BOMBAY
KARNATAKA INSCRIPTIONS
VOLUME
III
Geographical
Divisions | The
Guttas of Guttavolal | The
Kadambas of Hangal | The
Pandya chiefs of Nurumbada | The
Khacharas of Basavur
Geographical
Divisions
The
more important of the numerous geographical divisions occurring in these
inscriptions may be brought together with advantage suggesting their
identifications wherever possible.
For the sake of convenience they are arranged here in
alphabetical order.
Arunurum-bada:
This
division (of six hundred villages) is stated to have been situate in
Tardavadi Thousand which has been shown by Fleet to have consisted of
portions of the Bijapur District.
Banavasi
Twelve thousand: It
is described as the country lying between the rivers Varada and the
Tungabhadra. It was a large
tract comprising portions of the Shimoga, North Kanara and Dharwar
Districts.
Bagadaga
Seventy: The
chief town of this sub-division was Bagadegeya-kote, the present
Bagalkot in the Bijapur District.
Bage
Fifty: This
division formed part of Taradavadi Thousand.
In it were situated Arjunige (Arjungi)[1]
Kakhandage (Kakhandki) and Gandega (Devaragennur) all in the Bijapur
District. Bage has been
identified with Taddalabage in this district.
Basavura
Hundred and-forty: In
this division were situated, among others, the following villages:-
Deyvada-Hosavuru
(Devihosur), Chengapura (Sangur), Kolur, Mallavura (Mallur), Tammunge (Konanatambige),
Ommoradi (Hommaradi)âall in the Haveri Taluk of the Dharwar District.
Basavura or Vyasapura which was the headquarters of this division
is now represented by two neighbouring villages Chikka-Basur and Hire-Basur
in the Hirekerur and Hangal taluks respectively, of the Dharwar
District.
Beluhuge
(or Belguhe) Seventy: The
villages Guttavolal (Gittal), Nerilage (Niralgi), and Kannavalli (Kanavalli)
were situated in this division. The
chief town Beluhuge is Belvagi in the Haveri Taluk. The other villages are also in the same Taluk.
Belvola
Three-hundred: This
well-known division, together will Puligere Three-hundred, formed the
division of Erad-arunuru (the two Six-hundreds), In it were included the
following villages:-Lokkigundi (Lakkundi), Ummachige (Kota-Ummachigi),
Battakere (Betegeri), all in the Gadag Taluk, Naragunda (headquarters of
Naragund Petha) and Siriguppe.
Bennedaddi
Seventy: This
was a circle of twelve villages with Bennevur (Motebennur in the Bennevur
(Benneyur) Renabennur Taluk) as headquarters.
Bennavur
Twelve: Its
chief town Binnavur is the modern Ranebennur.
Badad-Alur was situated in it.
Inscriptions of Gudadanaveri (Ranebennur Taluk) show that lands
whose gift is recorded in them were situated at Badad-Alur. It is therefore apparent that the two villages are identical.
Chimchila
Fifty: Its
chief town Chimchila is the present Chinchli in the Gadag Taluk of te
Dharwar District.
Erad-aunuru:
This
division, as stated above, comprised Belvola Three-hundred and Puligere
Three-hundred.
Edenadu
Seventy: â¦â¦.
Gonka-nadu:
This is identical with Velanadu comprising the
Repalle and Tenali taluks of the Guntur District in Andhra
Pradesh.
Hichage-nadu:
Hiriya-Kittur (Kittur in Haveri Taluk) was in this district.
Hichage, the chief town is probably the present Ichangi about
five miles from Kittur.
Ittage
Thirty:
This is named after its headquarters Ittage, the present Itgi in the
Ranebennur Taluk. Together
with Rattapalli Seventy if formed a division called Nurum-bada or
Rattapalli Nurum-bada.
Innur-arum-bada:
This
division (of two hundred and six villages) formed part of Banavase
Twelve-thousand. Hasundi (Asundi
in Ranebennur Taluk) seems to have been included in it.
Kadambalige-nadu:
The
headquarters of this circle, Kagenele is the present Kaginelli in the
Hirekerur Taluk.
Kannavuri
Twelve: Its
headquarters Kannavuri is the modern Kannur in the Bijapur District.
Bijjanahalli (Basnal?) was situated in it.
This group of villages was apparently included in
Karnapuri-vishya (see below)
Karnapuri-vishya:
Karnapuri,
from which this district derives its name is Kannur which is called
Kannavuri in Kannada inscriptions.
Pauthage (Salotgi in the same District) was situated in this
district.
Kasavala
Savalakka: This
division of one and a quarter lakh villages comprised the districts of
Nizamabad and Karimnagar and parts of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh.
Kelavadi
Three hundred: The
chief town of this district is the present Kelvadi in the Badami Taluk
of the Bijapur District.
Kisukadu
Seventy: Kisuvolal,
modern Pattadakal in the Badami Taluk, was headquarters of this
division.
Kolanur
Thirty: Kolanur,
the chief town, is the modern Konnur in the Navalgund Taluk of the
Dharwar District.
Kuduvannaganda
Seventy: The
two Rashtrakuta inscriptions in which this sub-division is mentioned,
couple it with a smaller group of villages called Ittage Thirty.
In later records the Ittage circle is usually mentioned along
with Rattapalli seventy and the two together are stated to have formed
the bigger division of Nurumbada, (or the district of one hundred villages). The way in which
Kuduvanna-ganda Seventy and Rattapalli Seventy are associated with
Ittage Thirty, would make one suspect that the sub-division of
Kuduvannaganda Seventy might have later come to be known as Rattapalli
Seventy. This change was
perhaps due to the importance the place gained probably towards the end
of the Rashtrakuta period as the name Rattapalli would suggest.
This
included parts of the Belagum District and the Terdal division in the Kundi
Three-thousand: former Sangli State (now merged in Kolhapur
District).
Mahalige-nadu:
Mahalige,
the chief town of this division is the modern village of the same name
on the right bank of the Saravati about 30 miles to the north-west of
Humcha in the Shimoga District of the Mysore State.
Mahisha-vishaya:
In this district was situated the village of Kamachina-Muduvolal which
probably is presented by the present Mudhol, the capital of the former
Mudhol State (now merged in Bijapur District).
Mirinje
Three-thousand: Mirinje
the head quarters of this province is the modern Miraj.
Magunda
Twelve: â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦
Mulugunda
Twelve:
The place after which this circle of villages is called, retains its
name even today and it is in the Gadag Taluk of the Dharwar District.
Kani (Kanvi in Gadag Taluk) was included in it.
Nagarakhanda-nadu:
This
was also known as Nagarakhanda Seventy.
It comprised portions of the Hangal Taluk and adjoining areas of
the Shimoga District. Tiluvalli (Hangal Taluk) was situated in this
division.
Narayamgal
Twelve: This
group of villages had its head-quarters at Narayamgal, the modern
Naregal in Ron Taluk of Dharwar District.
Ummachige (Kota Ummachigi) was in it.
Nolambavadi:
This
province is often called Nolambavadi Thirty-two-thousand.
It was a large tract in which are included parts of the present
Shimoga, Chitaldrug, Bellary and Anantapur Districts.
Narum-bada:
This
division of one-hundred villages was also known as Rattapalli Nurum-bada
being so named after its head-quarters Rattapalli (rattihalli in
Hirekerur Taluk). As stated
above, it consisted of two smaller division, viz., Rattapalli
Seventy and Ittage Thirty.
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Paive
(or Haive) ânadu: The
area comprising parts of North kanara District went by this name.
The name Haika or Havyaka, a subject of Brahmins in North Kanara
isreminiscent of this territory.
Paliyanda
Four-thousand: This
is also mentioned in inscriptions as Pratyandaka-Chatussaharasa and
comprised parts of Osmnabad
District in Maharashtra. Its
chief town Paliyanda is the same as modern Parenda.
Pamunigal
(or
Hanumgal) Five0hundred: Panumgal, the chief town of this
district is the present Hangal, the headquarters of the taluk of that
name in the Dharwar District. Bankapura
(Bankapur) was situated in it.
Ponnavanti
(Ponnavatti
or Honnavatti) Twelve: This small circle of villages
had its headquarters at Ponnavanti, modern Honnatti in Haveri Taluk.
Perbal
Seventy: The
chief town of the sub-division is now represented by Hebbal near
Lakshmesvar in Dharwar District.
Purigere
(or
Puligere, Huligere) Three-hundred: This well-known
sub-division had Purigere or Puligere (Lakshmesvar) as its headquarters.
This and Belvola Three-hundred were together called Erad-aru-nuru
or the two Six-hundreds. (See Erad-aru-nuru above)
Rattapalli
Seventy:
The headquarters of this division was Rattapali (Rattihalli in Hirekerur
Taluk. See under
Ittage above).
Santalige
One-thousand: The
name of this division is sometimes written as Sattalige One-thousand and
in one inscription it is also called Sattalige Seventy (see
below) was included in this division.
It is therefore difficult to say whether it was wrongly spelt as
Sattalige in the cases above mentioned.
Or Sattalige Seventy may have, in course of time, enlarged into a
bigger division of one-thousand villages and to distinguish one from the
other latter might have been named Santalige One-thousand.
Sattalige,
Sattiyalige Satyalge Seventy: The
following villages formed part of this division:- Pasundi (Asundi),
Halugere (Halgeri), Kadirmidi (Kadaramanadalgi), Belugal
(probably Benkankonda)[2]
and Bennevur (Motebennur) all in Ranebennur Taluk; Sidiyanur (Sidenur),
Nagarapala (probably Nagalapur) both in Hirekerur Taluk.
No lace of the name Sattalige can be traced anywhere near these
villages but the village Satenahalli (Hirekerur Taluk) which is not very
far off from Sidenur and Nagalapur approaches phonetically the
place-name Sattalige.
Segunadesa:
This
region, usually called Sevunadesa, is considered by R.G. Bhandarkar, to
have extended âfrom Nasik to Devagiri, the modern Daulatabad.
Tadeyur
Twelve: â¦â¦â¦.
Tambad-Arumbada:
This
small group of six villages had its headquarters at Tamba which is
called even today by the same name in the Bijapur District.
Tardavadi
Thousand: This
division comprised the northern portions of the Bijapur District and its
chief town Tardavadi is the modern Taddevadi on the southern bank of the
river Bhima.
Toragale-nadu:
This was also called Toragale Six-thousand.
Its chief town Toragle is the modern Torgal, the capital of the
former princely state of that name, now merged in Belgaum District
For
facilitating ready reference, a map in which some of these divisions are
shown is attached.
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We
may now notice some of the inscriptions of literary interest.
As usual with Kannada, records, a fairly good number are in verse
and some of them give the name of the composer too; and a few specify
the meters in which the verses are composed.
The earliest of such authors that have come to light in this
volume is Devanagayya who wrote an inscription of A.D. 1063 (No. 69) at
Devihosur, in the reign of the Chalukya king Somesvara I.
Chaturmukha Rudrabhatta is stated to have composed an inscription
of the time of Somesvara II (No. 79) in A.D. 1074.
The following flourished during the reign of Vikramaditya VI:
Urodeya Nagadeva who wrote an inscription in A.D. 1078
(No. 85), Mallikarjuna whose composition was corrected by Kollurave
Nagavara-Kavindra, A.D. 1080 (No. 89) and Naranadeva of Visvamitra-gotra
whose poetry was a recoated by eminent poets, A.D. 1109 (No. 108).
Besides
these Abhinava Pampa is regarded as the poet who wrote an
inscription which is now deposited in the Bijapur Museum (No. 125).
A high sounding eulogy of the poet Subbu is contained in
an inscription of Asundi (No. 133) which was written by him in A.D.
1127. Kiriya-Mukana-Pandiata
was another poet of note, who lived in this period.
He composed an inscription of Haveri (No. 136) in A.D. 1134.
The learned Sarvajna Pattavardhana was the composer of a
record of the reign of Jagadekamalla II, in A.D. 1147 (No. 150).
A record of A.D. 1168 is said to have been written by a poet
whose name consisted of four syllables; only the first three, i.e., Santira,
of these four are preserved.
His composition was corrected by Kaviparamantma (No. 180).
A Magachandra described
as an eminent poet is mentioned in an inscription of the Kalachurya king
Sovideva (No. 187). Kalideva-Pandita
of Ulihalli is credited with the authorship of an inscription of
A.D. 1186 (No. 163). No.
199 (of A.D. 1196). He is
Dedara-Dasa, apparently the same as Jedara-Dasimayya who has been placed
by R. Narasimhachar in circa.
A.D. 1040. In his family, we are told, was born Somayya, a
resident of Kiriy-Indi. His
son was Chilayya who resembled the âworld-famousâ Chilalva.
This Chilayya made a gift to a temple at Kiriy-Indi in A.D. 1196.
While
the earliest literary reference to Jedara-Dasimayya is traceable in a
work of about A.D. 1125, the present record contains one of the earliest
dated epigraphical referenced to him.
A
large number of religious teachers -
mainly Saiva and Jaina â are introduced in the inscriptions of
this volume. In some case
the spiritual lineage of these personages as also their eminence and
erudition are described at length. It is worthy of note that the administrative control of some
of the temples and other religious institutions was vested in the hands
of such holy men. All the
property, including villages and lands given by kings, nobles and others
for various services in these temples were placed in charge of these acharyas.
Thus, for instance, Varunasiva-Pandita, the rajaguru of
Bhuvanaikamalladeva (i.e., Somesvara II) was in A.D. 1062
conducting the administration of the twelve badas of the temple
of god Indresvara of Bankapura (No. 66).
Another person who was administering all the gorava-vadas
(establishments of Saiva teachers) was Sivaraja-Gurudeva, mentioned in a
record of Somesvara I (No. 72)
Some
other points of general interest gleaned from our inscription may also
be se down here. One
inscription which is of both sculptural and conographical value
in No. 308. It not only
labels the sculptural representations of Sankhanidhi, Sriyadevi
and Padmanidhi but also gives the names of the sculptors who cut
these images. It is well
known that Sankhanidhi and Padmanidhi are the two treasures of Kubera
and the figures depicted here are their personified forms.
The importance of this inscription is enhanced by the fact that
it is one of the earliest of this type, belonging as it does to A.D.
778. The names of the
sculptors who executed these beautiful figures are Mukundovaja,
Anumanakusala and Budovaja.
On account of these images being labeled, a clear idea of
their iconographical features can be obtained.
Likewise, many of the invocatory verses and a few others in
inscriptions give iconographical details with regard to the particular
deities invoked in them. I
may also notice here an inscription (no. 191) which mentions an
architect who claims to have constructed one thousand (i.e. innumerable)
temples. His name was
Ketoja.
The
high state of development which music had reached in the 11th
century A.D. can be gathered from an inscription (No. 86) of the
Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI. We
learn from this record that Mokari Brmayya, who was the protégé
of Yuvaraja Yayasimha, was a musician of a very high order.
A number of epithets describing his proficiency in music (both
vocal and instrumental) and dancing are applied to hi.
Of particular interest among them in Battisa-raga-bahu-kala-Brahma
(i.e., a very Brahma of many arts skilled in thirty-two ragas).
To know the full significance of this biruda. I wrote to
Prof. Sambamurti of Madras,
the noted authority on music requesting him to help me in elucidating
it. He very kindly replied
to me and I reproduce with gratitude extracts from his letter in this
connection.
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âI
am very thankful to you for having drawn my attention to this
inscription. The epithet Battisa-raga
etc., meaning skilled in 32 ragas has a special significance.
It refers to the skill in the 32 Mela Kartha ragas based on the
12 swarasthanas of the Sthayi and which are free from vivadi dosha.
You know there are 72 mela karthas but 40 of them which take one
or other of the following notes, viz., Suddha Gandhara,
Shatasruti Rishabha, Suddha Nishada, and Shastsruti Dhaivatha suffer
from vivadi dosha. 32 of
the 72 are free from vivadi dosha and these 32 melas were known from
early times. The only
vivadi melas known in ancient Indian Music are Varali and Nata the 39th
and 36th in the list of 72.
The birudaâ¦simply means that he was skilled in the 32 non-vivadi
mela kartha ragas. This is
an inscription of historical importanceâ.
Another musician of note, Birudaradeva by name, who also
flourished in the time of Vikramaditya VI is referred to in an
inscription of A.D. 1116 (No. 113).
He was an expert in singing in the different pitches â tara,
mandra and Madhya.
From
an inscription of Taila III (No. 160) we get an idea of the important
position occupied by the person who was appointed by the king to control
the activities connected with the minting of gold coins.
It tells us that Echisetti of Narugunda by virtue of his being
regarded as the fittest individual to be placed in charge of the (royal)
mind (achchu), was appointed by the king to that high post of
trust and responsibility, the king conferred upon him the title of Hemakuppati,
Concsequently he came to be known thenceforth as Kuppati-Echisetti.
The word kuppati denotes a portable furnace used by
goldsmiths.
Among
the various taxes and imposts levied during this period, two are
of special significance. They
are Andhra-danda (No. 118) and Tigula-danda (No. 26),
Their names would suggest that they were levied in order to make
provision for repelling the periodical inroads of the Andhras and the Tigulas
(Tamilians)
Of
gustatory interest is the mention in a few inscriptions, of mandaka
(Kan. Mandage) a highly prized delicacy even today in the Kannada
country. As an instance may
be cited an inscription of A.D. 1121 (No. 118), wherein
Govinda-Dandahipa, a famous general of Vikramaditya VI, is said to have
made a provision for offering this dish as naivedya to the gods
Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesvara, at Pauthage.
These
are just a few of the outstanding bits of information gathered from
these inscription Scholars specializing in different aspects of history
and culture are bound to find much valuable material on closer scrutiny
of these epigraphs.
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