South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

for Perumbâlaiyûr and in aliâmai (l. 14) for aliyâmai, which is an archaic form of the negative gerund aliyâmal. The final n of kilavan (l. 9) is doubled before the following vowel. The Tamil form mugamaṇḍagam (l. 14) instead of the Sanskṛit mukhamaṇḍapa has been already noticed in the Ukkal inscription of Kṛishṇa III.^[1]

The inscription is dated in the third year of the reign of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman, whom I have identified with the father of the Gaṅga-Pallava king Vijaya-Nṛipatuṅgavikramavarman and placed in the ninth century of the Christian era.^[2] This is the earliest known inscription of Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman. Five other records of his at Śaduppêri, Viriñchipuram and Tiruvallam are dated between his 9th and 62nd years.^[3] Since the publication of the two Âmbûr inscriptions of Vijaya-Nṛipatuṅgavikramavarman,^[4] two inscriptions of his grandfather Vijaya-Dantivikramavarman^[5] and four inscriptions of his own reign^[6] were copied at Uttaramallûr in the Chingleput district. The Śaḍaiyar temple at Tiruchchennambûṇḍi near Kôvilaḍi (between Tanjore and Trichinopoly) contains three inscriptions of the same king.^[7] Two of these mention Mârambâvai, “who was the great queen of Nandippôttaraiyar of the Pallavatila[ka ?] family.”^[8] The same queen is referred to in an inscription at Niyamam in the Tanjore tâluka (No. 16 of 1899), which is unfortunately mutilated, but seems to belong to the reign of the early Chôḷa king Râjakêsarivarman. One feels tempted to conclude from this that Râjakêsarivarman put an end to the rule of the Gaṅga-Pallavas, and that certain chiefs who claimed connection with the Pallava dynasty were first subordinate to Vijaya-Nṛipatuṅgavikramavarman and afterwards to his conqueror, the Chôḷa king.

The inscription records that the maṇḍapa in front of the cave temple was built by a certain Aḍavi with the permission of a Gaṅga chief named Nêrguṭṭi, who must have been subordinate to Vijaya-Nandivikramavarman. Aḍavi was the headman of a village near Perumbâlaiyûr in Ûrrukkâṭṭu-kôṭṭam. This district owes its name to Ûrrukkâḍu, a village in the Conjeeveram tâluka, and Perumbâlaiyûr is perhaps the same as Pâlaiyûr which is mentioned in the Kaśâkûḍi plates.^[9]

TEXT.^[10]

1 Svasti śrî [||*] Kô Viśai-
2 [ya-Na]n[d]i[vi]kki[râma]-
3 parumarku yâ-
4 ṇḍu m[û]nrâ-
5 vadu [Û]rrukkâ-
6 ṭ[ṭu-k]kôṭṭa[t]tu-
7 [Pp]erumbâlai-
8 ûr-^[11]Ttiruppâlai-
9 yûr kilavann=Aḍa-
10 vi śrî-Gaṅgaraiyar
11 Nêrguṭṭi Perumânâ- 12 rkku viṇṇappañ=jeydu

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^[1] South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. III. p. 12, note 15 ; maṇḍagam occurs twice in the Kûram plates, ibid. Vol. I. No. 151, text lines 61 and 74.
^[2] Above, Vol. IV. p. 181 f.
^[3]South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. I. Nos. 108, 124 and 125, and Vol. III. Nos. 41 and 43.
^[4] Above, Vol. IV. No. 23.
^[5] No. 51 of 1898 ; 10th year ; and No. 61 : [2]1st year. An inscription at Kûram (No. 35 of 1900) is dated in the 12th year.
^[6] No. 63 of 1898 : 16th year ; No. 81 : 25th year : No. 83 : 26th year ; and No. 82 : date lost. Two inscriptions at Kûram (Nos. 33 and 37 of 1900) are dated in the 17th and [21]st years.
^[7] No. 303 of 1901 : 18th year : and Nos. 300 and 301 : 22nd year.
^[8] Pallavatila-kulattu Nandippôttaraiyar mahâdêviyâradna aḍigal Kaṇân Mâramêdvaiyâr. See South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. II. p. 345.
^[10] From two inked estampages.
^[11] Read “bâlaiyâre.