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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA The fragmentary inscription abruptly begins with part of a word in the second half of a stanza which is the same as verse 4 of the Banpur charter, issued by the same king and edited by us above.[1] This is followed in lines 1-21 by eleven other stanzas which are also identical with verses 5-10, 12-13 and 15-17 of the Banpur record. We see that verses 11 and 14 of the Banpur plates have been omitted in our record. It has also to be pointed out that the concluding portion has been left out in two of these stanzas which are the same as verses 15 and 17 of the Banpur inscription. These introductory stanzas have already been discussed by us in connection with the Banpur plates of Ayaśōbhīta II Madhyamarāja and Mānabhīta Dharmarāja. Lines 21-23 speak of the Śailōdbhava king Dharmarāja as issuing the order relating to the grant from the vāsaka (camp or residence) at Kōntalayi. He is described as a devout worshipper of Mahēśvara (Śiva) and as meditating on or favoured by the feet of his parents. The description of the king in this section contains the passage aśvamēdh-āvabhṛitha-snāna-nirvartita which may be taken to suggest that the king was a performer of the horse-sacrifice, although in the Banpur plates we have ºnirvartita-sūnōs=tanayaḥ assigning the celebration of the Aśvamēdha clearly to his grandfather. As the introductory part of the Śailōdbhava records unanimously ascribes the celebration of the horse-sacrifice to Sainyabhīta Mādhavavarman II Śrīnivāsa, the passage in our record cannot be taken to signify that Dharmarāja performed another Aśvamēdha, especially in view of the fact that a similar passage also occurs in the Parikud plates[2] of his father Ayaśōbhīta II Madhyamarāja. It seems that both Ayaśōbhīta II Madhyamarāja and Mānabhīta Dharmarāja took part in the Aśvamēdha performed by Sainyabhīta Mādhavavarman II Śrīnivāsa and took the avabhṛitha bath in connection with the celebration of the sacrifice.
Lines 23-26 mention the king’s subordinates, officials and subjects in Kōṅgōda-maṇḍala, to whom the royal order in regard to the grant recorded in the document was addressed. The gift village mentioned in lines 26-27 is Śivādhivāsagrāma which was situated in a vishaya or district, the name of which looks like Kirātatalaka. The first and third letters of the name are, however, doubtful. The village was granted as a free holding in favour of a Brāhmaṇa named Bhaṭṭa Śubhadēva (lines 26 ff.). The grant is stated to have been made on the occasion of an eclipse. As the date quoted at the end of the record is Chaitra-badi 15, the reference may be to a solar eclipse.[3] Some of the usual imprecatory and benedictory stanzas have been quoted in lines 31- 38. The names of the officials responsible for the preparation and execution of the document are given in lines 38-40. The dūtaka or executor of the grant was the sachiva Dharmachandra. The charter was written by the Sāndhivigrahika Bhōgin Sāmanta who is also known form the Puri and Banpur plates of the issuer of the present charter. It was lāñchhita by the Pēṭāpāla Jyēshṭhasiṁha who may have been a relation of Jayasiṁha mentioned in the earlier records of the king. The plates were engraved by Thaviravṛiddha, no doubt the same as Sthaviravṛiddha, engraver of the Puri plates and the Kondedda grant. The record ends with the date ; year 18, Chaitra-amāvāsyā. The year seems to be written once at the end of line 40 although it was repeated in the last line (line 41). Of the geographical names, the king’s camp or residence at Kōntalayi, the gift village Śivādhivāsa-grāma and the district Kirātatalaka are known for the first time from the record under study. I am not sure about their identification. Kōntalayi may, however, be modern Kantalabāi[4] on the Chilkā near the Bhushandapur railway station. ___________________________________________________
[1] See Vol. XXIX, pp. 38 ff.
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