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Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8: I. Ruling Dynasties

Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c8

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Contents

I. Ruling Dynasties

1. Mauryas

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The earliest undoubted inscriptions in Mysore are the Edicts of Aśōka in the Molakālmuru tāluq (Mk 21, 14, 34), discovered by me in 1892. They belong to the first half of the third century B.C., and are unquestionable evidence that the north of the Mysore State was included in the Maurya empire. But there are inscriptions relating to a period still farther back. For the Mauryas had as their predecessors the Nandas, and one inscription (Sk 225) states that Kuntala, a province which included the western Dekhan and the north of Mysore, was ruled by the Nandas. Another (Sk 236) derives the descent of the Kadambas, the early rulers of the north-west of the country, from Nanda. But these are of comparatively modern date, the twelfth century, and need not be further noticed.

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Much more ancient and definite are the Jain inscriptions relating to Bhadrabāhu and Chandra Gupta. The first discovery of those at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa was made by me in 1874. The oldest are incised on the natural and irregular horizontal surface of the rock on the summit of the lower hill, called Chandragiri. One (SB 17), of (?) about 600, which almost runs into the big one (SB 1), to be mentioned farther on, couples together "the pair (yugma), Bhadrabāhu along with Chandra Gupta munīndra," and says that theirs was the safe (or auspicious) faith (dharmma). Two inscriptions on the north bank of the Kāvērī near Seringapatam (Sr 147, 148), of about 900, describe the summit of the Kalbappu hill, that is, Chandragiri, as marked by the footprints of Bhadrabāhu and Chandra Gupta munipati. At Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa, one of 1129 (SB 54) mentions Bhadrabāhu—the śrutakēvali—and Chandra Gupta, who by being his disciple acquired such merit that he was for a long time served by the forest deities. Another there, of 1163 (SB 40), speaks of Bhadrabāhu, the last of the śrutakēvalis, and his disciple Chandra Gupta, whose glory was such that his gaṇa of munis was worshipped by the forest deities. A third in the same place, of 1432 (SB 108), after extolling the yatīndra Bhadrabāhu, the last of the śrutakēvalis, says that his disciple was Chandra Gupta, the greatness of whose penance caused his exalted fame to be spread into other worlds (or lands).

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In literature, the Bṛihatkathākōśa, a work by Harishēna, dated in 931, says that Bhadrabāhu, the last of the śrutakēvalis, had the king Chandra Gupta as his disciple. A similar account is contained in the Bhadrabāhu-charita by Ratnanandi of about 1450; and is repeated in the Rājāvali-kathe by Dēva-chandra, which is a modern compilation, of about 1800.

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The tradition—thus ancient in origin, and referred to in subsequent ages down to the present as well known—is that Bhadrabāhu died at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa, on the Kaṭavapra or Kaḷbappu hill, that is Chandragiri, while leading a migration of Jains from the north, and that Chandra Gupta, who had accompanied him as his chief disciple, was the only attendant on him in his last moments. The latter survived his teacher for twelve years, which were spent in penance on the hill, and then died there himself.¹

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¹ “The story would be very interesting if it could be believed,” says Mr. Vincent A. Smith (EHI. 137). Unfortunately he has been entirely misled as to its being a modern invention.

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For further local testimony to the truth of this, we have Chandra-giri, the name of the hill, given to it after Chandra Gupta. On it is pointed out the cave in which Bhadrabāhu expired (SB 71). In the centre of the group of temples there, and the most ancient among them, is the Chandra Gupta basti, facing which, as being then the sole object of adoration on the hill, must be read the semicircle of rock inscriptions (SB 1-35) recording the death, by *sallēkhana* or fasting, of various distinguished Jains. The façade of this basti is a perforated stone screen containing ninety sculptured scenes of events in the lives of Bhadrabāhu and Chandra Gupta. This, however, from the name of the sculptor, may be a work of the twelfth century, and made for its protection.

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But of the rock inscriptions at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa, which mostly consist of only two or three lines, the longest and most important is SB 1, in Sanskrit, not dated, but, from the characters, belonging to not later than the fifth century.¹ For they closely correspond with those of the Kavaḍi stone (Sb 523), recording the death of the Kadamba king Ravivarmma and his queen; and phrases are grouped in a similar way in both, leaving a space between. Comparison may also be made with the characters of the Siragunda stone (Cm 50), which is of the time of the Ganga king Nirvvinīta or Durvvinīta, who came to the throne in 482.

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¹ The seventh, in the opinion of Drs. Leumann (*VOJ*. vii. 382) and Fleet (*EI*. iv. 25).

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After verses in praise of Vardhamāna or Mahāvīra, whose doctrine (it says) is even to-day in favour in Viśāla (? Vaiśāli), a line of holy men is named who succeeded him. They were: Gautama gaṇadhara, his personal disciple Lōhārya, Jambu,² Vishnudēva, Aparājita, Gōvardhana, Bhadrabāhu,³ Viśākha, Prōṣṭhila, Kṛittikārya, Jayanāma, Siddhārtha, Dhṛitishēna, Buddhila,⁴ and others. Bhadrabāhu-svāmi, of this illustrious succession of regularly descended great men, by his power of knowing the past, present, and future, having foretold in Ujjayini a period of twelve years of dire calamity (or famine), the whole of the *sangha* (or Jaina community) went forth from the North to the South. By degrees they had arrived at a populous and prosperous country, when the Āchārya, Prabhā- chandra by name (or (?) with Prabhāchandra also), on this mountain named Kaṭavapra, perceiving that but little time remained for him to live, in order that he might perform the penance before death, bidding farewell to them, sent away the entire *sangha*, and with one single disciple, worshipping on the cold rocks covered with grass, gained emancipation from his body.

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² These were the three Kēvalis. The second is generally called Sudharma.

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³ These were four of the five Śrutakēvalis.

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⁴ These seven were Daśapūrvis, out of eleven.

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Now here we have the prediction by Bhadrabāhu of twelve years of famine in the North, and the migration in consequence of the Jains to the South. As Dr. Leumann says,¹ the migration to the South is "the initial fact of the Digambara tradition." After a critical examination of Jain *paṭṭāvalis* or succession lists of gurus, Dr. Hoernle says:² "Before Bhadrabāhu the Jain community was undivided; with him the Digambaras separated from the Śvētāmbaras. . . The question is who this Bhadrabāhu was. The Śvētāmbara *paṭṭāvalis* know only one Bhadrabāhu, who, from the dates assigned to him by the Śvētāmbaras and Digambaras alike, must be identical with the Bhadrabāhu I of the Digambaras. Considering the varying and contradictory character of the Digambara traditions, the probability is that the inception of the great separation took place under Bhadrabāhu I, who died 162 A.V. according to the Digambaras, or 170 A.V. according to the Śvētāmbaras." Dr. Jacobi says:³ "The date of Bhadrabāhu's death is placed identically by all Jaina authors, from Hēmachandra down to the most modern scholiast, in the year 170 A.V." This is 297 B.C.

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¹ *loc. cit.*

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² *IA.* xxi. 59, 60.

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³ *Kalpasūtra*, Introd. 13.

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The inscription records the death of a certain Āchārya, who was evidently a leader of the migration to the South, for he bade farewell to the entire *sangha*—that is, the sangha previously mentioned as migrating with him to the South—and sent them on their way, in order that he might remain on the hill and perform the penance before death. During this final period he was ministered to by one single disciple (out of those who had accompanied him). The name of the Ācārya is apparently given as Prabhāchandra, but if the other reading above noted, proposed by Jains on the spot, might stand, Prabhāchandra would indicate the disciple, and is explained as the clerical name adopted by Chandra Gupta. The Ācārya would therefore be Bhadrabāhu.¹ That this was the name of the last of the śrutakēvalis there is no doubt whatever. And that the first Maurya emperor, Chandra Gupta, the Sandrakoptos of the Greek historians, who reigned from 321 to 297 B.C., was contemporary with him, and disappeared from public life in the same year that Bhadrabāhu, as above shown, died, is equally clear. The question then naturally arises, What evidence is there that they were in any way connected?

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¹ He is described as pūrṇa-chandra in SB 104. — It has been attempted by Dr. Fleet (EI. iv. 24) to make out that the Bhadrabāhu of the inscription was a later one of that name, who is said to have lived in the first century B.C., and that Chandragupta means his disciple Guptigupta. But no necessity appears for assuming that a long period intervened between the Bhadrabāhu in the opening portion and the one with whom the narrative begins, and that they were different persons. For even in the Kalpasūtra of Bhadrabāhu the section headed Sthavirāvali extends to many generations beyond him, which is accounted for as being for the sake of auspiciousness (see Introd. 23). Guptigupta, again, is nowhere mentioned in any inscription. The solitary instance in which the name was supposed to occur has been shown by Dr. Lüders (EI. iv. 339) to have no such meaning. Moreover, this Guptigupta is said to have had other names, one of which, it is significant to note, was Viśākha, the name of the successor of Bhadrabāhu I. To imagine also, with Dr. Leumann (in his kindly critique), that Prabhāchandra belonged to some still more distant period, farther removed from both, is in direct contradiction to the inscription, which unmistakably shows that he accompanied the sangha on its migration. The name Prabhāchandra is not an uncommon one among the Jain gurus, and occurs at all periods. But the one honoured with this unique memorial was no ordinary man. In the effort to discover some one of the name of sufficient distinction to whom it can be fitted, a certain Digambara teacher is suggested, who cannot be shown to have lived till a later time than that of the inscription, and of course he would in no way be connected with the migration. To justify this proposed piecemeal and disjointed treatment of the inscription, it is represented that the first portion was a customary introduction to Jain inscriptions. But plausible as this may appear in theory, it is opposed to fact, for not a single inscription has been found with this introduction.

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As to this, Mr. Thomas says:² “That Chandra Gupta was a member of the Jaina community is taken by their writers as a matter of course and treated as a known fact, which needed neither argument nor demonstration. . . . The testimony of Megasthenes would likewise seem to imply that Chandra Gupta submitted to the devotional teaching of the Sermanas as opposed to the doctrines of the Brāhmans.” In treating of the Hindu religious sects, Professor Wilson says:¹ “It has been supposed that we have notices of the Jaina sect as far back as the period at which Megasthenes was sent ambassador to Sandracoptus, and that these notices are recorded by Strabo and Arrian.” Colebrooke, who examined the passages referred to, says:² “The followers of Buddha are clearly distinguished from the Brachmanes and Sarmanes. The latter, called Germanes by Strabo and Samanæans by Porphyrius, are the ascetics of a different religion, and may have belonged to the sect of Jina or to another.” Megasthenes, in his *Indika*, says³ of the Sarmanes who live in the woods: “They communicate with the kings, who consult them by messengers regarding the causes of things, and who through them worship and supplicate the deity.” The story of Chandra Gupta's accession to the throne of the Nandas is dramatised in the Sanskrit play named *Mudrā Rākshasa*, by Viśākhadatta, which has been translated by Professor Wilson.⁴ In this we see that Jains held a prominent position at the time, and Chānakya—also called Vishnugupta and Kauṭilya—who was the prime agent in the revolution, employs a Jain as one of his chief emissaries.

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² Jainism, or the Early Faith of Asoka, 23.

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¹ Works, i. 324.

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² Essays, ii. 203.

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³ McCrindle's Indika of Megasthenes (IA. vi. 244).

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⁴ Theatre of the Hindus, ii. 125. The work is no doubt much older than he thought, owing to his erroneous opinion that the Jains were later than the Buddhists. It is now well established that they were more ancient. Professor Speyer (in his recent Studies about the Kathāsaritsāgara) also says: “Viśākhadatta and his admirable drama are to be placed many centuries earlier than is generally done” (JRAS, 1908, p. 910).

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We are therefore not without warrant for assuming that Chandra Gupta was a Jain by creed. At the period when he becomes associated with Bhadrabāhu, he was much troubled in mind on account of sixteen dreams with which he had been visited. These are mentioned in many narratives relating to him. Bhadrabāhu in the course of his travels having come to Pātaliputra, the capital, the king consulted him as to their interpretation, and was dismayed at the coming troubles which they portended, including the twelve years of famine. He seems consequently, impressed by Bhadrabāhu’s exhortations, to have resolved to retire from the throne, and to place himself under the guidance of this the most distinguished Jain teacher then living, for the right performance of penitential acts in view of the impending calamities. He was, as Mr. V. A. Smith has pointed out,¹ not fifty years of age at the time. He is not expressly stated to have died, and no special reason appears for his death at this early age. Had he fallen in battle, or his life been cut short by accident or disease, the circumstance could not fail to have been mentioned. But if he retired from the throne in order to devote himself, in accordance with the dictates of the Jain religion, to an ascetic life in the last stage of his existence,² and accompanied Bhadrabāhu to the South, this affords a reasonable explanation of his early disappearance from public notice and of the silence regarding his further career, for absolute renunciation of all earthly ties was of the essence of the vow he had taken. On the other hand, the southern accounts represent him as living an ascetic life at Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa for twelve years after the decease of Bhadrabāhu.³ His death then occurred when he was about sixty-two years of age, which seems more natural and so far entitled to credence.

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¹ EHI. 128.

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² Aśōka, who was his grandson, did the same, as will be seen below.

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³ Twelve years of penance were always thought essential for obtaining perfection, and for every ascetic who endeavours to quit this life with the best claims to enter one of the highest heavens or even Nirvāna (Jacobi, SBE. xxii. Introd. 18).

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That the north of Mysore may even at that period have been a part of the Maurya empire is not beyond probability. For the Edicts of Aśōka are evidence that it was so two generations later; and as the only conquest Aśōka is said to have made was that of Kalinga or Orissa, it follows that the rest of his empire was inherited from his predecessors. If it be true, moreover, as above stated, that the Nandas ruled over Kuntala, then the Mauryas naturally acquired it in succession to them. One inscription, indeed (Sb 263), says that Nāgakhaṇḍa (the Shikarpur tāluq) "was protected by the wise Chandra Gupta, an abode of the usages of eminent Kshattriyas"; but this is of the fourteenth century and too much cannot be built upon it. Of special interest, however, is the statement in the work by Harishēna before referred to, that when, as described in the Śravaṇa-Beḷgoḷa inscription, the *sangha* were sent on their way, "they went by the guru's direction to the Punnāṭa country, situated in the South."¹ This was a province in the south-west of the Mysore State. It is mentioned in the second century by Ptolemy as Pounnata, "where is beryl." It is also named in the fifth century in connection with the Ganga king Avinīta (Cg 1), whose son Durvvinīta married the Punnāṭ king's daughter, and united it to the Ganga territory. An inscription of the Punnāṭ Rājas² gives Kitthipura as their capital, which is identified (Hg 56) with Kittūr on the Kabbani river in the Heggaḍadēvankōṭe tāluq. One of the ancient rock inscriptions on Chandragiri (SB 7) records the death of a Jain guru from Kittūr.

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¹ *Sanghō'pi samastō guru-vākyataḥ dakshiṇā-patha-dēśastha-Punnāṭa-vishayam yayau.*

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² *IA.* xii. 13; xviii. 366.

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To turn now to the Edicts of Aśōka. They are also engraved on the natural horizontal surface of the rock, in three places near to one another in the Molakālmuru tāluq. The most perfect is on a big boulder at the north-west foot of Brahmagiri (Mk 21). The other two, which are much effaced, are one to the north of Siddapura, which is about a mile to the west (Mk 14), and the remaining one on the Jaṭinga Rāmēśvara hill, about three miles to the north (Mk 34). They are all three virtually alike, but differ from three somewhat similar ones in the north of India,—those at Bairāṭ in Rājputāna, Rūpnāth in the Central Provinces, and Sahasrām in Bengal,—in containing two edicts and not one, of which the second is a brief summary of the precepts of *dhamma* or the moral law. Another peculiarity is that, although they are [Figure: EDICTS OF AŚOKA, BRAHMAGIRI.

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in the Brāhmī characters,¹ written from left to right, to these edicts in other parts, the last word, in which states his profession, is in the Kharōshṭhī characters,² m right to left, which are found only in the extreme of the Punjab. The date of these edicts is believed essed in the figures 256 which occur at the end of dict, and which are understood as referring to the years from the death of Buddha, though they have nterpreted in many various and quite irreconcilable e edicts themselves would thus belong to the year This was the last year of Aśōka’s life, and thirty-eight his coronation-anointing. Dr. Fleet professes⁴ to have discovered that “particular interest attaches to the Mysore versions, because the Brahmagiri text discloses the fact that it was framed on the anniversary of Aśōka’s abdication, and when he was living in religious retirement on the hill Suvarnagiri, still known as Songir, which was one of the hills surrounding the ancient city of Girivraja in Magadha.” Whether all this be so or not is by no means determined.⁵

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¹ The source of the Devanāgarī and other alphabets of India. It is apparently of Semitic origin, and was introduced into India in about the ninth century B.C. But an indigenous origin has also been claimed for it (see *IA.* xxxv. 253).

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² A form of Aramaic script introduced by the Persians after the conquests of Darius in the sixth century B.C.

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⁴ *JRAS*, 1905, p. 304.

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⁵ See *Aśōka Notes*, by V. A. Smith and F. W. Thomas, in *IA.* xxxvii. ; also *The Last Edict of Aśōka*, by Fleet, in *JRAS*, 1908, p. 811.

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The language of the edicts is what is known as Māgadhi, with some local peculiarities. All three in Mysore begin in the same way, with greeting from the Ayaputa (Āryaputra or Prince) and the Mahāmātas (high officials) of Suvannagiri (identified as above) to the Mahāmātas⁶ of Isila (possibly Sidda in Siddapura). The edicts are introduced with the formula “Devānam Piye commands” or “Thus says Devānam Piye.”⁷

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³ For a summary of these, see *JRAS*, 1904, p. 4 ff.

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⁶ It is interesting to find this term *mahāmātra* in use so late as the eleventh century (see Nl 1).

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⁷ This formula, with which most of the edicts are introduced, recalls the similar one in the famous trilingual inscription of Darius at Behistan, of 516 B.C., every section of which commences with, “Says Darius the king.”

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This name (Devānām priyaḥ), meaning “Beloved of the gods,” was a royal title borne by the Maurya kings. It is sometimes used alone, but more often in conjunction with the king's name. It thus occurs as an epithet of Piyadasi (Priyadarśi) and of Dasaratha his grandson. The main object of the present edicts is to exhort all classes to greater effort in pious duties. In doing this the king adduces his own example, how while he was a lay disciple he did not exert himself strenuously, but after he entered the sacred Order he did so, and as the result the men who were (regarded as) true in Jambu-dvīpa (were shown to be) false, together with the gods. This was the fruit of effort or exertion, and in the same way the lowly, as well as the great, could by exertion attain to svarga (or heavenly bliss). A precept to this effect is quoted, said to have been delivered by the Vyūtha (or the Departed, that is Buddha) 256 (? years ago).

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With regard to the various circumstances referred to in the above summary. The king, in the thirteenth Rock Edict, had proclaimed that remorse on account of the slaughter and devastation that attended his conquest of Kalinga, which was effected in the ninth year of his reign, had made him resolve for the future to maintain peace and devote himself to religion. At length he became a Buddhist—and he here says that during the time when he was an upāsaka (or lay disciple) he did not put forth much effort. But more than six years before our present inscriptions, he entered the sangha (or sacred order) and vigorously exerted himself. What ensued from these special efforts has been stated above, but the sentence is elliptic and not over clear. It is generally agreed, however, and there can be no question, that the reference is to the Brāhmans, who are designated throughout Hindu literature by several terms which mean “gods on earth.” As M. Senart says: “After his conversion the king proceeded to deprive the Brāhmans of the almost divine prestige they enjoyed throughout the whole of India.” Their authority being rejected, their gods were also deposed. That it was to Buddhism the king was converted there can be no doubt. Previous to this change of faith he was apparently a Jain. Akbar’s minister Abul Fazl says in the *Ain-i-Akbari* that Aśōka introduced Jainism into Kashmir, and this is confirmed by the *Rāja-tarangini*, the Brahmanical history of Kashmir. That he was a Jain has also been deduced from his edicts.¹ But some are of opinion that he followed the Brāhman creed. His conversion at length to Buddhism was not signalised by persecution of his former co-religionists, but by inducing a revolution throughout India in the public estimation of them. In short, the members of the Order no doubt took advantage of the king’s presence and adhesion to influence him to depose their rivals, whether Brāhmans or Jains, from their former pre-eminence. This action of his does not invalidate the express injunctions to toleration contained in so many of his edicts, wherein he inculcates more than once the duty of reverence to and the bestowal of alms upon both Brāhmanas and Śramanas. Toleration was denied only to their false claims. On the other hand, it would be strange if no trace whatever could be discovered of the resentment which would naturally be evoked by so powerful though silent and peaceful a revolution in time-honoured beliefs. And we may perhaps find a trace in the fact that Devānāmpriyaḥ, as one word, is explained by Kātyāyana in the Vārttikas to Pāṇini as synonymous with *mūrkha*, a fool! This was a very characteristic retaliation, if so meant, and the use of the word thus authorised has come down even to the present time, and is common, I am told, at all events among the Brāhmans.²

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¹ Thomas, *Jainism, or the Early Faith of Asoka*; also by Professors Kern (*IA.* v. 275), Pischel, Minayeff, etc. Reasons have been given above for the belief that Chandra Gupta, the grandfather of Aśōka, was a Jain. His grandson Sampadi or Samprati was also a devoted Jain.

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² See also the satirical verses on Aśōka quoted in vol. v., Introd. 30, 31, from the *Bhōja Prabandha*.

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The second edict in our inscriptions is as follows: “Thus says the Beloved of the gods:—Obedience should be rendered to mother and father. So also regard for living creatures should be enforced. Truth should be spoken. These virtues of the sacred law should be practised. So also the teacher should be honoured by the pupil, and towards relations due respect indeed should be shown. This is the ancient standard (of piety),—this conduces to long life, and this should thus be done.” There is a striking resemblance here to the fifth commandment of the Mosaic code. The whole tone indeed of the Edicts of Aśōka is both higher than and quite different from that of any other inscriptions found in India. Solicitude for the welfare here and hereafter of all his subjects, high and low, is manifest throughout, and it extended even to peoples beyond his boundaries in an all-embracing humanity. His concern for the latter was shown practically by the despatch of missionaries to bordering lands. Among other places, it is of special interest to note that he sent a *thēra* named Mahadeva to Mahisa-maṇḍala, the country round Mysore¹—which must therefore have been a place of importance even at that period—and a *thēra* named Rakkhita to Vanavāsi, known as Banavāsi, on the north-west of the State.

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¹ Mysore, properly Maisūru, derives its name from *mahisha*, Sanskrit for buffalo, reduced in Prākrit to *mahisa* and in Kannaḍa to *maisa*, and *ūru*, Kannaḍa for town or country; which commemorates the destruction of Mahishāsura, a minotaur or buffalo-headed monster, by Chāmuṇḍi or Mahishāsura-mardani, the form under which the consort of Śiva is worshipped as the tutelary goddess of the reigning family. Mahisa-maṇḍala appears in the Tamil form Erumai-nāḍu in Mānūlanār’s *Aganānūru*, which is of the second century.

2. Śātavāhanas

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Next to our Edicts of Aśōka, whose discovery formed—as has been said by the eminent French authority—an epoch in Indian archæology, the oldest inscriptions that have been found in Mysore are those in Prākrit on a pillar at Malavalli in Shikarpur tāluq. The first of these (Sk 263) is a grant by Hāritiputta-Sātakanni, of the Mānavya-gotra and Vinhukaḍḍa-chuṭu family, king of Vaijayanti, that is Banavāsi, engraved in what are called Cave characters. He commands the *mahā-valabham rajjukam*² that the village Sahalāṭavi has been given for the enjoyment of the Maṭṭapaṭṭi (that is Malavalli) god, as a Brāhman endowment, to Koṇḍamāna, a Hāritīputta of the Koḍinya-gōtra. It is dated in the second fortnight of the hot season, the first day of the first year. In Banavāsi is also an inscription (*IA*. xiv. 333) of apparently the same king, dated in the twelfth regnal year, in the seventh fortnight of the winter, the first day. In this the Mahārāja’s daughter, the Mahābhōji Sivakhada-Nāgasiri (Sivaskanda-Nāgaśrī) makes the grant of a *nāga* (the cobra in the middle of the slab on the margin of which the inscription is engraved), a tank, and a *vihāra*. Moreover, in the Tālgunda pillar inscription (Sk 176) Sātakarṇṇi is named as one of the great kings who had worshipped at the temple there. Again, to the west of Chitaldroog, on the site of an ancient city whose name is said to have been Chandrāvali, were found¹ in 1888 a number of leaden coins, among which were some bearing the legend “Sadakana-Kaḷalāya-Mahārathisa,”—that is, Sātakarṇṇi-Kaḷalāya-Mahārathi—surrounding a humped bull, and having on the reverse the Buddhist symbols of a *bōdhi* tree and a *chaitya*.

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² The *rajjukas* were first appointed in the time of Aśōka, but perhaps for other purposes. They were, however, properly Revenue and Settlement officers. For, as

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¹ See *EI*. vii. 51. Others have since been found there of the same series, together with Roman coins of Augustus; and a clay seal, bearing the figures of an elephant and what looks like a sentry standing facing it. Some letters at top, said to be Brāhmī, have not been deciphered.

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These are all evidence that the north-west of Mysore was at that period in possession of the kings who bore the general name of Sātakarṇṇi. They are often spoken of as the Āndhras, and identified with the Andaræ described by Ptolemy as a powerful nation, and also mentioned by Pliny. The Purāṇas, however, seem to call them Āndhrabhṛityas, or servants of the Āndhras. But from inscriptions in the western caves it appears more correct to call them Śātavāhanas,² a name from which has arisen the form Śālivāhana. The Indian era named after Śālivāhana, reckoned from A.D. 78, is in general use. For many centuries it was called the Śaka-kāla

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² Bhāndārkar’s *EHD*. 24.

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Dr. Bühler has pointed out (*ZDMG*. xlvii. 466), the name literally means “holder of the rope,” that is, their duty was concerned with the survey of the land. In name they are represented by the modern *sheristadār*, a corruption of the Persian *sar-i rishta dār*, he who holds the end of the rope.

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or Śaka-nṛipa-kāla—the time of the Śakas or of the Śaka kings. But eventually the word śaka came to be misunderstood as itself meaning era, and to distinguish it, was then called the Śālivāhana-śaka. A reminiscence of its origin is, however, contained in Sk 281, of 1368, which is dated in the Śātavāhana-śaka instead of the Śālivāhana-śaka. So far as I have observed, the decided use of the latter term came in with the foundation of the Vijayanagar empire in the fourteenth century. The Mysore State is spoken of in 1717 as in the Śālivāhana country (Cm 109).

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The territory of the Śātavāhanas extended over the whole of the Dekhan, and Sātakarṇi is called the lord of Dakshiṇāpatha in the Kshatrapa Rudradāman's inscription. Their chief capital appears to have been at Dhanakaṭaka in the east (Dhāraṇikoṭṭa on the Krishṇā), but their chief city in the west was Paithan on the Gōdāvari. The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela in Kalinga tells us of a Sātakani in the second century B.C., but the Sātakarṇi of our inscriptions may be referred to the first or second century A.D. A peculiarity of these kings is that the name of his mother always appears with that of the king. Thus we have Gautamīputra Sātakarṇi, Vasisṭhīputra Puḷumāyi, and here, Hāritīputra Sātakarṇi. This is a Rajput custom due to polygamy. The actual names of the mothers are not given, but they are called after the gōtra of their family priest.¹ The two branches of the Gōdāvari which form the Delta are still named after the two great queens—the northern is the Gautamī, and the southern the Vasisṭhī.² With regard to the Kaḷalāya of the coins, he was doubtless a viceroy under Sātakarṇi.

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¹ See Dr. Bühler, in Cunningham's Stūpa of Bharhut, 129.

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² Sir Walter Elliot, S. I. Coins, 21.

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In the early centuries of the Christian era we find the Mahāvalis or Bāṇas occupying the east of Mysore, the Kadambas the north-west (where they succeeded the Śātavāhanas), and the Gangas the centre and south. To take these up in order.

3. Mahāvalis or Bāṇas

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The Mahāvalis held the country east from the Pālār river and north into the Madras districts. According to one inscription (IA. xiii. 6) their territory lay to the west of the Āndhra or Telugu country, and Mb 157 describes them as ruling a Seven-and-a-half Lakh country, having twelve thousand villages, in the Āndhra-maṇḍala. This seems to have been known as the Vaḍugavaḷi Twelve Thousand (SII. iii. 90), in Sanskrit the Āndhrāt-pathaḥ (EI. iii. 76). They claim descent from Mahāvali or Mahā Bali (Bali the Great) and his son Bāṇa, whence they are also called Bāṇas. They may have been connected with Mahābalipura, known as the Seven Pagodas, on the coast south of Madras. Their flag displayed a black buck, and their crest was a bull (Mb 126).

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Bali was a Daitya or Dānava (or, as we should say, Titan) king, who by the power of his penance defeated Indra, humbled the gods, and dominated the three worlds. The gods appealed for help to Vishnu, who assumed the Vāmana or Dwarf incarnation, and appearing before Bali as a Brāhman dwarf, begged for only three paces of ground. This being granted, he assumed his godlike dimensions, and with two strides having covered heaven and earth, there being no place for the third, planted his foot on Bali's head, and forced him down to Pātāla (the nether world and abode of the Nāgas or serpents), which on account of certain virtues was left in his possession. The germ of this legend is found in the Ṛig-vēda, where Vishnu is represented as taking three strides over heaven, earth, and the lower regions—typifying perhaps the rising, culmination, and setting of the sun.

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Bāṇa was Bali's eldest son, a giant with a thousand arms. He propitiated Śiva, who agreed to live in his capital,¹ and Bāṇa appointed him guardian of the gates, or doorkeeper, as the inscriptions put it. Bāṇa's daughter Ushā became enamoured of a prince she saw in a dream, whom, on being shown a number of portraits, she identified with Krishna's grandson Aniruddha. Him her female friend Chitralēkhā then contrived to introduce clandestinely into the princess's apartments. When discovered, he was seized and imprisoned by Bāṇa, and a war ensued. Krishna came in person from Dvāraka to besiege the capital. Śiva guarded the gates and fought for Bāṇa, who worshipped him with his thousand hands. But Krishna found means to overthrow Śiva, and having taken the city, cut off Bāṇa's thousand hands, except two, with which he obliged him to do homage.

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¹ According to the Vishnu Purāṇa (Bk. V. chap. xxxiii.) this was Śōṇitapura, said to be Dēvikōṭa, near the mouth of the Coleroon, on the Madras coast.

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This line of kings was first brought to notice by my discovery of the two big stone inscriptions, Sp 5 and 6 (vol. x), originally published by me in 1881 (*IA.* x. 36). The plates published in 1884 by the Rev. T. Foulkes (*IA.* xiii. 6)¹ added to the information regarding them. Many inscriptions were later found in the Kolar District (vol. x), and some further details were contributed by inscriptions at Tiruvallam, north of Vellore in North Arcot (*SII.* iii. 88), a place described as Vāṇapuram (Bāṇapuram), situated in Perum-Bāṇappāḍi, the great Bāṇa country, or country of the Great Bāṇa (see Bṛihad Bāṇa, farther on). The records in Mysore supply only three dates—338,² 909, and 961. Those at Tiruvallam add one—888—but do not specify the name of the Bāṇa king whose time it was.

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¹ Published again by Dr. Kielhorn in 1894 (*EI.* iii. 74).

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² This date has been examined by Dr. Kielhorn (*IA.* xxiv. 10) and Dr. Fleet (xvii. 239), who find only the week day disagrees.

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A table of the Mahāvali or Bāṇa kings so far as known is appended, with dates where given :—

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Bali, Mahābali, lord of the Dānavas, regent of the Asuras,

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Bāṇa, who made Paramēśvara (worshipped by all the three worlds, the lord of gods and demons) his doorkeeper. In his line was born Bāṇadhirāja. After many Bāṇa kings had passed away, there were Nandivarmma

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Vijayāditya

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Vadhūvallabha Malladēva Nandivarmma, 338 : Jaya-Nandivarmma

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Vijayāditya

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Malladēva Jagadēkamalla Bāṇa Vidyādhara, Vikramāditya Jayamēru, married Kundavvai, daughter of Pratipati (Prithuvipati I), the son of Kongunivarmmadharmma-mahārāja Śivamahārāja-Permmānaḍigal (the Ganga king Śivamāra II)

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Prabhumēru

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Vikramāditya, (?) 888

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Vijayāditya, Bejeyitta, Pugalvippavar-gaṇḍa, 909

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Vijayabāhu Vikramāditya, the friend of Krishna Rāja (? Rāshṭrakūṭa king, 884-913) : Sambayya, 961 ruling under the Pallava king Iriva-Nolamba or Dilīpa (943-966).

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The first Ganga king, Konguṇivarmma, who is assigned to the second century, is said (SII. ii. 187) to have been consecrated to conquer the Bāṇa country, and in DB 67 to be a wild-fire in consuming the stubble of the forest Bāṇa. Mayūraśarmma, the progenitor of the Kadambas, at about the same time is said (Sk 176), when an outlaw in the forests of Śrīparvata (Karnūl District), to have levied tribute from Bṛihad Bāṇa (the great Bāṇa¹) and other kings. The Chōla king Killi-Valavan, who reigned about 105 to 120, married the princess Sithathakai, claiming descent from Mahābali. She was probably the daughter of a king in the Mysore country² (no doubt a Bāṇa). The Kolar volume gives an account of such details as the various inscriptions there supply regarding the Bāṇas. The first Nandivarmma is said to have promoted the fortunes of his family, and obtained the crown and the throne amid the blessings of Brāhmans. He was possessed of mighty elephant and other forces, which secured him against conquest by the most powerful kings. Malladēva Nandivarmma is said to have been like a sun in waking up the lotus lake of the Bāṇa family, and in compassion for all living things in the three worlds was like Bōdhisattva or Buddha.

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¹ If this indicates the first Bāṇa, it furnishes a clue to his period.

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² Kanakasabhai's *The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago*, 77.

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For other references—the Chalukya king Vikramāditya (655-680) is said (*IA.* vi. 75; *Seven Pagodas*, 127) to have conquered Rājamalla of the Mahāmalla family, that is the kings of Māmallaipura, the common name for Mahābalipura—in other words the Mahāvalis. Under the Gangas in 776 the Nirgunda Yuvarāja, Duṇḍu, is said (Ng 85) to have put the Bāṇa family to confusion. The Ganga king Nitimārgga, in about 850, is said (Mb 228) to have captured Bāṇarasa’s Mahārājara-nāḍ, which was chiefly in the Kadapa District. The Chōla king Vīra-Nārāyaṇa or Parāntaka in 921 claims (*SII.* ii. 387) to have uprooted by force two Bāṇa kings, and conferred the title of Bāṇadhirāja on the Ganga prince Prithuvīpati II, great-grandson of Śivamāra I. The Bāṇas, therefore, though claiming friendship with Krishna Rāja, no doubt a Rāshṭrakūṭa king and an enemy of the Chōlas, seem to have lost their independence in the first half of the tenth century. Hence we find (Mb 126) Sambayya in 961 ruling a district under the Pallava king Iriva-Nolamba or Dilipa.

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But they by no means disappear from history. The Bāṇa kingdom is mentioned along with others in southern India of the twelfth century in Vaidyanātha’s *Pratāpa-Rudriya*. Trivikrama-dēva, the author of the Prākrit grammar *Trivikrama-vritti*, of probably the fifteenth century, claims to be a descendant of the Bāṇa family (*IA.* xiii. 13). Moreover, inscriptions at Śrīvilliputtūr in the Tinnivelly District show that two kings, named Sundara Tol and Muttarasa Tirumala, who obtained possession of the Pāṇdya throne in 1453 and 1476, call themselves Mahāvali Vāṇādhirāja (*ib.* xv. 173).

4. Kadambas

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The Kadambas were independent rulers of the west of Mysore from the third to the sixth century, together with Haiga (North Kanara) and Tuluva (South Kanara). They were of Mysorean origin, and are identified with Banavāsi as their capital, which is on the west frontier of the Sorab tāluq, an ancient city mentioned as one of the places to which Aśōka sent a mission in the third century B.C., and also by Ptolemy in the second century A.D. Its Brahmanical name was Jayanti or Vaijayanti. In later times Banavāsi, or Banavase, as it is often spelt, was a Twelve Thousand province, corresponding more or less with the Shimoga District.

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The origin of the Kadamba family is mixed up with various legendary stories (see my *Mysore Gazetteer*, i. 295) centering in a Mukkaṇṇa or Trinētra and a Mayūravarmma. The former, also called Jayanta Trilōchana, is described as their progenitor, and as a son of Śiva and Pārvatī. The country being at the time without a king, he is said to have obtained the throne on being spontaneously wreathed by the State elephant, an indication of his royal destiny. Mayūravarmma,¹ apparently of the fourth generation after him, seems to have established the family in power, and is hence also at times regarded as their founder. According to Sb 179, he had seventy-seven successors on the throne.

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¹ Some Orientalists write this affix as *varman*, the only objection to which is that it is never met with in that form. And so with similar cases.

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A fine pillar inscription at Tālgunda (Sk 176) gives a realistic account of the family, beginning with him. But here he is named Mayūraśarmma, the latter affix indicating a Brāhman. According to this record he was of a devout Brāhman family of Sthānakundūr (Tālgunda), an agrahāra founded by Mukkaṇṇa (see Sk 186) for Brāhmans whom he had induced to come from Ahichchhatra in the North and settle here (see also Nj 269), there being none at that time in the South. The family had growing near their house a *kadamba* tree, of which they took special care, and thus became known as the Kadambas. Along with his teacher, Mayūra-śarmma went to the Pallava capital (Kāñchī—Conjeeveram, near Madras) in order to complete his vedic studies. There he had a fierce quarrel with the Pallava horse or stables,¹ by which he was so enraged at Kshattriyas lording it over Brāhmans that, in order to revenge himself, he resolved to adopt the life of a Kshattriya. Practising himself in the use of arms, he overcame the Pallava frontier guards, and escaped to the inaccessible forests near Śrīparvata (Karnūl District), where he became so powerful that he levied tribute from Bṛihad Bāṇa (the great Bāṇa) and other kings around. The Pallavas having led an army against him, he fell upon them like a hawk unawares in night attacks, and inflicted such loss upon them that they saw it was hopeless to put him down. Thus driven to take him as an ally, they recognised him as king of a territory stretching from the Western Ocean to Premāra. He was succeeded by his son Kangavarmma, whose son was Bhagīratha, whose son was Raghu, whose brother was Bhāgīrathi or Kākustha. The latter was a powerful ruler, and his daughters were given in marriage to the Gupta and other kings. He had a reservoir made for the temple (of Praṇaveśvara at Tālgunda, now in ruins) at which Sātakarṇi and other great kings worshipped. His son was Śāntivarmma, who wore three crowns; in whose time the inscription was composed and engraved.

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¹ All that the inscription says about this is: *tatra Pallavāśva-samsthēna kalahēna tīvrēna rōshitah*.

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This valuable and interesting record states that Mayūra-śarmma was anointed to the throne by Shaḍānana, after meditating on Senāpati and the Mothers. In like manner other early grants describe the Kadambas as purified by meditation on Svāmi-Mahāsēna and the group of Mothers.² They are also said to be lords of Vaijayanti (Banavāsi), of the Mānavya-gōtra, Hāritiputras, and *pratikṛita-svādhyāya-charch-* chāpārās.¹ As the grants are dated only by the ancient system of the seasons, or in regnal years (running from 2 to 11), they furnish no definite dates for the kings. But one (IA. vi. 23), issued when Kākusthavarmma was Yuvarāja, is ascribed to the eightieth year of his victory (sva-vaijayika), for which there is at present no explanation.

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² Shaḍānana, Senāpati, and Svāmi-Mahāsēna all refer to the god of war, Kārttikēya, son of Śiva. The Seven Mothers, Sapta Mātṛikā, were his nurses, and are identified with the Pleiades.

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¹ This difficult phrase is rendered by Dr. Kielhorn (EI. vi. 17), “studying the requital (of good or evil) as their sacred text,” and he adds: “If this interpretation be correct, I cannot help thinking that the epithet alludes to the history of the Kadambas as told in the Tālgund inscription. So long as the Kadambas were private Brāhmans it was one of their chief duties to study the sacred texts; in other words, they were svādhyāya-charchāpārās. When they had become kings, it was an equally sacred duty for them to requite good and evil; to do so was what the study of the Veda had been to them before; and thus, having been svādhyāya-charchāpārās, they then were pratikṛita-svādhyāya-charchāpārās.” Another translation proposed in EI. viii. 148 is: “well versed in repeating the sacred writings one by one.”

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Certain allusions, however, occur which serve as a guide to the Kadamba period. It is known, for instance, from inscriptions that the Chalukya king Kīrttivarmma, who reigned from 566 to 597, subdued the Kadambas.² Their independence must therefore have been before this. On the Malavalli pillar (Sk 264) a Kadamba grant immediately follows one by Sātakarṇṇi, who, when he made his, was in possession of Banavāsi.³ The Tālgunda pillar (Sk 176), again, names Sātakarṇṇi as one of the great kings who worshipped at the temple there. Between the time of the fall of the Śātavāhanas, the beginning of the third century, and that of the reign of the Chalukya king Kīrttivarmma, the latter part of the sixth century, seems thus marked out as the period of Kadamba independence; during which also they claim to have performed many horse-sacrifices—evidence of supreme power.

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² Virugṇam aśēṣataḥ pṛithu-Kadamba-kadamba-kadambakam (EI. vi. 5).

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³ The translation should be: . . . Śiva[khada]varmma, having heard that they were formerly given by the Hāritiputra, of the Mānavya-gōtra, the lord of Vaijayanti, with great pleasure made the grant a second time to . . . (as pointed out by Dr. Fleet).

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This estimate is confirmed by other considerations. For the statement that Kākustha gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings most probably refers first to Samudra Gupta, the only one who is known to have made an expedition to the South, as recorded on the pillar at Allahabad,¹ and this took place in the latter half of the fourth century. Then the Ganga king Taḍangāla Mādhava, for whom we have (Sk 52) the date 357, is said to have married a sister of the Kadamba king Krishnavarmma. She was thus a daughter of Kākustha, and the Gangas are another royal family to which one was given. But her son was an infant on his mother's lap when he was crowned in 430, and so here again we get the end of the fourth century for the time of Kākustha. The rare metre, too, which is employed in the main part of the Tālgunda inscription is one that has been found only in a few documents of the fourth or fifth century. The victory in the eightieth year of which Kākustha was Yuvarāja might (if it is correct) perhaps refer to the events by which Mayūravarmma (to give his name in the form of that of a king) gained his throne, which would thus be at the beginning of the fourth century. But if he had predecessors going back four or five generations, the rise of the Kadambas may safely be placed early in the third century, the time at which the Śātavāhana power came to an end.²

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¹ GI. No. 1.

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² The latest date assigned to the Śātavāhanas is about 218 A.D. (see Bhandarkar, EHI. 45).

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Our attention may now be directed to the old Anaji inscription (Dg 161). This informs us that Krishnavarmma-Rāja's army was totally defeated in a battle with Naṇakkāsa-Pallava-Rāja, and that the prince Śivanandavarmma, whose country was thereby ruined, retired in consequence from the world and gave himself up to a life of penance. That Krishnavarmma was a Kadamba king there can be little doubt, and Śivanandavarmma was probably his son. The latter was perhaps responsible for the disaster, and may have been the governor of a province in the east of the Kadamba dominions. But he is described as devoted to the feet of his mother and father, and to be born also in the family of the Kēkayas, who made intermarriages with the Ikshvākus (perhaps the Gangas, who claim to be descended from Ikshvāku). Now the Kadamba king Krishnavarmma is said (Bl 121) to have Of the predecessors of Mayūravarmma we have no inscriptions, unless Śivakhadavarmma (Śivaskandavarmma) of the Malavalli pillar represents one. But Mukkaṇṇa is often mentioned, and seems to be an historical person. In Sk 186 he is said to have founded the Sthānakundūr agrahāra, the existence of which before the time of Mayūravarmma is clear from the Tālgunda inscription. In fact, the Brāhmans settled there from the north are said to have made an effort later to leave the province. But they were brought back again, and in order to prevent a repetition of the attempt, were compelled to leave unshorn a lock of hair on the forehead, as a distinguishing mark. From these are descended the present Haiga or Havika Brāhmans of the north-west of Mysore, who wear their hair in that fashion. Ethnologically, their colour and features support the tradition of a northern origin. Of the other kings, the first Chandravarmma appears to be the Chandrahāsa who is the hero of a popular romantic tale; the second one is perhaps the progenitor of the Coorg race.

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The Kadamba dominions seem to have been at times divided, and ruled by more than one king, while at others they embraced an extensive united empire. Hence the statements that Bhagīratha was the sole ruler, and that Śāntivarmma had three crowns. The latter is said to have been master of the entire Karṇṇāṭa region, while Krishṇavarmma I is described as the sovereign of Dakshiṇāpatha or the South. Though the proper capital was always Banavāsi, there were other royal seats,—at Palāsikā (Halsi in Belgaum District), at Uchchāśringi (which I am inclined to think may have been Uchchangidurga near Molakālmuru, and not the well-known one south of Bellary), and at Triparvata (not identified). The royal insignia, either at this period or later, were the lion crest and the monkey flag, and a musical instrument called *permatti*. The kings are styled dharmma-mahārājādhirāja, and their family god was Jayanti Madhukēśvara of Banavāsi.

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For some time from the seventh century the Kadambas are not prominent, though names occasionally appear, which, owing to the absence of dates, are not easy to place. Such are those of Madhuvarmma (Sk 66), who must belong to the earlier period, Kundavarmma (Kp 38), and Mādivarmma (Cm 128). On the other hand we know from Mb 38 and 50 that the Kadamba princess Dīvāmbikā or Dīvalabbarasi was married to the Pallava Nolamba king Vīra-Mahēndra, who reigned from about 878 to 890.

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But from the end of the tenth century the Kadambas emerge as rulers of various provinces. This was a period of general subversion of old dynasties in the South. The Rāṣṭrakūṭas were brought to an end, and the Western Chālukyas regained ascendancy. The Pallavas and Eastern Chālukyas were subdued by the Chōlas, who also overthrew the Ganga sovereignty in Mysore. The Hoysalas were there rising to power, and the Nolambas, who were Pallavas, having subjected the Mahāvalis or Bāṇas, whom the Chōlas finally absorbed, were forming the Nolambavāḍi province of Mysore. Following upon this period of general commotion and transition, we find Kadambas ruling Bayal-nāḍ (the Wynaad) from the tenth to the twelfth century, Manjarābād in the eleventh century, Hāngal (in Dharwar) and Goa from the tenth to the thirteenth century, Lunke (near Molakālmuru) in the eleventh and twelfth century, Nāgarakhaṇḍa (the Shikārpur tāluq) in the twelfth century, and the Banavāsi Twelve Thousand (the Shimoga District) from the tenth to the fourteenth century.

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