South Indian Inscriptions

INCRIPTIONS OF THE DYNASTY OF THE HARISCHANDRA

They are two copper-plates, the first of which measures 11.9" broad and 7.8" high, while the second, though of the same breadth, is slightly less in height. They are held together by two rings, 6" in diameter, passing through two holes at the top of each plate. The ends of the right-hand ring are not joined, but those of the left-hand one are secured into the socket of a seal having the shape of an inverted cone, 3" in length, on the round surface of which, about 1-7" in diameter, appears in high relief the figure of a lion in the midst of a circle of knobs. The lion closely resembles that on the seal of the cognate Anjanēri plates of K. 461. The weight of the plates, the rings and the seal is 178 tolas. The first plate is inscribed on one side only, and the second on both the sides. Their rims are slightly thickened with a corresponding depression running all round for the protection of the writing. The plates have suffered considerable damage by corrosion. There are a few holes in the third line on the first plate and near the lower edge of the second. Nearly twenty aksharas in 1.27 and about a dozen in 1.28 have been either partially or wholly damaged by the corrosion of the surface. Some of them, especially those in 1.27 can, however, be supplied from the other Anjanēri plates of the same king. Further, lower down on the same side, several aksharas, especially in the middle of 11. 34-38, have been almost obliterated by wear and tear, but they can be read with patience and perseverance from their faint traces on the original plate. There are thirty-eight lines of writing in all, of which twelve appear on each inscribed side, except the first side of the second plate which has fourteen lines.

(The characters closely resemble those in the cognate Anjanēri plates, except that the circles appear here only at the top of letters. The language is Sanskrit. Except for the introductory mangala ślōka in praise of the boar incarnation, which is borrowed from the inscriptions of the Early Chālukyas, the record is in prose throughout. Down to 1.27 it is identical with the corresponding portion of the other Anjanēri plates, and shows the same palæographical peculiarities. As shown below, the object of the present inscription was not to record any religious gift but to register certain rights and privileges granted to merchants, and to lay down punishment for offences committed in certain towns and villages which were resettled by the king. The usual imprecatory and benedictive verses do not naturally find a place in this record.¹ Their absence does not, therefore indicate that the charter is incomplete. In fact the mention of the executive officer and the use of iti at the end of the last line shows that it was duly completed.”

The inscription begins with a verse in praise of the boar incarnation. It then gives the usual description of the Chālukya² family and mentions the Mahārājādhirāja Paramēśvara, the illustrious Vikramādityavallabha. It proceeds to state that the illustrious Svāmichandra, an ornament of the family of Hariśchandra, who was treated like his own son by Vikramāditya, ruled over the whole Purī-Kōnkana, consisting of fourteen thousand villages. His son was the illustrious Simharāja, and the latter’s son, the illustrious Bhōgaśakti who had the other name Prithivīchandra. The description of these kings is given exactly as in the other Anjanēri plates. Bhōgaśakti was always devoted to the worship of the god Vāsudēva, and was an ornament of the province Purī-Kōnkana.

From11. 29-31 of the present grant we learn that the king Bhōgaśakti resettled the town Samagiripattana together with (its suburb) Chandrapurī as well as the villages— Ambayapallikā, Savānēyapallikā, Maurēyapallikā and Kamsāripallikā, which had previously been devastated. The name of the enemy, who had laid them waste, is not men-
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¹ That it was customary to omit such verses in charters which registered olnly exemptions from toll etc., is shown by the Khārēpātan plates of the Śilāhāra king, Anantadēva (Śaka 1016), Ind. Ant., Vol. IX, pp. 33. ff. See also, loc. cit., p. 38, n. 51.
² See above, p. 147, n. 1.