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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA NANDURU PLATES OF VELANANTI RAJENDRA-CHODA : SAKA 1091 The account given in the Piṭhāpuram inscription differs slightly from the pedigree given above. The differences are discussed below. Besides the Piṭhāpuram inscription there are numerous other inscriptions on stone found particularly at Drākshārāma[1] in East Godavari District, at Siripuram[2] and Chēbrōlu in Guntur District and other places[3] which give additional historical information about the family. A stone inscription at Drākshārāma[4] gives a genealogical account which not only completely agrees with the present record but gives additional information. The historical details found in these inscriptions have not been arranged so far in their proper perspective which I now propose to do. The first known historical person in the Velanāṇṭi family, who may be regarded as the founder of the line in the rulership of Velanāṇḍu is Malla-bhūpa or Malla I. Velanāṇḍu or Velanāṇḍu is the name of the region now covered by the Repalle and Tenali taluks of the Guntur District. The region acquired the name probably because it lay on the sea coast (vēlā), the Sanskrit word being pronounced as vela with short vowels by the inhabitants of that region during the early period.5 The term Velanāṇṭi is the genitive form of Velanāṇḍu (nominative form) and means “ of Valanāṇḍu ” in Telugu. Malla I, it is stated, received as a reward the rulership of Velanāṇḍu with the insignia of a vassal king from Tryaṁbaka-Pallava who was pleased with him for military services rendered for a long time on battlefields. Malla I was probably a soldier of fortune, who came from the north in search of a kingdom, and thus acquired a small kingdom for himself. Several Durjaya chieftains, too, similarly claimed to have obtained from king Tryaṁbaka-Pallava, military fiefs on the southern bank of the Kṛishṇā river as rewards for their military services. King Tryaṁbaka-Pallava, Trinayana-Pallava or Mukkaṇṭi-Kāḍuveṭṭi may not, therefore, be a doubtful historical person as some scholars opine ; he need not be regarded as a mere fictitious person, brushing aside a large volume of historical tradition embodied in numerous inscriptions on stone and copper-plates and scattered all over the country. Elsewhere[6] Tryaṁbaka-Pallava has been identified with the powerful king Vijaya-Skandavarman IV, and allotted a reign period of thirty-five years (c. 460-495 A.C.). Malla I, therefore, would appear to have flourished about the last quarter of the fifth century.
Nothing is known about the immediate successors of Malla-bhūpa I, until we come to Malliya II who is described as a renowned soldier. It is said that he was a follower of Narēndra, who may be identified with Narēndramṛigarāja-Vijayāditya II. Malliya II, it is stated, rendered great assistance to king Narēndra (on the battlefields) with the sharp edge of his fierce sword which was like a thunderbolt (v. 36 : lines 72-75). According to Dr. Fleet,[7] Narēndramṛigarāja-Vijayāditya II reigned from 799 to 843 A.C., for forty-four years, while according to my Revised Chronology of the Eastern Chālukyas,[8]the king’s period is only forty years, from 808 to 847 A.C. Malliya II would thus appear to have flourished about the first half of the ninth century. In the lineage of Malliya II was born Piḍuvurāditya, or Piḍuvulāditya as the Drākshārāma stone inscription[9] calls him. The son of Piḍuvurāditya was Eriya (I), and his son was Malliya III. In the Drākshārāma inscription the name of Malla or Malliya is lost in the lacuna. It is stated in that inscription that Malla III (Malliya III) was foremost among the followers of Chāḷukya-Bhīma who may be identified with Chālukya-Bhīma II (1933-945 A.C.). Malla III married Kollapāṁbā according to _________________________________________________
[1] SII, Vol. IV, Nos. 1041, 1094, 1113, 1147, 1138, 1140, 1141, 1153, 1104 ; 1182, etc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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