Epigraphia Indica Vol 03

SR No.: 032557
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1894
Total Pages: 472
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 84

No. 10.]
VANAPALLI PLATES OF ANNA-VEMA.
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No. 10.- VANAPALLI PLATES OF ANNA-VEMA,- SAKA-SAMVAT 1300.
BY E. HULTZSCH, Pu.D. The original of this inscription was found by a workman while excavating some earth in an old site" in the village of Vanapalli in the Amalapuram tâluka of the Godåvari district. The find came to the notice of Mr. P. V. S. Gopalam, Pleader, Cocanada, who reported it to the Superintendent, Archeological Survey, Madras, on the 23rd May 1892. The plates were subsequently presented to Government by their owner, Vissapragada Krishnayya, and are now deposited in the Madras Museum.
The inscription is engraved on three copper-plates of 101 by 54 inches. The rims are slightly raised for the protection of the writing. The preservation of the plates is fairly good; on plates i.b, ii.b, and iia, some letters are partially eaten away by verdigris. The three plates are strung on a copper ring, which measures about 34 inches in diameter, and about inch in thickness. It is not soldered and can be detached from the plates by bending it asunder. Instead of the usual seal, the ring bears a well-carved recumbent figure of the sacred bull Nandi, which is about 1 inch long, and placed on a plain pedestal.- The alphabet of the inscription is Telugu, and the language Sanskrit. With the exception of a few words in lines 1, 49, 53, 57 f. and 65, the whole of the text is in verse. The signature of the king at the end of the document is in the Telugu language. As regards orthography, the writer of the inscription follows the same system which is observed in other inscriptions from the Telugu and Kanarese countries. Thus, dhdh is written instead of adh, if the letter dh is doubled either after r (e.g. in ardhdha for ardha, 1. 47) or through sandhi (e.g. in sidhdha for siddha, 1. 21, and udhdharan for uddharan, 1. 1). Similarly, chhchh takes the place of chchh (e.g. in chámarachhohhatra for chdmara-chchhattra, l. 35 f.). The letters k, g, d, t, d, dh, and v are sometimes doubled after an anusvára (e.g. in lankka, ll. 48, 52 and 61; anggana, 1. 50; gandda, 1. 27; vinddartté, . 37; bandhdhu, 1. 26; and samvvatsara, 1. 41). A superfluous anusvára is sometimes inserted before double m, before double n, or before n followed by a consonant (e.g. in Inmmadi, 11. 42 and 52; Annna for Anna, 1. 40; and såmannya for sámánya, l. 58). Further irregularities are, - brahma for brahma (1. 56), dhamrmma for dharma (1. 58), sinhvdsana or sihvasana for sinhâsana (11, 29, 30 and 38), palaniyya for pålaniya (1. 59), and uchchate for uchyatê (1. 57). The unaspirated letter takes the place of the aspirate (e.g. in palaka for phalaka, 1. 31, and bima for bhima, 1. 34); the sonant the place of the surd (e.g. in adha for atha, 11. 49 and 53), and vice versa (e.g. in phâla for bhála, 1. 7); and the dental n the place of the lingual after in varnna for varna, 1. 9, arnnava for arnava, 1. 25, and nirnaya for nirnaya, 1. 49).
The plates record a grant by a member of the so-called Reddi dynasty of Kondavidu, a hill-fort in the Narasarávupēta tâluka of the Kistna district. The inscription opens with invocations of Vishna in his Boar-incarnation (verse 1), Ganapati (v. 2), and the moon on the head of Siva (v. 3). It then refers to the creation of the world by Brahma at the command of Vishņu (v.4), and to the fourth (or Sudra) caste, which, like the river Gangå, was produced from the foot of Vishnu (v. 5). A member of this caste was king Prôla (v. 6), who must not be confounded with the Kakatiya king of the same name. His son was king Vêma (v.7), who built a flight of steps and a hall at Srihailam (v. 10), the well-known Saiva shrine in the Karnal district. Vêma had two sons, Anna-Võta (v. 11) and Anna-Vêma
Compare Wilson's Mackenzie Collection, Madras edition, pp. 79 ff. ; Mr. Mackenzie's Manual of the Kistna District, p. 9 f.; and Mr. Sewell's Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II. pp. 118 f. and 187. . ibid. Vol. I. p. 70 f.
. Ind. Ant. Vol. XXI. p. 197. • According to the Kurnool Manual, p. 183, Ana-Vêma-Reddi built two manda pas at Srisailam.
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