South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

73 vichakravarttî śâsanassâśyukṛit^[1] || Peddha(dda)-Kaluchuvubariti śâsana[ṁ*]bu sêsina Bha-
74 ṭṭadêvaṇik=Arahanandi-bhaṭâr[u*]lu Guṁsimiya r[e*]ṭṭ-eḍlu-gâmpulunuṇḍi panu . . ṇḍa^[2] tûmuna ne(? ni)[3] vuṭlu vittu-paṭṭu vrasâdañ=chêsiri [||*]

TRANSLATION.

Ôm ! Hail ! Of Satyâśrayavallabhêndra-(Pulakêśin II.),─ who adorned the family of the Châlukyas, who are glorious ; who belong to the Mânavya gôtra which is being praised throughout the whole world ; who are Hâritiputras ; who acquired sovereignty by the favour of a boon from the goddess Kauśikî ; who are protected by the assemblage of the Mothers (of the world) ; who meditate on the feet of the god Svâmi-Mahâsêna ; who have made the territories of their enemies subject to themselves on the instant at the mere sight of the excellent boar-crest which they acquired through the favour of the divine Nârâyaṇa ; and whose bodies have been purified by ablutions performed after celebrating aśvamêdha-sacrifices,─ the (younger) brother :─

(Verse 1 ; line 6.) The victorious Kubja-Vishṇu (that is, Vishṇuvardhana I.), the first husband of Fortune,^[4] protected for eighteen years the earth, taken by his valour from a mighty (foe)^[5] hard to be conquered, just as the dwarf Vishṇu, the first husband of Śrî (Lakshmî), protected the earth, taken by his stride from the demon Bali hard to be conquered.

(Line 8.) His son Jayasiṁha (I.) (reigned) for thirty-three (years). Vishṇuvardhana (II.), son of his younger brother Indrarâja, for nine (years). His son Maṅgi-Yuvarâja, for twenty-five (years). His son Jayasiṁha (II.), for thirteenth (years).

(L. 10.) His younger brother Kokkili, born from a different mother, (reigned) for six months. His elder brother Vishṇuvardhana (III.), having expelled him, (reigned) for thirty-seven (years). His son Vijayâditya (I.)-Bhaṭṭâraka, for eighteen (years). His son Vishṇuvardhana (IV.), for thirty-six (years). His son Narêndramṛigarâja-(Vijayâditya II.), for forty-eight (years). His son Kali-Vishṇuvardhana (V.), for one year and a half.

(L. 14.) His son Guṇaga-Vijayâditya (III.) (reigned) for forty-four (years) ; or (in other words) :─ (V. 2; l. 15.) His eldest son, the lord Guṇaga-Vijayâditya (III.), a veritable champion,^[6] to whose arm great honour was paid by the Vallabha king,^[7] and who, in addition to being a chief of heroes, was a crest-jewel of great warriors, enjoyed the earth for four and forty years.^[8]

(Vv. 3, 4 ; ll. 17, 19.) The son of his brother the Yuvarâja king Vikramâditya (I.), namely, the king Bhîma (I.),^[9] who caused alarm to his foes, and who was (so) liberal (that) he

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^[1] Read, probably, śâsanasy=âsya kâvya-kṛit.
^[2] Read, perhaps, panneṇḍu.
^[3] It seems either that ni was engraved and was corrected into ne, or else that the reverse was done. Further, the akshara is perhaps a mistake for the figure 9.
^[4] That is to say, the first king in his dynasty.
^[5] There is, perhaps, an intimation that the territory first acquired by the Eastern Chalukyas had belonged to a ruler named Bali. But we have no facts as yet, in support of such an interpretation.
^[6] Aṅkakâra ; for aṅkakâra : see page 180 above.
^[7] That is, the contemporaneous Râshṭrakûṭa king of Mâlkhêḍ, either Amôghavarsha I. or Kṛishṇa II. ; see Vol. VI. above, pp. 174, 175.
^[8] when I originally saw this record, many years ago, I read, in line 17, aśauchata aśvatvâriṁsatim, and thought that it should be emended into aśôbhat=âshṭâ[cha*]tvâriṁśatim ; and that is how I come to say (Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 102) that this record adds an alternative statement that the duration of the reign of Vijayâditya III. was forty-eight years. The real reading, however,─ aśau(sau) chatasraś=chatvâriṁśatim,─ is quite certain ; and my mistake was due to the great similarly between the initial a and the akshara sra, and between the subscript v and ch, in the period to which this record belongs.
^[9] This king is mentioned again in line 30 as Châlukya-Bhîma (I.), by his more usual appellation.