Epigraphia Indica Vol 27

SR No.: 032581
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1947
Total Pages: 490
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 27 MB

Page 79

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(Voi.. XXVI
lotus-flower below. In front of the animal is depicted an avkusu, while over it is shown a crescent with a star within.
The characters belong to the southern class of alphabets, regular for the period and locality to which the inscription belongs. They are, so to say, precursors of the modern Telugu characters. In I. 28 and 30, we have instances of r and I, which letters are peculiar to the Telugu and other South-Indian dialects and scripts. Attention may also be drawn to the forms of initial a, i, u and ?, which occur, for example, in l. 11, 12, 27 and 25 respectively. The final n and m are represented each by a special sign, as may be seen in Il. 22 and 3 respectively. A rather unusual way of expressing medial e, ai and o is to be seen in sāhasēna (1. 20), sampritair= (l. 22) and sagotrāņām (1. 1) respectively. The form of a subscript 1(11. 6, 16 and 29) likewise deserves notice. Visargas and anusvāras are, as a rule, denoted by dots, but occasionally small circles are used instead, as may be seen in l. 16 where also the less familiar way of separating an anusvāra from the letter to which it conventionally belongs is to be noticed.
The language is Sanskrit, except that in 11. 26-30 mostly it is Telugu. The composition is in prose, except the three verses in the end, the last of which mentions the name of the com poser. As regards orthography, the occasional use of an anasvāra for a class nasal, as in -pumja-pimjarita- (1. 8), the frequent reduplication of a consonant after a T, as in -mahi patir ggandara- (1.11), non-observance of sandhi in some cases, as in l. 11, and the change of visargas to a sibilant similar to the following one, as in l. 13, are the noteworthy points. The change of á to : in răsi (1. 9), Sudrako (I. 21) and prāsana (1. 23) is noteworthy. This feature is characterised as qualitative phonetic variation and is of frequent occurrence in some Dravidian languages. There are some mistakes, of both omission and commission, which have been duly noticed in the transcript of the text.
The object of the charter is to record that the king Amma, i.e., the Eastern Chalukya king Amma I, raised a distinguished warrior, Vēmarāja by name, to the position of a village-lord (grāmaņi), placing the village of Umikili in the district (vishaya) of Gudravāra, under his sole control. Vēmarāja was to pay only the traditional fixed tribute of eight gadyānakas, presumably per annum, and, for the rest, he was exempted from all the tax and revenue. Thus, in other words, the village of Umikili was granted to Vēmarāja. The inscription furnishes us with some interesting details regarding this person. As to his parentage, he is described to be son of Rajaditya's younger brother Manõhitaryya, and grandson of Chandeyarāja, belonging to the Kõna family. Rājāditya must have been a notable personage, as otherwise the mention of his name in the present context is quite uncalled for. As for Chandeyarāja, he seems to have enjoyed a highly honoured position under Vijayaditya alias Gunakkenalla, i.e., Vijayāditya III, inasmuch as he is stated to have held the same village of Umikili as its headman and also to have received a gift of an elephant from the king. Vēmarāja himself is praised for his heroism and
The star is represented by a dot. The same device occurs on the seals of certain other Chälukya copperplate grants. Some scholars take the dot as representing the sun (e.g., see above, Vol. V, p. 119; Vol. XIX, p. 149, etc.), but the relative size and the position of the dot would hardly warrant such an explanation. There are, however, instances where the sun and the moon are clearly depicted ; see, for example, the seal of the Masulipatam plates of Ammarāja II, above, Vol. XXIV, plate facing p. 275. [I would prefer taking the dot to stand for the sun.C. B. K.)
• Boe below, p. 46, n. 1.
. Gadyanaka is supposed to be a gold coin. See above, Vol. XXI, p. 176, n. 3. It is also known as varäha or cardha-padyana,' a pagoda equal to Rupees 3!Ibid., Vol. VIII, p. 130. Mr. A. Ghosh kindly draws my Attention to the terms gadya and gadhaiya, the latter being applied to a class of debased Indo-Sasbanian silver coins of sarly medieval period, but whether they have any real connection, beyond the phonetic resemblance, with the gadyinaka remains to be determined.