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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XIII.
distinguished, the first having an opening on the right side, which the second has not. To avoid a large number of foot-notes I have throughout adopted the correct form ddh. Chhchha is written for chchha in 11. 30 and 50. Double lingual na is written as nna in 1. 23. Peculiarities due to pronunciation may be noted in the words Nrisimhya and Devayamhvaya which occur in 11. 86 and 68 respectively.
After invocations addressed to the boar-incarnation of Vishnu, Vinayaka and the moon, we are informed in vv. 5-7 that the fourth (s.e., Sudra) caste, born from the feet of the Supreme Being along with the river Ganges, is purer on that very account than the first three twicehorn castes, and that the members born in it are highly virtuous, pure-minded and greatly helpful to the ruling classes. This prosperous condition and the willing co-operation of the Śūdras reflect a state of society when caste disputes, as those of the present day, had not assumed such dimensions as to disintegrate the constituent parts of the Hindu community. In the cycle of ages came Kali-yuga, in which, according to v. 9, there were hopeful signs of progress, inasmuch as the different castes and stages (of men) did not deviate from the prescribed law, the Vedas were widely read with their component parts, and religious sacrifices were not performed in vain. In the Trilinga country was a Sūdra ruler by name Kēśava-nāyaka, who was born of the Mañchikoṇḍa family (vv. 10 to 12). His son was Ganapati-nayaka (v. 13), and his son Küna-bhūpāla (v. 15). Künaya's eldest son was Mummadindra (v. 18), also called Künaya-Mummaḍi-nayaka (v. 19) and Mummaḍi-nayaka (v. 20), who was evidently a powerful chief. He ruled over the fertile (v. 24) districts of Chengara, Kuravăța, Kōna and Vanara included between the two well-known branches of the river Gōdavara (Godavari) (v. 22). Mummaḍi-nayaka married a niece of Kapaya-nayaka, the celebrated 'Sultan of the Andhra country' (v. 25), and ruled at Korukonda (v. 27), which is now a flourishing village ten miles north of Rajahmundry. His two younger brothers, Singaya-nayaka and Gannaya-nayaka, (v. 29), as subordinates of their elder brother Mummaḍindra, ruled at Kōṭipuri and Täḍipäka respectively (v. 31). The former of the two brothers, also called king Singa and Kunaya-Singa, is the donor of the present grant and is highly eulogised in vv. 32 to 39. His capital Kotipuri, also called Mummadi-vidu, evidently after his elder brother Mummaḍi-nayaka, was situated on the bank of the river Pampa and contained within it the temple of Ramanathēśvara (v. 33). Vv. 40-51 describe a family of physicians-of whom three generations are given. Parahitacharya, the donee of the present grant, was a great favourite of king Kunaya-Singa, who, it is stated, lavishly bestowed presents on him (v. 52). In the Saka year 1200 (expressed by numerical words), in the month Śrāvana, on the occasion of an auspicious solar eclipse, Singaya-nayaka granted to the virtuous Parahitacharya, in the presence of god Ṛiņamukti-natha, the village of Akkalapüṇḍi, changing its name into Mummaḍi-Singavaram. Parahitacharya, retaining half of the village for himself, bestowed the other half upon ten Brahmapas of the Yajur-vēda (vv. 53 and 54). Then follows a description of the boundary line of the village of Akkalapuuḍi, in which, as usual, thickets of shrubs, ant-hills, ditches, trees and ponds are mentioned (vv. 62-70). The composer of the record was Kama-deva (v. 71). At the end of the inscription are added the signatures, in their own hand, of Śinga-nayaḍa and Mummaḍi-nāyaḍu, followed by the conventional figure of a lion, which represents perhaps the crest adopted by this Nayaka family.
The period to which these copper-plates belong is one in which little is known about the history of the Telugu country. The fact that there existed, at this time, an independent family of chiefs quite close to Rajahmundry, with their power extending over the whole of the Godavari delta, is of extreme importance. At Korukonda, the capital of these chiefs, has been discovered a long pillar-inscription, whose contents have been noted in the Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1911-12. From this, as also from the subjoined record, we learn that Mummaḍi-nayaka was practically the first chief of the family who rose to importance, perhaps
