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No. 28.]
KENDUR PLATES OF KIRTIVARMAN II.
201
The plates were found at Kêndûr, a village in the Khôą taluka of the Poona district. They belong to Mr. Purushottama Rajapathak, now residing at Kendûr. There are Ave plates, the first and the last of which are inscribed on one side only. The plates are equal in size. measuring 91" long by 41" broad. Their edges are raised into rims to protect the writing. The ring on which the plates are strong is about half an inch thick and 51' in diameter. The seal on the ring is oval, measuring 2' by 1". It has, in relief, on a countersunk surface, & standing boar facing to the proper left. The weight of the plates, together with the ring and seal, is 225 tolay. The inscription is in a state of excellent preservation. The characters belong to the southern class of alphabets. The language is Sanskrit throughout, and with the oz oeption of the invocatory verse at the beginning and the benediotive and imprecatory verses at the ond, the whole is in prose.
The grant is one of the Western Chalukya king Kirtivarman II., and is issued from the city of Raktapura, which is probably to be identified with Lakshmêsvara, in the Dharwar district. It records that on the full moon day of the month Vaisakha, during & lunar calipse, in Saka 872 expired, in the sixth year of his reign, when his victorions camp was at Raktapura, Kirlivarman II., at the request of his great queen, granted to a Brahmans named Bamašarman, the village of Beppațţi in the centre of the villages of Penbaru, Kisumanpalam, Nullam and Perbballi, in the district of Veļvole. The five villages can be easily identified with Bebati, Hebeur, Kusugalla, Sulla and Hebballi, in the Dharwar district. Vel. vola is s Sanskritized form of Belvols or Beļvals, a name which is applied even at the present day to a portion of the southern Maráthe country.
Before the discovery of the present grant, only three records of Kirtivarman II.'s time were known to scholars. Of these the most important is the Vakkaleri grant, which has been published by Mr. Rice and re-edited by Dr. Kielhorn. As interpreted by these scholars, the date of that grant is Saka 679 expired, which is spoken of as the eleventh year of Kirtivarman's reign, while, according to the present grant, Saka 672 expired was the sixth your of his reign. These two statements cannot be reconciled. It is, however, important to note that the present grant was issued five years earlier, and is perfectly legible throughout. It also mentions the occurrence of a lunar eclipse. Therefore the date in this grant, which admits of verification, is correct. But in the Vakkalëri grant, the first word describing the Saka year is not legible. Both Mr. Rice and Dr. Kielhorn have proposed to read it as nava, nine, and this view has been endorsed by Dr. Fleet. But the proposed emendation does not agree with the present inscription, according to which Saka 677 expired was really the eleventh year of the king's reign.
The historical information in the present grant may be briefly summarised thus. The first king of the Chalukya line was Polekesin who performed horse sacrifices. Then came his son Kirtivarman I., who defeated the kings of Vanavâsi and other countries. His brother Manga
is being passed over, we are next introduced to Satyasraya, better known as Polekesin II., who defeated the famous Boddhist king Harshavardhana, the patron of the illustrious Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsiang and the hero of Båpa's immortal work, the Harshacharita. Polekesin II.'s son, Vikramaditya I., was the next king, who recovered, by means of his horse Chitrakantha, part of the Chalukya dominions, which had been overrun by the Pallavag, and had obeisance done to him by the lord of Kanchi, who had bowed down to none other. Vikramaditya I.'s son and successor was Vinayaditya, who broke the confederacy of the Cholas, Kraļas, Pandyas and Pallavas, and defeated the paramount sovereign of Northern India. Vinayaditya's son Vijayaditya, the next king, had greatly assisted his father and grandfather in their war's. Though suddenly taken prisoner by the enemy, whom he had put
'Ind. Ant. Vol. VIII. p. 23 ..
Above, Vol. V. p. 200 und tr.
2D
