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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
miniature, in the centre of the later cursive letter, of the principal part of the old square
character, to which attention has already been drawn on page 199 above, in the remarks on the
Mantrawâḍi inscription of A.D. 865 ; and the same feature is recognisable, though not so pointedly,
in alaṁkṛitaṁ, line 1, kavileyaṁ, line 21, and kavileyu, line 22. There seem to be three
abnormal vowel-marks in this record : the stroke projecting downwards from the bottom of the
k of gaṇikâ, near the end of line 8, appears to be intended to supply the â, which was omitted in
its proper place on the top line of the writing ; in the superscript î of śrîmad, near the beginning
of line 16, the long vowel appears to be marked by a curve on the right, instead of the left in the
usual manner ; and in śrîmad, line 18, it appears that, i having been written instead of î, an
upwards stroke to the right was added, on revision, by way of marking the vowel as long.─ As
regards the language, we have ordinary Sanskṛit verses in lines 1 to 6 : and the remainder of the
record is in Kanarese, of the archaic style, in prose. As far as the words Annigereyaḷ=ire, in
line 19, this record follows the same draft on which there was based the corresponding part of the
Nîlgund inscription. But this record does not seem[1] to have included the verse Jayati bhuvanakâraṇaṁ, etc., which we have in the beginning of the Nîlgund inscription ; and it presents a few
various readings, of which, however, only Śauṭân, instead of Gauḍân, in line 4, is of any particular
interest. Like the Nîlgund inscription, this record presents, in line 8, the word prâtirâjya,
employed in the sense of pratirâja, ‘ a hostile king,’ or rather, perhaps, ‘a collection of hostile
kings.’ In Bâraṇâsivadoḷ, line 21, we have a curious substitute for the usual locative Bâraṇâsiyoḷ,
with which we have to compare the locative Vârṇaśivaduḷ in an inscription at Baḷagâmi,[2] and
Bâraṇasivada, in the place of the usual genitive Bâraṇasiya, in an inscription at Paṭṭadakal ;[3] these forms suggest, of course, the existence and occasional use of a base Bâraṇâsiva (with such
variants as Bâraṇasiva and Vâraṇaśiva), for which, however, it is difficult to account.─ In respect
of orthography, the only points to be noted are (1) the use of ri for ṛi in the word srishṭi, line 10,
just as in lines 12 and 33 of the Nîlgund record, and again in vriddhi, line 15 ; and (2) the
occurrence of lâñchanaṁ, instead of lâñchhanaṁ, in line 13, just as in line 16 of the Nîlgund
record.
The record is dated at the time of an eclipse of the sun on Sunday the new-moon day of the
(amânta) month Jyaishṭha of the Vyaya saṁvatsara, Śaka-Saṁvat 788 (expired), in the fifty-second year of the reign of Amôghavarsha I. And corresponding English date is Sunday,
16th June, A.D. 866, when there was a total eclipse of the sun, visible in India, at 9 hrs. 4 min.
after mean sunrise.[7]
The date preserved in this record fixes, as I have pointed out before now,[8] the commencement of the reign of Amôghavarsha I. in A.D. 814 or 815, in the following manner. The
record places the new-moon day of the amânta month Jyaishṭha, on which day the assignment
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[1] See page 205 below, note 2.
[2] Ind. Ant. Vol. XIX. p. 145, text line 13.
[3] Ind. Ant. Vol. X. p. 167, No. 105, text line 6.
[4] See the next paragraph but one.
[5] Regarding the use of this form of the name, instead of Aṇṇigere with the lingual ṇṇ, see Vol. VI. above,
p. 100, note 2.
[6] See Vol. VI, above, p. 107, note 4.
[7] See Vol. VI. above, p. 102, note 3.
[8] In Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 216 a, and more fully and clearly in my Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts, in
the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. I. Part II., p. 401, note 2.
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