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INSCRIPTIONS
COLLECTED DURING THE YEAR 1906-07
INTRODUCTION
The
collection of inscriptions of 1907 contained in this volume has been
very kindly assigned to me by the Department for study and publication,
and I gratefully acknowledge the help and encouragement given to me in
this connection by the Government Epigraphist for India.
Of
the 623 inscriptions copied during this year, 175 have been included in
the previous publications. These
comprise 34 Brahmi inscriptions from Amaravati in the Guntur district
published in the Epigraphia Indica, Vol.XV; 25 Pallava
inscriptions from Mahabalipuram published already in S.I.I. Vol. I; 20
Early Pandya and Chola-Pandya records included in the volume of Pandya
Inscriptions (S.I.I. Vol. XIV); a dozen Telugu and Kannada epigraphs of
the Kakatiya and Vijayanagara kings; and lastly 84 Chola inscriptions of
kinds bearing the surnames Rajakesarivarman and Parakesarivarman (S. I.
I. Vols. XII and XIX). The originals of 3 inscriptions viz., Nos. 211,
270 and 503 are lost, but they are not of much importance.
The present volume contains the texts of 445 inscriptions
belonging mostly to the Chola and Medieval Pandya kings.
Of the rest some refer themselves to the reigns of the
Vijayanagara rulers and their feudatories, and some to the minor
dynasties of chiefs like the Pottapi-Chods, the Kodumbalur chiefs etc.,
while a good number are miscellaneous records not assignable to any
particular dynasties or kings. The
whole collection has been reviewed in the Annual Reports on S.I.
Epigraphy for 1907 and 1908. A
brief notice of some of the inscriptions may be useful here as
preliminary to a detailed study of the records.
CHOLAS
2.
Of the Chola kings there are more than 300 epigraphs ranging from the
time of Parantaka I down to Rajendra-Chola III the last ruling king of
the line. In most of his inscription which number about 40, Parantaka
is given the attribute Madiraikondd, While No.328 dated in
his 41 year adds I1am to this achievement. A certain Kundavaidevi,
probably a relation of his queen Kokkil1anadigal figures as a donor in a
record of his 19th year (No.261) while another inscription of
his 23rd year (No.315) mentions Purvadevi-Adigal in that
capacity. This princess is already known to us as the queen-mother of
Sundara-Chola Parantaka II and hence the consort of prince Arinjaya
(S. I. I., Vol. XIII, No.271). Inscription
from Triuvidaimarudur dated in the 37th and 38th
years of the king give the names of two local officers
Irumadisola-Pallavaraiyar (No. 195) and Kurumbil Vasudevanar (Nos.222,
224 and 227), under whose supervision the Sabha of Tiraimur and the Nagarattar
of Tiruvidaimarudil as will as the temple establishment, are said to
have met in the Natakasalai of the temple for the purpose of
receiving certain gifts made to the temple. One of these was an
endowment of land for a dipamala in the temple by a merchant of
Kumaramarttandapuram. This town so named after a title of Pallava
Nandivarman III (S. I. I., Vol. III, No. 91), seems to have been a
commercial centre situated, like Tiruvidaimarudur in Tiraimur-nadu. A
gift of money for a lamp by another merchant of the same place is
recorded in No.262 of the king’s 17th year as having been
left in charge of the Sankarappadiyar of the place. We may take this to
have been the name of a corporate body of men closely associated with
the Nagarattar community having their own residential quarters (kudi)
in big townships (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXII, No.24).
3.
Sundara-Chola the grandson of parantaka has two epigraphs of
which No.40 from Tiruvisalur has been published in S. I. I., Vol. III.
The other which is a Fragment (No.139), is from Kodumbalur and makes
mention of a certain Pudi Pattalakan Nakkan the brother of a lady
attached to the royal household. He was possibly a relation of
Parantakan Siriyavelar the brother-in-law and military officer of
Sundara-Chola.
4.
Five inscription in the collection belong to Aditya II Karikala, the
son and successor of Sundara-Chola. His Period of rule has been
definitely fixed between A. D. 964 and 969 with the help of an
inscription of his opponent Vira-Pandya from Ambasamudram (Ep. Ind.,
Vol. XXV, No. 6). Aditya is known in his epigraphs by the appellation
“Parakesarivaraman who took the head of the Pandya (or Virapandya)”
In No 256 Dated in his 3+1st year he is said to have
Vanquished Virapandya and taken his head.’ This is an unfinished
record stopping With the mention of a local officer by name Parantaka
Muvendavelar, Who also figures in Nos. 249 and 255 of the same king in
connection with some gifts to the temple.
5.
Inscriptions of Rajaraja I range Between his 5th and 29th
tears of reign. Those of his earlier years begin merely with his name
Rajarajakesarivaraman or with the addition of the short attribute Salai
kalam drutta. This feat is found mentioned in inscriptions as early
as the 4th year of his reign (No.395 of 1922), and we first
find the introduction Tirumagal-pola ect.
In his 9th tear inscription (No. 97 of 1921). No.19 of the
present collection, from Tiruvisalur, gives details of date in the 5th
year of the king, which correspond to A.D. 989, December, 1. In this
year, Battan Danatongiyar, a queen of his, is said to have made an
endowment of 100 Ilakkasu
to the temple to feed 5 persons versed in the Vedas, Vedartha and
Mantra. Another queen, Panchavan-Madeviyar, consecrated an image of the
goddess in the temple for Karmmarchanai in the 10th year of
the king (No.279). The royal palace at Tanjavur Known as
Kodandarman-velam or Kodanda –velam finds mention in two records one
from Tiruvisalur (No.279) and the other from Aduturai (No.356).
Sembiyanmadev, mother of Uttama-chola, as donor in another inscription
from Aduturai (No.362).
Rajaraja,
it is well know, is famous for his great ability in Administration. The
revenue survey and settlement carried out in his reign, which finds
prominent mention in his Tanjavur inscriptions of his later years, is
incidentally referred to in Nos.44 and 347 both dated in his 26th
year. A linear standard measure called the Ulagalandan-kol and
reminiscent of this survey is mentioned in a 5th year record
of his son Rajendrachola from Kuttalam (No. 487 ). In No.44 just quoted
above, which records a gift of land by queen Vanavan_Madevi, the village
Vembarrur of which Tirivisalur formed a part, is called by its other
name Avanianrayana –Chaturvedimangalam, while in a record dated three
years later (No.42) and in all subsequent inscriptions it is known as
Solamarttanda –chaturvedimangalam, the change in name thus made being
evidently to commemorate a biruda of Rajaraja. In the historical
introduction of the latter epigraph we find, added to the usual list of
his conquest, the mention of “Twelve thousand islands of the sea” by
which name the Maldives are said to have been known in ancient times.
This naval victory seems to
be the last of Rajaraja’s
achievements which proved to be the fore-runner of still greater
conquests, of his son in latter times. The inscription is interesting as
registering a gift of 458 kasu to provide for some offerings to the
deity at Tiruvisalur, by Rajaraja’s queen Dantisaktivitankiyar on the
occasion of the Hiranya-garbha and the Tulabhara ceremonies performed in
the temple by the royal couple.
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6.
Rajendra_chola is represented in the collection by about 30
inscriptions dated between his 2nd and
30th years of reign . Of
these the earliest to being with the historical introduction
Tirummanni-varala ect. Are two epigraphs of his 5th year, one
from Tiruvisalur in the Tanjavur district (No.349) and the other
(No.439) from Sinnamanur in Madurai. It is learnt from these two records that the king had conquered or rather won back Ceylon by that year (A.D. 1015). No.349 registers an endowment of
land made to the Tiruvisalur Temple by Uruttiran Arumoli Alias Pirutu_Mahadeviyar, a queen of rajaraja of
rajarajadeva , who is also mentioned in another inscription form the
same place (No.340 ) dated in the king’s 3rd year. Still
another record from Tiruvisalur dated in the 3rd year (No.46)
registers the gift of an ornament to the temple by Atiyaraman
Kundapavaiyar the daughter of a chief of Pangala-nadu and queen
of Pandya Srivallabha, thus indicating the friendly and Probably also
the subordinate Position of the pandya king to the Chola ruler,
following the overthrow of Amarabhujanga by Rajaraja as mentioned in the Tiruvalangadu Plates.
The
gopura and the prakara with its several shrines in the
Tiruvasalur temple are said to have been constructed by some members of
the King’s body-guard
know as the valangai-Velaikkarar in the 3rd year of
the king (No.341). In another record of the same year, a queen of
Rajendra-chola by name Nakkan sembiyan-Madeviyar is stated to have
presented a tirupallikkattil (couth) for the goddess and made a
gift of money for the periodical renewal of the couch-spread and for
burning a lamp in the shrine (No.348). Princess
A 1 var Parantaka Kundavaiyar, the elder sister of Rajaraja and aunt of the reigning king figures as a
donor in Nos.350 and 351, Which register an endowment of lands and a
house site by her to an Ambatta resident of Tiruvisalur by name
Araiyan Uttamasolan alias Rajendrachola- Prayogavaraiyan
as salyakriya-bhoga
(surgery grant ), for the practice of his vocation in his own village
and in two other places one situated in Nittavinoda-valanadu and the
other in Pandikulasani-valanadu. The King’s different surnames are
reflected in the titles of his officer or feudatory chiefs. His senapati
Solaimanikkam whose gift of a forehead plate to the god at Tiruvisalur is
recorded in No.1, was also know as Uttamachola-Muvendavelar. Another
officer of his , a certain Kuravan Rajajaran had the title
Vikramachola-soliyavaraiyan (No.200). He is
stated to have made a gift of a lamp to be burnt every night at
the entrance into the Tiruvidaimarudur temple known as
Ekanayakan-Tiruvasal. No.48 from Tiruvisalur records a gift of 25 veli
of land to the temple by the Kodumbalur chief Araiyan Rajarajan Alias
Madhurantaka-Ilangovelar. The taxes
on the this were remitted by the king by an order issued from his Palace
at Kanchipuram.
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7.
There are four inscription of Rajadhiraja I in the year’s
collection, beginning with the introduction Tingaler-taru
ect., or Tingaler-peravalar. Three of them viz., 143, 264 and 345
are dated respectively in his 27th, 32nd and 33rd
years of reign which are to be counted form A.D. 1018, as he is known to
have been nominated as co-ruler with Rajendra-chola I that year. As
Rajendradeva (II) is said to have succeeded to the throne in A.D. 1052
after the death of reign of the latter must have
been his last. There are however
a few inscriptions of later regnal years like No. 14 of 1908 from
Kumbhakonam (36th year ), No.135 of 1892 from Kolar (35th
year) and No. 534 of 1906 from pedda Tippasamudram (saka 981, Hemalamba
=A.D. 1057-58) all referring themselves to the reign of Vijaya
Rajendradeva, who has been surmised to be identical with Rajadhiraja I
because of his title and of the mention of Kalyanapuram Among his
conquest (An. Rept. For
1908, Part II, para 56). The first of these epigraphs actually begins
with the same Tingaler-taru introduction of Rajadhiraja. As against this, the latter two
give the surname Parakesarivarman
before the name of the king, while Rajadhiraja was a Rajakesari. It is
possible that there is some confusion in the claims of the achievements
and the regnal years of the two kings, and that the reference in the
records mentioned above may
be to Rajendradeva only, with the regnal year of Rajadhiraja
Extended by a few years into his own reign. A stone images of
advarapalaka near the inner gopura of the Airavatesvara temple at
Darasuram(Thanjavur dist.) bares an inscription at its base (No. 24 of
1908) stating that it was brought by king Vijaya-Rajendra after his
conquest of Kalyanapuram.
From
No 264 already mentioned above, which is dated in the 32nd
year Rajadhiraja, we learn that he ordered
the tax-free gift of two veli of land and two houses to the court
musician (Perundanattu-Gandharva) Araiyan Tiruvaimarududaiyan
alias Mummudisola-Nrittapperaiyan, for reciting
the Patavyam in the
temple of Tiruvidaimarududairur. Following the documentary languages of
the times the inscription states that the royal order was received by
the temple authorities with folded hands when it was communicated to
them.
8.
Of Rajendradeva there
are 5 inscriptions all beginning with the introduction Tirumagal-maruviya
ect., and dated between his 4th and 7th years
of reign. (Nos.185 and 188). No. 185 which is made up several
disconnected pieces of an
inscription, records a gift of about 30 veli of land for the
various requirements of the temple at Uraiyur (Tiruchirapalli district),
by a lady named Anukkiyar Appi Madhurantakiyar probably royal princess. No.
486 from Kuttalam (Tanjavur dt.) dated in his 5th year
registers a gift of money to the temple for the daily feeding of a
Pilgrim, by a merchant of Gangakkondasolapuram ‘ for securing strength
of arms to the king.’
9.
Inscriptions of Kulottunga-chola I about
nine in number, range in date between the 26th and 49th
years of his reign. No.304 from Tiruvidaimarurudur records a gift of lamp to the temple by his queen (Nambirattiyar)
siraman Arumolinangaiyar Elulagumudauyar. Like No. 264 mentioned above,
this also gives the information that the order of the king to get this
record engraved on stone was received with folded hands by the temple
authorities, the Sabha and
the Urar of Tiraimur, the nagarattar of Tiruvidaimarudil
and others. The epigraph mentions the standard liquid measure Ekanayakan. This was probably a title of
Rajendra-chola as surmised above in para 6. No. 365 of the 49th
year of Kulottunga mentions the river named sungan-tavirttan after
a title of the king. In another inscription of Kulottunga (No.155) a
certain nobleman (araiyan ) of Kottiyur in Kana-nadu, by name
Kulottungasola-Kanakarajan, is stated to have repaired the bund of a
tank at Malaikkoyil (Pudukkottai state) which had been built by his
ancestor Mummudisola-singalantaka –Muttaraiyar.
10.
Of Vikrama-chola
there are about 30 inscriptions in the collection. Two epigraphs of his
found at Nandalur in the cuddapah district
(Nos. 583 and 579) combine the 3rd and 8th years
of his reign with the dates saka 1044, sarvarin and
saka 1047, Visva vasu, thus yielding A.D. 1118 for his accession.
These resister grants of agraharas made for securing strength of
arms to the king, by his feudatories the Telugu choda chief Bettarasa
and Mahamandaleswara Madhuranataka Pottapi-chola Vimaladityadeva, son of
Siddarasar, both ‘ruling from Pottapi-nadu’. These chief will
be noticed more in detail later. Nos.301 and 302 of the King’s earlier
tears record a tax-free grant of 10 veli of land to a Siva temple
at Mangalakkudi (near Tiruvidaimarudur) which had been founded by one
Svamidevar srikantha-siva for the merit of Kulottunga I. This Personage
was very probably religious preceptor to the kings. It is surmised
in An. Rept . for 1908 Part II, para 64 that he might be
the same as Srikantha-sambhu the father of Somesvara who was the Guru of
Kulottunga III, but the interval seems to be too long for such
identification. The munificent gifts made by Vikrama-Chola to the temple
at Tiruvidaimarudur seem to testify
the attachment and devotion he should have for the Presiding
deity of that Place. No.272 dated in his 7th year records the
grant of a devadana village
with an extent of about a hundred veli of land under the name
Tyagasamudra-chaturvedhimangalam. The king is said to have been seated
on his Pallippidam in the hall known as Ekanayaka in the temple at the
time of making the grant. During a later visit of his to the same temple
in his 9th year along with his queen Tribhuvanamulududaiyal
recorded in No.274 and 276 another gift of 35 veli of land was
made for the maintenance of a number of lamps (dipamalai) to be
burnt in the hall Vikramasolan-tirumalgai and in the central
shrine. The throne he was occupying is called the solakon, in the hall
Tyagasamudram-Tiruveduttukkkatti (in the temple ). In another
inscription dated in his 9th year (No.275) he is stated to
have endowment 6 veli of land for the worship of god Vikramasolisvaram-Udaiyar evidently consecrated by him in the
temple. The rent on this land was fixed at 345 kalam of paddy in
accordance with the revenue settlement of the 38th year of
king Kulottunga I. A similar fixture of rent (irai) at 60 kalam per veli
is quoted in No.272 already mentioned above.
11.
Seven inscriptions of the year may be ascribed to the reign of Kulottunga-chola
II. (Nos.49, 303, 343,366,370,572 and 573). Of these No.303 begins
with the introduction Pumevi-valar ect., and No. 572 Pumevu-Tirumagal
etc. The former refers to Kulottungasola-mangalam as separated from
Keralantaka-chaturvedimangalam as a devadana-brahmadeya of the temple at
Tiruvidaimarudur, and records
the sale of 12 veli and odd of land by the Mahasabha of the place to one
Vamanan Anbarkkaisan of
Tandantottam in the 7+1st year of the king. The land is said
to have been sorted into 3 grades
by the sabha in the in the 4th year of Vikramachola. No. 572
which is from Nandalur in
the Cuddapah district is dated in the 8th year of the king,
and records the confirmation of a
charter granted by his Telugu-choda
feudatory Madhuranataka Pottapi-chola siddarasa to the temple and the
assembly of the place, defining the temple lands and demarcating the
boundaries of the village and also confirming 52 share-holders in their
possession of the land holding as sarvanamasya. Two inscription
from aduturai (Tanjavur district ) refer to a certain village
Vikramasola-chaturvedimagalam as a Pallippadai (Nos.366 and 370). By
this is evidently meant the final resting place of king Vikrama-chola in whose memory this village should have been
founded.
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12.
Kulottunga-chola III who was also called virrajendra (No. 57) and
Tribhuvanaviradeva (No.382,
386 and 476 ), is
represented by about 40 inscriptions ranging from
his 3rd year of reign (No.586). to the 39th
(No. 386). A sanskrit record
in duplicate (Nos. 190-2) found in the Kampaharesvara temple at
Tribhuvana (Tanjavur district ) calls him by the title Pandyari. It
is not dated but must have been engraved late in his reign as it gives
in brief a list of his achievements which are already known from his
numerous Tamil inscriptions. Heis stated to have conquered the ruler of
Simhala and the lord of Kerala and to have killed Vira-Pandya, and after
capturing Madurai to have
performed the anointment of heroes at that place. The inscription
describes in detail the construction of this temple by the king, and its
consecration by his Preceptor Somesvara, son of Srikantha- sambhu alias
Isvara-siva and a scholar of repute who was well-versed in
saiva-darsanas and the Upanishads. The king is also credited with the
elaborate renovations of other temple besides. These were (1) the
Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, (2) the Ekamresvara temple at
Kanchipuram, (3) the Halasya temple at Madurai, (4) the Madhyarjuna
temple at Tiruvidaimarudur , (5) the Rajarajesvara temple at Darasuram
and (6) the Valmikesvara
temple at Tiruvarur. From No. 288
from Tiruvidaimarudur we learn of the existence of a royal Palace at that
Place situated to the east of the temple. A portion of the palace
grounds is stated to have been alienated for the purpose of laying out a
new road called the Rajakkal-Tambiran-tiruvidi beginning with the
eastern gateway of the temple, so that the procession of the god might
start from this entrance on festival days instead of from the
south as hitherto and pass through the new road in future. Another
inscription from the same place (No.306) gives us an idea of the
encouragement shown to culture by royal patronage. It refers to the
appointment of an abhinaya-nattuvanar in addition to others in
the temple for performing what was called the ahamarggam (expression
) style of dance as distinct from action (nritya).
13.
Other donors besides the kings mentioned in his inscriptions are several
local chief or feudatories. No. 289 form Tiruvidaimarudur states that a
certain Vanadhiraja set up an image of aludaiya-pillaiyar and made
provision for its worship in the temple. Nos. 479, 480 and 482 from
Kuttalam (Tanjavur district) registers the construction of the
Omkaresvara temple at that palace. The temple of Panchanadesvara (tiruvaiyarudaiyar
) at Mayuram owes its construction to one Pillai Karanai Vilupparaiyar
of Kulottungasolan-Kurralam in Tiruvalundur-nadu (No.384 ). A shrine for
goddess Sarasvati is said to have been consecrated in the temple at
Rishiyur a certain Tillaiyulvilli Periyalvar alias Kulottungasola-Vanakavaraiyar,
the headman of Kalattur (No.476).
An
epigraph from Kanippaakkam in the Chittoor district (No.60) combines the
saka year 1102 with the 12th regnal of the king. Since
Kulottunga is known to have ascended the throne in A.D. 1177-78 (saka
1100) the saka year is evidently a mistake for 1112. It is an incomplete
record, but gives the name of a feudatory of his as suranayakan
siyagangan, “the lord of kuvalalapura born in the Ganga Family” He was probably the same Ilaraiyan
Sagararajan Siyagangan figuring in No.57 from the same place, which is
dated 4years earlier. It is Possible but not clear how these were
related to Amarabharanan Siyagangan the patron of the author of the
Tamil grammar Nannul mentioned in the An. Rept. for 1893 (para
8) and for 1900 (para 34) still another chief mentioned in a Kanippakkam inscription (No.59) which does not refer itself to
the reign of any king was Siraimittaperumal alias Siyagangan. His
name or title tempts a plausible conjecture that the chief might have
been a feudatory of
Kullotunga’s successor Rajaraja
III, and when the latter was imprisoned at sendamangalam by his
rebellious subordinate Ko-perunjinga,
he might have helped his liege lord to regain his freedom, which fact
gave him the occasion to assume the title siraimitta-Perumal. It
is Possible that all these chiefs were descendents of Gangan Amgalavan
Gandaradittan alias Mummudisola-Vilupparaiyan of Kuvalalam in
Ganga-Six–Thousand country, who was a perudaram of
king Rajaraja I (S.I.I Vol.XIII,No.61).
Kulottung’s
inscriptions from Nandalur (cuddapha district )gives the names of his
Pottapi-chola subordinates (noticed under Telugu Chodas), besides one
Ponnan Kulottungasola-Kaduvetti of Venkarcheri in Pular-kottam (No.576)
who is said to have presented the karmmarchchanai images
of the deities to the temple together with some articles of worship.
14.
About 10 inscriptions may be assigned to Rajaraja III ranging between the 7th and 31st
year of his rule. No.310 from Tirtuvidaimarudur
records the confiscation of the lands of some persons who ware guilty of
treachery (to the king?) and their disposal by way of sale, gift and
auction. The inscription being damaged the details are lost. Some
bhatta-vritti lands at Tribhavanavira-chaturvedimangalam
are referred to as sodakubha gift made for the merit of Periyadevar
(Kolittunga III ) Three epigraphs from Maruttuvakkundi (Tanjavur district), all dated in the 21st year of
the king and recording tax-free gifts to the temple, quota the 40th
year of Alvar or Periyadevar Tribhuvanaviradevar.
15.
Rajendra-choal III the last king of the line has two inscriptions
in the collection, of which No. 495 from Kuttalam is dated in his 15th
year of rule and gives details yielding the English equivalent A.D.1260,
October 14. It mentions a matha at Kil-Palaiyaru alias Rajarajapuram
in Kulottungasola-valanadu as belonging to the spiritual lineage of
Meyjana-siva. The other epigraph is No. 580 from Nandalur, dealt with
under the Telugu-Chodas.
Continuation
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