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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Both of them are intended to commemorate the donations of a king Tammusiddi or Tammusiddha, who belongs to a family of Telugu chiefs of whom numerous records have been discovered since 1892 in the Chingleput, North Arcot, Nellore and Kistna districts. On these materials Mr. Venkayya has based his valuable account of the Chôḍas of the Telugu country in the Annual Report for 1899-1900. However, as none of the inscriptions made use of by Mr. Venkayya have been published until now, I shall confine my remarks to the facts furnished by the following two inscriptions alone. The Tiruvâlaṅgâḍu inscription is damaged in a few places, but the illegible passages can easily be restored, partly from the context alone, and partly with the help of the Tiruppâśûr inscription. It is written in Grantha characters. The size of the letters varies from ¾” to 2”. Line 8 contains the rare subscript sign for jha in nirjjharâ. The language is Sanskṛit, and, with the exception of the concluding words svasty=astu, the whole text is in verse. As regards orthography, it may be pointed out here that in the middle of a word t is written instead of d before a sonant consonant in the word patma in ll. 1, 2, 3, and in bhavatbhirin l. 21. After two introductory verses in praise of the donor, who, as stated above, is called both Tammusiddhi (ll. 2, 17, 18) and Tammusiddha (ll. 1, 20, 21), the inscription gives his genealogy, which shows the characteristical features of the Chôḷa genealogies.
It begins with some mythical ancestors. From the lotus of Vishṇu’s navel sprang Brahman (vv. 3, 4), from him Marîchi, from him Kaśyapa (v. 5), from him the Sun (v. 6), and from him Manu (v. 7), in whose family there were born many kings (v. 8). This is the genealogy of the solar race as taught in the Purâṇas.[1] It is found also in the Udayêndiram plates of Pṛithivîpati II.[2] and those of Vîra-Chôḷa,[3] as well as in the Kaliṅgattu-Paraṇi[4] and the Vikkirama-Śôlan-Ulâ ;[5] but in the last three passages the third name appears as Kâśyapa or Kâchchipan instead of Kaśyapa. The Vikkirama-Śôlan-Ulâ differs besides in placing Kâśyapa before Marîchi, and the Udayêndiram plates of Pṛithivîpati II. omit Manu.
The inscription next mentions three kings who form the connecting link between those
sages of old and the direct ancestors of Tammusiddhi. The first of them, born in the lineage of
Manu, is Kalikâla (v. 9). Kalikâla is identical, of course, with the ancient half-mythical Chôḷa
king whose name is generally given as Karikâla. The various tradition about him have been
collected by Dr. Hultzsch.[6] In the present inscription we are told that he constructed the
banks of the Kâvêrî, and that, when he had lifted Mount Mêru with his play-staff, the quarters
were greatly disturbed or confounded. The story about the construction of the banks of the
Ponni or Kâvêrî is alluded to also in the Kaliṅhgattu-Paraṇi,[7] the Vikkirama-Śôlana-Ulâ,[8] and the
large Leyden grant.[9] The second legend, implied by the words of the inscription, is not known to
me, but it is probably connected in some way with another legend recorded by the two Tamil
poems. According to the Kaliṅgattu-Paraṇi Karikâla inscribed on the side of Mount Mêru the
whole history of the Tamil race as foretold by the Ṛishi Nârada, and the Vikkirama-Śôlan-Ulâ he is spoken of as “the king who set his tiger-banner on the mountain whose summit gleams with
crystal waterfalls,” where the mountain meant by the poet would seem to be again Mount Mêru.
[1] See, e.g., Agnipurâṇa, 5, 2 :─ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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