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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA The inscription refers to a chief who is described as the righthand man of Goggi-Bhaṭāra and the dear son of Ālakumara. He bears the rather unusual epithet Ujēnīpiśācha (Ujenīpiśāchanāmadhēyuṁḍu) which sounds more like a title than a name, a title probably acquired by him as a result of a terrorizing campaign that he must have undertaken, against Ujēnī (Ujjain). Who could this unnamed hero be ? An inscription at Aihoḷe in the Hungund taluk in the Bijapur District of Bombay State mentions a certain Āḷekomara-Śiṅga (i.e., Āḷekomara’s son Śiṅga) as the founder of a temple.[1] This record which refers itself to the reign of Vikramāditya is undated but could be assigned palaeographically to the period of Vikramāditya I. If this Śiṅga, the son of Āḷekomara could be identical with the unnamed son of Ālakumara[2] of our record, it would not be impossible that this Śiṅga found an opportunity of following his suzerain in a campaign against Ujjain and of showing his prowess which earned for him the said title as well as the fiefdom of the ēruva vishaya. It may be recalled that it was Pulakēśin II who distinguished himself as the conqueror of Harshavardhana of Kānyakubja. His conquests were by far the most widely spread and included among the conquered, the Māḷavas.[3] Whether Śiṅga alias Ujēnīpiśācha obtained the fiefdom of ēruva as a reward for his valour from Pulakēśin II himself or from his son Vikramāditya I when the latter re-established his authority in the south after a temporary set-back following the defeat of his father, Pulakēśin II, at the hands of the Pallavas, is more than what could be said at this stage. As regards Goggi-Bhaṭāra who figures in the capacity of a master or leige-lord of Ālakumara’s son, a chief of this name born of the Chālukya family and bearing the title Mahāsāmanta figures in stone inscriptions of the Mysore State.[4] It is interesting to note that one of these epigraphs ascribes the title Ujjēnībhujaṅga apparently to this same chief.[5] But all these records are assigned to the 10th century A.C. and therefore the chief mentioned in them must be different from Goggi-Bhaṭāra of our record.
Of the place names, [Turu]taṭāka is obviously the present Turimeḷḷa, the findspot of the record. Legend connects it with the mythical story of the sage Jamadagni and his celestial cow Surabhi. The later inscriptions at this village refer to the place as Jamadagni-āśrama and mention the temple as that of Surabhēśvara. The story goes that king Kārttavīryārjuna chanced to visit the sage at his āśrama once with his retinue and was amazed at the mysterious powers of the celestial cow which granted anything that its owner wished for. Possessed with the desire to own this cow, the king demanded it of the sage and took it from him by force which resulted in dire consequences not only to the king himself but to generations of the Kshatriyas after him at the hands of Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni. The word Turumeḷḷa or Turimeḷḷa (taru, meaning cow and maḷḷa, corrupted into meḷḷa, ‘ drive ’), as the village name goes, denoted the spot where the ‘ cow was driven ’.[6] The territorial division ēruva-vishaya seems to find the earliest mention in this record. It was a small principality on the borders of the Kurnool, Nellore and Cuddapah Districts and was _________________________________________________
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