No. 22. On the South wall, first and second tiers.

This inscription is dated on the 64^th day of the 35^th year of the reign of Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerinmai-mondan and records the grant of the village of Sungandavirtta-Soranallur,[14] which formed part of the town of Karundittaikudi,[15] and which was situated on both banks of the Vira-Sora-Vadavaru[16] and on the north-western extremity of the city of Tanjavur. The village was divided into 108 shares, of which 106 were to be enjoyed by the Brahmanas of the village of Samantanarayana-chaturvedimangalam near Tanjavur, and 2 by the temple of Samantanarayana-Vinnagar-Emberuman in this village. Both this village and this temple had been called after his own name, and the granted village had been purchased from its former owners, by a person, who is designated in the text as the Tondaimanar, but whose proper name must accordingly have been Samantanarayana. He was apparently a feudatory or high officer of the king, who made the grant at his instance and on his behalf. At the present time the title of Tondaiman is borne by the chiefs of the state of Pudukkottai in the Trichinopoly district. Their ancestor is reported to have ousted one Pallavarayan Tondaiman about 1680 A.D.[17] This chief was probably a descendant of Samantanarayana Tondaiman and of Karunakara Tondaiman, who, according to the Tamil poem Kalingattu-Parani,[18] was king of the Pallavas, resided at Vandai[19] and was the prime minister of the Chola king Kulotltunga. The title Tondaiman means the king of Tondai[20] or Tondaimandalam, the Tamil name of the Pallava country, the ancient capital of which was Kanchipuram. The numerous Chola inscriptions found at this town prove that the Pallava kingdom must have fallen a prey to the Cholas. From the kalingattu-Parani it further appears, that the former rulers of Tondaimandalam were allowed to retain possession of their dominions as feudatories. In the subjoined inscription they appear in the same position during the time of Konerinmai-kondan.

The chief difficulty in this inscription are the numerous fiscal terms mentioned in connection with the grant. A good many of them had to be left untranslated,[21] while the translation of others is only tentative.

Translation

Hail ! Prosperity! (the following is an order of) Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerinmai-Kondan.

“From the rainy seas (kar) in the thirty-fifty (year of our reign), (the village of) Sungandavirtta-Soranallur, — which forms part of the town (nagara) of Karundittaikudi in Tanjavur-parru, (a subdivision) of Tanjavur-kurram[22] in Pandikulapati-valanadu,[23] and which the Tondaimanar had purchased from Tennagangadevan, Sinattaraiyan and other partners (ullittar), — was given for (providing) one hundred and eight shares (pangu), viz., one hundred and six shares for one hundred and six Chaturvedi-Bhattas, who had studied the Vedas and Sastras and were able to interpret (them), (and who lived) at Samantanarayana-chaturvedimangalam, — a village (agaram) in (the neighborhood of) Tanjavur, (a city) in Tanjavur-kurram, (a subdivision) of Pandikulapati-valanadu, — which the Tondaimanar had bestowed (on them and called) after his own name; and two shares for (the image of) Samantanarayana-Vinnagar-Emberuman,[24] which he had set up in this village (and called) after (his own) name. The eastern boundary of (this village) is to the west of the boundary of Kulottunga-Soranallur, which forms part of Karundittaikudi, and of the boundary of the sacred flower-garden (called after) Gengaikonda-Soran,[25] which forms part of Karundittaikudi ; (that part of) the eastern boundary, which is to the south of the Vira-Sora-Vadavaru (river), is to the west of the boundary of Nandavanapparru,[26] (a quarter of) Tanjavur. (That part of) the southern boundary, which is to the east of the wall (madil) of Mummadi-Soran, is to the north of the boundary of Nandavanapparru ; (that part of the southern boundary, which is) to the west of the (same) wall, is to the north of the boundary of Palatalipparru,[27] (a quarter of) Tanjavur. The western boundary is to the east of the high-road (peru-vari) of Kodivanm-udaiyal ; (that part of the western boundary, which is on) the northern bank of the Vira-Sora-Vadavaru, is (at the same time) to the east of this river.[28] The northern boundary is to the south of the boundary of Kadavan-mahadevi, alias Virudarajabhayamkara-chaturvedimangalam.[29]  Altogether, (the land) included within these four boundaries, — excluding the cultivated land (vilai-nilam) and the dry land (punsey) of) Ava-kamallakulam, alias Jagadekavira-Suvarnamangalam, the cultivated land and the dry land of Palatalipparru, and the cultivated land and the dry land of Nandavanapparru, — (is divided into) fifty blocks (karani).[30] Of (these), the wet land (nanse[y]-nilam), — excluding ancient gifts to temples (devadana), (and) including the portion on the bank of the river (padugai-irai) and the portion consisting of the causeways between fields (tala-varamb-irai), — (contains), according to the book (pottagam),[31] sixty veli ; the land on which the (village) servants subsist, (contains) fourteen veli ; the land (which is occupied by) the village-site (agara-nattam), the place used for sacrificing to the gods (deva-yajana-bhumi), and the place used as pasture for the cows (go-prachara-bhumi),[32] (contains) six veli ; the land which includes the houses of the cultivators (Vellan), the ponds, channels, hills, jungles and mounds, (contains) twelve (veli), one quarter and one eighth. Altogether, the land which includes the wet land and dry land, the site of the village, the places used for sacrificing to the gods and as pasture for the cows, and the houses of the cultivators, the ponds, channels, hills, jungles and mounds, (contains), according to the book, ninety-four (veli), one quarter and one fortieth. Deducting from this nine blocks in possession (kani) of Tennagangadevan, which contain sixteen (veli) of land, three quarters, four twentieths, one eightieth and one hundred-and-sixtieth, (there remain) forty-one blocks, containing seventy-seven (veli) of land, six twentieths and one hundred-and-sixtieth.[33]  These seventy-seven, six twentieths and one hundred-and-sixtieth (veli) of land, which may be more or less,[34] we gave, — including the trees over ground and the wells underground in this land, and all other benefits (prapti) whatever kind,[35] having first excluded the former owners and the hereditary proprietors, and having purchased (it) as tax-free property (kani) for the one hundred and six Bhattas of this village and for the two shares (of the image) of Samantanarayana-Vinnagar-Emberuman – from the rainy season in the thirty-fifth (year of our reign), as a meritorious gift (dharmadana), with libations of water, with the right to bestow, mortgage or sell (it), as a tax-free grant of land, to last as long as the moon and the sun. (This grant) includes all kinds (varga) of taxes (kadamai) and rights (kudimai), viz., (the right) to cultivate kar,[36] maruvu,[37] single flowers (?oru-pu), flowers for the market (kadai-pu), lime-trees, dry crops, red water-lilies, areca-palms, betel-vines, saffron, ginger, plantains, sugar-cane and all other crops (payir); all kinds of revenue (aya), including the tax in money (kasu-kadami), odukkum-padi, urai-nari, [38](the share of) the village watchman (? Padi-kaval) (who is placed) over the Vettis,[39] (the share of) the Karanam who measures (the paddy ?), the unripe (fruit ?) in Karttigai, the tax on looms (tari-irai), the tax on oil-mills (sekk-irai), the tax on trade (sett-irai), tattoli, the tax on goldsmiths (tattar-pattam), (the dues on) animals and tanks,[40] the tax on water-course (orukku-nir-pattam), tolls (vari-ayam), inavari,[41] the tax on weights (idai-vari), (the fine for) rotten drugs (arugal-sarakku), the tax on bazaars (angadi-pattam), (and) the salt-tax (upp-ayam) ; . . . . . . . . . . . the elephant-stalls (and) the horse-stables. Thus, in accordance with this order (olai), it shall be engraved on stone and copper. On the sixty-fourth day of the thirty-fifty year (of our reign).”

This is the signature of Gangayan, a native of Tunjalur in Miralai-kurram. This is the signature of Pallavarayan, a native of Tunjalur in Miralai-kurram.

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