This last king can scarcely be considered a historical person, but appears to be a modification of the ancient Maurya king Asoka. The follows a passage in prose, which informs us that, after this Asokavarman, there ruled a number of other Pallava kings, viz., [S]kandavarman, Kal[i]ndavarman, Kanagopa, Vishnugopa, Viraku[r]cha, Virasimha, Simhavarman, Vishnusimha and others (1. 48 f.). Some of these names actually occur in the inscriptions of that ancient branch of the Pallavas, whose grants are dated from Palakkada, Dasanapura and Kanchipura, viz., Skandavarman, Simhavaran, Vishnugopavarman,[10] and Virakorchavarman. The Amaravati pillar-inscription (Vil. I, No. 32) mention two kings named Simhavarman. But the order in which these names are enumerated, is completely different in each of the three available sources for the history of the early Pallavas, viz., the Amaravatipillar, the early copper-inscriptions, and the prose introduction of the Kasakudi plates. For this reason, and on account of the summary manner in which the early kings are referred to by the author of the Kasakudi inscription, it is a mistake to derive a regular pedigree from the latter, as was done by Professor Vinson (i.e., p. 453); and it must be rather concluded that, at the time of Nandivarman, nothing was known of the predecessors of Simhavishnu, but the names of some of them, and that the order of their succession, and their relation to each other and to the subsequent line of Simhavishnu, were then entirely forgotten.

With verse 20 we enter on historical ground. The list of kings from Simhavishnu to the immediate predecessor of Nandivarman agrees with the Udayendiram plates of Nandivarman Pallavamalla (No. 74). Simhavishnu appears to have borne the surname Avanisimha, and is stated to have defeated the Malaya, Kalabhra, Malava, Chola, Pandya, Simhala and Kerala kings.

His successor Mahendravarman I. “annihilated his chief enemies at Pullalura” (v. 21). The ‘chief enemies’ were probably the Chalukyas, who, in their turn, considered the Pallavas their ‘natural enemies.’ As Pullalur is the name of a village in the Conjeeveram talluqa,[11] it appears that the Chalukya army had made an inroad into the Pallava dominions, before it was repulsed by Mahendravarman I.

His son Narasimhavarman I is reported to have conquered Lanka, i.e., Ceylon, and to have captured Vatapi,[12] the capital of the Western Chalukyas. The Kuram and Udayendiram plates supply the name of the conquered Chalukya king, Pulakesin or Vallabharaja, i.e., Pulikesin II. The conquest of Ceylon to which the Kasakudi plates refer, is confirmed from an unexpected source. From the 47^th chapter of the Mahavamsa[13] we learn that the Singhalese prince Manavamma lived at the court of king Narasimha of India and helped him to crush his enemy, king Vallabha. The grateful Narasimha supplied Manavamma twice with an army to invade Ceylon. The second attack was successful. Manavamma occupied Ceylon, over which he is supposed to have ruled from A. D. 691 to 726. As both the Pallava inscriptions and the Mahavamsa mention the war with Vallabha and the conquest of Ceylon, the identity of Narasiha and Narasimhavarman I can hardly be doubted. As, however, the latest date of Pulikesin II is A.D. 642, the accession of Manavamma must have taken place about half a century before A. D. 691.[14]

No details are given about the reign o Narasimhavarman’s son Mahendravarman II. The latter was succeeded by his son Paramesvarapotavarman I who, as we known from the Kuram and Udayendiram plates, defeated the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya I at Peruvalanallur. The Kasakudi plats do not contain any historical information about him, nor about his son Narasimhavarman II and his grandson Paramesvarapotavarman II.

According to the Udayendiram plates, the next king, Nandivarman, was the son of Paramesvaravarman II. The Kasakudi plates contain an entirely different account of Nandivarman’s parentage. In line 72, he professes to be “engaged in ruling the kingdom of Paramesvarapotaraja;” and in verse 27, he is said to be ruling, at the time of the inscription, the kingdom of Paramesvarapotavarman II., i.e., to have succeeded or supplanted the latter on the throne, and to have been “chosen by the subjects.” This plebiscite may have taken place after the death of the legitimate king; or, more probably, Nandivarman may have been an usurper who ousted and destroyed him and his family. At any rate, he was a remote kinsman of his predecessor. For, he was the son of Hiranya (verses 9 and 30) by Rohini and belonged to the branch (varga) of Bhima (verse 30). According to verse 28, this branch of Bhima took its origin from Bhimavarman, who was the younger brother of Simhavishnu. The names of three princes, who intervened between Bhimavarman and Hirnaya, are recorded in the same verse. The name Hiranyavarma-Maharaja occurs several times in a much-obliterated inscription of the Vaikuntha-Perumal temple at Kanchipuram. At the beginning of this inscription, Paramesvarappottaraiyar of the Pallava-vamsa is mentioned as deceased (svargastha). It is therefore not improbable that the inscription recorded the accession of Hranyavarman or of his son Nandivarman after the death of Paramesvarapotavarman II. The latter may have been the founder of the Vaikuntha-Perumal temple, which is called Paramesvara-Vishnugriha, i.e., ‘the Vishnu temple of Paramesvara,’ in another inscription of the Vaikuntha-Perumal temple.[15] With the addition of the new branch, the list of the later Pallavas stands as follows: -

No. 73 Kasakudi plates of Nandivarman

Other forms of the name Nandivarman are Nandipotaraja (1. 90) and simply Nandin (1.88). The form Nandikpotavarman occurs in the Vakkaleri plates, which refer to the defeat of the Pallava king by the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya II., and the form Nandippottaraiyar in an inscription of his 18^th year in the Ulagalanda-Perumal temple at Kanchipuram. He bore the soverign titles Maharaja and Rajadhiraja-paramesvara and the birudas Kshatriyamalla, Pallavamalla (1.78), and Sridhara (verse 29). According to verse 30, he was a devotee of Vishnu. At the request of his prime-minister (1. 89), Brahmasriraja (1. 91) or Brahmayuvaraja (II. 103 and 106), the king gave the village of Kodukolli (II. 99, 105 f.) to the Brahmana Jyesthapada-Somayajin (1. 93) or (in Tamil Settirenga-Somayajin (1. 108 f.), who belonged to the Bharadvaja (1. 94) or Bharadvaja (1. 108) gotra, followed the Chhandogasutra (II. 94 and 108), and resided at Puniya (1. 95) or Puni (1. 108), a village in the Tondaka-rashtra (1. 95). The village of Kodukolli, on becoming a brahmadeya, received the new name Ekadhiramangalam (1. 100). It belonged to Urrukkattu-kottam (1. 105) or (in Sanskrit) Undivana-koshthaka (1. 98), a subdivision of Tondaka-rashtra, and was bounded in the east and south by Palaiyur, in the west by Manarpakkam and Kollipakkam, and in the north by Velimanallur (II. 98 f. and 111 ff.). Connected with the gift of the village was the right of dig channels from the Seyaru or (in Sanskrit) Durasarit, the Vekha or Vegavati, and the tank of Tiraiyan or Tiralaya (II. 101 f. and 115 ff.).

Of these geographical names, the following can be identified. Tondaka-rashtra is, — like Tondira-mandala, Tundira-mandala and Tundaka-vishaya, — a Sanskritised form of the Tamil term Tondai-mandalam. One of the 24 ancient divisions (kottam) of the latter was Urrukkattu-kottam, which owed its name to Urrukkadu, a village in the present Conjeeveram talluqa. This kottam was divided into four subdivisions (nadu), one of which was Palaiyur-nadu. The head-village of this subdivision, Palaiyur, appears to be identical with the village of Palaiyur, which formed the south-eastern boundary of the granted village, and perhaps with the modern Palur at the north-western extremity of the Chingleput talluqa. The Western boundary of the granted village, manarpakkam, would then be represented by the modern Melamanappakkam. For the granted village, Kodukolli, itself and for the two remaining villages which formed its boundaries, no equivalents are found on the maps at my disposal. The village at which the donee resided, Puni, may be the modern Pundi, which belongs to the Conjeeveram talluqa, but is in close proximity of Palur and Melamanappakkam in the Chingleput talluqa. The dproposed identification of these three villages is made more probable by the reference, made kin the Kasakudi plates, to two rivers near which the granted village of Kodukolli was situated. Of these, the Vegavati or Vehka passes Conjeeveram and falls into the Palaru near Villivalam. The Seyaru forms the southern boundary of the modern Conjeeveram talluqa and joins the Palaru opposite Melamanapakkam, which I have identified with Manarpakkam, the western boundary of Kodukolli.

The executor (ajnapli) of the grant was Ghorasarman (II. 103 and 106), and the author of the Sanskrit portion, which, as in the Kuram plates (1. 89) and the Udayendiram plates (II. 101 and 105), is called a prasasti or eulogy, was a certain Trivikrama (verse 31). To the Sanskrit portion is affixed a Tamil endorsement (I. 104 f.), which directs the inhabitants of Urrukkattu-kottam to execute the order of the king. The subsequent Tamil passage (1. 105 ff.) Records that, on receipt of the royal order, the representatives of Urrukkattu-kottam marked the boundaries of the granted village under the guidance of their headman, and formally assigned all rights to the donee. Another Tamil sentence (1. 132 f.) states that the grant was executed in the presence of the local authorities (?), the ministers and the secretaries.

Then follow, in Sanskrit, three imprecatory verses (1. 133 ff.) and the statement that the document was written by His Majesty’s great treasurer (1. 136). The inscription ends with a docket kin Tamil (1. 137) and a few auspicious Sanskrit words.

Translation

Hail! (Verse 1.) Victorious is the supreme Brahman, which is the cause of the production, stability and destruction of the three worlds; which is true, without end (and) without beginning; which consists of knowledge (alone); which is one; (and) which is the abode of immortality!

(2) May that blessed Trivikrama (Vishnu) grant you prosperity, who, at the sacrifice of Bali, deceitfully asked (only) for three steps (of land), but suddenly expended (and) strode thrice, (thereby) appropriating the world!.

(3) May Hara (Siva), the destroyer of Pura, increase your happiness, who bears the moon on his crest, who wears a serpent on his shoulder, who holds Bhavani on his left, who bears affection to his worshipper, who bears Ganga on his head, who wears ashes[16] on his body, who bears poison on his neck, who wears a braid in his hair, (and) who holds a spear in his hand!

(4) May Trivikrama and Hara protect you, whose distinct (but) united bodies (respectively) bear on the neck the supreme splendour of two ornaments, — the kaustubha (jewel) and the black (poison),[17] hold a discus and a spear[18] for the destruction of the Daityas, are of black and white colour, (and) thrill with joy at the expansion (of the eyes) of Sri and Gauri, (which emit) coquettish glances (resembling) arrows!

(5) May Padma (Lakshmi) regard you with fondness, who is seated on a lotus; whose pair of lotus hands is resplendent with a lotus; (and) whose excellent bath (is poured from) golden jars which are held by the trunks of (two) female elephants !

(6) May that blessed Arya (Parvati), the sister of Vishnu, instantly remove dire adversity, — whom Cupid does not approach, out of fear, it seems, because he has observed the (third) eye on (her) forehead (and therefore takes her) for Isvara !.

(7) May Vinayaka (Ganesa) grant you freedom from obstacles, who is as white as the Kailasa (mountain), whose girdle consists of a huge serpent, who has the face of an elephant, whose ears are large, who has a single big tusk, (and) whose eyes are (half closed as if he were) under the influence of rut !

(8) May the race of the glorious Pallavas be protected for a long time by the supreme lords, those twofold[19] gods whom (they viz., the Pallavas) have worshipped with traditional devotion, — (viz.,) the gods in heaven who timely reward gifts, sacrifices and austerities, (and) the gods on earth[20] who are engaged in the six duties, whose blessings are true, (and) who practice self-control !

(9) The earth, surrounded by the rolling ocean, is conquered by the lord of men, who is the son of Hiranya (and) the lord of prosperity, whose crest is the bull, (and) the elephants of whose army ward off enemies.[21]

Hail ! Adoration to Sri ! (10) First, from the lotus, which rose from the navel of Vishnu, was born the Creator, whose origin is the (supreme) Brahman; who is self-existent; who fully knows the meaning of the sacred texts; (and) who has performed the creation of the whole world.

(11.) From his was born at the sacrifice a son of the mind alone, Angiras, who fully carried out his promises; who laws more brilliant than fire; who being sinless, put an end to sin; who, being the chief of seers, obtained a pace among the Seven Seers; who reached (the highest degree of) austerities that can be desired; (and) who was the best axe for cutting the tree of ignorance.

(12) From this Angiras (came Brihaspati), who was an ocean of speeches (and) the father of politics; whom (Indra) the lord of the gods[22] (and) elder brother of Tridhaman (Vishnu), made his preceptor (guru); (and) relying on the power of whose intellect, the celestial women enjoy at ease amorous pleasures, without thinking of the rising and setting of the sun.

(13.) From him was born the fortunate (and) modest Samy, who destroyed sin (and) resembled the sun in brilliancy. When Fire had disappeared, (he) became the fire of the gods and performed even the action of fire through his own power.

(14.) His son was a sage called Bharadvaja, who became the founder of the race (gotra) of the glorious Pallavas by the power of (his) virtues, (and) who mastered the three Vedas, which resemble mountains by (his) austerities.

(15.) From him cam Drona, the preceptor[23] of the Kurus, who was produced from the semen[24] (of Bharadvaja) in a pitcher called drona; whose victorious banner was an altar painted on the skin of a black-buck; (and) who completely mastered (the four branches of) the science of archery,[25] which resemble the four oceans.

(16.) From him came the sage Asvatthaman, who was an incarnation of (Siva) the enemy of Cupid; who deserved the confidence of the inhabitants of the world; (and) at the rising of whose anger, Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima became terrified (and) threw down (their) weapons without any opposition.

(17.) The glorious Pallava, (during whose rule) the earth was untouched (even) by the smallest calamity,[26] was suddenly born to him on a litter of sprouts (pallava)[27] by (the nymph) Menaka,[28] that had been sent to him by Sakra (Indra), who as afraid of (losing) his position (on account of the sage’s austerities).

(18.) Though born from a race of Brahmanas, he possessed in the highest degree the valour of the Kshatriyas, which was inherent to him. Does not the thunderbolt possess by nature the quality of burning, though it springs from the cloud ?

(19.) From him was produced Asokavarman, who removed the distress of suppliant kings, (but) who distressed those who faced (him) in battle, (and) who, though bright as the moon, possessed a spotless fame (which the moon has a spot).

(Line 34.) From him descended the powerful, spotless race of the Pallavas, which resembled a partial incarnation of Vishnu, as it displayed unbroken courage in conquering the circle of the world with all its parts, (and) it is enforced the special rules of all castes and orders, and which resembled the descent of the Ganga (on earth), as it purified the whole world.

(Line 37.) All (the kings) sprung from this (race) possessed power that was everywhere irresistible, large armies, pure descent, birth from a lotus, (and) great piety, (and therefore) resembled Kumara, whose spear is everywhere irresistible, (who is also called) Mahasena, who is the son of Fire, who invented (the array of the army in the form of) a lotus (and who is also called) Subrahmanya. The great fierceness,— that resembled fire,— of the power of their arms dried up,— like the water of the ocean,— the irresistible valour of all enemies. The spreading moonshine of their spotless fame removed the impurity of all the sins of the Kali age. Their extremely noble conduct and constant prosperity increased the affection of the crowd of their friends.[29] The beauty of their forms became the snare, in which,— like deer,— the hearts of young women (were caught). Their fame, like the fragrance of sandal trees, was pervading the southern region. The shadow of their (royal parasol) could not be crossed by the power of the other (kings), just as the beauty of the celestial trees cannot be surpassed by the splendour of other (trees). They were full of splendour and kind to others, (and therefore) resembled the sun whose rays are beneficial to men. They experienced an increase (agama) of the affection (pratyaya) of (their) subjects (prakriti), and possessed blameless riches (vriddhi) and virtues (guna), (and therefore) resembled the science of grammar, in which crude forms (prakriti), affixes (pratyaya) and augments (agama) are treated, (but) in which (the rules on) guna and vriddhi are (not) without exceptions (apavada).[30] They gave delight (nandana), but were without enemies (apa-ari-jata); while the Nandana (garden) contains the parijata (tree). Though full of learning (ghanagama), they were not dull (jada); while the rainy season (ghanagama) brings water (jala). As Indra the heaven, (these) lords of the earth enjoyed the whole earth, which is bounded by the Chakravala mountain (and) adorned by the seven continents and seven oceans.

(Line 45.) Among these have passed away in bygone times [S]kandavarman, Kal[I]ndavarman, Kanagopa, Vishnugopa, Viraku[r]cha, Virasimha, Simhavarman, Vishnusimha and other kings, who won great battles by (a knowledge of) the science of all weapons, whose valour was immeasurable, who had received by inheritance (the practice of) meritorious acts, who destroyed (the sins of) the Kali (age), whose minds were learned, whose bodies bore auspicious marks, who preserved (their) fame (free from blemishes), whose shoulders were fit to bear the whole earth, who were (evil) comets to (their) enemies, who conferred honors on (their) friends, (and) who were the barriers of all good conduct.

(Verse 20.) Thereafter came Simha[Vishnu], the lion of the earth (Avanisimha), who was engaged in the destruction of enemies, (and) who lvanquished the Malaya, Kalabhra, Malava, Chola and Pandya (kings), the Simhala (king) who was proud of the strength of his arms, and the Keralas.

(21.) Then the earth was ruled by a king called Mahendravarman, whose glory resembled that of Mahendra, whose commands were respected (by all), (and) who annihilated (his) chief enemies at Pullalura.

(22.) From him was born the victorious hero Narasimhavarman, who surpassed the glory o the valour of Rama by (his) conquest of Lanka, who was a comet (that foreboded) destruction of the crowd of proud enemies, (and) who imitated the pitcher-born (Agastya) by (his) conquest of Vatapi.[31]

(23.) From him was born Mahandravarman, whose long arms were fierce thunderbolts to the crowd of enemies, (and) beginning with whom, meritorious acts for the benefit of temples and Brahmanas and (the use of) the vessel of the donor[32] have highly prospered.

(24.) Then came Paramesvarapotavarman, to whose desires the crowd of all kings was subject. This wonderful (king) possessed high prosperity (bhuti), was the lord of men (bhuti), was the lord of men (bhuta), had a bull for (his) crest (and) a club on (his) banner, (and) possessed immovable firmness, [thus resembling Siva, who wears sacred ashes (bhuti), is the lord of goblins (Bhuta), has a bull for his emblem and a club on his banner, and resides on the mountain].[33]

(25.) From him was born a complete incarnation of the blessed Paramesvara, who equaled Narasimha both by (the strength of) his body and by (his) name (Narasimhavarman) that spread over the world. This crest-jewel of the Kshatriyas bestowed his wealth on temples and Brahmanas (and) devoutly cased the goddess of the earth, who was in his possession, to be enjoyed by those familiar with the four Vedas.[34]

(26.) From him came Paramesvarapotavarman, who obtained desired treasures, (viz.,) treasures of fame; who conquered the coquettish ways of the Kali (age); who led the way of policy, which had been prescribed by Dhishana (Brihaspati); (and) who protected the worlds.

(27.) At present his prosperous kingdom, in which enemies are subdued by the power of (mere) commands, is ruled as far as the ocean by Nandivarman, who was chosen by the subjects, who is worthy of honour on account of (his) wisdom, (and) who is the full-moon of the race of the Pallavas, which is as extensive as the ocean.

(28.) His sixth (ancestor) was the lord Bhimavarman, who was the younger brother of, (and reigned) after, the glorious Simhavishnu; the fifth Pallava ruler (was) the glorious king Buddhavarman, praised by wise men; the fourth (was) Adityavarman, who resembled (Indra) the bearer of the thunderbolt; the third (was) Govindavarman; (and) the second lord of the earth (was) the glorious Hiranya, the refuge of men.

(29.) This Sridhara[35] resembles Vijaya (Arujuna) in battle, Karnisuta[36] in acquaintance with the arts, Rama in archery, the king of Vatsa with respect to the science of elephants and to music, Kama in (the opinion of) women, the first poet (Valmiki) in the composition of poetry, the master of policy (Brihaspati) himself in suggesting expedients, (and) Dharma (Yudhishthira) in delighting the subjects.

(30.) Increasing in prosperity is our lord, king Nandivarman, who is able to support the race of the Pallavas; who is a born emperor; who is handsome; who is a master both in the art of gymnastics and in the virtue of modesty; who is the son of Hiranya; who belongs to the branch (varga) of Bhima; who worships the feet of Hari (Vishnu); who is descended from a pure mother; who bears auspicious marks; who is the son of Rohini; (and) whose good deeds are numerous.

(Line 71.) While the twenty-second year of (his) reign was current, this Rajadhiraja-paramesvara, the Maharaja called Nandivarman, who is engaged in ruling the kingdom of Paremsvarapotaraja; whose mind is clinging to, engaged in, and restless in (the desire for) supreme bliss; whose head is covered with dust that has dropped from the pair of lotus feet of the Lord (Parameshthin);[37] who worships the gods, the Brahmanas, and (others) who are worthy of respect; who avoids the passions that oppress the people of the Kali age; who dries up (his) enemies by the fire of (his) growing velour; who refreshes (his) friends by the water of (his) growing affection; whose right hand is able (to fulfil) the vow of ruling the whole world; whose pair of feet is rubbed smooth (as it serves as) whetstones to the edges of the rubies in the diadems of all kings; who is gracefully embraced by the fortune of the Pallava race, (and who therefore resembles) the celestial tree, which is gracefully entwined by the creeper of Nandana garden; the wrestler of warriors (Kshatriyamalla); the wrestler of the Pallavas (Pallavamalla); whose might is increasing in consequence of (his) meditations on the feet of the lord, (his) father;[38] (and) who is a moon that causes to rise the water of the ocean of great virtues,— was himself pleased to give as a brahmadeja,[39]— [as requested] by Brahmasriraja,[40] who is a friend of men; who is filled with all virtues, as the ocean with a heap of gems; who is famous (but) modest, handsome (and) long-lived of soft speech (and) the best of men; who, just as Brihaspati (is the minister) of (Indra) the lord of heaven, is the chief minister of the handsome Nandin, the lord of the earth (and) chief of the Pallavas; who is refined both by nature and through education;[41] who is the first of the wise, firm (and) brave; who possesses the full spendour of the Brahmana and Kshatriya castes, and a loyalty of the glorious Nandipotaraja, which does not cease as long as the moon and the stars endure; who supports (his) family; who is the chief of (his) family; who is an eldest son; who resembles the moon in beauty; who excels in all virtues; (and) who is an eldest grand son; who resembles the moon in beauty; who excels in all virtues; (and) who is an eldest son,— to Jyeshthapada-Somayajin, who has mastgered the ocean-like Vedas; who chants the Saman (hymns) which are pleasant on account of their melodies (rasa); who has completed the rehearsal and the study of the six auxiliary works, (viz.,) the ritual of the Veda, grammar, astronomy, etymology, phonetics and metrics;[42] who knows the properties of words, sentences and subjects; who has drunk the elixir of the Sruti and Smrithi; who is learned in the portion referring to rites (karma-kanda) and the portion referring to knowledge (jnana-kanda); who is skilled in the ways of the world and in the knowledge of the arts; who is versed in poems, dramas, stories, epics and legends; in short, who is skilled in all (branches of) holy and profane knowledge; who is expert in the performance of all rites; who is of good conduct; (who illumines) the world, as a lamp (does) a house; who is courteous (in spite of) the honour (paid to him) and of noble birth; who is the only sun of the middle world (i.e., the earth), because he has dispelled all ignorance (or darkness);[43] who is considered the best of father and grand-fathers; whose good deeds (in former births are the reason of his present) noble birth; who ranks first among the twice-born; who knows the Vedas; who conforms to the precepts of the Veda; who follows the Chhandogasutra; who has performed the Vajapeya and a number of other sacrifices; who belongs to the Bharadvaja gotra; who resides at Puniya, an excellent settlement of Brahmanas[44] in the Tondaka-rashtra; who is poor in sins; who is distinguished by (his) dress (?);[45] who is a unique person; who cares for both worlds;[46] who accomplishes the three objects of human life (trivarga); who knows the four Vedas; whose chief objects are the five primary elements (pancha-mahabhuta);[47] who knows the six auxiliary works;[48] who resembles the sun; who possesses good qualities; (and) who is an excellent Brahmana,— a whole village, the original nae of which was Kodukolli, (but) which, on becoming a brahmadeya, (received) the new name Ekadhiramangalam,[49] in Undivana-koshthaka,[50] (a subdivision) of the same rashtra,[51] enclosed by the following four boundaries:— in the east, Palaiyur; in the south, the same; in the west, Manatpakka[52] and Kollipakka; (and) in the north, Velimanallur,[53]— to the extent of altogether two nivartanas;[54] excluding previous grants to temples and grants to Brahmanas; excluding (the houses of) the ryots;[55] with all exemptions (parihara); (and) including[56] the use of the water by digging channels at convenience from the Durasarit, the Vegavati, and the tank of Tiralaya,[57] houses, fields, gardens and groves.

(Line 103.) This (grant was made at) the request (vijnapti) of Brahmayuvaraja. The executor of the grant (ajnapti) (was) Ghorasarman. Hail ! Let there be success !

(Verse 31.) The author of the (above) prasasti (was) the honest Trivikrama, who knew the truth of all sciences (and) performed sacrifices according to the rules of the three Vedas.

(Line 104.) (The above is) an order of the king (kon-olai), (dated in) the twenty-second year (of the reign). Let the inhabitants of Urrukkattuu-kottam see (it) !

(Line. 105.) Having seen the order (tirumugam), which was issued after (the king) had been pleased to give Kodukolli, (a village) of our country,— having expropriated the former owners at the request of Brahmayuvaraja, (having appointed) Ghorasarman as ajnapti (anatti), having excluded (previous) grants to temples and grants to Brahmanas, having excluded the houses (of the ryots), to the extent of altogether two patti,— as a brahmadeya to Settirenga-Somayajin, who belongs to the Bharadvaja gotra, follows the Chhandogasutra and resides at Puni,— we, the inhabitants, went to the boundaries which the headman (vijyavan) of the district (nadu) pointed out, circumambulated the village (padagai) from right to left, and planted stones and milk-bush (round it).

(L. 111) The boundaries of (this village are):— The eastern boundary (is) to the west of the boundary of Palaiyur; the southern boundary (is) to the north of the boundary of Palaiyur; the western boundary (is) to the east of the boundary of Manarpakkam and of the boundary of Kollipakkam; and the northern boundary (is) to the south of the boundary of Velimanallur.

(L. 114.) (The donee) shall enjoy the wet land and the dry land included within these four boundaries, wherever the iguana runs and the tortoise crawls,[58] (and shall be permitted) to dig river channels and inundation channels for conducting water from the Seyaru, the Vehka, and the tank of Tiraiyan. (He) shall obtain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [59] for these channels. Those who take and use (the water) in these channels by pouring out baskets, by cutting branch channels (?),[60] or by employing small levers,[61] shall pay a fine to be taken by the king. He and his descendants shall enjoy the houses, house gardens and so forth (and shall have the right) to build houses and halls of burnt tiles. (The land) included within these (boundaries) we have endowed with all exemptions.[62] He himself shall enjoy the exemptions obtaining in this village without paying for the oil-mills and looms, the hire of the well-diggers (ulliyar), the share (kanam) of the Brahmanas and of the king, the share of sengodi,[63] the share of kallal,[64] the share of kannittu (?), the share of corn ears (kadir), the share of the headman, the share of the potter,[65] the sifting of paddy, the price of ghee, the price of cloth (puttagam), the share of the cloth (pattigai), the hunters (?) messengers, dancing-girls, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[66] the grass, the best cow and the best bull, the share of the district (nattuvagai), cotton threads (padan-gari), servants, nedumburai, palmyra molasses, the fine to the accountant (karanam) and the fine of the minister,[67] pattur-sarru, . . . . . . . . . . [68] the tax (vari) on planting water-lilies, the share of the water-lilies, the fourth part of the trunks, which is given of old trees of various kinds,[69] including areca palms and cocoanut trees . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .

(L. 132) The grant (para-datti) was made in the presence of the local authorities (?), of the ministers, and of the secretaries.[70]

(L. 133.) [Three of the usual imprecatory verses.]

(L. 136.) Hail ! Written by His Majesty’s great treasurer (Sri-Paramesvara-mahakanthagarin).

(L. 137.) He (viz., the donee) shall obtain the houses, the house-gardens, and two patti of land.

Hail ! Let there be success ! Adoration !

No. 74. Udayendiram plates of Nandivarman Pallavamalla.

This inscription has been already published by the Rev. T. Foulkes in the Indian Antiquary (Vol. VIII, p. 273 ff.) and in the Manua of the Salem District (Vol. II, p. 355 ff.). The original plates, together with the originals of four other copper-plate inscriptions[71] which were also edited by Mr. Foulkes, are preserved at Udayendiram,[72] a village at the south-western extremity of the Gudiyatam talluqa of the North Arcot district, and were kindly borrowed for me from their present owner by Mr. F.A. Nicholson, I.C.S., Acting Collector of North Arcot. The present whereabouts of two other copper-plate inscriptions from Udayendiram,[73] of which Mr. Foulkes obtained transcripts in the Telugu character, I was unable to ascertain. According to Mr. Foulkes, these two inscriptions formed part of a find of “five, or, by another account, seven sets of copper-plate inscriptions,” which was made in 1850 in a subterranean chamber in the Brahmana street at Udayendiram. Mr. Foulkes then believed that the remaining three or five sets of the find were lost. As, however, Mr. Foulkes’ other grants (I, II, III, IV and V) are now preserved at Udayendiram and are five in number, I think that they must be identical with the apparently missing five of the seven sets discovered at Udayendiram in 1850.

The copper-plates which bear the subjoined inscription, are five in number. When they reached my hands, they were strung on a ring, which is cut and bears a circular seal. This contains, in high relief, on a counter-sunk surface, a recumbent bull, which faces the proper right and is placed on a pedestal between two lamps. Over the bull is a seated figure on a pedestal, and between two symbols, which I cannot make out. The diameter of the seal is 3 ¼ inches, and that of the ring 4 ½ to 4 7/8 inches. The ring is about 3/8 inch thick. A comparison of this description of the ring and seal with that given by Mr. Foulkes in the first paragraph of his edition of the plates, suggests, that, when he examined the plates, they were accompanied by a different ring and seal. Besides, the seal which is now attached to the plates, does not resemble the seals of other Pallava grants, but is closely allied to the seal of the Udayendiram plates of the Bana king Vikramaditya II. (Mr. Foulkes’ No. V) and of the Ganga-Bana king Prithivipati II. Hastimalla (No. 76 below). I therefore believe that it may have originally belonged to one of the two Udayendiram grants of the Bana dynasty, which are now missing (Mr. Foulkes’ grants B and C), and that the original seal-ring of the Pallava plates may have been attached by mistake to one of these two grants and lost along with the latter.

The inscription consists of two distinct portions,— a grant of the Pallava king Nandivarman Pallavamall in the Sanskrit language and the Grantha character (II. 1 to 105), and a short inscription of the time of the Chola king Madirai-konda o-Parakesarivarman in the Tamil language and character (II. 105 to 109), which, however, looks as if it had been written by the same hand as the first or Pallava part of the inscription. Futher, the Grantha and Tamil alaphabet of both portions of the inscription is considerably more modern than that of other Pallava grants, and even than that of two other copper-plate inscriptions of Madirai-konda Ko-Parakesarivarman.[74] Consequently, the plates are either a forgery, or they are a copy, made at a later date, of two inscriptions, one of Nandivarman Pallavamalla, and one Madirai-konda Ko-Parakesarivarman, the originals of which are not within our reach.

The Sanskrit portion of the inscription records that, in the twenty-first year of his reign (I. 38), the Pallava king Nandivarman (v. 4, II. 36 f. and 37 f.), surnamed Pallavamalla (II. 36, 46 and 47), granted a village to one hundred and eight Brahmanas (I. 64 f.). This grant was made at the request of one of his military officers or vassals, named Udayachandra (v. 1 and 1. 61), who belonged to the race of Puchan (v. 2, I. 45 f. and v. 7), that had been in the hereditary service of the Pallava race, and who resided at the city of Vilvala (v. 2 and I. 44) on the river Vegavati (I. 41). This river passes Conjeevaram, and falls into the Palaru near the village of Villivalam, which accordingly must be the Tamil original of Vilvala, the Sanskrit name of the capital of Udayachandra. The three opening verses refer to the god Sadasiva, the chief Udayachandra, and the race of the Pallavas, respectively. Then follows, in prose, a genealogy of the reigning Pallava king, the mythical portion of which (I. 8 ff.) contains the following names:—

Brahma

Angiras

Brihaspati

Samyu

Bharadvaja

Drona

Asvatthaman

Pallava

The list of the historical descendants of Pallava from Simhavishnu of Paramesvaravarman II. (I. 11ff.) need not be repeated here, because it agrees with the list in the Kasakudi plates (p. 344), and because the battles which Narasimhavrman I. And Paramesvaravarman I. Are reported to have won,[75] were noticed in the introduction to the Kuram plates (Vol. I, p. 145). A long prose passage (I. 19 ff.) opens with the words: “The son of this Paramesvaravarman (II.) (was);” is interrupted by verses 4 to 6, which refer to the Pallava king Nandivarman; and appears to be taken up again by the words: “His son was Nandivarman Pallavamalla” (I. 36 f.). Mr. Foulkes concludes from this, that there were two successive Pallava kings of the name Nandivarman, the second of whom was the son of the first and bore the distinctive surname Pallavamalla. I do not think it probable that verse 4 to 6 are to be considered as forming one sentence with the first prose passage (I. 19ff.), but would prefer to treat these verses as a parenthesis, and the second prose passage (I. 36 f.) as the end of the same sentence which begins with the first prose passage. In this way we obtain only one Pallava king named Nandivarman, who bore the surname Pallavamalla and was the son of Paramesvaravarman II. This statement is at variance with the Kasakudi plates, according to which Nandivarman Pallavamalla was not the son of his predecessor, but belonged to an entirely different branch of the Pallavas. Here is another point which might induce us to stamp the Udayendiram plates as a forgery. For, it is difficult to understand how one and the same king could call himself the son of his predecessor in an inscription of his 21^st year, and the son of somebody else in an inscription of his 22^nd year. Two explanations might, however be attempted. Nandivarman may have thought it political to give himself out for the adopted son of his predecessor; or it may be assumed that, through mere carelessness, the scribe who drafted the inscription, used the word putra, ‘son’ (II. 19 and 37), while he wanted to represent Nandivarman only as a successor, and not as the son, of Paramesvaravarman II.

The most interesting portion of the inscription is the account of the services, which Udayachandra rendered to his royal master. When Pallavamalla was besieged in Nandipura by the Dramila princes, Udayachandra came to his rescue and killed with his own hand the Pallava king Chitramaya and others (I. 46 ff.). The name Chitrmaya sounds more like a biruda than a real name. Thus the ancient Pallava king Narasimha had the biruda Ameyamaya, and Rajasimha that of Mayachara. It is improbable that the Dramila princes whose leader was Chitramaya, were the relations of follower of Nandivarman’s predecessor Pramesvaravarman II. and that they had to be overcome by force, before Nandivarman could establish himself on the throne. Fother, Udayachandra is said to have bestowed the kingdom many times on Nandivarman by his victories at Nimba[vana], Chutavana, Samkaragrama, Nellur, Nelveli, Suravarundur, &c. (I. 48 ff.). Of these localities, Nellur is the head-quarter station of the present Nellore district. Another of them, Nelveli, is mentioned a second time immediately after, as the place near which Udayachandra killed the Sabara king Udayana (I. 52). The Sabaras are generally identified with the modern Sauras, a hill-tribe in the Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts. As, however, the different names of savage tribes are often treated as synonyms by Sanskrit writers, and the Tamil name Nelveli cannot possibly be located in the Telugu districts, it may be that the author of the inscription is referring to one of the hill-tribes of the Tamil country, and that Nelveli is meant for the modern Tinnevelly.[76] An additional argument in favor of this view is that, immediately after the description of the war with the Sabaras, the author refers to Udayachandra’s achievements “in the Northern region also.” He there pursued the defeated the Nishada chief Prithivivyaghra, who was performing an Asvamedha, and drove him out of the district of Vishnuraja, which he subjected to the Pallava king (I. 55 ff.). Nishada is, like Sabara, one of the words by which Sanskrit writers designate savage tribes. The district of Vishnuraja, which was situated to the north of the Pallava country, can be identified with certainty. As Nandivarman was a contemporary o the Western Chalukya king Vikramaditya II. who reigned from A.D. 733-34 to 746-47, he was also a contemporary of the Eastern Chalukya king Vishnuvardhana III. whose reign is placed by Dr. Fleet between A.D. 709 and 746. He is evidently the Vishnuraja of the Udayendiram plates,[77] and his district (vishaya) is the country of Vengi, over which the Eastern Chalukyas ruled. The last two items in the list of Udayachandra’s deeds are, that he destroyed the fort of Kalidurga,[78] and that he defeated the Pandya army at the village of Mannaikudi (I. 59 ff.).

The grant, which was made by Nandivarman Pallavamalla at the request of Udayachandra, consisted of the village of Kumaramangala-Vellattur, which belonged to the district called Paschimasrayanadi-vishaya, and of two water-levers (jala-yantra) in the neighbouring village of Korragrama, which appear to have been added in order to supply the former village with means of irrigation. As in the case of other grants, the original name of the village was changed into Udayachandramangalam in commemoration of Udayachandra, at whose instance the donation was made (I. 62 ff.). The description of the boundaries of Udayachandramangalam is given in great detail (I. 65 ff.). Among the boundaries we find, in the east, a small river; in the south, the temple of Korragrama, the same village, a portion of which had been included in the granted village; in the north, the village of Kanchidvara, which, in its Tamil form Kanchivayil, is referred to in line 107 o the present inscription, and in another copper-plate grant from Udayendiram; and in the north-east, the river Kshiranadi, the Tamil name of which is Palaru. As the modern village of Udayendiram is situated on the Palaru river; as the original of the present inscription is preserved, and was most probably discovered, at Udayendiram; and as the Tamil name Udayendiram bears a close resemblance to the Sanskrit name Udayachandramangalam, and still more so to the forms Udayendu-chaturvedimangalam and Udayendumangalam, which occur in two other Udayendiram grants,— there is no doubt that Mr. Le Fanu is correct in identifying the granted village of Udayachandramangalam with the modern Udayendiram. This village is now situated on the northern bank of the Palaru, while Udayachandramangalam is said to have been bounded by the Kshiranadi on the north-east, and by an unnamed small river on the east. It must be therefore assumed that either, as Mr. Le Fanu suggests, the Palaru has changed its bed, or that the name Udayendiram has traveled across the river in the course of the past eleven centuries. Paschim-asrayanadi-vishaya, the name of the district to which the granted village belonged, is a literal Sanskrit translation of the Tamil territorial term Mel-Adaiyaru-nadu, which, according to another Udayendiram grant (No. 76 below), was a subdivision of the district of Paduvur-kottam.

The remainder of the prose portion enumerated the Brahmana donees (I. 75 ff.), which according to line 64, were one hundred and eight in number. The actual number of the donees is, however, sixty-three, and that of the shares one hundred and thirty-three. This discrepancy is a third point, which suggests that the inscription may be a forgery.

Of the two concluding verses, the first (v. 7) refers to the race of Puchan, and the second (v. 8) informs us that the inscription,— which, like the Kuram and Kasakudi inscriptions, is styled a eulogy (prasasti, II. 101 and 105),— was composed by the poet Paramesvara, who also received one of the shares of the granted village (I. 101 f.).

The Tamil endorsement (I. 105 ff.) is dated in the 26^th year of the reign of Madiraikonda— Ko-Parakesarivarman, i.e., of the Chola king Parantaka I., and records that the villagers of Udayachandramangalam agreed with those of the neighbouring village of Kanchivayil, which was also called Iganmaraimangalam, to form one village of the two. Another copy of the Tamil endorsement has been added on the first, originally blank side of the first plate of another Udayendiram grant.

Translation

A.— Sanskrit portion

Hail ! Prosperity!

(Verse 1.) I bow my head devoutly to Sadasiva, who is seated in the position of profound meditation on the peak of the Sumeru mountain for the welfare of the three worlds; whose two eyes are the sun and the moon; who is united with Uma; who has conferred splendor on Udayachandra; (and) who wears matted hair.

(V. 2.) Let him remain for a long time, the glorious lord of Vilvalapura, the ornament of the race of Puchan, who has conferred the kingdom on the Pallava (king) on many battle-fields, who is benevolent, who is a chastiser of hostile armies, (and) who is renowned on earth!

(V. 3.) Let it remain in the world for a long time, the race of the Pallavas, whose feet, (tender) as sprouts, are worshipped by kings; whose hands, (tender) as sprouts, are bending under the weight of the water (poured out) at donations; (and) who have driven away (even) the slightest calamity by the multitude of (their) excellent virtues!

(Line 8.) From the supreme soul was produced Brahma; from Brahma, Angiras; from Angiras, Brihaspati; from Brihaspati, samyu; from Samyu, Bharadvaja; from Bharadvaja, Drona; from Drona, Asvatthaman, the splendour of whose power was immeasurable; (and) from him, Pallava, who drove away (even) the smallest calamity from (his) race.

(L. 11.) In the race of Pallava, which thus flourished in an uninterrupted line of regular descent, (was born) Simhavishnu, a devout worshipper of Vishnu; from Simhavishnu, Mahendravarman, whose valour equaled (that of) Mahendra; from him, Narasimhavarman, who destroyed (the city of) Vatapi, just as Agastya destroyed (the demon) Vatapi, (and) who frequently conquered Vallabharaja at Pariyala, Manimangala, Suramara and other (places). His son (was) another Mahendravarman. From him (came) Paramesvaravarman, who defeated the army of Vallabha in the battle of Peruvalanallur; from him, Narasimhavarman, who was a devout worshipper of d Mahesvara (and) a great patron of Brahmanas. His (son was) the very pious Paramesvaravarman, whose beauty (darsana) surpassed (that of all others), just as Paramesvara (Siva) has (one) eye (darsana) more (than all others).

(L. 19.) The son of this Paramesvaravarman (was) he who was a conqueror of all, like Bharata; who was immovable, like (Mount) Meru; who broke the opposing (force of his) enemies by his own hands, as the sun breaks the opposing (masses of) darkness by his own rays; who was versed in all the fine arts (kala), just as the (full-) moon possesses all digits (kala); who lowered the pride of Nriga, Nala (of) Nishadha, Nahusha, Nabhaga, Bhagiratha and other (kings); whose powerful right arm had become spotted by showers of streams of rutting-juice, which oozed from the temples (of the elephants) of hostile kings; whose great fame, (which resembled) a group of white water-lilies, filled (all) quarters; whose lotus feet were rubbed by the multitude of the diadems of prostrate kings; who resembled Cupid in beauty, the king of Vatsa in (the knowledge of) elephants, Nakula in (the management of) horses, Arjuna in (the use of) horses, Arjuna in (the use of) the bow, (and) Drona in archery; who was versed in poems, dramas and stories; who was skilled in the bindumati, gudhachaturthapada, prahelika, aksharachyutaka, matrachyutaka and smiliar (verses);[79] who was a treasury of policy, a vessel of wealth, free from spots, a destroyer of the power of the Kali (age), (and) devoted (to liberality) as the Kalpaka (tree);-[80]

(V. 4.) The virtuous Nandivarman, the lord of the Pallavas, (is) the death of enemies, a Cupid to women, unconquerable by armies, rich in virtues, the refuge of subjects, (and) a Kalpa tree to good men.

(V. 5.) Breaking in battle an army of elephants by sharp arrows, this king, the lord of men (and) hero in war, shines like the sun, the friend of the lotus, who gradually breaks the mass of darkness by the bundles of (his) rays (and) rises over the mountain.

(V. 6.) Until the end of the world, the favorite (ornaments) on earth of this renowned lord, the banner of the Pallavas, are the following:— the victorious bow (which is) the ornament of (his) hand, (and) the rutting-juice of hostile elephants at the head of battles, (which is) the unguent of (his) body.

(L. 36.) His son[81] was Nandivarman, the lord of men, the lord of the earth, the statesman,[82] the wrestler of the Pallavas (Pallavamalla).

(L. 37.) While this lord of men was ruling the earth, in the year which was completing the number twenty-one (of the years of the reign) of this same Nandivarman, the request[83] was made to the lord (viz., Nandivarman) by the chastiser of hostile armies,[84] the excellent hero, called Udayachandra, who was the lord of the river Vegavati, the banks of which are adorned with bowers of areca-palms, cocoanut-trees, mango-trees, palmyras, hintala, tamala, naga, pumnaya, red asoka, kuravaka, madhavi, karnikara and other trees, (and) which smells of saffron that has come off from the tips of the breasts of proud women, whose minds are intoxicated with passion; who was the lord of the city called Vilvala, which is the ornament of the whole world, (and) the bazaar roads of which are covered with copious drops of water, that has trickled out of the nostrils of the trunks of troops of hostile elephants, which resemble clouds, black like ink, in the rainy season; who was born in the race of Puchan, which had been handed down by (i.e., had been in the hereditary service of) the uninterrupted succession of the Pallava race; who, when he perceived that Pallavamalla was besieged in Nandipura by the Dramila princes, unable to bear this, like the visible death of the crowd of the enemies of Pallavamalla, slew with (his) sharp sword, which glittered like the petal of a water-lily, the Pallava king Chitramaya and others; who defeated the hostile army on the battle-fields of Nimba[vana], Chutavana, Samkaragrama, Nellur, Nelveli, Suravarundur and so forth, and (thus) bestowed the whole kingdom many times on the Pallava; who, while his strong arm became adorned with the copious rutting-juice which oozed out at (his) collision with the pair of tusks of the elephant on which the leader of the Sabara army was mounted, split (the head of) the opposing Sabara king, called Udayana, in the terrible battle of Nelveli, which could hardly be entered by a common man, and seized (his) mirror-banner made of a peacock’s tail; who in the Northern region also, pursued the Nishada chief, called Prithivivyaghra, who, desiring to become very powerful, was running after the horse of the Asvamedha, defeated (him), ordered (him) out of the district (Vishaya) of Vishnuraja, (which) he subjected to the Pallava, and seized faultless pearl necklaces of excellent luster, an immeasurable heap of gold, and elephants; (and) who destroyed (the fort of) Kalidurga, which was protected by the goddess Kali, and defeated the Pandya army at the village of Mannaikudi.

(L. 62.) At his (Udayachandra’s) request, (king Nandivarman) gave, in order to reward (the deeds of) the edge of the sword of him who had bestowed the whole kingdom (on his lord), to one hundred and eight Brahmanas the village of Kumaramangala-Vellattur in the Paschimasrayanadi-vishaya, and two water-levers (jala-yantra) in (the village of) Korragrama, having conferred (on the granted village) the (new) name of Udayachandramangalam.

(L. 65.) The eastern boundary of this (village is) a small river. The southern boundary (is) on the north of (the village called) Samudradatta-chaturvedimangalam, (and) on the north of (the tank called) Chakratirtha; (going) to the west from this, on the north of the temple (Devagriha) of Korragrama; (going) to the west from this, on the north of the north-western boundary of the previously (mentioned village of) Samudradatta-chaturvedimangalam (and) of (the tank called) Uragahrada; (and going) to the west from this, the southern side of (the hill called) Anadutpalachala. Its western boundary (is the hill called) Lohitagiri; going north from this, (the western boundary is) on the east of (the hill called) Velalasikhara; (and) on the west of (the hill called) Krishnasila-silochchaya; (the cave called) Rauhinaguha. The north-western boundary (is the tank called) Sindhu-varahrada. The northern boundary (is) on the south of the southern boundary of the village called Kanchidvara. The north-eastern boundary (is) the (river) Kshiranadi.

(L. 74.) (The king) gave the land included within these four boundaries, with the use of the water of the rivers and canals, with all exemptions, having expropriated others (viz., Jaina heretics ?), whose observances were not in accordance with the law.

(L. 75.) LIST OF DONEES

(V. 7.) As long as the sun moves in the sky, as long as the mountains stand, (and) as long as the moon and the stars (endure), so long let the race of Puchan remain!

(V. 8.) The poet Paramesvara, who was the son of the illustrious Chandradeva (and) was born from the race of Medhavin, made the poetry of the (above) eulogy (prasasti).

B.— Tamil portion

(L. 105.) In the twenty-sixth year (of the reign) of the Madirai-konda Ko-Parakesarivarman, we, (the members of) the assembly (sabha) of Uda[ya]chandramangalam, and we, (the members of) the assembly of Kanchivayil, alias Iganmaraimangalam, (have agreed as follows): -

(L. 108.) We, (the inhabitants of) these two villages, having joined (and) having become one, shall prosper as one village from this (date).