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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
III.- Inscriptions in the Pasupatisvara temple at Karuvur No. 20 south wall of the Pasupatisvara temple No. 21 to 22 south wall of the shrine of the goddess No. 23 to 26 outside of the second prakara, left & right of entrance No. 20.- On the south wall of the Pasupatisvara shrine This inscription refers itself to the time of Rajakesarivarman, alias Virarajendradeva (I.) (line 11), and records a royal grant which was to take effect âfrom the year which followed after the third year,â[1] i.e., from the fourth year, the kingâs reign. It opens with a panegyrical account of the donor, which resembles the introductions of four other inscriptions of his viz., - 1. Tv. = an inscription of the second year in the Svetaranyesvara temple at Tiruvenkadu in the Tanjore district (No. 113 of 1896). 2. Tk. = an incomplete and undated inscription of the second year in the Svetaranyesvara temple at Tiruvenkadu in the Tanjore district (No. 113 of 1896). 3. M.= an inscription of the fifth year in the Rajagopala-Perumal temple at Manimangalam in the Chingleput district (No. 2 of 1892). 4. G.= a much damaged inscription of the fifth year in the Brihadisvara temple at Gangaikonda-Solapuram in the Trichinopoly district (No. 82 of 1892). The historical introductions of these four inscriptions have been compared with the text of the subjoined inscription, and a selection of their various readings is given in the footnotes.
The period of the reign of Rajakesarivarman, alias Virarajendradeva I., can be approximately fixed in the following manner. According to his inscriptions, he defeated A havamalla and his two sons, Vikkalan and Singanan, at Kudalsangamam.[2] This battle is mentioned in the Kalingattu-Parani (viii. 29) and in the Vikkirama-Solan-Ula.[3] In these two poems the victor at Kudalsangamam is placed after the Chola kings Rajaraja I. (Kalingattu-Parani, viii. 24, and Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. Page 142, note 3), Rajendra-Chola I. (viii. 25, and l.c. note 4), Rajadhiraja (Viii. 26, and l.c. noe 5), Parakesarivarman, alias Rajendradeva (viii. 27, and l.c. No. VII.)[4] and a king who has not yet been identified (viii. 28, and l.c. No. VIII.). After the victor of Kudalsangamam, the Vikkirama-Solan-Ula places another king, of whom no particulars are given (l.c. No. X.), Kulottunga-Chola I. (l.c. note 7), and Vikrama-Chola (l.c. note 8).[5] Now, Professor Kielhornâs astronomical calculations have definitely established the two facts that Rajadhiraja reigned from A.D. 1018 to about 1050, and that Kulottunga-Chola I. was crowned in A.D. 1070.[6] Consequently, the victor at Koppam (Parakesarivarman, alias Rajendradeva) and the victor over the Kuntalas[7] at Kudalsangamam (Rajakesarivarman, alias Virarajendradeva I.) must have reigned between A.D. 1050 and 1070. Further, as I have stated before,[8] Ahavamalla and his two sons, Vikkalan and Singanan, who were the opponents of the three Chola kings Rajendra, Virarajendra I and Kulottunga I., have to be identified with the Western Chalukya king Ahavamalla-Somesvara I. (A.d. 1044 and 1068) and two of his sons, Vikramaditya VI. (A.D. 1055-56 and 1076 to 1126) and Jayasimha III. (A.D. 1064 and 1081-82).[9] Kudalsangamam, the site of Virarajendraâs victory over the Chalukyas, has been located by Mr. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai at the junction of the Tungabhadra and Krishna.[10] But both kudal and samgama mean âjunctionâ and might refer to the confluence of any two rivers, e.g. to Kudali at the junction of the Tunga and Bhadra.[11] The battle of Kudalsangamam was the third occasion on which Virarajendra I professes to have defeated the Chalukyas. He had already before driven Vikkalan from ganga-padi over the Tungabhadra (1. 3 f.), and on a second occasion he had defeated an army which his enemy had sent into Vengai-nadu under the Mahadandanayaka Chamundaraja. The latter was killed and his daughter Nagalai, who was the queen of Irugayan, mutilated (1. 4f.). Chamundaraja is probably identical with the Mahamandalesvara Chavundaraya of Banavasi, who is mentioned by Dr. Fleet[12] as a feudatory of Somesvara I. with the dates A.D. 1045-46 and 1062-63. Two other chiefs whose names occur in the account of the battle of Kudalsangamam,- though the context does not show on which side they were fighting,- Kesava-Dandanayaka and Marayan (1. 6), are perhaps identical with two other feudatories of the Chalukyas, the Dandanayaka Kesavadityadeva (l.c. 443) and Marasimha (ibid. p. 439). The whole Chalukya camp fell into the hands of Virarajendra I., including the wives of the enemy, the boar-banner, and the female elephant Pushpaka (1. 8 f.). In the concluding portion of the introduction (1. 9 f.), the king claims to have killed the king of Pottappi,[13] the Kerala king, the younger brother of Jananatha of Dhara, the Pandya king, and others. Towards the beginning of the introduction (II. 1- 3) we learn the names of a few of the kingâs near relatives. On his elder brother Alavandan he conferred the title Rajaraja ; on his son Madhurantaka the Tondi-mandalam (i.e., the Pallava country) and the title Cholendra ;[14] on his son Gangaikonda-Chola the Pandi-mandalam (i.e., the Pandya country) and the title Chola-Pandya ; and on Mudikonda-Chola the title Sundara-Chola.[15] According to the Tanjavur inscription of Kulottunga I.[16] the name of Virarajendraâs wife was Arumoli-Nangai. The immediate purpose of the subjoined inscription is to record that the king, residing in his palace at Gangaikonda-Solapuram[17] (1. 11 f.), granted to the Karuvur temple the village of Pakkur, which, like Karuvur itself (1. 14), belonged to Vengala-nadu, a district of Adhirajaraja-mandalam (1. 12). (Line 1.) Hail ! Prosperity ! While the goddess of fortune was prospering ; while the circle of the great earth rested on (the kingâs) round arm (as lightly) as his bracelet of jewels, and while the shadow of (his) royal white parasol (set with) numerous jewels protected the living beings of the circle of the earth (more tenderly) than the mother that bore (them) ; while (all) other kings (wearing) sounding ankle-rings took shelter at his feet ; (and) while the Kali (age), in despair, retreated to (its) natural abode : the abyss, - (the king) duly[18] bestowed a splendid crown of jewels on (his) incomparable[19] elder brother, [Ala]vandan, (along with the title) âRajaraja[20] who is praised on the great earth.â[21] (L. 2.) (He) was pleased to grant the Pandi-mandalam, whose crown of jewels is exalted in this world, to his royal son Gangaikonda-Solan, (along with the title) âSola-Pandiyan, (the leader) of an army of very tall elephants.â (He) bestowed a brilliant crown on Mudikonda-Solan, whose hand (held) the sword (and) whose spear had a sharp point, (along with the title) Sundara-Solan, and conferred endless great distinctions (on him). (Thus he) granted to each of his numerous relations[22] suitable great riches.
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