The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s7.t2: Maṇḍala

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s7.t2

Language: English

Maṇḍala

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*Maṇḍala*, literally a circle (of territory), is alluded to in the Nāsik eulogy of Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi, in which that great king is described as one ‘whose feet were saluted by all provinces’ (*sava-maṇḍala-abhivādita-caraṇa*). The provinces, districts, or *tāluk*s actually named in the inscriptions of the dynasty to which he belonged are, however, styled *āhāra*s, as already noted above. We have, however, definite reference to four *maṇḍala*s and *viṣaya*s of Revaṭidvīpa in the Goa grant of A.D. 610-11, and to a specific *maṇḍala* in the Harihar grant of the time of the early Cālukya king Vinayāditya (A.D. 694). In that record mention is made of the Eḍevoḷal-*bhāga* of the Vanavāsi-*maṇḍala*. In an earlier grant of the same reign (A.D. 692) Eḍevoḷal is styled a *viṣaya*, a part of which lay on the north-east of the town of Vaijayantī or Banavāsi (Vanavāsi) in North Kanara. If the Eḍevoḷal-*viṣaya* coincides with the Eḍevoḷal-*bhāga*, it too must have been a part of the Vanavāsi-*maṇḍala*. In other words, the *viṣaya* in this region and at this particular period was a subdivision of the *maṇḍala*.

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Another early *maṇḍala* was Veṅgī which is referred to as the Veṅgī-*maṇḍala* in the Alās plates of Govinda II (A.D. 769).¹ A Kigga (Kaḍūr District) inscription of about the same age as the plates of Vinayāditya mentions the Kadamba-*maṇḍala*,² which may have meant much the same area as the Vanavāsi-*maṇḍala*. The Andhra *maṇḍala* of the Pīthāpuram Pillar inscription (A.D. 1186), over which Goṅka I ruled as a vassal of the Cālukyas of Veṅgī-*maṇḍala*, may have corresponded to the Andhrāpatha of the early Pallava charters and some contiguous tracts, as his ancestor Malla I is known to have been a ruler of the ‘Ṣaṭsahasra country’ on the southern bank of the Kṛṣṇā, and his great-grandfather was the ruler of districts lying to the north of it.

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¹ The designation *nāḍu* is sometimes used in Tamil inscriptions instead of *maṇḍala*, *deśa*, *mahī*, *bhū*, and *viṣaya*, particularly in reference to Veṅgī.

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² *Ep. Ind.*, ix, 16.

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The Andhra-khaṇḍa-*maṇḍala* of the Donepūṇḍi grant of A.D. 1338 comprised the area extending from the banks of the Godāvarī to the borders of Kaliṅga. A Pīthāpuram inscription of A.D. 1195 refers to the Koṇa-*maṇḍala*, also known as Koṇa-*sthala*, Kon-āvani, and Koṇa-*deśa*, which is known from another record to have been situated on the banks of the Vṛddha-Gautamī, one of the seven branches of the Godāvarī. It has been pointed out that ‘the term Koṇa-sīma is in common use in the Godāvarī District, where it is now applied to a portion of the Amalāpuram tāluk which, being watered by several branches of the Godāvarī, is as fertile as the koṇa or valley.’¹ A Candra-maṇḍala is mentioned in connexion with Śilāhāra princes of southern Koṅkaṇ.² A Kazipet inscription refers to the Koṅkaṇa-maṇḍala.³ The Gaṅga-maṇḍala fell outside the limits of the Deccan.