South Indian Inscriptions, Volume 2

Tamil Inscriptions

part - v

PALLAVA COPPER-PLATE GRANTS

No. 99. TANDANTOTTAM PLATES OF VIJAYA-NANDIVIKRAMAVARMAN

Tandantottam (i.e. Tandantottam, No. 134 of the Madras Survey map of the Kumbakonam taluk) is a village 6 miles east of Kumbakonam in the Tanjore district of the Madras Presidency. The existence of the plates was brought to the notice of the late RaiBahadur V. Venkayya, m.a., by Mr. Narayanaswami Aiyar, Sub-Inspector of Police, Madras City. It is stated that they “were found with many other idols, while digging a foundation in the premises of a Siva temple in the village of Thandantottam, Kumbakonam taluk of Tanjore district, about 100 years ago. No one knew what it is and how they happened to be there.”

The plates are 14 in number, each measuring about 11 ¼” by 3 ¾ “. When they were produced before Mr. Venkayya the plates were strung on a ring, which did not appear to have been previously cut.[1] The ring is somewhat oval with diameters measuring 6 ½” and 7 ¾”. Its ends are secured at the bottom of a circular seal 3” in diameter. The seal bears in relief a couchant Pallava bull facing the proper right. Along the margin of the seal is a Grantha legend, which is illegible. The ring on which the plates are strung was cut by me with the permission of Mr. Narayanaswami Aiyar in order to change out the plates and prepare ink-impressions.

The two sides of the first plate, the first side of the second plate and the first five lines of its second side are in Sanskrit verse, engraved in the Grantha alphabet and the rest, in the Tamil language and characters. The inscription must originally have consisted of many more plates, two or three of which at least are missing at the beginning. These would have supplied a genealogy of the Pallava kings similar to that of the Velurpalaiyam plates of Vijaya-Nandivarman published above. The concluding words of some of the plates in the middle do not fit in with the opening words of the succeeding plates. Consequently, it is presumed that a few plates[2] of the grant portion are also lost. This presumption is confirmed by the fact that while the number of the donees according to the Sanskrit portion has to be 308, the number actually registered is only 244, even including those whose names seem to have been added subsequently in comparatively later characters, or at least in a different hand.

The first plate of the preserved portion begins by referring to a king who conquered the South and stating that a certain Hiranyavarman was born “again” for the “welfare of the worlds” (jagatam hitaya V. 1). His son was Nandivarman who perhaps held the biruda Ekadhira the next six verses are taken up with the praise of Nandivarman. Two historical facts referred to in this part of the inscription are interesting. One of them is that Nandivarman took away from the Ganga king a neck-ornament, which contained in it the gem called Ugroday (V. 6). The name of this Ganga king, however, is not furnished. The other is that Nandivarman was the owner of an elephant named Pattavardhana (V. 7). With the permission of the king, a certain Dayamukha caused a village to be granted to 308 Brahmanas and called it Dayamukha mangala after his own name (V. 9). The executor (ajnapti) o the grant was evidently the very same person Dayamukha entitled Kumara, who is stated to have been the king’s treasurer (V. 10). The composer of the eulogy (prasasti) was Paramesvara Uttarakaranika son of Param-Ottarakaranika (V. 14).

The Tamil portion is dated in the 58^th year of Kovijaya-Nandivikramavarman and registers a gift of land (converted into a village[3]) lying to the west of Tandattottam (i.e. Tandantottam) in Tenkarai-Naraiyur-nadu, a district of the Chola country, to a number of Brahmanas of Nalgur[4]

To judge from the high regnal year, the Tandattottam plates must belong to the reign of that Pallava king Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman whose Tiruvallam rock inscription is dated in his 62^nd year i.e., 4 years later than our plates. At the same time the alphabet of the plates and the name of the king lead us to infer that the Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman who issued these plates may be identical with Vijya-Nandivarman III, the donor of the Velurpalaiyam plates. If the inscription were preserved in full, this question would not have been left to surmise and conjecture. The father of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman is here stated to have been Hiranyavarman; while, the father of Vijaya-Nandivarman, according to the Velurpalaiyam plates, was Dantivarman. If the proposed identity of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman with Vijaya-Nandivarman is accepted, the apparent discrepancy in the name of the father could be explained. The statement that Hiranyavarman “was born again,” evidently indicates a second king of that name and we may suppose that Dantivarman, the father of Vijya-Nandivikramavaram, was also called Hiranyavarman like his grandfather Hiranyavarman I the father of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. If the foregoing surmises are confirmed by future researches, the Tandantottam grant would be 52 years later than the Velurpalaiyam plates of the same king.

The donees whose enumeration occupies more than eleven plates of the inscription number 244. They belong to various gotras and sutras. To judge from their titles (such as chaturvedin, Trivedin, Somayajin, Vasantayajin, Shadangavid, Bhatta, Kramavid, Sarvakratuyajin, Dasapuriya[5], Agnichit and Vajapeyin) most of them must have been learned men as stated in verse 9. The largest number of shares assigned to a single individual is 12 and such a recipient was Attona-Shadangavi-Somayajin (No. 109) whose gotra and sutra are lost on one of the missing plates. The composer of the inscription, viz., Uttarakaranika alias Ayyan Paramesvara of the Rathitara-gotra and Paviriya-sutra (No. 128) received two shares. Among the other donees, Tiruvadigal (evidently the name of the local Vishnu temple or of the Saiva devotees, as stated on page (41) of the introduction) got 5 shares while Mahadeva (the Siva temple) was assigned 2 shares. One share was allotted to the reciter of the Bharata; and the three arbitrators (madhyastha) got one share each. A share was assigned for “pouring water” and for “lighting fire” in the hall (ambalam). Perhaps this was the hall where the village assembly used to meet. Apparently the Bharata was also recited in this same hall. The donees seem to lhave belonged to diffeent parts of the country. The names of their native villages indicate that a pretty large number of them must have been originally residents of the Telugu country. Tanukkil, Karambichchedu, Irakkandoru, Irungandi, Nambur, Karanjai[6], Pinukkipparu[7], Velparu Popparu, Vangipparu, Attambaru, Mudiparu (or Mudaparu), Viripparu, Arasapparu, Karipparu, Nuttilapparu and Ponnambaru are apparently names of villages, which were probably situated in the Telugu country. Kumirur, Kattukkuri, Manarkal, Mandiram, Priyalur, Padagam, Parkulam, Angarai, Kalattur, Vennainallur, Perumbudur, Kaynirkulam, Iykkattukkoyil, Siruparuvur, Puliyur (in Miralai-nadu), Aruvagur and Taramanallur (in Aruva-nadu) are distinctly Tamil names. The donees whose native villages may be presumed to have been situated in the Telugu country need not necessarily have immigrated into the Chola country at the time of the grant. They might have been settled there sometime before. In any case it is clear that there was a large colony of Telugu Brahmanas in the heart of the Chola country during the first half of the 9^th century A.D. The Telugu birudas of the Pallava king Mahendravarman fund in the Trichinopoly cave inscription, testify to the influence of the Telugu people in the Chola country already in the 7^th century A.D. It is worthy of note that a large number of the village names are now held as titles by some well-known Sri-Vaishnava families – Dvadaikomapuram (Vedagomapura), Vangipparu (Vangippura), Uruppittur (Urupputtur), Karambichchedu (Karambichchettu), Srimalai (Tirumalai), Pattangi, Viravalli (Viravalli), Mudumbe, Tanukkil, Kumandur, Puttur, Settalur and Kundur being some. Manarkal has evidently lent its name to one of the later Vaishnava acharyas of the 12^th century, named Manakkal-Nambi.

TRANSLATION

(Verse 1.) (Once) again, for the good of the world was born Hiranyavarman of stirring prowess who made (his) enemies settle in forests and was the asylum of those who eagerly desired protection.

(V. 2) From him was born the wise (and) prosperous king called Nandivarman who was the home of prowess (and) conqueror of the hoards of (his) enemies, whose victorious elephants reached almost the shores of the four oceans, whose fame extended to the (four) quarters and who was praised in battle for (his knowledge in) the use of all weapons.

(V. 3) The only (one) of name raja that did not bow to him was the dead-rayed (moon) and the (only) country in this world, which did not pay him tribute, was (that) where no men exist (i.e. the heaven where the undying gods live). And while this (king), comparable to Indra was ruling the earth, there was (nothing) unapproachable by the people (except, perhaps,) the way leading to hell.[8]

(V. 4) [9]He is the lord of the circle of good people as Hari (is the possessor of the powerful weapon chaktra); him the wise cling to as (gods) to Sakra (i.e., Indra); by him the earth[10] has become coupled with a husband; to whom faultless good deeds are most welcome; at whom the sole hero on the battle-field[11] the enemy-kings take fright; of whom the fame fills the ten quarters; and in whom Sri (i.e., Lakshmi) dwells permanently abandoning (her) vice of fickleness.

(V. 5.) While this (king) was ruling the earth, anxiety (or great rush) (was seen) only in the wind; tendency towards inconstancy (or existence of the creeper chapala), in the forest; decay of the learned (or the waning of the moon), in the dark-fortnight; increase of serpents (or abundance of clouds) at the end of summer; merciless attack (or the grasping of swords), in soldiers; dishonorable living (or the riding on aerial cars), in the pictures of gods; and the enemies of good Brahmanas (or able snake-charmers), in dissolute persons (or serpents).[12]

(V. 6.) He were on (his) breast, as (if it were) the lord of serpents, the bed of Achyuta (dwelling) near his heart, a necklace, which he had snatched away from the Ganga (king and in which was) the gem called Ugrodaya (like the) Kaustubha.

(V. 7.) To his lot (also) fell an excellent elephant named Pattavardhana which (in appearance) was like the (manifest) arrogance of its master, like victory in body, like a high mountain moving about, (and) from whose temples the ornament (of red paint) was wiped away by the excess of flowing rut sipped by the swarm of bees whirling about restlessly.[13]

(V. 8.) Wise men (and gods) praise him as Hari (himself); because indeed he offers protection to (all) living beings (as Hari preserves within his own self the rudiments of life); loves truth (as Hari loves his consort Satya); is victorious (Jishnu); firm (Achyuta); glorious (as Hari is united with Sri i.e., Lakshmi) and is, among men (possessed) of a lovely body (as Hari is an embodiment of Death of the demon Naraka).

(V. 9.) The pious man whose name was Dayamukha having informed this (king) according to rule, got that village which received the surname Dayamukhamangala, granted to three hundred and eight learned Brahmanas who had studied the three Vedas and the Smritis.

(V. 10.) That same respectable wise man named Kumara who (has stood) the test of honesty (upadha) who is pure in (enjoying) religious merit (dharma), wealth (artha) and desires (kama) who is the receptacle of upright conduct, pride less and devoted solely to the service of (his) master, whose wealth is shared by (all) good men, who seeks refuge in virtue, is free to (all his) relations and is clever in discharging the duties of a treasurer, was the ajnapti of this (grant).

(V. 11.) He that grants land even though it be (in extent) as big as the hoof of a cow and he that robs (it) without caring for the disastrous end, shall both of them dwell, indeed, till the moon and the stars last, (the first, however,) in the home of the gods and (the second) in dreadful hell.

(V. 12.) The king says – I have sought shelter in religious merit. (Every) head –jewel among kings who has taken the vow to maintain sovereignty on the surface of the earth, shall protect this deed (of mine) without disturbing (its) scheme. May his pair of feet dwell on his (my) head, which never knew of bowing down to others excepting to the pair of the worshipful feet of Mukunda (Vishnu).

(V. 13.) May the sacred cows whose every limb is purifying (and) whose purity is indeed demonstrated (materially), as it were, in the form of the (white) milk which they yield, grant your desires ! And may the revered gods on earth (viz., Brahmanas), whose weapons are (their) words[14] and who by the offerings (which they make) during sacrifices please even the nectar-fed (gods) who dwell in heaven, protect you!

(V. 14.) This eulogy (prasasti) was drawn up by Paramesvara surnamed Uttarakaranika son of Param-Ottarakaranika, the self-chosen lord of Poetry.

(LI. 26 to 38) In the fifty-eighth year (of the reign) of the king Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman: — The inhabitants of Tenkarani Naraiyur-nadu in Sora-nadu witnessing,— the forest and (other) waste lands lying to the west of Tandattottam situated in their district, . . . . . . . . . . None shall be permitted to make . . . . . . . . . . or cut channels (kurranvay) only, and water taken (from it) irrigation. No (tax) of any kind such as (duty on) oil-presses and looms ulaviyakkuli[15], the fee (in money) on marriages, urettu fee on potters, tattukkayam[16], duty[17] on toddy-drawers and shepherds, (fee on) stalls, brokerage-fee, tirumugakkanam[18], uppukkochcheyyai[19], good cow, good bull, vattinari (fee on baskets of grain brought to the market), areca-nuts (exposed for sale) in shops, pudanari[20] and others which the king could take and enjoy, shall be paid (to the king). The Brahmana donees of this village alone shall enjoy (the income specified above). Damanagam may be planted; mansions and large edifices may be built of burnt bricks; reservoirs and wells may be sunk; cocoanut trees may be planted in groves; (and) large oil-presses may be used. The cocoanut and palmyra trees (grown) within the boundaries of this village shall not be climbed by the toddy-drawers (iravar). (The names of) good Brahmanas of Nalgur that received the brahmadeya with all immunities including the above (were): -

List of Donees