History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c8.25

c8.25

Vijayaskandavarman, circa A.D. 280.—The order of succession of the Prakrit plates is not known. But we may presume from palæographical indications that Vijayaskandavarman of the British Museum copper-plates succeeded Śivaskandavarman in the interval between A.D. 275 and 340. All that we know about this sovereign and his times is the information given in this record.² From this we learn that his queen was called Chārudēvi, and that the heir-apparent to the throne was called Buddhyankura, and that the father of Vijaya-Buddhavarman was called Vijayaskandavarman who is presumably identical with Śivaskandavarman of the earlier charters. The record registers a grant of land to the temple of Nārāyaṇa at the village of Dalūra in the division called Kūlimaharaṭha. This is, so far as we know, the earliest Pallava record mentioning a royal gift to the temples. We do not know anything about the political events during the reign of Buddhyankura who flourished in the years immediately following the death of Vijaya-Buddhavarman. The next member of the Pallava family is Viṣṇugopa well known as the Pallava contemporary of Samudragupta.