Epigraphia Indica Vol 17

Author(s): F W Thomas, H Krishna Sastri
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India

Page 20

No. 1.] GUDIMALLAM PLATES OF THE BANA KING VIKRAMADITYA II.
in the Punganur Zamindari of the North Arcot District. One of Venkayya's Guḍimallam inscriptions contains a Saka date-820-which must be assigned to the reign of VijayadityaPrabhumēru, because it calls the Bana king Vijayaditya, to whose reign it belongs, the son of a queen of Bāṇavidyadhara, i.e. of Vikramaditya-Jayamēru. Another queen of Banavidyadhara, named Kundavvai, was the daughter of Pratipati-Araiyar, i.e. of the Ganga king Prithivipati I, who was a contemporary of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha I' and of the Pandya king Varaguna. Two further inscriptions of Vijayaditya (Prabhuměru) furnish the Saka dates 827 and 831.6
According to the Udayendiram plates, Prabhumeru's great-grandson, VikramadityaVijayabahu, was a friend of Krishna-Raja, who used to be identified with the Rashtrakuṭa king Krishna II (about A.D. 900). This identification cannot be upheld, because we have now for Prabhumēru Saka dates ranging about A.D. 900, but Vijayabahu's friend Krishna-Raja must have been the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III (about A.D. 950), of whom we know from other sources that he made and held extensive conquests in the South. The Ganga prince Prithivipati II Hastimalla, who received the title Banadhiraja from the Chola king Parantaka I,7 and whose inscriptions are dated in the 9th and 15th years of the same kings (i.e. A.D. 915 and 921), would thus have been a temporary usurper and a predecessor of Vikramaditya-Vijayabāhu. He was the Chōla king's candidate for the Bāņa throne, while the legitimate ruler Vijayabahu was the protégé of the Rashtrakuta invader. To facilitate reference, I subjoin a tabular statement of the two Bana genealogies.
Gudimallam plates.
Nandivarman.
Vijayaditya (I).
Malla-dēva.
Vikramaditya (I) Jayamēru.
Vijayaditya (II) Prabhumēru.
Vikramaditya (II) (heir-apparent).
Udayendiram plates.
Jaya-Nandivarman.
Vijayaditya (I).
Malla-dēva.
Bāṇavidyadhara.
Prabhumēru.
Vikramaditya (II).
Vijayaditya (III) Pagalvippavarganda.
Vikramaditya (III) Vijayababu.
REMARKS.
Son-in-law of the Ganga Prithivipati I, who was an adversary of the Pandya Varaguna and of the Rashtrakuta Amoghavarsha I.
Inscriptions dated in Saka 820, 827,
831.
Friend of the Rashtrakuta Krishua
III.
3
1 See above, Vol. XI, p. 285.
Ibid., pp. 227 f.
In his Annual Report for 1908-09, p. 18, Mr. R. Narasimhachar has suggested that the actual name of this chief may have been Dindika.
South-Ind. Inscr., Vol. III, Nos. 47 and 48.
See above, Vol. IX, p. 87.
6 Above, Vol. XI, p. 228, and Ep. Cars., Vol. X, Mulbagal Taluk, No. 229. Above, Vol. IV, p. 225, verse 5.
8 Ibid., p. 224, and South-Ind. Ineer, Vol. II, p. 389.
A 2