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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
shows ‘ Lattoor ’ as the name of a territorial subdivision ranking on equal terms with Bidar,
Kalbarga, Shôlâpur, Vairâg, and Paṇḍharpur.[1] Along with Pratishṭhâna-Paiṭhaṇ and Tagara-Têr, ‘ Latur ’ is in that part of the Dekkan, watered by the Gôdâvarî and its tributaries, which
has been indicated by Dr. Bhandarkar as a favourite region of early Âryan settlement ;[2] and it
is, in fact, only about twenty-eight miles east-by-north from Têr, and three miles south of the
‘ Manjera,’ which is an important feeder of the Gôdâvarî. And I strongly suspect that local
inquiries would result in finding that ‘ Latur ’ is the ancient Lattalûr, Lattanûr. If so, there
will, perhaps, be found at ‘ Latur ’ some notable temple or remains of such a temple, either of
the goddess Durgâ in the form of Châmuṇḍâ, or of Vishṇu in the form of the man-lion, or
possibly temples of both those deities ; since the Sîtâbaldî inscription further describes Dhâḍîbhaḍaka as “ he who obtained favour by a boon of (the goddess) Châmuṇḍâ,” and Vâsudêva as
“ he who obtained favour by a boon of (the god) Nârasiṁha.”[3]
The matter must, of course, depend a good deal upon what is the actual spelling of the
modern name which the maps and gazetteers present as ‘ Latur, Lathur, and Lattoor.’ We
need not trouble ourselves about the h which appears in one of these forms ; it is as easily
accounted for here, as in some other instances referred to by me elsewhere.[4] For the rest, I
feel no doubt that inquiries on the spot would shew that the real name is Lâtûr, with a long â
followed by a single dental t. And, if that is so, the modern name is distinctly derivable from
the ancient name, through steps the rulers for some of which have been given to me by Professor
Pischel. We start with the form Lattalûra, of A.D. 866, of which Lattanûr, appearing first at
present in A.D. 1208, is plainly only an optional variant attributable to the interchangeability of
l and n.[5] The first step would be the dropping of one t in the second syllable, which would
give us Latalûra, and eventually the Latalaura which we actually have in the Sîtâbaldî inscription. The next step would be the omission of the short a of the second and final syllables,[6] which
would give us Latlûr. The next step would be the assimilation of the l to the preceding t,[7]
which would give us Lattûr. And, finally, the nexus tt would be dissolved into the simple t,
and the preceding short a would be lengthened by way of compensation ;[8] and this would give us
the ultimate form Latûr.
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[1] See the skeleton map on p. 951, and the key to it on p. 953, sub-division Nos. 66 to 71.
[2] See the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. XIII., Thana, Part II., p. 423, note 4, and Early History
of the Dekkan (id. Vol. I. Part II.), p. 135 ff.
[3] Compare another epithet of the Kâdambas of Hângal, namely Jayanti-Mahhukêśvaradêva-labdha-vara-prasâda, “ he who obtained the excellent favour of the god Madhukêśvara of Jayantî-(Banawâsi) ” (Ind. Ant.
Vol. X. p. 252, text line 25) ; also, another epithet of the Guttas of Guttal, namely Ujjênî-Mahâkâḷadêvatâ-labdha-vara-prasâda, “ he who obtained the excellent favour of the god Mahâkâla of Ujjayani” (P. S. O.-C.
Inscrs. No. 108, line 10). But the records do not always present a title of this kind, in connection with the title
commemorating the place of origin. And in some cases the epithet indicating a family-god, refers to a god who was
not the god of the alleged place of origin ; for instance, though, like the Kâdambas of Hângal, the Kâdambas of
Goa were styled “ supreme lord of Banavâsî, the best of towns,” their other title was śrî-Saptakôṭîśvaradêva-labdha-vara-prasâda, “ he who obtained the excellent favour of the holy god Saptakôṭîśvara ” (Jour, Bo. Br. B.
As. Soc. Vol. IX. p. 304, text line 11-12, and compare Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 290, text line 27), and Saptakôṭîś-
vara appears to have been a god at ‘Narven’ in Goa (see Dyn. Kan. Distrs. p. 566, note 7).
[4] See Jour. R. As. Soc., 1901, p. 543 ff.
[5] See Prof. Pischel’s Prâkṛit Grammar, § 260. As instances of the interchange of l and n, we may quote the
place-names Lañjigêsara-Nandikêshwar (see Ind. Ant. Vol. XIX. p. 317 a) and Balisa-‘ Wanesa ’ (see id. Vol. XVIII.
p. 266, and Vol. XXXI. p. 397), and the proper name Liṅgapa-Niṅgapa, well known in the Kanarese country, and
the ordinary words nahân for lahân in Gujarâtî (see id. Vol. XVIII. p. 266, note 5) and jalam-ashṭami for
janm-âshṭamî in Northern India (see id. Vol. XX. p. 89, note 2).
[6] See id. § 148.
[7] See id. §§ 279, 296, and Beames’ Comparative Grammar of the Modern Âryan Languages of India,
p. 282 (2).
[8] See Beames’ Comparative Grammar, Vol. I. p. 152, § 41, and p. 281, § 73 (1).
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