________________
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. IX.
evidently a mistake. Amidu (1. 14) and amirdul (1. 19 f.), both of which correspond to the modern Tamil amudu, are tadbhavas of the Sanskrit ampita. The word poli (1.9) is used both bere and in the Trichinopoly cave inscription of Varagupa-Pandya' instead of the more common polibas, which occurs in the Tanjore inscriptions and survives in the Malay&ļam palita. The word wu (11. 27 and 69) is still current in Malayalam, while its modern Tamil equivalent is niru. The root from which they are both derived is naru, which has acquired a figurative sense in Tamil, while the original meaning seems to be preserved in Teluga. The measure known as sevidu occurs four times in the form feritfu (11. 25, 27, 54 and 70). The word nigadi is used in line 27 as well as in line 13 apparently in the same sense as nisadi, of which niyadi (1.77) is a variant. Vena in line 75 is a vulgar form of the word vendiya. The form kuni, which occurs twice (1l. 58 and 78), is perhaps a simple mistake for kuruni.
The subjoined inscription belongs to the time of Varaguna-Maharaja, whose name occurs thrice (11, 5, 11 f. and 81), and is dated in the 12th opposite to the fourth year of his reign. From his camp at Araisar on the bank of the Pennai river in Toņdai-nadu, the king granted 290 káfu to the temple of Tiruppôttudaiyår? (the ancient name of Erichcha-Udaiyår) at Ilangôkkudi in Mulli-nadu. The assembly of the village received the money. The committee of the assembly and the temple servants had jointly to provide for offerings to the god, according to a fixed scale, out of the interest from those 290 k&fu.
The inscription of Varaguņa-Pardya in the Upper Cave at Trichinopoly is dated on the 2501st day (and) in the 4th year or the 11th year of his reign.10 No reasonable doubt can at present be entertained as regards the identity of this king with the donor of the subjoined record. On the occasion of making the former donation Varaguna was at Niyamam in the Tanjore district, after having destroyed the fortifications of a town named Vêmbil. At Ramanathapuram near Dindigul in the Madura district is a Tamil inscription which refers to the expedition (yáttirai) of M&rafijadaiyan against Idavai in the Chola country. The Trichinopoly epigraph implies that Marañjadaiyan" was a surname of Varagupa," and this inference is borne out by a
1 Amirds occurs also in the Tanjore inscriptions ; see eg. South-Ind. Iseer. Vol. II. P. 69, text line 3. Agurds is another form of the same word; see above, Vol. VII. p. 194, text line 3.
. See the Director-General's Annual for 1908-4. p. 276, text line 16.
* See e.g. South-Ind. Inser. Vol. II. p. 69, text line 3. The form palisai also occurs in epigraphical records; see ibid. p. 122, text line 27.
• According to Dr. Gundert palila menns interest on money.'
According to Winslow du means to destroy, to kill.' • According to Brown's Telugu Dictionary, miniţa means to grind or sharpen' and to reduce to powder.' + This name means "the blessed lord of the bull,' 1... Siva
• According to an inscription of the Chøjs king Rajendra-Cháļa L. (above, Vol. V. p. 47) Shermadevi in the Tinnevelly district was included in Mulli-n da. Mulli-nåļa belonged to the Tirvați-njy, i.e. Travancore, in the 17th century A.D. (ibid. Vol. III. p. 240).
The expression facai-váriyar seems to imply that the system of village administration prevalent in the Chols country in the 10th century A.D. was also in operation in the Pandya kingdom in the 9th century A.D.. see the Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1898-99, paragraphe 58 to 78.
10 See the Director-General's Annual for 1909-4, p. 276.
11 Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1906-6, Part II. paragraph 26. This is the inscription mentioned by Mr. Sewell (List of Antiquities, Vol. I. p. 289) as being engraved on the "Pandiyay Rock” in very old Tamil characters.
Marañjadaiyap seems to have been a formal name of Varaguna, just as Bajakesarivarman and Parakesarivarman were of Cháļa kings. Konêrigmaikond was a similar name assumed originally by Chola kings and subsequently by the Pandyas too. Among the later Pandya, Miravarman and Jatilavarman were similar formal names derived, evidently, from the Tamil words Marap and Sadaiyan. The former denotes in Sanskrit 'Capid,' bat has been so often applied to the Pandya king that it has become one of the synonyms of "the Pandys king.'
1 No. 277 of 1895 in the Trevandrum Museum belongs to the 27th year of Mirafijadaiyap. It may be . record of Varaguņa-Pandya, though this is not absolutely certain. It mentions a hero named Ranahtrti, the army of the Chers king, and Visufiam.