Epigraphia Indica Vol 29

SR No.: 032583
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hirananda Shastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1951
Total Pages: 432
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

Page 74

No, 4 ] BADASIVAGAD PLATES OF KADAMBA VIJAYADITYA ; SAKA 1102 29 No. SADASIVAGAD PLATES OF KADAMBA VIJAYADITYA ; SAKA 1102
(1 Plate)
P. B. DESAI, OOTAQAMUND This set of copper plates' was secured by me for study in the course of my annual tour in the Bombay-Karnatak parts in February 1952. It was in the possession of Mr. H. V. Naik, Clerk of the Court, Civil Judge's Court, Karwar. Mr. Naik's family headquarters are at Sadasivagad, about four miles from Karwar, and these plates were lying there as an heirloom. Details as to how and when this family came to possess them are not known. I am editing the inscription on these plates here for the first time with the kind permission of the Government Epigraphist for Indis.
The set consists of three plates held together by a circular ring with seal. The writing is found on the inner sides of the first and third plates and on both sides of the second. The rims are raised to protect the inscription which is, however, worn out in many places. The plates measure 8' in length, 6' in breadth and 1/8th inch in thickness. The ring which is 2' in diameter passes through a circular hole, 5/8th inch in diameter. The ends of the ring are soldered into the bottom of a thick circular seal having a rim. The seal, which is 21" in diameter, contains on the sunken surface the figures of a rampant lion with upturned tail and a dagger in front of it. At the top around are the figures of a svastika and the sun, followed by the legend Sri-Vishnudāsaḥ in Nagari characters, and then the crescent. The ring and the seal together weigh 70 tolas and the whole set weighs 380 tolas.
The characters are Nägarī of the twelfth century, being normal for the period. The letter on at the commencement is written like tun. Medial a is generally denoted by a side mätra. Exceptions to this are the letters và in line 1 and ma in line 44, where a slanting stroke is placed at the top of va and ma to denote the length. In regard to orthography, the consonant following a répha, as a rule, is not doubled. We do, however, note & few intances of doubling also, e. 8., mürttēh in line 4, Vijayarkka- in line 31 and suvarnn- in line 35. The language is Sanskrit and the composition is in verse, except in lines 39-46 describing the particulars of the gift. The composition is defective in some places.
The epigraph commences with an invocation to god Siva. After narrating the origin of the Kadamba family, in the usual manner, from the mythical hero Trilochana Kadamba who was born from the sweat of Siva, it gives & succinct genealogical account of the Kadambas of Goa. The account stops with Sivachitta Permadi and his younger brother Vijayarka or Vijayaditys II, the sons of Jayakësin II from the Chālukya princess Mailala Mabadovi. The inscription represents Vijayaditya as the ruling monarch. Its object is to record a gift of land by the king to the goddess Arya Bhagavati. Though not explicitly stated, it appears from the description of his family and the context that the beneficiary of the gift was a Brahmana of the Bharadvāja gotra, named Govinda, who was well-versed in the science of astronomy. The donee's family is described for four generations. The gift property was situated within the boundaries of the village Aruvige included in the tract of Marruvattugadalu.
The record bears the date which is expressed in words thus : Saka 1102, Vikarin, Karttika ftua. 12, Sunday. The Saka year was current and the date regularly corresponds to Sunday, October 14, 1179 A. C.
1 No. 2 of the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy for 1961-5%. 1 DGA