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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
and put them to death. Having overcome the Yavanas in this fashion, he restored to Brāhmaṇas
their ancient agrahāras confiscated by them, and revived the performance of the sacrifices, the
smoke issuing from the firepits of which spreading over the countryside cleaned it of the pollution
caused by the movements of those evil-doers. The agriculturists surrendered willingly a sixth of
the produce of the soil to king ; and he set his hand to the task of repairing the damages caused
by the Pāraśīkas. King Prōla established himself at Rēkapalli on the Gōdāvarī at the foot of
the Mālyavanta mountain ; and having entrusted the administration to his younger brothers such
as Kāpaya-nāyaka, he devoted himself to the performance of charitable and meritorious deeds.
He granted many agrahāras and large sums of money to deserving scholars (11. 39-78). In
the gōtra of the famous sage Bhāradvāja was born a Bhāhmaṇa scholar of the name of Annaya, son
of Vennaya, and grandson of Annaya, devoted to the study of the Yajurvēda. He had two sons,
Vennaya and Gaṇapaya, who were distinguished by their learning, lofty character, wealth and
liberality. Considering that of the two brothers, the former was worthy of honour, Prōlaya-nāyaka requested him to accept the gift of an agrahāra. Vennaya who was accustomed to make
gifts rather than take them complied with the king’s request somewhat reluctantly (11. 78-98).
King Prōlaya granted to Vennaya on the occasion of a lunar eclipse the fertile village of Vilasa
in Kōna-maṇḍala which lay on the bank of the Gōdāvarī as an agrahāra. Having divided it
into one hundred and eight shares, Vennaya changed its name into Prōlavaram after
king Prōlaya-nāyaka and gave it in turn to several learned Brāhmaṇas of good lineage and
excellent character, proficient in the śāstras and the vēdas, with all the rights of possession, enjoyment, etc. (11. 98-105). There were in all 82 donees including the two deities Gautamēśvara and
Kēśava of the village. The names of the donees and the distribution of shares among them are
given in a table in the sequel.
The charter under review throws a flood of light on the history of Āndhra in the years immediately following the Muslim conquest and the downfall of the Kākatīya dynasty. While describing the circumstances in which the gift registered in the charter came to made, the political
changes through which the country had just then passed are briefly recounted. The following
points which are therein touched upon call for a few words of elucidation :─ (1) The history of
Pratāparudra, his enmity with Ahammadu Suratrāṇa of Delhi, his early victories over the
Muhammadans, and his ultimate defeat, captivity and death ; (2) the character of the Muslim rule,
(3) the rise of the Musunūri family and the formation of the Confederacy of Āndhra Nāyakas under
the leadership of Prōlaya-nāyaka ; (4) the conquest of Tiliṅga by Prōlay-nāyaka and the re-establishment of the Hindu dharma ; and (5) his benefactions, especially the gift of the village of
Vilasa in Kōna-maṇḍala to the Brāhmaṇa scholar Vennaya of the Bhāradvāja gōtra.
The problem that deserves consideration first is the hostility between Pratāparudra and
Ahammadu Sunratrāṇa, the lord of the Turushkas, who is described as the laya-kāla (death) of
kings and the destroyer of the remnant of the royal families that were left undestroyed by Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma). The identity of Ahammadu Suratrāṇā is not difficult to discover ; for,
his final victory over Pratāparudra whom he despatched to Delhi as a prisoner and the latter’s
death on the way to the imperial capital clearly show that he could have been none other than
Muḥammad Bin Tughluq. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that Ahammada is a mistake for Muḥammad due either to the remissness of the engraver, or to the confusion in the mind
of the composer of the inscription himself.[1] The statement that Sultān Muḥammad suffered defeat
no less than seven times at the hands of Pratāparudra before he could ultimately vanquish him
furnishes interesting information on the history of Muslim invasions of Tiling and demands careful examination. The Muslim histories of the period refer to a number of expeditions, which the
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[1] A similar mistake is found in a Sanskrit work of a miscellaneous character called the Prasaṅgaratnāvali
composed in 1465 A.D. (Madras Government Or. Mss. Lib. 5.5.6, D. No. 12033).
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