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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA historical value are verses 21, 27, 28 and 35. V. 21 states that Nâdiṇḍla-Appa obtained from king Kṛishṇa and the minister Sâḷva-Timma the right to use a palanquin, two chaurîs, and a parasol, and the posts of commander-in-chief of an army, of superintendent of Vinikoṇḍa, Gutti and Amarâvatî, and of sole governor (êkadhuraṁdhara) of that kingdom. Vinikoṇḍa is apparently the modern Vinukoṇḍa, a hill-fort and town in the Kistna district, about 37 miles west-south-west of Koṇḍavîḍu.[1] Gutti (Gooty) is the well-known hill-fort in the Anantapur district, and Amarâvatî is the equally well-known Buddhist site in the Kistna district. Vv. 27 and 28 state in very similar words that Sâḷva-Timma gave to Nâdiṇḍla-Gôpa the right to use a palanquin and two chaurîs, and the posts of general of an army and sole governor (êkadhuraṁdhara, dhaurêya) of the town and country of Koṇḍavîṭi. But in v. 35 we are told that in the year Yuvan, marked as Sâlivâhana-Śaka (Sâlivâhana-Śak-âṅka), Nâdiṇḍla-Appa obtained the regentship of Koṇḍavîṭi from Sâḷva-Timma.
The apparent discrepancy between these statements may be solved, I think, with the help of the date furnished by the Portuguese chronicle. We have only to assume that Nâdiṇḍla-Appa was temporarily appointed after the capture of Koṇḍavîḍu, when Sâḷva-Timma left the country in order to accompany the king on his expedition against Orissa, and that afterwards, when Sâḷva-Timma had settled the administration of the country and intended to return to Vijayanagara, he installed Appa’s younger brother Gôpa as governor of Koṇḍavîḍu, while Appa himself received the governorship of Vinikoṇḍa, Gutti and Amarâvatî. That Appa was appointed immediately after the capture of the fort, is shown by the date. There can be no doubt that it was Śaka-Saṁvat 1437 expired, which corresponds to Yuvan, although the chronogram does not work out quite correctly. The first three letters present no difficulty, s(â) being 7, l(i) 3, and v(â) 4, but, according to Burnell, h(a) has the value of 8, whereas here it would have to be taken as 1.[2] Secondly, the above assumption agrees with the fact that five years afterwards, in Śaka-Saṁvat 1442, Gôpa was ruling as governor of Koṇḍavîḍu.[3] And from v. 45, where Appa, ‘ the lord of Vinikoṇḍa etc.,’ is said to have made a grant in Śaka-Saṁvat 1439, we may perhaps even conclude that the new arrangement was made in or before that year. The chronicle, it is true, does not mention the second appointment of a substitute, and the first substitute is called there the brother of Sâḷva-Timma, which certainly is a mistake. On the other hand, the statement that the real governor of Koṇḍavîḍu was Sâḷva-Timma and that he, on his hand, appointed a regent, is fully borne out by the terms used in v. 35, and the fact that he granted a village situated in the territory of Kôṇḍavîḍu. The list of Nâdiṇḍla-Gôpa’s gifts comprises only three items. 1. (V. 29) In the Śaka year counted by Râghavâya (i.e. Śaka-Saṁvat 1442) he erected some new buildings (harmya) adorned with a wall (vapra) and a gate-tower (gôpura) in honour of the god Râghava in Achalapurî. This is the Sanskṛit equivalent of Kôṇḍavîḍu, as we learn from the following verses that the temple of Râghava or Raghunâyaka was situated in that town. 2. (Vv. 30-32.) In the Śaka year to be counted by the towns (3), the Vêdas (4), the oceans (4), and the month (1), in the year Vṛisha, on an auspicious day, on Monday, the day of full-moon in the month Phâlguna, he set up an image of Raghunâyaka in the town of Koṇḍavîṭî. This image was surrounded by statues of Râma’s followers.[4] For Śaka-Saṁvat 1443 expired, the date corresponds to Monday, the 10th February A.D. 1522, when the full-moon tithi of Phâlguna ended 18 h. 20 m. after mean sunrise. __________________________________________ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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