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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Rājēndravarman and queen of Anantavarman, for the first time. The Nāmpali charter records the grant of Nāmpali-grāma situated in Nidijēru-vishaya in favour of Sāmirāja, son of Gulāmarāja (wrongly read as Guṇamarāja) of the Ayana-kula. It was written by Mahāsāndhivigrahin Raha (i.e. Rahasya or Rahasyādhikṛita) Śrī-Sāmanta[1] and engraved by Akshaśālin Dāmachandra. It will be seen that the same Akshaśālin Dāmachandra was also the engraver of the charter under study while Sāmirāja, donee of the Nāmpali grant, seems to be none other than Mahāsāndhivigrahika Sāmirāja who was its writer. It is interesting to note that the Mandasa plates, issued by Rājēndravarman more than quarter of a century later, was written by Sandhivigrahin Raṇōmēya who was the son of the said Sāmirāja.[2] An interesting feature of the records of Rājēndravarman, issued by him as Yuvarāja during the years 313 and 314, is that they do not refer to the rule of his uncle Dēvēndravarman who is known to have issued charters in the years 308 and 310. It should also be noticed that Yuvarāja Rājēndravarman’s grants dated in the years 313 and 314 and Dēvēndravarman’s charters dated in the years 308 and 310 were all issued from the city of Kaliṅganagara. In the present state of insufficient information on the point, it is difficult to suggest any hostility between Rājēndravarman and his uncle only on this ground. We know that the Early Eastern Gaṅga kings generally represented themselves each as the son of his father and not as the successor of his predecessor. As for instance, Dēvēndravarman’s charters describe him as the son of Rājēndravarman and not as the successor of his elder brother and predecessor Anantavarman. But Yuvarāja Rājēndravarman’s case is somewhat different since he issued the charters in question as a crown prince when his uncle Dēvēndravarman may have been on the throne. As, however, the Mayidavolu plates were similarly issued by the Pallava Yuvamahārāja Śivaskandavarman without any reference to the reigning Pallava king who was probably his father, it is not easy to arrive at a conclusion from this fact.
Besides Kaliṅganagara, the capital of the Eastern Gaṅgas, identified generally with modern Mukhalingam near Srikakulam, and the well-known Mahēndragiri peak on the borders between the Ganjam and Srikakulam Districts, the inscription mentions the following Geographical names ; the villages of Pāṭṭali or Pāḍali, Kuśasaṅkira and Arali as well as the districts of Kṛishṇamaṭṭamba, Dāpu-pañchālī and Jāmbōṭṭa-pañchālī. I am not sure about their location. There are other instances of the use of the word pañchālī to indicate a territorial unit in the inscriptions of the area in question.[3] TEXT[4] First Plate 1 Siddham[5] svasti [| A*]marapur-āṇu(nu)kāriṇa[ḥ*] srarvartu[6]-sukha-ra[ma][7]ṇī- _______________________________________________
[1] In the records of Dēvēndravarman the expression śrī-Sāmanta is used as an epithet of both the scribe and the
engraver. In this case, however, Sāmanta looks like the personal name of the scribe unless it is believed that the
personal name was omitted after the epithet thorough oversight. An Amātya Śrī-Sāmanta seems to have been the
scribe of the Tekkali plates of Anantavarman (second son of Dēvēndravarman, predecessor of Rājēndravarman of
the inscription under study), dated year 358 (above, Vol. XXVIII, p. 341).
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