|
South
Indian Inscriptions |
|
|
INTRODUCTION
Andhavaram, a small village in the Narasannapeta Taluk of the Srikakulam
District, Madras State, has yielded an urn containing four sets of copper plates.
The urn was exposed from a mound at the foot of a banyan tree. One (No. 4)
of these four sets belongs to the Māṭhara king Anantaśaktivarman, lord of Kaliṅga,
and the rest to the rulers of the Eastern Gaṅga dynasty. The charter of Anantaśaktivarman was issued from Vijayapura in the 14th year of his reign while he
was camping there with his army. It records the renewal of the grant of the
village Āndōrēppa, i.e. modern Andhavaram, made by the king to the same
Brāhmaṇas in whose favour it had been formerly granted by Āryaka-Śaktibhaṭṭāraka. In this expression, the word āryaka seems to indicate ‘ grand-father’ and Śakti-bhaṭṭāraka is probably none other than the Māṭhara king
Śaktivarman of the Ragolu plates (Ep. Ind., Vol. XII, pp. 1 ff.). Anantaśaktivarman thus appears to have been the grandson of Śaktivarman. The reference
to the issue of the charter from the camp at Vijayapura probably indicates that
the king was engaged in a military expedition, the details of which are not forthcoming. There is, however, some evidence to show that the Māṭharas originally
ruled from Pishṭapura in Southern Kaliṅga and that the Māṭhara kings
extended their power to Central Kaliṅga and issued charters from Siṁhapura
in that area. Vijayapura whence the present record was issued was also apparently situated in Central Kaliṅga. The inscription has been published in Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 175 ff.
Of the other three sets of plates, two (Nos. 5 and 6) were issued from Kaliṅganagara respectively by the Eastern Gaṅga kings Indravarman and Anantavarman. The former (puiblished in Ep. Ind., Vol. XXX, pp. 37 ff.) records the grant
of the village of Tōṭavā¬ṭaka in Krōshṭukavartanī as an agrahāra to several Brāhmaṇas of the village of Andōrakāgrahāra. The record is stated to have been
written by Prabhākara under orders of Śrī-Lōkārṇavadēva who is described as
one who vanquished many foes. The charter was issued on the occasion of a
solar eclipse on the newmoon day of Śrāvaṇa in the year 133 of the Tuṁburu-
vaṁśa-rājya-saṁvatsara. There is no doubt that the reckoning is identical with
the era usually mentioned in the records of the Gaṅga kings as pravardhamāna-
vijayarājya-saṁvatsara or Gāṅgēya-vaṁśa-pravardhamāna-vijayarājya-saṁvatsara. The nomenclature of the era in the record under study reminds us of the Santa-
Bommali plates (Bhandarkar’s List, No. 2053) which were issued by the Kadamba
feudatory of a Gaṅga monarch and refer to the era in question as Gaṅga-Kadamba-
vaṁśa-pravardhamāna-vijayarājya-saṁvatsara. It seems therefore that Lōkārṇava, under whose orders the charter was written, was a Tumburu feudatory of
the Gaṅga king Indravarman and the real donor of the grant that was ratified
by the latter (cf. Ep. Ind., Vol. XXX, pp. 52-53). The date of the record is
written in numerical symbols as well as in words as śatē triṁśaty-adhikē, and the
word trayas before triṁśati is omitted through oversight. The village of Tōṭavāṭaka seems to be identical with modern Tōṭāḍa or Tōḍavāḍa, about eight miles
from Andhavaram, the findspot of the record. Andōraka in Andōrakāgrahāra appears to be an early form of the name Andhavarman which is also called Āndōrēppa in the record of the Māṭhara king Anantaśaktivarman reviewed above.
Copper plate No. 6 was issued by the Eastern Gaṅga king Anantavarman
in the year 216 (of the Gaṅga era). It records the grant of Śakunagrāma situated in the Varāhavarttanī vishaya to the Brāmaṇa residents of Ānandapura.
It may be noted in this connection that the gift village Śakunaka in Varāhavarttanī is also mentioned in the Madras Museum plates of Anantaśaktivarman
(cf. Ep. Ind., Vol XXVIII, pp. 226 ff.). It is interesting to note that Dantapura
mentioned in this record as lying on the boundary of the gift village was one of
the early seats of the Eastern Gaṅga government (cf. No. 7).
29 DGA/55
|
\D7
|