South Indian Inscriptions

THE RASHTRAKUTAS

(i.e., Jambai), agreed to maintain a perpetual lamp before the god Nagarīchchurattālvār. ‘Śaṅkarappāḍiyār’ has been explained as a community of merchants (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXII, p. 146) and the god at Vāḷaiyūr was also appropriately known as Nagarīchchurattālvār. Another body of merchants, namely the Vaḷañjiyar, is mentioned in another record of Kannaradēva in the same village dated in his 23rd year (No. 442). This trading community is mentioned in inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries A. D. at Aruppukkōṭṭai in the Ramnad district (Nos. 406 and 407 of 1914), Tirukkaṇṇapuram in the Tanjore district (No. 505 of 1922) and in Ceylon (S. I. I., Vol. IV, No. 1396). The earliest reference to the Vaḷañjiyar known so far in inscriptions is perhaps to be found in the present epigraph, wherein they are said to have agreed to maintain a lamp in the temple of Nagarīśvarattālvār for 15 kalañju of gold received by them from Aṇukkan Tūḍuvan, a Kaikkōḷa who is described as a Vaidumba-aṇukkan. As an aṇukka means ‘one who is near,’ ‘a friend’ etc., this Kaikkōḷa evidently belonged to the body-guard of the Vaidumba chief Tiruvaiyan.

Kṛishṇa Kandhāra-chakravarti.
   20. Two copper-plate records (C. P. Nos. 15 ands 20) purporting to belong to a Kṛishṇa Kaṁdhara (Kanhara(dēva-chakravartin come from Lēpākshi in the Anantapur district and from Sirūr in the Bijapur district of the Bombay-Karnāṭak, respectively. They are engraved in Nāgarī characters attributable to about the 11th century A. D. and are couched in a mixture of corrupt Marāṭhī and Kannaḍa, The king is given the titles, ‘Raṭṭakula-kamala-Mārttaṇḍa,’ ‘Kandhārapuravarā-dhīśvara,’ ‘Samastabhuvanāśraya,’ ‘Pṛithivīvallabha,’ ‘Suvarṅagaruḍa-lāñ-chhana,’ etc., which suggest his connection with the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty, while some other titles, such as ‘Sangrāma-vijaya,’ ‘Arirāya-mastaka-śūla,’ etc., are simply descriptive of his prowess. As he is also described in C. P. No. 20 as the son of Gōvindarāja born in the Vishṇuvaṁśa (Vishṇuvaṁśōdbhava-śrī-Gōvinda- rājarāyasuta) the inscription is meant to be associated with Kṛishṇa II or III, though the relationship to Gōvinda is vague and misleading. It may be mentioned that Kṛishṇa III is referred to as ‘Kandhārapuravarādhīśvara’ in the records of the Raṭṭa chief of Saundatti named Lakshmīdēva (Fleet’s Kan, Dyn., p. 556).

   The record from Lēpākshi is dated in Śaka 153(!), Pramādi, and the one from Sirūr is simply dated in the cyclic year Āṅgira, Vaiśākha, ba. 8, Monday. It is stated that when the king who was ruling from his capital of Kandhāra- pura was camping at Gōkāga-paṭṭaṇa, the principal city of Kūṇḍi-3000, after he had returned from his southern expedition, he made certain endowments of lands to several temples and persons. At the time of the grant the king is stated to have been staying in the temple of Harihara, probably at Harihar on the Mysore border, and to have made the gifts in ques- tion. As Kṛishṇa III ruled from A.D. 939 to 966, the cyclic year Āṅgiras does not fall in third period, while Pramādi which is equated to Śaka 153, in the other grant was, however, equivalent to Śaka 875 (=A.D. 953). It may however be noted that both the cyclic years Pramādi (=A.D. 893) and Āṅgiras (=A.D. 912) fell in the regin of Kṛishṇa II. From the impossible Śaka dates quoted in the records, the writing in the plates which is too late even for Kṛishṇa III, the language n which Marāṭhi and Kannaḍa are jumbled together and from other general considerations of execution, etc., the two grants appear to have been fabricated at the same time and source. In fact the last side of the Lēpākshi record contains an erased Telugu inscription written in characters of about century A.D. It may be suggested that these copper-plate grants were forget during the time of one of the chiefs of Saundatti who claimed to have belonged to the Raṭṭa lineage and were administering the Kūṇḍi-3000 province in thes 12th ─13th centuries A.D. In passing it would be interesting to remark that both the records refer to the king’s proficiency in the Nāgārjuna-mantra, the significance of which is not apparent. In the Epigraphical Report for 1935-36 (Part II, para. 6) attention has been drawn to the existence of a shrine dedicated to Nāgārjuna at Nāgāvī not far from Gadag. wherein also is worshipped a sculpture said to be the image of Nāgārjuna. One other point may also be mentioned namely, that’s a few stone records purporting to belong to Kṛishṇa II copied from the Bombay-Karnāṭak (of. B. K. Nos. 56 and 59 of 1927-28) are similarly found engraved in characters later than the 9th century A.D.

12