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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA SRIRANGAM INSCRIPTION OF KAKATIYA PRATAPARUDRA ; SAKA 1239 V. VENKATASUBBA AIYAR, MADRAS The subjoined inscription[1] is engraved on the south wall of the Chandana-maṇḍapa in the Raṅganātha temple at Śrīraṅgam in the Trichinopoly District. It is badly damaged ; lines seventeen and eighteen containing the donative portion are irretrievably lost. However, it has been possible to rescue the remaining portion by carefully removing the chunam that has accumulated through ages, by periodical whitewashing of the temple. Moreover, the inscribed surface shows a tendency to exfoliate, as the granite selected is not of the hard variety. In spite of these defects, the portion now preserved is valuable, as it notices the part taken by the Kākatiya king Paratāparudradēva in the Second war of Pāṇḍya Succession[2] which convulsed the Tamil land in the fourteenth century, bringing in foreign aid in support of the opposing parties. It may be stated at the outset, that a duplicate for a portion of this inscription, consisting of seven lines, is found in the Jambukēśvara temple at Tiruvānaikkāval,[3] close to Śrīraṅgam. The language[4] of the present inscription is Telugu, but it is engraved in Grantha, a script better known in the locality. The date of the record is given as Śaka 1239, Piṅgaḷa, Chaitra, śu. 14, Monday, lunar eclipse, which corresponded to A.D. 1317, March 28, Monday. As stated above, the portion containing the object of the grant is completely lost, but the last two lines indicate that some land or village was given as sarvamānya, evidently to the Raṅganātha temple at Śrīraṅgam. The introductory portion of the record states that while Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Kākatīya Pratāparudradēva-Mahārāya was ruling from Oruṅgallu, Dēvari-Nāyaka, son of Māchaya-Nāyaka fitted out an expedition to the South against Pañcha-Pāṇḍya, defeated Vīra─Pāṇḍya along with Malayāḷa Tiruvaḍi Kulaśēkhara at Tiruvadikuṇḍram, and that he finally installed Sundara-Pāṇḍya[5] at Vīradhavaḷa. This victorious event, Dēvari-Nāyaka celebrated by an endowment to the temple at Śrīraṅgam, as also to the one at Tiruvānaikkāval.[6]
The Muhammadan historians Wassaf and Amir Khusru point out that Malik-Kāfūr “ was informed that the two Rais of Ma’bar, the eldest named Bīr-Pāṇḍya and the youngest Sundar-Pāṇḍya, who had up to that time continued on friendly terms, had advanced against each other with hostile intentions ”.[7] Our inscription states that the Kākatīya general restored Sundara-Pāṇḍya to power after defeating Vīra-Pāṇḍya and the Malayāḷa Tiruvaḍi. Further, an inscription from Poonamalle near Conjeevaram, in the Chingleput District, states that a Chēra king conquered Sundara-Pāṇḍya.[8] Evaluating these statements, it may be inferred that there was _______________________________________________
[1] No. 79 of 1938-39 of the Madras Epigraphical Collection. During the recent renovation of the temple, a
greater portion of this inscription is covered with cement plaster. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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