Epigraphia Indica Vol 11

Author(s): E Hultzsch
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 27

14
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XI.
of the time of the Western Chalukya prince Vishnuvardhana-Vijayaditya, dated in A.D. 1064, on the Jaṭṭinga-Ramesvara hill in the Chitaldroog District; ante, vol. 4, p. 213, plate; Epi. Carn., vol. 11, Mk. 29, with plate at texts, p. 130: here we have the vowel in ivu, line 25, No. 4, and in i (for i) dharmmamane, line 26, No. 3, from the end: the illustration E. on p. 8 above is from the first of these two instances.
The northern parts of Mysore, however, the Shimoga and Chitaldroog Districts, were subjected to progressive influences, first under the Rashtrakuta kings and then under the Western Chalukyas, which did not penetrate much beyond them. In the south, I trace the later type again, for the first time after A.D. 909-10 (p. 12 above), in the Chōla inscription, dated in A.D. 1029-30, at Soladevanahalli in the Bangalore District; Epi. Carn., vol. 9, Nl. 1, with plate at translations, p. 28; in idarkke, line 14, No. 11: here the letter is formed in a very exceptional manner; the end of it is curled over inside the down-stroke on the right, instead of being carried on to that stroke or across it into the usual tail. We perhaps have the later type, fully formed, in the Chōla inscription, dated in A.D. 1032 (see ante, vol. 4, p. 69), at Sattaru in the Mysore District; Epi. Carn., vol. 3, Nj. 164 (no plate): here, in the last line, we seem to have either desey-akhkhanduga, corrected into dese ikhkhanduga, or else dese ikhkhanduga, corrected into desey-akhkhanduga for desey-ikhkhanduga. And we certainly have a form of the later type in the Chola inscription, dated in A.D. 1047-48, at Mindigal in the Kōlär District; ante, vol. 5, p. 207, plate; Epi. Carn., vol. 10, Ct. 30 (no plate); in iy-ura (for iy=ura), line 12, No. 7, and in i (for i) dammauan, line 16, the last akshara: here, in both cases, the form is practically identical with that which I have given as a transitional form in the illustration H. on p. 9 above; the loop of the lower part stops short at the down-stroke on the right, instead of being carried across that stroke and on to form the usual tail. These two instances of A.D. 1029-30 and 1047-48 are suggestive that for an appreciable time after A.D. 982 the letter was still in a transitional stage in the southern and south-eastern parts, and that, when more materials are available, we may find the earlier type still in use there up to about A.D. 1000. Good specimens of the later type in its full form, from the southern part of the province, may be seen in two records, dated in A.D. 1117, from Bēlûr in the Hassan District; Epi. Carn., vol. 5, Bl. 58, plate; in ity=ato, line 2, No. 7 from the end, and in inan-, line 13, No. 57: and ibid., Bl. 71, plate; in ity=ato, line 10, No. 6. But it was, of course, well established everywhere long before that time.
Coming now to sum up the inquiry, we find the position to be as follows. In the Kanarese districts of Bombay, we have the earlier type of the initial short i still in use up to at least A.D. 975. But the later type figures freely along with it from A.D. 901-2. For this part of the country, then, we may consider that the tenth century was a transitional period of usage, when the later type, though well established, had not yet superseded the earlier one, but both of them were accepted on equal terms. And in these circumstances we feel no surprise at finding the two types occasionally used together in one and the same record: in the Devageri inscription, which we refer to A.D. 958; in the Hebbal inscription, which is dated in A.D. 975; and in the undated inscription at Hatti-Mattar. As regards Mysore, with Coorg, we must separate the northern parts from the southern. In the north, the case was probably much the same as in the Bombay districts, though we have not, so far, actually traced the later type there before A.D. 961-62. And, as we find the later type half-way down the western side of the province between A.D. 989 and 1005, we may expect to meet with it anywhere from about A.D. 1000. In the south, however, the change was plainly slower. We have not, indeed, actually traced the use of the earlier type there after A.D. 982. But the later type is found there only once before that time; in an instance of A.D. 909-10 which we can only regard as intrusive. And the records of A.D. 1029-30 and 1017-18 suggest that the commencement of the period of transitional usage in the south hardly be placed