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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[Vol. XXI.
in it as correct, for the birudas of king Vēma found here, which give all the historical information, are almost similar to those found in his Amaravati inscription
The inscription records the grant of the village Rāmatirtham situated in the Srisailabhūmi and the Ammanambrðlu-sima as & sart-āgrahāra to Chittamüri TimmanaBhatta who was the son of Kāmēsvara-Bhattāraka and who belonged to the Kaundinya-gotra, Yajus-sakha and Apastamba-sūtra. Besides this the donee was granted a fourth portion of the produce of the wet lands, betel-leaf gardens and sugar cane fields, of each of the five villages Chimakurti, Bhimõbvaram, Pulikonda, Mailavaram and Kumārapuri and a sixteenth portion of the produce of the remaining three-fourths. A fifth part of the money income (suvarn-ādāya) (of these villages) and the water of the Pedda-cheruvu (big tank) were to be given to him. Over and above these the donee was to receive one-tenth of the produce of the other villages (in the division ?) and land at the rate of 200 kunta measured by a pole of 16 bāru in big villages and 100 kunla in small villages. It is interesting to note that the present Karnam of the village Chimakurti who is now in possession of this copper-plate claims to be a lineal descendant of the donee and is still enjoying some of the gifts registered in the plate.
The date of the document is Salivāhana Saka year 1257, Yuva Kärttika su. 12, Thursday, Manvādi. This is the earliest record of the king being earlier by 10 years than the Madras Museum plates of the same king. If the cyclic year Dhātu is substituted for Yuva the details of the date would correspond to A.D. 1336 October 31, Thursday.
The importance of the document lies chiefly in the fact that some of the king's birudas mentioned in it would, if they are properly interpreted, yield new information about the history of the Reddi chiefs. For instance, Charchumala-chürakāra, or Cherjimala-churakāra as given in the Amaravati inscription, means "one who reduced the hill fort of Chemji or Gingi." How Vēma could reduce this fort will be shown below. Another biruda Rächüridurgavibhāla means "the destroyer of the fort of Rachūru " i.e., Raichur in the Nizam's Dominions. A third title in the list Kalin- garāya-mana-mardana means “one who destroyed the pride of the King of Kalinga." The title Manniyarāya-mriga-rentakāra means "one who hunted like deer the chiefs of Manniya hilly country". The term Manne is generally applied in later Telugu literature to the hilly tracts near the eastern ghats in the Godavari, Vizagapatam and Ganjam districts. Similarly the titles Voddiyarāya-nirdhūma-dhāma and Jantu rnātarāya-halla-kallola signify victories over the kings of the Voddiya (Odhra) country, the modern Orissa, and the Janturnādu which is perhaps the modern name of Dantapura-nādu. Dantapura was an early capital of the Gangas of Kalinga, from which, for instance, the Narasāpatam plates of Vajrahasta II were issued. The title Pän- dyarāya-gaja-simha means "one who was a lion to the elephant in the form of the Pandya King" suggesting thereby that the king probably routed the Pandyas. The title Appaya-Göpaya-diśāpatta seems to signify some victory won by the king or his immediate ancestors over the chiefs called respectively Appaya and Göpaya. The Tiruvendipuram inscription of the Chola king Rājarāja III dated in his 15th year records the victories of two Hoysala generals Jaganobbaganda Appama-Dandanayaka and Samudra-GöpayaDannäyaka over the Pallava chief KÕpperuñjinga who overcame the Chola sovereign Rājarāja III and had for a time kept him prisoner at Sēndamangalam. The chiefs that are referred to
18.1.1.. Vol. VI, No. 248.
Above. Vol. VIII, pp. 9 A. * Some of these titles are explained in the Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy for the year 1900, page
22.
* Above, Vol. VII, pp. 180 ff.
