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 389

278 EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
(VOL. XXXIII IV. Southern part of the same-20 Bråbmanas; V. Northern part of Kapilēsvarapura, beginning from the west-20 Brāhmaṇas; and VI. Southern part of the same-20 Brāhmaṇas.
It may appear from the above enumeration that the village of Veligalani was divided into two parts, one of which was named Jägēsvarapura and the other Vellamāmbūpura. But, as will be seen below, the Oriya section of the charter seems to suggest that the above village was divided into three säsanas, viz. Jāgēsvarapura, Vēlamapura (i.e. Vellamambāpura of the Telugu section) and Pratapa-Kapilēsvarapura, and this may be regarded as supported by the Sanskrit part at the beginning if, as stated above, the expression sva-pitr-ākhyā in verge 11 is taken to refer to the names of the donor and his parents. It is, therefore, better to take Veligalani-Kapilēsvarapuränaku as referring to the gift village as Veligalani alias Kapilēśvarapura. In any case, it is clear that the word pitsi in the verse means not merely 'father 'but both father and mother 'and that the name of Kapilēndra's father was Jägēsvara and that of his mother Vellamāmbā or Vēlamā.
The third section in Oriya (lines 180-90) gives a short summary of the whole transaction which is already indicated in the Sanskrit and Telugu parts. The epithets Vira-fri-Gajapati-Gaudēsvara and Navakoti-Karnāta-Kalavarag-eśvara referring to Kapilēśvara's victories over the countries called Gauda, Karņāța and Kalavaraga (i.e. the dominions of the Sulţāns of Bengal, of the Karpata kings of Vijayanagara and of the Bahmanis of Gulbarga) are found for the first time in this record. The same titles were also assumed not only by his successors but also by the later rulers of Orissa, who considered themselves successors of the Imperial Gajapatis, till quite recent times.
The charter ends with a fow verses in Sanskrit. One of these verses is in adoration of the Varāha incarnation of Vishņu (lines 191-93). There are two other stanzas (lines 194-99) which, as stated above, belonged to the charter originally incised on the plates. One of these speaks of the creation of a sarva-mänya (i.e. rent-free holding) by Kapilēgvara after having renounced the thirtysix āvēdanas or taxes while the other is one of the usual imprecatory and benedictory verses. The word āvēdana (āvadānă of the Oriya section, line 189), used in the sense of a tax', is of lexical interest. The word shattrinnsat, literally 'thirtysix', has been used here in the sense of many'.1
This is the only copper-piate charter of the great Kapilēsvara, who was the founder of the Süryavamsi Gajapati family of Orissa and ascended the throne in 1434-35 A.D., so far discovered. Two copper-plate grants of prince Raghudēva, the nephew and viceroy of king Kapilēsvara, were recently discovered at Rajahmundry and they have thrown a flood of light on the ancestry and early career of the Gajapati monarch. His grandfather, bearing the same name, is stated to have been a Nāyaka (a ruling chief) who was one among the rulers of the solar and lunar races, while his own father Jägēsvara, who possessed a large number of elephants, and his elder brother Balarama lost their lives in a battle against their enemies. The Warangal inscription of prince Raghudēva mentions Jāgēsvara, the father of Kapilēsvara, as a Māhārāya (Sanskrit Mahārāja). The record under study speaks of Jägēsvarapura named after the father of Kapilēndra or Kapilēsvara.
During the last years of the reign of the Ganga king Bhānu IV, his feudatories like Pratāpa Gargarāju of the Silāvamsi family of Nandăpur and Saubhāgyarāju of Viraghattām became semiindependent. The Reddi chiefs Vēma and Virabhadra, sons of Allāda, conquered the southern
1 Cf. above, Vol. XXX, p. 116. For an elaborate analysis of the Oriya section of the inscription under study, 100 JAS, Letters and Science, Vol. XXIII, pp. 13 ff.
Above, pp. 1 ff. The family is stated to have belonged to the Kidyapa götra in the Nanadmpandi plates of Prataparudra (C. P. No. 5 of 1948-49).
. A. R. Ep., 1957-58, No. 55; sbove, pp. 125 ff. • SI1, Vol. V, No. 1170; Vol. VI, No. 950. Ibid., Vol. VI, No. 1101. Viragbattam is in the Palakonda Taluk of the Srikakulam District,