Studies in Cola History and Administration c12.43

c12.43

‘A’ *ll.* 11-12: At first sight these lines seem to support Venkayya’s translation which says that the royal letter issued by the emperor directed that from that year committees should be chosen for ever in the manner laid down. But this contradicts the claim of the *Sabhā* that it made the settlement. It will be seen also that Venkayya’s translation understands ‘*śrīmukham*’ as ‘the royal letter’ which laid down the constitution’ and ‘*āṇai*’ as ‘the royal order’ by which Tattaṇūr-mūvenda-vēḷān sat with the assembly. If we recall the phrase ‘*śrīmukhappaḍi āṇaiyiṉāl*’ (ll. 1-2) used earlier in this inscription, we shall notice easily the unsoundness of this separation of ‘*śrīmukham*’ from ‘*āṇai*’ in the translation of this passage. In fact the principal sentence in these lines is: *eṉṟum kuḍavōlai vāriyamēy iḍuvadāga Tattaṇūr-mūvenda-vēḷān uḍaṉirukka vyayasthai seydōm Uttaramēru-caturvēdimaṅgalattu sabhaiyōm*; and the numerous titles of the king followed by *śrīmukham aruḷicceydu varakkāṭṭa śrī āṇaiyiṉāl* are explanatory of *uḍaṉ-irukka*; the clause *nam grāmaṭṭu duṣṭar keṭṭu śiṣṭar vardhittiḍuvārāga* gives the general motive of the settlement. The translation of these lines may be revised as follows: “In order that the wicked men of our village may perish and the good prosper, we, the members of the assembly of Uttaramēru-caturvēdimangalam made this settlement: that in this