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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
of Vīrarājēndra-chōḷa. The Tiruvālaṅgāḍu inscription[1] already referred to, in mentioning Kulōttuṅgaśōla-vaḷanāḍu in Śōlamaṇḍalam, makes it clear that the Parāntakadēva of this inscription must have ruled later than Kulōttuṅga I after whom the vaḷanāḍu was named. Thus the
king Parāntakadēva in whose time these records were issued cannot be placed earlier than the
time of the Chōḷa king Kulōttuṅga I, and the palaeography of these records supports this conclusion.
We have not so far known of any Chōḷa king with the name Parāntaka about this time.
On the other hand, we have references to a prince of the royal blood of that name ruling one of
the provinces of the Chōḷa empire. Several inscriptions in the Telugu script found in the Bhīmēśvara temple at Drākshārāma in the Ramachandrapuram Taluk of the Godavari District in
Andhra Pradesh mention a certain Parāntakadēva as ruling over the Eastern Chālukya country
of Vēṅgī in the early years of the 12th century A. D. One of them[2] dated in Śaka 134, corresponding to 1112-13 A. D., mentions the gift of fifty inpa eḍlu for burning a lamp in front of the
god Bhīmēśvara by Parāntaka Brahmādhirāya for the benefit of his mother. There the donor
is described as the military commander of Parāntaka, the head-ornament of the Chālukya-vaṁśa
(Chāḷukya-vaṁśa-tilakasya Parāntakasya sēn-ādhipō dvijapatiḥ). The official title of the commander indicates that he rose to prominence during the days of Parāntaka whose name the general
obviously adopted. Another inscription[3] at the same place dated in Śaka 1038 (given by the
chronogram gaja-Rāma-viyach-chandra) registers the grant of the village Sīlā to meet the expenses
of offerings to the goddess Pārvatī set up in the temple by king Parāntakadēva. In some other
inscriptions found there,[4] the king is introduced with the characteristic Eastern Chālukyan title
Sarvalōkāśraya śrī-Vishṇuvardhana-mahārājulu, and is referred to as a Chakravartin ruling over
the Chālukya kingdom (Chāḷukya-kshiti).[5] In addition, he has also the characteristically Tamil
title Kōnērinmaikoṇḍān.[6] Another inscription[7] dated in the 45th year of Kulōttuṅga I at Bhīmavaram in the same Taluk registers the gift of a lamp and twenty she-buffaloes by Mādhava alias
Rājavallabha Pallavaraiyan, a minister of Parāntaka, to the temple of Nārāyaṇa founded by
Vaiśya Maṇḍayya. Parāntaka[8] under whom he was serving as a minister is described therein as
Śrīśa-samē Parāntaka-nripe Chāḷukya-rājya-śrīyaṁ prāptāṁ rakshati, i.e. ‘ while king Parāntaka
who resembled the lord of Śrī (i.e. Vishṇu) was protecting the fortune, namely the Chālukya
kingdom acquired [by him].’ This officer is perhaps identical with the Rājavallabha Pallavaraiyan
who figures as the sandhivigrahin in the Smaller Leyden plates of Kulōttuṅga I issued in the 20th
year of his reign.[9] There is also an inscription[10] of Parāntaka engraved on a pillar in the ruined
Kanakadurgā-maṇḍapa at the foot of the Indrakīla hill at Vijayavāḍa, dated in the 5th year of
his reign coupled with Śaka 1037 and the cyclic year Manmatha, corresponding to 1115-16 A.D.
This record, though damaged, seems to confer the office of the headmanship (reḍḍikam) of Vijaya-
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[1] SII, Vol. V, No. 879.
[2] Ibid Vol. IV, No. 1324.
[3] Ibid, No. 1214.
[4] Ibid., Nos. 1271, 1272, etc.
[5] Ibid., No. 1226.
[6] Ibid., Nos. 1270 to 1274 etc. It is given there as Kōnērinmaikoṇḍāru.
[7] Above, Vol. VI, pp. 219-223.
[8] The editor of this inscription has taken Parāntaka mentioned in the Sanskrit verse at the beginning of the
record as one of the surnames of Kulōttuṅga I referred to in the Telugu portion of the same record as Sarvalōkāśraya-śrī-Vishṇuvardhana-mahārājulu in whose 45th year of reign corresponding to Śaka 1037 the grant was made.
But a careful reading of the record, as also of the Vijayavāḍa inscription referred to below, now reveals that they
were different.
[9] Above, Vol. XXII, p. 276, text lines 11-12
[10] SII, Vol. IV, No. 737.
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