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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XIV.
No. 16.-BEVINAHALLI GRANT OF SADASIVA-RAYA : SAKA 1473. BI PROVERBOR S. V. VENKATESWARA, M.A., AND S. V. VISWANATHAN, M.A., KUMBAKONAM.
These plates were obtained by Rao Sahib H. Krishna Sastri from Bashir ad-Din Ahmad. Eso.. the Collector of Raichur, and are now in possession of the latter. We edit the inscription from excellent ink-impressions supplied to us by Mr. Krishna Sastri.
The insoription is on seven copper plates, which measure 10% in. by 7} in. All the plates are engraved on both sides, exoept the first and the last, which are inscribed on one side. The rims of the plates are raised a little. Holes are bored at the top of the plates to let in a ring intended to hold the plates together. The hole measures 6 in. in diameter. The plates are numbered in Telaga-Kannada numerals.
The characters of the inscription are Nandi-Nagari, and the language Sanskrit, and the whole is in verse, excepting Sri Ganadhipataye namah, and the signature at the bottom Sri Virupaksha, which is, as usual, written in large Kannada characters. The metres used are the usual Anashtabh, etc. The inscription is practically free from mistakes, and there are only a few orthographical peculiarities worth noticing. Stops are not supplied in their proper places. Mistakes of this kind have been corrected in the text. In the latter portion of the inscription long i is represented only by a loop over the consonants. A case of redundant anusvára is found in kamnya in 1. 105, and various instances where anusvāra and visarga have been omitted are noted in the footnotes to the text. We find a needless reduplication of a consonant after r, as in sanur-Ddēvana in l. 161. There is confusion in these plates also, as in other plates of the Vijayanagara kings, though not to so great an extent, between the sibilants fa and sa, e.g. Onāniyativa in 1. 73 f. for Onāniyasiva ; nilasitām in 1. 76 in the place of Onilasitām and vēsmanah in l. 126 instead of pēsmanah. In one instance long 1 is represented by & vertical stroke and an s-loop over short i, as if the latter were a Bonsonant, e.g. 1. 301. A conjunct consonant is, as usual, expressed by combining the full form of the first consonant and the secondary form of the second consonant. The vernacular sound is represented by an r sign over the consonant . Instances of these are :-murru in 1. 80 and Arraviti in 1. 104. The forms tāmmra-fäsana in l. 309, võshadhi in l. 78, and Vöbāmbika in 11. 24-25 are due to vernacular pronunciation.
The inscription records the grant of the village of Bēvinahalli, otherwise known as Rämagamudram, with a small hamlet by name Ponnapuri to learned Brahmans of various Gotras and Sūtras. The grant was made by Rama-Raja, the Karnāta minister and brotherin-law of Sadāsiva-Raya, at the request of a subordinate Muhammadan chieftain Ainans Malukka, who seems to have been a great patron of Brahmans. The village granted is styled gana-bhogyam,' to be enjoyed by Brahmans and subordinate ministers of the king, a Very small portion being allotted to the gods Hari and Hara. It is given in perpetuity as sarva-manya to be enjoyed by the donees and their successors. The boundaries of the village, the details regarding the donoes, their Gotras, Sutras and the number of shares that fell to each are likewise clearly set forth in the grant.
The inscription gives in detail the genealogy of the family to which Rama-Raja belonged. 16 is, however, somewhat different from others, in that in the place of Sriranga-Raja, the third in the line and the father of Rama-Raja, we find Sri Rama-Raja. This probably is a mistake on the part of the engraver.
