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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. VII.
Gôyinda III. of A.D. 804 ; it is here seen best in the må of nelanum-Aditya, line 14, No. 7: it occurs again in likhitam, in the line below the sculptures, where it is formed somewhat smaller than usual, so as to mark it as a final form; it is a character which may often be confused with one form of re, re. The corresponding form of the v occurs, but not very clearly, in the upper v of saruva, line 16, No. 10.--The language is Kanarese, of the archaic type, in prose. In sasanamum, line 9-10, the copulative ending un is attached to the usual archaic ending of the nominative singular neuter in m m ; on the other hand, in line 8 it is doubtful whether the m has been retained, -mahajanamun, or whether it has been softened into v, - mahajanavur. In line 20 we seem to have the accusative singular neuter in 0,- dharmavam; while, on the other hand, in line 17 we have clearly the more archaic form in m, --sthanaman. In line 14, in sthanamuvar or sthanavuvan, the m, m, of the copulative suffix, with the accusative ending after it seems distinctly to have been softened into v; but, whether the m of sthånarh, sthanam, has been retained before it, or has been softened into v, is doubtful. Line 10 gives us-(unless we assume a mistake of for s)-dise, as another variant of dise, dese, 'a quarter or point of the compass, direction, region, side;' line 12 gives nisu-gal, which seems clearly to mean's setap stone,' miru being, no doubt, connected with niri, 1, to be properly arranged or prepared, to be ready,' from which we have nisisu, 'to put down, place, arrange, adjust, prepare,' which occurs in line 20 in respect of the setting up of the stone itself that bears the record; line 15 gives pelchisu, as a variant of perchisu, pechchisu, 'to cause to increase, to multiply'; and line 21-22 gives brahmati, as a variant of brahmati, brahméti, = brahmahatya, the killing of a Brahman.' - The orthography does not present anything calling for comment.
The inscription refers itself to the reign of the Rashtrakuta king Amôghavarsha I., - son and successor of Gðvinda III., - who was on the throne from A.D. 814 or 815 to A.D. 877 or 878. And it mentions a feudatory of his, named Kuppêya," who was governing the Purigere district. The object of it was to record the grant of some lands to a priest named Gokarnapaņditabhatára. The sculptures at the top of the stone mark the record as a Vaishnava record, and thus shew that the donee was a Vaishṇava. And it seems worth noting that one of the donors was a Gorava or Saiva priest.
The record is dated on the full-moon day of Vaisakha of the Parthiva samvatsara, coupled with Saka-Samvat 787. Whatever system of the cycle is applied, the Saka year is the expired year.
Ind. Ant. Vol. XI. p. 127, and Plate.
* Compare i disanaman-nirisidar," they placed, adjusted, or set up, this charter," in the Dandapur inscription (Ind. Ant. Vol. XII. p. 223, text line 12). Compare, aleo, mirisida kinnari.galla gud de ndikw in an inscrip. tion at Naregal in the Rôn tâluka, Dharwar (Jour. Bo. Br. R. 41. Soc. Vol. XI. p. 229, text lines 51, 53, 55), and wirisida gudde ndiku (ibid. p. 230, line 67). As regards the first of these p ages, the occurrence of the combins. tion kinnarigal (line 51) or kinnarigal (lines 53, 55) in a record at a place named Naregal, which is meutioned as Hiriya-Nareyargal in a neighbouring record (ibid. p. 248, line 20-21), and the name of which would often be written Narigal in the present day,- led me to think that the text referred to a smaller or later Naregal, distinguished from Hiriya-Nareyangal; but I now see that we should interpret the text as meaning, not " four leaps of stones, above graves of Kin-Narigal," etc., but "four set-up heape of stones (bearing representation of female Kinnaras together with a linga and ascetics and a cow."
Compare pel-dore, the great river, for the more usual per-dore in the Mulgund inscription of A.D. 975: Vol. VI. above, p. 259, text line 5.
• The vowel of the penultimate syllable is apparently to be taken as the long &, on the analogy of the & in Babkeys, which is marked as long by the metre in line 59 of the inscription at Konnor (Vol. VI. above, p. 33). but it is not quite certain that the long & is pot used there simply to suit the metre. The name of Bankeys or Bankeva appears also as Baúka, in Bunkesa (Vol. VI. above, p. 30, text line 19). So, also, the name Kuppa Kuppeya appears (but in the case of another persu) - as Kuppa, and Kuppanna, in the Nidagundi inscription. F. below, page 214.
By the luni-solar system of the cycle, northern or southern, the Parthiva sad Dattara was Saka-Samvat 788. ourreat, -A.D. E65-66. By the mean-siga system, it began on the 27th September, A.D. 864, S.-S. 786 expired. and ended on the 23rd September, A.D. 865, S.-S. 757 expired.
