Epigraphia Indica Vol 33

SR No.: 032587
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1959
Total Pages: 514
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 29 MB

Page 121

No. 12-NOTE ON MADAKASIRA INSCRIPTION OF DILIPARASA, SAKA 870 K. V. RAMESH, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 6.2.1958)
The slab which bears this inscription was found in the Chōlaraja temple at Madakasira in the Taluk of the same name in the Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh. The text of the inscription was first published in the Epigraphia Carnatica, Vol. XII, Si. No. 35, and again in the South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. IX, Part I, No. 25.
The inscription contains 9 lines of writing occupying an area about 6 feet 10 inches in length and between 2 feet 3 inches and 1 foot 7 incl.es in height. There is a rectangular space in the centre measuring about 2 feet in length and 1 foot and 3 inches in height, which contains a sculpture in relief depicting a warrior being attended upon by two damsels bearing chowries. The inscription is written in Kannada characters and language.
The date of the record is quoted as saka 870 (written in words), Kilaka-samvatsara which corresponds to 948-49 A.D. It refers itself to the reiga of the Nolamba-Pallava ruler Diliparasa.
The inscription opens with the word svasti followed by the date-mentioned above. It records the death of Ponnayya, a servant of Ballaha, in the battle of Ipili, in which he is said to have fought with great bravery against Gajankusa-chola. The scene in the rectangular space obvious ly suggests that, on his death, he was welcomed by celestial damsels in heaven. The epigraph further states that Ponnayya was the son of Chikkayya and Ichabbe and the younger brothe of Sivaya and Bikiyanna. Sivaya is eulogised as the foremost archer in the 32000 country, no doubt meaning Nolambavadi. It is also stated that the Nolamba-Pallava chief Diliparasa joined the army of Ponnayya when it was on the march.
Diliparasa has been called samadhigata-pañcka-mahāśabda, Prithivi-vallabha, Pallara-kula-tilika, Iriva-nolmban, etc., like the other rulers of his family. The title Pallava-Rama attributed to the chief in this record is interesting in that it is not known to have been assumed by any other NolambaPallava ruler. The title Ekavakya was enjoyed both by Diliparasa's father Ayyappa and by Iriva-Nolahba Nollipayya..
Iriva-nolamba Diliparasa was the younger son of Bira-nolamba Ayyappa and ascended the throne on the death of his brother Anniga. The exact date of Diliparasa's accession is not known. On the strength of the Deoli copper-plate inscription of Rashtrakuta Krishna III, dated Saka 862 (910 A.D.), which is the last known inscription to refer to Auniga and in which Anyiga is said to have been defeated and reduced to a miserable plight by the Rashtrakuta monarch, and the Hemavati inscription of Diliparasa dated 942-13 A.D., which is his earliest known inscription, we can only say that Diliparasa occupied the throne sometime between 94) and 942-43 A.D. He was apparently a feudatory of Krishna III, mentioned as Ballaha in the uscription under study.
A point of interest in the inscription is the mention of a certain Gajankusa-chōla against whom the battle of Ipili was fought. The epigraph itself does not help us to identify this person. Basing their arguments on the fact that Krishna III led an expedition against the Chola country about the time our inscription was set up, scholars have suggested that (ajankusa-chōla may have been the Chola king Parantaka's eldest son Räjäditya. We know that this Chola prince was killed in the
A. R. Ep., 1916, No. 728.
According to some scholars (cf. Karyafakada Aras manelanagalu, pp. 217-18), Nollipayva was the son of Diliparasa. Mt. N. L. Rao, however, suggests that Dilfparasa and Nollipayya were one and the same chief (QJMS, Vol. XLVIII, 1957-58, p. 36).
Cf. QJMS, op. cit., p. 35.
SII, Vol. VI, p. 199.
A. R. Ep., 1917, Parts II, p. 106; Karnatakada Aruanmanetanayaļu, p. 217
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