South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

Maryâdâsâgaradêva, Maryâdâsâgara must be another name of his father and predecessor Vyâsa (the son of Guṇasâgara II.).

In the prose part of the inscription Sôḍhadêva from his residence at Dhuliâghaṭṭa (l. 32) informs the Mahârâjñî (or Mahârâjñîs), Mahârâjaputras, Mahâsândhivigrahikas and other officials and the inhabitants concerned that, after bathing in the great river Gaṇḍakî on the occasion of the Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti on Sunday, the seventh tithi of the bright half of Pausha in the year 1134 (given in words, l. 39), he granted twenty nâlukas of land in the fields of certain villages or hamlets to fourteen Brâhmaṇas whose names, gôtras, etc., and exact shares in the land are given in lines 40-50. Among the titles of officials enumerated here, and in the description of the several classes of inhabitants mentioned, there are some terms which I have not met before or about the proper reading of which I am doubtful : they are the terms mahâmahantaka, mahâdânika, mahâpândhâkulika (or mahâpândha and kulika ?) in line 34, and vishayadânika, khaṇḍavâla,^[1] valâdhîra (or balâdhîra) and bhaṭṭâmâkutika (or bhaṭṭa and mâkutika ?) in line 35. The term nâluka (or, abbreviated, nâlu), which also occurs in a plate of Gôvindachandra of Kanauj (above, Vol. V. p. 114, l. 19), apparently is derived from, and equivalent to, the Sanskṛit nalva, a measure of distance equal to 400 (or, according to others, 100, or 120) hastas ; what I do not understand in the present inscription is, that ‘the land measuring twenty nâlukas’ in line 37 is further qualified by the expression dêvakuṭîkâshṭha-parimita. Nor am I able to give the meaning of the word pâṭikâ in the expression pâṭikayâ vibhajya which occurs in line 47.

The land granted by the king was in (the district of) Ṭîkarikâ that belonged to the Guṇakala-vishaya (l. 36). It formed part of the fields of Mahiâri-pâṭaka, Asathî-pâṭaka, Thiula-pâṭaka, Vaṇiâ-pâṭaka, Duâri-pâṭaka and Chhiḍâḍâṭêmbhâ, a group of villages bounded on the east by Annâḍha, on the north by Ṭîkari, on the south by Avaḍachaṇa, and on the west by Chanduliâ. The terms in which the land was given are well known from the grants of Gôvindachandra and other kings of Kanauj.

Each of the fourteen donees is described by a term indicating his place of residence or origin, and in each case the text gives the father’s name, the gôtra, the number of pravaras (three or five), and the Vêdic śâkhâ. The gôtras so mentioned are those of Kâtyâyaṇa, Kâśyapa, Kuśika, Kṛishṇâtra (for Kṛishṇâtrêya ?), Kauṇḍinya, Dhaumra, Pârâśara (or Parêśara), Bhâradvâja, Râhula, Sâvarṇa and śrî-Śâṇḍilya ; the śâkhâs the Bahvṛicha-ś., Chhandôga-ś., Vâjasanêya-ś., Mâdhyandina-ś., and Yajuḥ-ś. The donees and their father mostly have one of the titles paṇḍita, dîkshita, agnihôtrin, dvivêdin, bhaṭṭa, or simply brâhmaṇa. Among their proper names occur^[2] Gôvindâyichcha, Chhâñchhî (gen, ‘îkasya), Jâkhû, Jâlû (gen. ºûkasya), Tihuyaṇasîha, Dândû (gen. ºûkasya), Nîmbô, Bhôgû, Mâḍha, Mâlhê (gen. ºêkasya), Vâhmaṭa, and Sîdhû (gen. ºûkasya). The adjectives derived from the names of the places of residence or origin of the donees are Kaṭaughanagrâmîya (from Kaṭaughanagrâma), Kahallîya (from Kahall[î]), Kulândhîya (from Kulândh[î]), Ṭîkarikîya (from Ṭîkari), Tâlîkîya (from Tâli), Nâgara (from Nagara), Nikhatîgrâmîya (from Nikhatîgrâma), Mahuâlîkîya (from Mahuâlî), Mâthura (from Mathurâ), Sâṅkasasthânîya (from Sâṅkasasthâna), and Hastigrâmîya (from Hastigrâma).─ In the passage which records the exact partition among the donees of the land granted it is stated (in line 50) that one of the donees together with his 3 nâlus of land received a dwelling-place.

After the ten benedictive and imprecatory verses already mentioned it is stated (in line 57) that this tâmra-paṭṭa was written by the Âdêśa-naibandhika or ‘ recorded of orders ’ Janaka on Sunday, the sixth tithi of the dark half of Chaitra of the year 1135 (given in figures only) ;
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^[1] This would remind one of khaṇḍaraksha which is common enough.
^[2] Compare the list of names given above, Vol. IV. p. 171 ff.