South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

our record may be said to be engraved in the ornamental forms of Grantha in which the label inscriptions (Nos. 1-16) on the Dharmarājaratha at Mahābalipuram are engraved and which Dr. Hultzsch would assign to king Narasiṁhavarman.^[1] The letter ṇ of our epigraph is more ornamental than that found in the Trichinopoly and the Bādāmi inscriptions. Attention may be drawn to b of our inscription which is much more developed than those found in any of the other inscriptions under comparison. The letter very nearly approaches the form found in the Kūram grant of Paramēśvaravarman,^[2] son of Narasiṁhavarman I, wherein its shape is more cursive. It is thus in a transitional stage between the forms found in the Trichinopoly label inscriptions of Mahēndravarman I and the aforesaid record of Paramēśvaravarman I, his grandson. The medial ā attached to the letter j in our inscription shows a peculiar form, which is not found in any of the above records under comparison, nor is it the usual type found in Pallava-Grantha or the Chālukya records of this period. In the present record it takes the form of a separate sign of length unattached to the main letter, and vertically descending to the bottom in the form of an upright, almost similar to medial ā in Nāgarī. The usual way in which the medial ā of jā is found marked in both Grantha and Telugu-Kaṇṇada records of the period is in the form of a semi-circular spiral proceeding upwards from the middle prong of the letter j and ascending in a loop over the head of the letter and sometimes descending to its left. Attention may be drawn to the two different forms of medial ē used in the inscription as in yē of l. 2 of the first side and in mē of l. 2 of the second side. The palaeography of our record would indicate the second quarter of the 7th century A. D. as the period in which it was written.

The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and its composition in prose in the usual style characteristic of Pallava inscriptions. Parts of the inscription, including the beginning, are lost along with the top portion of the pillar. What is left of the inscription is in three disconnected parts, each part embodying the writing on each of the three respective sides of the pillar. The extant portion on the first two sides contains the eulogy of the king, Siṁhavarman, who is stated to have been born in the Pallava family as god Vishvaksēna (Vishṇu) was born in the Vṛishṇi race, and to have performed the Dasāśvamēdha and Bahusuvarṇa sacrifices. He is styled Dēva, i.e. Lord. The portion of the inscription on the third side, which is partly obliterated, seems to contain the details of the great. The epithet applied to the Pallava race in the present inscription might be restored on the analogy of similar passages in the published records of the Pallavas as (nirākṛi)t=āśēsha-prajā-vipal-lavā[nā*]m=Pallavānāṁ, i.e., of the race of the Pallavas (who have removed even the slightest distress (vipat+lava) from every one of their subjects (aśēsha-prajā). It is also found in similar terms, with the same play on the words pallava and vipal-lava (also āpallava) in the Pallava copper-plate charters from the time of Paramēśvaravarman.^[3]

With paleography as the only guide, one is tempted to identify Siṁhavarman of the present record with Narasiṁhavarman I, whose date lay in the same period and who was the son and successor of Mahēndravarman I. This Narasiṁhavarman was the contemporary of Pulakēśin II (642 A. D.) whom he is supposed to have vanquished. Of the identity of our Siṁhavarman with Narasiṁhavarman we cannot be absolutely certain in the face of the fact that Siṁhavarman of our

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^[1] Above, Vol. X, pp. 2, 5-6 and plate I opp. p. 6. Further development of this florid writing is found in Atyantakāma’s inscriptions at the Seven Pagodas and the Kailāsanātha temple label inscriptions Rājasiṁha.
^[2] Above, Vol. XVII, plate opp. p. 340; also S. I. I., Vol. II, plate opp. p. 342.
^[3] Kūram grant of Paramēśvaravarman I : S. I. I., Vol. I, p. 148 : nirākṛita-kul-āpal-lavaḥ (l. 11). Here the play is on Pallava and āpat+lava ; (b) the Udayēndiram plates of Nandivarman II : S. I. I., Vol. III, p. 366. ll. 7-8 and l. 11, samyag-guṇ-ōchchaya-nirasta-vipal-lavānām, ‘ who have driven away even the slightest calamity by the multitude of their excellent virtues’ : nirākṛita-kula-vipal-lavaḥ Pallavaḥ, ‘Pallava, who drove away even the smallest calamity from his race’: (c) the Vēḷūrpāḷaiyam plates of Nandivarman II : S. I. I., Vol. II, p. 507. l.8, vaṁśas=latō=varttata Pallavānāṁ rakshā-vidhi-dhvasta-vipal-lavānāṁ, ‘ thence came into existence the race of the Pallavas, who by the Law of Protection (they had adopted) removed even the slightest distress (of their subjects,).