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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA No. 1─TWO SALANKAYANA CHARTERS FROM KANUKOLLU (3 Plates) B. V. KRISHNA RAO, RAJAHMUNDRY Two sets of copper plates were found together at Kānukollu, Guḍivāḍa Taluk, Krishna District (Andhra), about fifteen years ago, while digging the old village site for pāṭimannu, ‘ old earth ’. The spot where the two sets were found lies outside the ramparts of the old mud fort which is almost in ruins to-day.[1] The ruined ramparts and the situation of the ancient village plainly indicate that Kānukollu was an important walled town in olden days and that it lay on the highway that connected a big emporium or seaport near the northern mouth of the Kṛishṇā on the one hand and the important provincial town of Guḍivāḍa on the other with Veṅgīpura,[2] the capital of the Śālaṅkāyana kingdom. Even today Kānukollu lies on the trunk road that connects Guḍivāḍa with Bhīmavaram in the West Godavari District. When the plates were discovered, people fondly believed them to be of precious metal and therefore quickly divided them as spoils among themselves. Actually the ring and the seal of the second set, marked here as B, were melted down for the purpose of testing the metal. It is indeed fortunate that none of the plates was destroyed or melted down. The writing on them attracted the attention and curiosity of the more enlightened amongst the villagers. And it was in no small measure due to the intervention of the village Karaṇam, Mr. Vinnakoṭa Durga Varaprasada Rao, that the charters were saved from any further damage. The Karaṇam was good enough to secure these two sets for me in 1946 when I happened to visit the place. These were later forwarded by me to the Government Epigraphist for India, Ootacamund, who kindly got their mechanical impressions prepared in his office.
A.─ Plates of Nandivarman (I), Year 14[3] This is the earlier of the two sets. It consists of eight plates held together by a ring, the ends of which were fastened together under an oval seal. The ring had already been cut open and the plates taken out for examination by somebody even before they reached me. The diameter of the ring is about 2½ inches while its thickness is about ½ inch. The seal is 1¼ inches in length and one inch in breadth. The legend and the crest on it are completely worn out on account of corrosion. But we know that the emblem on the Śālaṅkāyana seals is the bull.[4] _____________________________________________________________
[1] I came to learn from the villagers that several gold and lead coins along with other valuable articles were
picked up but that they were secreted, appropriated or destroyed. People say that even now coins are found here
and there in the ruins of the village.
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