvaram, Trichinopoly, Maṇḍagappaṭṭu, Māmaṇḍūr contain Grantha and Grantha-Tamil inscriptions some of which are contemporaneous with the caves and have for their object the simple recording of the excavation of these monuments. The copper-plate charters taken along with these stone inscriptions furnish valuable information as regards the history and chronology of the Pallava kings. In spite of the serious disadvantage that these records are not dated in any of the known eras but only in the regnal years of the king, a careful study of the palæography of these inscriptions makes it possible to fix their age more or less accurately. The facts obtained from these records, coupled with those of the contemporary kings with whom the Pallavas came into contact enable us to reconstruct to a great extent the history of the age of the Pallavas. The most important of these contemporary records are those of the Western-Gangas, the Western Chāḷukyas, the Pāṇḍyas as well as the minor dynasties such as those of the Muttaraiyan and the Bāṇa subordinates of the later Pallava kings.