|
The Indian Analyst
|
North Indian Inscriptions |
SATYAMANGALAM PLATES OF DEVARAYA II. ......(V. 42.) In order to secure prosperity to Śrîkaṇṭhapura, king Saṁgama [II.] wrote on the plate the mantra1 of five syllables, (which consists) of the name of (the god) Śrî- Virûpâksha. ......(Line 189 f.) Śrîkaṇṭhanâtha. Prosperity ! Great fortune !2 _________________________________ No. 5.─ SATYAMANGALAM PLATES OF DEVARAYA II. ......This inscription is engraved on three copper-plates of 5¾ by 9½ by inches, which were “found hidden in a paṭṭâ land, belonging to one Aruṇâchala Aiyar, in the village of Satyamaṅgalam in the Vêlûr (Vellore) tâlukâ,” and kindly transmitted to me for examination by the Collector of the North Arcot district, Mr. H. Le Fanu, I.C.S. The ring on which the plates must have been originally strung, is missing. The inscription is in the Nandinâgarî alphabet and in Sanskṛit verse ; a few short passages in prose occur in lines 42 f., 51 f., and at the end of the last plate.
......The inscription records that king Dêvarâya II. of Vijayanagara bestowed on eight Brâhmaṇas the agrahâra of Chiṭeyâṭyûru, which he had surnamed (Dêvarâyapura) after himself (verse 25). This village was situated in Ânda-nâḍu,3 a sub-division of Maratakanagara-prânta. The grant was made at the temple of Virûpâksha4 on the bank of the Tuṅgabhadrâ river (v. 23). The date of the grant was Monday, the new-moon tithi of Âshâḍha in Śaka-Saṁvat 1348, the Krôdhi saṁvatsara (v. 24). Mr. Dikshit has favoured me with the following information regarding this date :— ......“Amânta Âshâḍha kṛishṇa amâvâsyâ of Śaka-Saṁvat 1346 expired, the Krôdhi saṁvatsara, ended on Tuesday, the 25th July, A.D. 1424, commencing on Monday, the 24th July, as late as 56 gh. 13 p. Ujjain mean-time. This is not the tithi in question, as the original has a Monday. Besides, Âshâḍha was intercalary in this year, and its amâvâsyâ ended on Monday, the 26th June, A.D. 1424, at 31 gh. 56 p. Ujjain mean-time. This seems to be the tithi in question, though the word adhika, “intercalary,” is not added in the original. There was a solar eclipse on this date (26th June), though I have not ascertained whether it was visible in India or not.” ......The historically important part of the inscription is the genealogy of the first dynasty of
Vijayanagara, which is given in verses 3 to 21. As in other inscriptions,5 Yadu of the race
of the Moon is mentioned as the mythical ancestor of this dynasty. The first historical person
is Saṁgama [I.] (v. 5). One of his sons was Bukka [I.] (v. 6), whose descendants are named
in the same order as in a previously published inscription of Dêvarâya II.6 Besides, the new
inscription mentions the names of the queens of Bukka I. and of his three direct descendants, and ......1 The word manu appears to be used here in its Tantric sense, viz. in that of mantra.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| > |
|
>
|