Annual Reports

INTRODUCTION

  Of the rest of the copper plates examined during the year, which are mostly from the Tamil country, those belonging to the Nāyaka and the Mahratta rulers of Tanjore, the Sētupati and the Toṇḍaimān chiefs are of interest inasmuch as they record improvements and benefactions to several temples and maṭhas in South India.

Stone Inscriptions

   Among the stone inscriptions the following may be noticed.

   First in chronological order is a Buddhist inscription of the pre-Gupta period (No. 206). It is engraved on a stone pillar which originally served as shaft of a stone umbrella over a Buddha statue, as revealed by the concluding words of the inscription : chhatraṁ pratishṭhāpayati, etc. The pillar is found among some ancient remains at the village of Mithouri in the Rewa state. The inscription is dated in the year 80 of an unspecified era, and refers itself to the reign of a hitherto unknown ruler Bhaṭṭāraka Mahārāja Vaṅgēśvara (?) Jāṅgata (?). The script is what may be termed Kushāṇa Brāhmi.

   Two fragmentary Sanskrit inscriptions (Nos. 159 and 165) come from Nāgārjunikoṇḍa. The extant portion of one of them (No. 159) speaks of a dharmmakathika whose name is lost but who is described inter alia as Śuddh-āchāra-vṛitta and āgama-vinay-ōpadēśa-prakaraṇ-āch[ā]ryya. The script is Brāhmī of about A.D. 400.

   An inscription of about the 9th century A.D. from the Cuddapah District (No. 149) reveals the existence of an early Bāṇa chief Aggapa, whose place in the Bāṇa genealogy, however, is not certain.

   A long praśasti, beautifully engraved on a stone slab, was discovered at the village of Koni (No. 205 ; plate), about 12 miles east of Bilaspur in the Central Provinces. It records the erection of a Śiva-pañchāyatana by a learned Brāhmaṇa called Purushōttama during the reign of the Kalachuri king Pṛithvīdēva II in the Kalachuri year 900 (A. D. 1148).

   A record of the Chōḷa king Parakēsarivarman of the 10th century A.D. from the South Arcot District (No. 29) registers the decision of the big assembly of Nayadhīramaṅgalam to pay in paddy, in lieu of interest on gold deposited with it, the wages of the personnel of the boats engaged in dredging the lake Parāntakappērēri . Owing to the damaged condition of the inscription the details of the gift are not clear, but the record seems to state that each boat used for dredging was equipped with a spade (koṭṭu), 200 baskets and two rods (kōl) and that it was manned by three boatmen and one man supervising their work (paṇit-tīṭṭukkuḍukkum-āḷ).

   Interesting information regarding the constitution of a typical village assembly is afforded by a record of the Chōḷa king Adhirājēndra from the Tanjore District (No. 5). It is dated in the third regnal year of the king and contains astronomical details, corresponding to 3rd May, A.D. 1071. It lays down certain rules framed by the assembly of Śuttamalli-Chaturvēdimaṅgalam in the presence of a royal officer for election to the local assembly (ūr-kūṭṭam) and committees (ūr-vāriyam and nāṭṭu-vāriyam).

   How local chiefs protected themselves by entering into mutual agreements in troublous times, when the central power was too weak to check aggression and rebellion, is gathered from an inscription (No. 73) of the Chōḷa king Kulōttuṅga Chōḷa III dated in his 19th regnal year (A.D. 1196-1197). This record comes from the North Arcot District. It describes how the contracting parties made a solemn vow to stand by each other in times of danger, each to consider the enemy of the other as his own enemy, to help the other with men and horse whenever necessary and to assist the other in safeguarding his property, honour and territory whenever they were threatened.

   A record of the Chōḷa king Rājarāja III from Kāḷahasti (No. 83) is of interest as it contains reference to certain taxes in money which were collected once in the course of a period of some years only and not every year. From Śākkōṭṭai in the Ramnad District was secured a record of Māravarman Vīra-Pāṇḍya (No. 102) which mentions Danman-Kampan alias Danmarāyan, the chief of Senda