South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

(14) A record of A.D. 1090-91 recites,─ . . . . dattasy=âsya śâsanasy=âjñaptiḥ paṁcha pradhânâḥ,^[1]─ “ the âjñapti of this charter, given in the twenty-first year of the glorious and victorious reign, is the five ministers.”─ And similarly (15) A record of the same reign, two years later in date, recites,─ . . . . dattasy=âsya śâsanasy=âjñaptiḥ paṁcha pradhânâḥ,^[2]─ “ the âjñapti of this charter, given in the twenty-third year of the glorious and victorious reign, is the five ministers.”

Now, in the instances Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the world âjñapti unmistakably introduces certain individual persons mentioned by name ; and probably also in No. 3, where, however, a continuation of the text may have been lost. And, râja being a frequent enough ending of proper names, it was, therefore, not unnatural that the word kaṭakarâja should have been originally taken as, similarly, a personal appellation.

On the other hand, in the instances Nos. 14 and 15, no individual is mentioned by name, and the word âjñapti introduced a body of officials known as the five ministers.

The word kaṭakêśa, in No. 13, is a mere variant of the kaṭakâdhîśa of No. 12 ; and both these words are fairly capable of being taken as only synonyms of kaṭakarâja. We can recognise a decided objection to interpreting kaṭakarâja as a proper name, in te fact that it could at least not denote one and the same individual through so long a period as that which is covered by the instances Nos. 8, 9, 10, and 11. And, from a comparison of all the passages, we may finally decide that, as has been suggested as possible some time ago,^[3] the word kaṭakarâja, and, with it, kaṭakâdhîśa and kaṭakêśa, should be taken as denoting an official post, that of the governor or superintendent (adhîśa, îśa, râjan) of the royal camp (kaṭaka).

In earlier records, the word âjñapti occurs in the Prâkṛit forms, used in the same way, of âṇatti in the ‘Gunapadeya’ plates of Vijaya-Buddhavarman,^[4] and of ânatî in the Mayidavôlu plates of Śiva-Skandavarman.^[5]

TEXT.^[6]
First plate.

1 Ôm^[7] Svasti Śrîmatâṁ sakala-bhuvana – s a ṁ s t û y a m â n a-M â n a v y a-s a g ô t r â-
2 ṇâṁ Hâriti-putrâṇâṁ Kauśikî-vara-prasâda-labd h a-r â j y â n â m=M â t ṛ i g a ṇ a-p a r i-
3 pâlitânâṁ Svâmi-Mahâsêna-pâd-ânudhy â t â n â ṁ^[8] b h a g a v a n-N â r â y a ṇ a-p r a s â-
4 da-samâsâdita-vara-varâhalâṁchcha(c h h a ) n-ê k s h a ṇ a-k s h a ṇ a-v a ś î k ṛ i t-â r â t i-
5 maṇḍlânâṁm^[9]=aśvamêdh – a v b h ṛ i t a^[10]s n â n a-p a v i t r î k ṛ i t a-v a p u s h â ṁ Châ-
6 lukyânâṁ kulam=alaṁkarishṇôs=Satyâśrayavallabhêndrasya bhrâtâ [|*] Śri(śrî)^[11]-

_______________________
^[1] Ind. Ant. Vol. XIX. p. 433, line 113 f. For the exact year of this record, see Vol. VI. above, p. 335
^[2] Vol. V. above, p. 94, line 280.
^[3] Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 267, note 5.
^[4] Id. Vol. IX. p. 102, line 16.─ [Compare above, p. 69, note 1. The same Prâkṛit form occurs in the Kâśâkuḍi plates, South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. II. No. 73, l. 106 f.; in the Râyakôṭa plates, above, Vol. V. No. 8, l. 13 ; in the Madras Museum plates of Jaṭilavarman, Ind. Ant. Vol. XXII. p. 71, l. 75 ; and in a Tiruvallam inscription, South-Ind. Inscr. Vol. III. No. 43, l. 16.─ E. H.]
^[5] Vol. VI. above, p. 88, line 27.
^[6] From the original plates.
^[7] Represented by an ornate symbol.
^[8] In the syllable nâṁ, the â was formed by a direct continuation, upwards, of the last stroke of the n, instead of being attached, in the usual way, as a projection to the right of that stroke. This form of the â occurs again in the tyâ of Satyâśraya, line 6. It is met with in other places also. But it is not, on the whole, common. And the explanation probably is that, in all such cases, the vowel was at first omitted by the writer and then was inserted on a revision of his work, and that it was formed in this exceptional manner because there was no space in which to make it in the usual way.
^[9] Read maṇḍalânâm.
^[10] Read âvabhṛitha.
^[11] Metres, Ślôka (Anushṭubh). There are two syllables too many in the fourth pâda. An omission of the two syllables laya would make the metre correct.