The Indian Analyst
 

South Indian Inscriptions

 

 

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Table of Contents

Text of the Inscriptions 

Part - I

Part - II

Part - III

Part - IV

Part - V

Other Inscription 

Chola Inscription

Telugu Inscriptions from Andra Pradesh

Pallava Inscriptions

Pandya Inscriptions

Telugu Inscriptions of the Vijayanagara Dynasty

Inscriptions Collected During 1903-1904

Other South-Indian Inscriptions 

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Vol. 4 - 8

Volume 9

Volume 10

Volume 11

Volume 12

Volume 13

Volume 14

Volume 15

Volume 16

Volume 17

Volume 18

Volume 19

Volume 20

Volume 22
Part 1

Volume 22
Part 2

Volume 23

Volume 24

Volume 26

Volume 27

Tiruvarur

Darasuram

Konerirajapuram

Tanjavur

Annual Reports 1935-1944

Annual Reports 1945- 1947

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 2, Part 2

Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Volume 7, Part 3

Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 1

Kalachuri-Chedi Era Part 2

Epigraphica Indica

Epigraphia Indica Volume 3

Epigraphia
Indica Volume 4

Epigraphia Indica Volume 6

Epigraphia Indica Volume 7

Epigraphia Indica Volume 8

Epigraphia Indica Volume 27

Epigraphia Indica Volume 29

Epigraphia Indica Volume 30

Epigraphia Indica Volume 31

Epigraphia Indica Volume 32

Paramaras Volume 7, Part 2

Śilāhāras Volume 6, Part 2

Vākāṭakas Volume 5

Early Gupta Inscriptions

Archaeological Links

Archaeological-Survey of India

Pudukkottai

South Indian Inscriptions, Volume 2

Tamil Inscriptions

part - i

INSCRIPTIONS  OF THE TANJAVUR TEMPLE

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE WALLS OF THE CENTRAL  SHRINE

No.21 On the North Wall, Lower tier

This inscription is dated ‘on the seventh day of the year which was opposite to the fifty year’ of Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerinmai-kondan. As I have shown in a paper on the Tirunelli deed of Bhaskara Ravivarman, which will shortly appear in the Indian Antiquary, the word ‘opposite’ (edir) is used in Tamil dates in the sense of ‘after.’ ‘Accordingly, this inscription is dated in the year which followed after the fifth year, i.e., in the sixth year of the king’s reign. The name of the king has remained a puzzle and has been misread in various ways, until my assistant discovered an archaic inscription at Kuttalam near Mayavaram, in which it is spelt. This spelling, — if compared with the usual forms, and – shows that the first part of the name must be divided into. From the assimilated form, which occurs in an inscription at Pallavaram, we may further conclude that is meant for must be dissolved into ‘a king’ ‘equality,’ and is an abstract of the root, which signifies negation. Ko-ner-l-mai-kondan may thus be translated by ‘he who has assumed the title “king of kings,”’ a surname of the Chera king Bhaskara Ravivarman, to whose reign the Cochin deed of the Jews[1] belongs. Koneril or Koneril appears to have been corrupted subsequently into Koneri. For, we find the surname Koneri-mel-kondan or Koneri-men-konda applied to Vira-Chola and to Kulottunga-Choladeva; and on a coin,[2] copies of which are not rarely met with at Tanjore and Madura, the legend is Koneri-rayan.

The title Konerinmai-kondan is applied to the Chola king Rajarajadeva in the large Leyden grant (line 112); to Kulottunga-Choladeva in an inscription at Karuvur; and to Sundara-Pandya in an inscription of the Madura temple,[3] in the cave-inscription at Tirupparankunram,[4] in the smaller Tiruppuvanam grant,[5] and in inscriptions at Perur.[6] The same surname was borne by Vira-Pandya and by Kulasekharadeva.[7] The king to whose reign the present inscription belongs, must be different from, and considerably later than, Rajarajadeva, whose inscriptions are written in archaic characters, while those of the subjoined inscription are not very far removed from the modern Tamil ones. There is no such objection to identifying the Konerinmai-kondan of the subjoined inscription with one of the three Pandya kings, who had that surname. But it is impossible to make any final identification, as the inscription does not contain any historical particulars about the king to whose reign it belongs.

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The inscription records an order of the king, by which certain lands that had been wrongfully sold during the third and fourth years of his reign were restored to the temple of Rajaraja-Isvara at Tanjavur.

Translation

1. Hail! Prosperity! (The following are) the contents of an order (tirumugam) which (the king) vouchsafed to issue.

2. Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerinmai-kondan (addresses the following order) to the Panchacharya (who wears) a silk garment (in honour of) the feet of the lord of the temple of Rajaraja-Isvara at Tanjavur, (a city) in Pandikulasan[I]-valanadu,[8] to the Devar-kanmi,[9] to those who perform (the duties of) overseers (kankani) of the Sri-Mahesvaras, and to the person who carries on the management of the temple (srikarya): -

3. “We have ordered that the tax-free temple-land (devadana) of this temple, which was sold in the third and fourth (years of our reign), — (viz.) eighty-three veli of land in (the village of) Sri-Parantaka-Chaturvedimangalam in this nadu; five (veli), three quarters and one hundred-and-sixtieth of land in Vira-Rajendran-Nerkuppai;[10] eleven (vali) and three quarters of land in Kulottunga-Soran-Nerkuppai; eleven (veli), one half and three twentieths of land (in) Kulottunga-Soran-Parisai; six twentieths, one eightieth and one hundred-and-sixtieth (of a veli) of land in Neriyan-[I]rai[yur]; and seven (veli) and one quarter of land (in) the flower-garden (nandavanam) (called after) Gangai-konda-Soran, which forms part of Karundittaikudi, - shall remain tax-free temple-land, as of old, from the year which follows after the fifth (year of our reign). And we have ordered those (officers) who divide (the land) for (levying) taxes (vari), to enter (this land) as such in the account (book). This land shall be taken possession of by this temple as tax-free temple-land from the year which follows after the fifth (year of our reign).”

4. Written by the royal minister (who writes the king’s) orders,[11] Rajendrasimha-Muvenda-Velan; (this is his) signature. The signature of Viratarayan. The signature of [Chi]trarayan. The signature of Vay[ir]adarayan.[12] The signature of [Pal]-lavarayan. The signature of Pritiyangaraiyan.

5. (The above are) the contents of an order which (the king) vouchsafed to issue on the seventh day of the year, which followed after the fifth year (of his reign).

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

This inscription is dated on the 64th day of the 35th year of the reign of Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerinmai-mondan and records the grant of the village of Sungandavirtta-Soranallur,[13] which formed part of the town of Karundittaikudi,[14] and which was situated on both banks of the

Vira-Sora-Vadavaru[15] and on the northwestern 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.[16] This chief was probably a descendant of Samantanarayana Tondaiman and of Karunakara Tondaiman, who, according to the Tamil poem Kalingattu-Parani,[17] was king of the Pallavas, resided at Vandai[18] and was the prime minister of the Chola king Kulotltunga. The title Tondaiman means the king of Tondai[19] 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 is the numerous fiscal terms mentioned in connection with the grant. A good many of them had to be left untranslated,[20] 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[21] in Pandikulapati-valanadu,[22] 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 neighbourhood 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,[23] 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, 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,[24] (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,[25] (a quarter of) Tanjavur. The western boundary is to the east of the highroad (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.[26] The northern boundary is to the south of the boundary of Kadavan-mahadevi, alias Virudarajabhayamkara-chaturvedimangalam.[27] 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).[28] 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),[29] 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),[30] (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.[31] These seventy-seven, six twentieths and one hundred-and-sixtieth (veli) of land, which may be more or less,[32] we gave, — including the trees over ground and the wells underground in this land, and all other benefits (prapti) whatever kind,[33] 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,[34] maruvu,[35] 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, [36](the share of) the village watchman (? Padi-kaval) (who is placed) over the Vettis, (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 goldsmits (tattar-pattam), (the dues on) animals and tanks,[37] the tax on water-course (orukku-nir-pattam), tolls (vari-ayam), inavari,[38] 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).”

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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.


[1] Madras Journal of Literature and Science, Vol. XIII, Part I, p. 136 f.

[2] Sir Walter Elliot’s Coins of Southern India, Plate iv, No. 173

[3] No. 46 of my Progress Report for February to April 1890, Madras G.O., 14th May 1890, No.355, Public.

[4] Dr. Burgess’ Archaeological Survey of Southern India, Vol. IV, pp. 46 and 49, where the word is misread as monerinadai-kondan. Instead of Komarapanmaran Sundaravarumadevar (p. 45), the original reads Ko-Marapanmar-ana Sundara-Pandidevar, i.e., Ko-Maravarman, alias Sundara-Pandyadeva.

[5] Ibid., p. 37, where koner[I]nmai-kondan is misread as Kononarai-kondan.

[6] Mr. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I, p. 217.

[7] Ibid., Vol. II, p. 106 and p. 109.

[8] This is another spelling of Pandyakulasani-valanadu in No. 1, paragraph 2.

[9] Thevarkanmi is the same as thevakanmi (Sanskrit devakarmin), ‘a pujari;’ see Vol. I, p. 123

[10] A village called Nerkuppai had been given to the Tanjavur temple by the Chola king Rajarajadeva according to No. 4, paragraph 17.

[11] Thirumanthiru olai is a vulgar spelling of thirumanthira olai; see page 109; note 5.

[12] A person of the same name is mentioned kin Vol. I, p. 108

[13] I.e., ‘the good village (called after) Sungandavirtta-Chola.’ An inscription at Pallavaram, the beginning of which is found on page 111, note 3, mentions a king of the name Sungandavirtta-Kulottunga-Choladeva, alias Tribhuvanachakravartin Konerimmai-Kondan.

[14] This is a northern suburb of Tanjore; see the Index of the Tanjore Mannal, where it is spelled “Karundattangudi.”

[15] According to the map of irrigation works, which accompanies the Tanjore Manual, the “Vadavaru” is the first river, which is crossed on the north of Tanjore by the road to “Tiruvadi” (Tiruvaiyaru).

[16] Mr. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 225.

[17] Ind. Ant., Vol. XiX, p. 337.

[18] Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai, ibid., p. 340, has satisfactorily identified Vandai or Vandainagaram with Vandalur, a Railway station south of Pallavaram in the Chingleput district.

[19] Compare Cheramaan ‘the Chera king,’ which occurs in No. 1, paragraphs 34, 51, 52 and 107.

[20] The English meanings which are assigned to some of these terms by Mr. S.M. Natesa Sastri in Dr. Burgess’ Archaeological Survey of Southern India, Vol. IV, p. 186, are purely fanciful.

[21] The same subdivision is mentioned in No. 1, paragraph 2.

[22] This designation corresponds to Pandyakulasani-and Pandikulasani-valanadu in No.1, paragraph 2, and No.21, paragraph 2, respectively.

[23] I.e., ‘our lord of the Vishnu temple (called after) Samantanarayana.’ Vinnagar is another form of Vinnagaram, which, to judge from a Kanchipuram inscription (Vol. I, p. 87, note 1), seems to be a popular corlruption of Vishnu-griha. It occurs in inscriptions at Poygai and Kaniyanur; in Vol. I, p. 87, line 1, and in paragraph 1 of the Progress Report quoted on page 110, note 6, read Vinnagar instead of Vinnagara.

[24] I.e., ‘the quarter of flower-gardens.’

[25] I.e., ‘the quarter of many temples’.

[26] This queer description may be explained by assuming that the river which passes the village from east to west, takes a northerly bend on leaving it.

[27] This village might have received its name from the Chola king Kulottunga, one of whose biruda was, according to Mr. Kanakasabhai Pillai’s abridged translation of the Kalingattu-Parani, ‘he who was a terror to Virutaraja;’ Ind. Ant., Vol. XIX, p. 332.

[28] On this division of land see Mr. H. Stokes; paper ‘The custom of “kareiyid” or Periodical redistribution of land in Tanjore,’ Ind. Ant., Vol. III, pp. 65 ff.

[29] This expression must refer to the land-register, which is called kanakku in No. 21, second section, line 3.

[30] Compare the fiscal term sva-sima-trina-huti-gochara-paryanta; Ind. Ant., Vol. XIV, p. 161, note 26, and Vol. XV p. 309, note 36

[31] The whole manipulation is as follows: -

       Wet land ..          60 veli

       Land of the village-servants  1 ¾ , 3/20 veli

       Dry land              ..              14 veli

       Village-site, & c.        ..         6 veli

       Miscellaneous                       12 ¼, 1/8 veli

                                                  ----------------------------------->

                Total                           94 ¼ ,1/40 veli = 50 blocks

                Deduct                        16 ¾ , 4/20, 1/80, 1/160

                                                   ----------------------------------->

                Remainder                    77 6/20,1/160 veli=41 blocks

[32] This clause seems to provide for possible mistakes in the measurement.

[33] Compare in Vol. I, p. 103, text line 19.

[34] According to the Dictionnaire Tamoul-Francais, this is an inferior kind of paddy, which grows in some localities during the rainy season (kar) and in others after that season.

[35] Marvu is perhaps the same as margu ‘a fragrant plant, Origanum majoranu’ (Winslow).

[36] On padi or nazhi see page 48, note 5.

[37] With mavadai kulavadai compare the terms mavidai maravidai ‘the animals and trees,’ which the Tamil dictionaries quote from a deed of sale.

[38] The term inavari or inavari occurs in Vol. I, Nos. 61, 62 and 78.

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