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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(1827) shews it as ‘Neergoondee.’ And the Map of the Dhârwâr Collectorate (1874) shews it
as ‘Needgoondee.’ The present record gives its name in the older form of Niḍugundage, and
marks it as the chief town of a group of villages known as the Niḍugundage twelve. And
the purport of the record has the effect of placing it and its attached villages in the Kundarage
seventy, and perhaps in also the Beḷgali three-hundred. The inscription is on a stone tablet,
which was found in a field, Survey No. 64, at Niḍagundi, and is now stored in the kachêri at
Shiggaon.
The top of the stone, about 7½” high, shews the sculptures of a liṅga on its abhishêka-stand, with the bull Nandin, recumbent, and facing towards it. These sculptures cover above two-thirds of the top part of the stone. The rest of it, on the proper right side, is occupied by six
short lines of writing, in characters of the same type and period, which contain a short supplementary record ; they have been numbered 20 to 25, and are given after the text of the body
of the record.─ The writing of the body of the record covers an area about 1’ 9½” broad by
2’ 4½” high, and is mostly in a state of very good preservation.─ The characters are Kanarese,
boldly formed and well executed. They are fairly uniform in size, ranging mostly between about
⅞” and 1⅛” ; but the yo of Vâraṇâsiyoḷ, in line 17, is only a little more than ½” high : the śrî in
line 1 is about 2” high. The record itself presents final forms, of t in śrîmat, line 5, and of m in
koṭṭam, line 13, and paḍedoṁm, line 16 ; and we have the final m again in the supplementary
record at the top of the stone, in bhaṭṭâram, line 22. The anusvâra is formed between the lines of
writing, instead of above the top line, in idaṁ, line 16, and apparently also in kavileyuṁ,
line 18. The distinct form of the lingual ḍ can be recorgnised clearly in panneraḍumân, line 9,
and still more so in perggeḍe, for perggaḍe, line 11 ; it is also marked, though not so plainly, in
Niḍugundage, line 9, Gâḍiyammaṁn, line 15, and paḍedoṁm, line 16 : and it is exhibited again
in paḍeda[ṁ], line 24.
As regards palæography,─ the kh does not occur. The j occurs four
times : in the jya of râjyaṁ, line 3, No. 8, and in the ja of vijaya, line 4, No. 8, it is of the
old square type, closed ; but in jâ twice in mahârâjâdhirâja, line 2, Nos. 6 and 9, it is the later
cursive character. The ṅ occurs twice, in lines 16, 17 : in both places, it is of the old square type,
closed ; it is presented most clearly in the ṅge of kâdoṅge, line 16, the last akshara but one : it
occurs again in the supplementary record, in anugrahaṅ-geydu, line 23-24 ; and there, also, it is
of the old square type, closed. The b occurs nine times : in the bdha of ôpalabdha, line 4, No. 6,
we have the later cursive form ; but, in all the other instances, we have the old square type, in
the closed form, and the intended exact form of it is perhaps best illustrated by the ba of Baṁkêyaṁge, line 10, No. 4 ; it occurs again in the supplementary record, in sabbâ, line 22 ; and there
also, it is of the old square type, but, apparently, in the open rather than the closed form : the
solitary instance of the use of the later cursive form in ôpalabdha, line 4, No. 6, must, as in the
case of the Sîrûr record, be explained as a slip on the part of the writer. The l occurs more
freely still : it is, throughout, of the later cursive type, as also in the supplementary record, in
cholege or volege, line 23 : the la of lakshmî, line 4, exhibits very markedly the preservation, in
miniature, of the principal part of the old square character, to which attention has already been
drawn on page 199 ; but the la of dêgulamaṁ, line 14, No. 8, probably illustrates best the
exact form that was aimed at in this record.─ The language is Kanarese, of the archaic type, in
prose. In line 23, we have a word chole or vole, the meaning of which is not apparent.─ The
orthography does not present anything calling for comment, except (1) the insertion of an unnecessary anusvâra in Râpannuṁm, line 10-11, Gâḍiyammaṁn, line 15, and paḍedoṁm, for
paḍedon or paḍedoṁ, line 16 ; and (2) perhaps the use of v for b, in vaṭṭâra, line 14 for baṭṭâra
as a possible tadbhava-corruption of bhaṭṭâra ; here, however, the v is possibly simply a writer’s
mistake for bh.
This inscription is another record of the reign of the Râshṭrakûṭa king Amôghavarsha I.It mentions an official of his, named Baṅkêya or Baṅkêyarasa, who was governing the Banavâsitwelve-thousands province, and the districts known as the Beḷgali three-hundred, the
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