North Indian Inscriptions

NADUPURU GRANT OF ANNA-VEMA.

was made while that glorious king Satyâśraya of the prospering Châlukya lineage was ruling over Raṭṭapâṭî, i.e. the dominions of the Raṭṭas (or Râshṭrakûṭas).¹

......The genealogy of Raṭṭarâja is given in verses 11-21. There was the regent of the Vidyâdharas, Jîmûtakêtu’s son Jîmûtavâhana, who (to save the serpent Śaṅkhachûḍa) offered his life to Garuḍa. From him sprang the prosperous and powerful Silâra family, a family foremost among the rulers of Siṁhala. [To this family belonged]²:—

......1. [Sa]ṇaphulla, a favourite of king Kṛishṇa ; he acquired the country from the sea-shore up to the Sahya mountains. His son was—

......2. Dhammiyara, the founder of the great stronghold Valipattana ; his son—

......3. Aiyaparâja, endowed with the qualities of a conqueror, who was bathed with the water of the cocoanuts³ near Chandrapura ; his son—

......4. Avasara [I.], who, well versed in politics and of fierce valour, singly subdued a multitude of enemies (?);⁴ his son—

......5. Âdityavarman ; his son—

......6. Avasara [II.], a prince (nṛipa) who conquered his enemies and aided the rulers born at Chêmûlya and Chandrapura ; his son—

......7. Indrarâja ; his son—

......8. Bhîma, who distinguished himself by seizing the Chandra district (maṇḍala), as Râhu swallows the moon’s orb ; his son, the king (râjan)—

......9. Avasara [III.] ; and his son, the king (râjan)—

......10. Raṭṭa.

......To the above abstract of the contents of verses 11-21 I cannot add much of importance. Others⁵ have pointed out already that this particular branch of the Silâra (Śîlâra, or Śilâhâra) family, of which no other inscription has yet been published,⁶ apparently was established in the Southern Koṇkaṇ. The two other branches of the same family, the Śîlâras of the Northern Koṅkaṇ and the Śilâhâras of the country around Kôlhâpur, also trace their origin to the mythical Jîmûtavâhana ; but only the present inscription connects the Silâra vaṁśa with the rulers of Siṁhala, or Ceylon. How much value should be attached to this statement, it is difficult to decide. In making it, the author perhaps only wished to give expression to the prevalent belief that the family had come from the South ; but it also seems possible that tḥe word Sṁhala has been brought in here merely on account of its resemblance to the word Silâra.⁷ Of the ten chiefs enumerated, none, so far as I know, is mentioned in other inscriptions. It is true that in the Khârêpâṭaṇ plates of the Śîlâra Anantadêva⁸ a prince
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......¹ See page 299 below, note 1.
......² In the original there is nothing corresponding to the words in brackets.
......³ I do not understand the exact significance of this ceremony. The meaning perhaps is that Aiyaparâja gained a victory at Chandrapura. Compare the Raguvaṁśa, iv. 41 and 42.
......⁴ See page 299 below, note 10.
......⁵ See Dr. Bhagvanlal Indraji in Journ. Bo. As. Soc. Vol. XIII. p. 14 ; Dr. Fleet’s Kanarese Dynasties, p. 98 ; and Dr. Bhandarkar’s Early History of the Dekkan, p. 98.
......⁶ In the Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 38, note 47, the Mr. Telang has stated that somebody had furnished him with a transcript (not the original) of an unpublished plate which belonged to the branch of the Silâras here treated of, and which, like the present inscription, began with the Râshṭrakûṭas and ended with the Silâras. Regarding one of the princes mentioned in it, that plate contained the statement : abdhi-vêlâkulaṁ ramyaṁ yô=karôd=Valipattanam, and in another passage of the inscription Valipattana was called Valinagara.
......⁷ It has been already suggested that Śîlâra and Śilâhâra probably are Sanskṛitised forms of Silâra, and that this word may be of Draviḍian origin ; see the Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XIII. pp. 422 and 730. Names like Dhammiyara and Aiyaparâja also point to a southern origin of the family.
......⁸ See Ind. Ant. Vol. IX. p. 36.