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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA SANGALOODA PLATES OF RASHTRAKUTA NANNARAJA ; SAKA 615
that Anivārita was a surname of Chālukya Vikramāditya I[1] who ruled from 655 to 680 A.C. It is, therefore, not unlikely that the sattra was named after his surname either in commemoration of his having founded it himself or was named after him by some other founder in token of his respect to him as his suzerain.[2] That Vikramāditya I was a great conqueror is attested by his records in which he claims victory ‘ in country after country and in all directions ’.[3] That in the south he went as far as the Kāvērī region is proved by his Gadval Plates.[4] As for the extent of his possessions in the north, we have as yet no direct evidence. Nevertheless, it can be supposed that in these northern regions he inherited the Three Mahārāshṭrakas first acquired by his father, Pulakēśin II, since we have it stated in Vikramāditya’s inscriptions that he not only regained possession of his father’s kingdom which had been lost to enemies but also acquired the fortune and sovereignty of his ancestors.[5] Further it is well known that the Western Chālukyas were recognised as overlords by the kings of the Hariśchandra family ruling in the Nasik District. One Svāmichandra of this family is explicitly stated as the feudatory (pāda-prasād-ōpajīvī) of Chālukya Vikramāditya I.[6] Rāshṭrakūṭa Nannarāja of our grant, though not actually a contemporary of Vikramāditya I, evidently came under Chālukya hegemony at the time of recording the grant under study, i.e., in Śaka 615(=693 A.C.), when his suzerain must have been Vinayāditya, son of Vikramāditya I. It is also interesting to note that it was this Vinayāditya who conducted a successful expedition in the north in which he was ably assisted by his son, prince Vijayāditya.[7]
None of the kings mentioned in our record barring Gōvindarāja is known to us from any other source except the two other grants of Nannarāja referred to above. However, in respect of Svāmikarāja, attention may be drawn to another person of the same name who figures as vijñapti in a 7th century record of Kāpālivarman of the Bhōja family[8] who ruled the area around Goa in the west coast. Except the similarity of name and the proximity in point of data between the two persons there is nothing else to connect the two, much less to treat them as identical. The area of rule of the family of Nannarāja lay as determined by the provenance of their records and the places mentioned in them roughly in the districts of Akola, Amraoti, Betul and Nagpur of Madhya Pradesh, which all lay adjacent to one another. Ancient Vidarbha roughly corresponds to this area. The earliest record of the family, viz., the Nāgardhan Plates of Svāmirāja, was issued from Nāndīvardhana, the same as Nāgardhan which lies three miles south of Ramtek in the Nagpur District. The family seems to have moved south-west to the region of Amraoti and Akola where they fixed a new capital at Padmangara from which our inscription is issued. This place may be identified with modern Padmin[9] lying within the postal jurisdiction of Akola. _________________________________________________
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