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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. IV.
No. 23.-TWO TAMIL INSCRIPTIONS AT AMBUR.
BI E. HULTZSCH, Pa.D. Ambûr is a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the Vélûr tâluka of the North Arcot district, and & station on the Madras Railway. The temple of Nagêśvara in the town contains an inscription of Kulottunga-Chôļa ; one of the Hoysala king Vira-Vallåļa; and one of the Vijayanagara king Rajasekhara, the son of Mallikarjuna (dated Saka-Samvat 1390 expired, Sarvadhârin). In the Kångarettikka Street two rough stone slabs are set up. Each of them bears at the top a Tamil inscription and below, on a countersunk surface, a bas-relief, which represents a warrior who is advancing towards the proper left, holds a bow in his left hand and a sword in his right, and is pierced by arrows. The head of the warrior is placed between two chaurîs, which appear to signify his being received into svarga on account of his heroic death. Behind the warrior on the left slab is a basket of fruits. The warrior on the right slab has a lamp in front, and a pot and another lamp at the back. These articles may be explained as offerings for the benefit of the souls of the two deceased warriors.
The inscriptions at the top of the two stones are nearly identical with each other. The first (A.) records the death of a son, and the other (B.) the death of a nephew, of a certain Akalankattuvarayar. The end of the three first lines of the inscription A. is broken away, but can be restored with the help of the corresponding portion of B. Similarly, the breaks at the end of lines 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of B. can be filled up with the help of A. The alphabet is Tamil and resembles that of the Kil-Maţtugur inscription of the 32nd year of Parântaka 1.5 The lines were ruled off by the mason before he engraved the two inscriptions.
The death of the two warriors took place at the occasion of a cattle raid, which the Nulamba had organized against Åmaiyûr. By the Nuļamba' we have probably to understand one of the Pallava rulers of Nuļambapâdi. Amaiyûr, i.e. 'the tortoise village,' is an old form of the name Ambûr. Just as the village of Udayêndiram, it is said to have been situated in Mêl-Adaiyaru-nadu, & subdivision of the district of Paduvûr-köttam.
As stated before, the son and the nephew of a certain Akalankattuvarkyar fell in the affray. The name A kalan kattuvarâyar corresponds to the Sanskrit Akalanka-Yuvaraja. He was the chief of the Kondar of Perunagar-Agaram (A. line 8 f.), a place which I cannot identify, and was & servant of Pirudi-Gangaraiyar. The date of the two inscriptions is the 26th year of the reign of the king, the victorious Nripatunga-Vikramavarman.'
A king named Npipatunga is the grantor of a Grantha and Tamil inscription on seven copper-plates, of which Mr. Sewell has furnished a few particulars. This Nripatunga is said to have been the son of Dantivarmjn and a descendant of Pallave, and the seal of his grant bears the bull-crest of the Pallava kings. The original copper-plates were formerly preserved in the office of the Collector of North Arcot, bat cannot be traced there now.
At Bâhûr near Pondicherry, M. J. de la Fon discovered a set of five copper-plates of the Pallava king Nřipatungavarman. The original plates were sent to Paris some years ago, but it is not known in whose hands they are at present. M. de la Fon was good enough to farnish me with a transcript prepared by a Tamil Pandit, on which the following extracts are
See the Manual of the North Arcot District, 2nd edition, Vol. II, p. 425. * Above, No. 22, C.
See above, p. 82, note 4. • See South Indian Moscriptions, Vol. II. p. 382.
Compare the Kashkadi plates (South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, No. 76), where tuvardian in the Tamil portion (text line 106) corresponds to ywvardja in the Sanskrit portion (text line 103).
• These are perbape identical with the Kondakkdrar, a caste of fisbermen. * Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 80 f.
